To correct the record re Bernie and dialogue with Black Lives Matter activists

[Luminous Animal]

A couple of weeks ago, Deray tweeted that he and 3 other amazing, boots on the ground, Black Lives Matter activists have been talking with ALL the candidates following Net Roots Nation. All of them.

Also, following Net Roots Nation, Symone Sanders reached out to the Sanders campaign which resulted in a job offer.

Another result of the activist's dialogue with ALL the candidates is a far better approach to systemic racism coming from O'Malley's and Bernie's campaigns.

Not one of our candidates WOKE up as a result of the Seattle protest at the Social Security and Medicare event (it was not a "rally" for Bernie - there were many speakers throughout the day. Bernie had his own event that night attended by 12,000 people).

After Net Roots Nation, O'Malley and Sanders went to work on their systemic racial injustice campaigns. And rolled them out one after the other. Both of their racial justice platforms are a result of the Net Roots Nation protest and the work that they did with Deray and others. But that is not to say that both O'Malley and Sanders "woke up" to racial injustice but rather they both woke up to the necessity of integrating the issue more predominantly in their campaigns. (Not sure how Hillary responded because, quite frankly, I don't pay attention to her campaign.)

A day or two after Bernie introduced his racial justice platform, Deray tweeted that he found the aspect of violence perpetrated against communities of color intriguing. Bernie addresses physical violence (perpetrated by the state and individuals), political violence, legal violence, and economic violence. https://berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/

It appears that as a result, Deray has decided to reach out to the campaign again. (And hooboy (!) is he taking some shit from some people from the "official" Black Lives Matter" organization - but that is another story.)

I'm very excited about the re-meet. I can't imagine anything but good can come from it. Bernie and Deray are both extra-ordinary compassionate people. I hope that they all bring https://twitter.com/Nettaaaaaaaa into the conversation again, too. Because she is also amazing.

[Gman]

1. BLM was very successful at NetRoots

What they did worked spectacularly without asking for some stupid polite meeting that his supporters were so indignant about.

[Snotcicles]

3. Yep, seems the Sanders people and BLM people are putting together that "stupid polite meeting" as

we speak. Now maybe they can really get something done.

[Gman]

5. Yup on BLM's terms too

Big victory for BLM.

[artislife]

9. Lets hope it is a big win for all of us

Because Black Lives Matter.

And we shouldn't forget the point of all of this!

[Gman]

11. Absolutely

[Luminous Animal]

4. Actually, as a long time activist, talking first is a well-respected tactic and often ends up with a

better strategy for direct action as a result.

[Zorra]

6. Bingo. Seek negotiation first. If negotiation is refused, create tension through direct action.

Advice from a highly effective, successful activist:

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr

[ibegurpard]

2. Good to hear!

People continue to die. Forgive me if I've just been blind to it but it seems that racism is worse and more blatant then it's ever been in my almost 50 year lifespan. It has to change.

[Catherina]

7. Great post. And I'm thrilled it's Deray, same wish about Neta

Cornel Fresh would be another good one. He's been out there since the beginning and very tight with both Neta and Deray. Same with Obi-Wan KeHomie. I've been following all four since the beginning of their intense activism in Ferguson. It's funny how JohnnyComeLatelys are screaming at them that they're not BLM now. Huh? Excuse me?

[Luminous Animal]

12. ! Thanks for the Obi-Wan and Cornel Fresh. And those JohnyComLatelys are staking out power, not justice.

It is inevitable but disheartening but the people will know.

[Catherina]

14. Yeah, I've been watching the drama unfold too. They're not very slick. n/t

[The Green Manalishi]

8. Two facts, or at least observations. NOT mutually exclusive:

1 - Economic inequality is the root cause of racism. Racism is primarily a mechanism used by the rulers to divide and conquer those at the bottom, albeit playing off of ingrained fears, acculturation and inherent neural patterns (fear of 'the other'). Without economic fairness we will never solve or even improve the problems caused by racism.

2- POC are getting killed and imprisoned all out of proportion to their numbers of the general population. Economic inequality don't mean shit if you have valid reason to fear getting killed or framed everytime you interact with the legal system or its representatives; the most sublime or compelling academic arguments about the root causes aren't as important as not getting shot.

These actually aren't mutually contradictory; the former is the real, long term problem- people with good jobs and solid prospects are not nearly as overtly racist nor do they practice what inherited or absorbed racism they might be burdened with as vehemently as people with no hope/ The latter is the urgent need- if you are in severe danger of getting killed "while resisting arrest" or "trying to take the officer's gun"every fucking day, the academic analysis of a bunch of old white folks doesn't mean much.

Our *REAL* enemy keeps us divided and conquered well.

[artislife]

10. Yup nt

[Catherina]

13. "And one day we must ask the question why are there 40 million poor in America"

[slipslidingaway]

15. ^^^^^ +1

Money does not buy everything, but it sure can help to get a seat at the table.

[dsc]

20. I think a whole lot of people would disagree with point 1

To take one example, Japan is well recognized to have immense problems with racism yet their economic inequality is way less than ours. If we waved a magic wand and removed economic inequality overnight, we would still have racists.

[The Green Manalishi]

21. Yes, we would

But my argument is that the effectiveness of their poison would be less. It's easier to get an economically disadvantaged person to hate other races/cultures because things are bad.

Give them a decent job and good schools and while they still may be racist they will not be as proactive about it. And decent schools, healthcare and nutrition and the next generation will be a bit more enlightened. I do not mean to argue it's an overnight fix, but it's much easier for desperate people to be manipulated, it's much easier to get mindless goons for cops, when there's no alternative.

I don't think you can compare Japan and here, two very different cultures, and again, not arguing that racism goes away when the tide evens out/rises, only that the ease with which poor whites and poor blacks can be set at each other's throats is increased. In short, economic inequality makes racism worse in the short term and ensures its continuance in the long term

[dsc]

22. that is way different than what you wrote

I agree economics can make racism worse but you wrote that economics cause racism which literally means that if you solve economics then you have no racism. HIV causes AIDS, if you wipe out HIV, then you wipe out AIDS.

[The Green Manalishi]

24. Well, to be accurate, I think

racism is something that is there culturally and maybe even biologically, even in the best of places and peoples. But when we have the degree of economic inequality that the we now have it becomes much worse of a problem.

Thanks for helping me clarify my thinking. I still think the long term solution is economic fairness that economic inequality is a bigger factor than racism in most of the problems POC face in this country. The way I should have phrased it is that unless and until much is done ABOUT economic inequality little or nothing is going be be able to be done about racism.

But, in the short term, urgent measures are needed to stop the mass incarceration and killing of POC, it's that I think that is going to be impossible to address on a permanent basis, or with anything other than expensive and unsatisfactory stopgap measures without the economic changes. a tourniquet is great for saving lives but it isn't the long term solution or anything other than an emergency measure.

[hootinholler]

16. Needs a kick n/t

[libdem4life]

17. And another...

[Vattel]

18. Rec for the truth and for the positive relationships that are developing

[MaggieD]

19. That's all great - sincerely

Except Symone - she was wrong to give people a chant to use to drown out BLM, IMO.

However, I just prefer a candidate that didn't have to dragged into understanding this issue, AND I'm not convinced he isn't just mouthing the words because of the pressure. He has a very long history of being convinced that racism is rooted in classism. And he's wrong about that, IMO.

STILL I'm glad he is talking about it now. That's good.

[Katashi_itto]

23. K&R