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Black politics, much more than voting

By Barrington M. Salmon -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Sep 21, 2016 - 12:25:58 PM

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton accompanied by James Clyburn, D-S.C., right, takes the stage to receive the Phoenix award at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Washington Convention center, in Washington, Sept. 17. Photo: AP Wide World Photos

WASHINGTON—For the 46th year, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) annual legislative weekend brought together about 10,000 conferees from East Palo Alto and Oakland, California, Chicago, Illinois, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands all under one roof.

On tap on Sept 14-17 were more than 100 policy issues centered around the theme, “Defining the Moment, Building the Movement.” Participants considered, delved into and dissected thorny issues, worked to try to reach consensus on language, strategies and approaches, and networked and bonded with members of the CBC, businesspeople, rappers, actors, Millennial activists, policy experts and a variety of others.

In this election year, voter turnout and voting rights took center stage with CBC members and staff from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation unveiling new voting rights initiatives during a Sept. 14 press conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C.

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President Barack Obama called for the Black community to support Hillary Clinton. Photo: CNN video frame
“The stakes for African Americans has never been higher this election cycle. The CBCF has long championed the importance of civic engagement through initiatives like the Center for Policy Analysis and Research and the inclusion of all voices in policy decisions,” said Dr. Menna Demessie, vice president of policy analysis and research at the CBCF in a statement. “We are working to prepare the next generation of leaders to take on issues impacting Black America both during and after this election. The Voter Protection Series is an extension of this work.”

The first-ever Voter Protection Series is a detailed response to voter suppression measures introduced and implemented by Republican governors and lawmakers in states ranging from Texas and North Carolina to Wisconsin, Kansas and North Dakota. The GOP is using the red herring of voter fraud as the motivation for introducing these harsh and onerous measures, but since the United States Supreme Court handed down the Shelby v Holder decision in 2013, several Republican lawmakers have said that they want to ensure that likely Democratic voters like Blacks, seniors, students, Latinos and Millennials can’t vote so that the Grand Ole Party retains control of the U.S. House and Senate, as well as the levers of power in down-ballot races across the nation.

The series included two policy panel discussions where panelists and audience members strategized on ways to blunt the dilution of Black voting rights while discussing the implications of voter suppression. With special focus on voter turnout for minorities, the disabled, and poor, these two panels explored policies, programs, and initiatives from Congress to the grassroots with key recommendations, fact sheets, a social media voter outreach campaign, and a Voting Rights Toolkit for audience members to take home and to share within their communities.

On a date yet to be determined in October, CBC and CBCF officials said they’ll hold the first-ever Black Voter Turnout Day.

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Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.) said mobilizing the vote is vital and necessary since the landmark Voting Rights Act has been eroded first by conservative members of the state’s highest court and then by a succession of state legislators. 

“(Three) years ago, in Shelby County v Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, one of the act’s central tenets,” said Rep. Conyers, one of the founders of the CBC and the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Restrictive voter ID laws, limits on early voting and voter registration have a disproportionate impact on minorities, seniors, young people and other historically disadvantaged individuals.”

At every turn over the course of the three-day conference, CBC and CBCF officials, panelists and a number of activists reminded audiences to get out and vote.

“The greatest tool is the power to vote. I can’t tell you who to vote for. But I know you’re going to choose someone who won’t insult people, who won’t build a wall around America, who won’t disrespect you or your vote,” Antonio F. Knox, Sr, the 40th Grand Basileus of Omega Psi Phi fraternity told a standing room audience at a panel discussion on decriminalizing Black boys and men. “You have to put the right people in office from the president down to the local council.”

The Rev. Benjamin Chavis continued to repeat his hope before, during and after an early morning Sept. 16 panel discussion that Blacks would come out in record numbers on Nov. 8 in the contest between former secretary of state Hillary Rodman Clinton and celebrity businessman Donald J. Trump.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Missouri Representative Lacey Clay expressed cautious optimism that Democrats can secure the 30 seats needed to recapture the House which Democrats lost in the 2010 midterm elections. If Democrats succeed in their quest, 26 members of the CBC would be chairs of committees or vice chairs of subcommittees.

“We have 188 Democrats and 45 CBC members which represents the strength of the Democratic Caucus,” said Rep. Bass. “But the greatest weakness is that Republicans are in control so there’s only so much power that we have. Trump could potentially be (a blessing) because he’s bringing people together.”

“There is no illusion that he will do anything for or cares about people of color. Us uniting will bring about the result we need. Republicans gerrymandered (in redrawing districts following the 2010 census) but didn’t account for the shift in demographics.” 

Rep. Clay, whose father Congressman Bill Clay was a founding member of the CBC, concurred.

“I think we’ve realized our voting strength. We’re excited about the potential and we have come to realize that if we present a united front, we’ll gain movement.”

The #BlackLivesMatter movement burst into national prominence in 2014, a year after wanna-be cop George Zimmerman accosted and then shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin saying he looked “suspicious” and attacked him. Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors-Khan and Opal Tometi created the hashtag affirming the rights and dignity of Black people. Since August 2014, with the killing of Michael Brown, Jr., in Ferguson, Mo., and a heavily militarized police response and unrest, Millennial activists have shut down highways, occupied intersections and major streets, closed down businesses, marched and confronted politicians and the police. These young warriors are challenging state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown people, anti-Black racism and police brutality; and called for radical reform of the criminal justice system and dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Activists have also demanded that a government and system that has systematically oppressed Blacks divert taxpayer dollars to affordable housing and healthcare, living wages, access to mental health facilities and treatment and access to quality education for children. 

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“Black Lives Matter” and its messengers have animated national conversations about issues of race, human and civil rights and state violence in the U.S., forcing presidential candidates to acknowledge issues of concern to Blacks and people of color.

Ms. Garza, fellow activists Carmen Perez and Tamika Mallory took part in several CBC panels. In these and in other discussions, stark policy differences and tensions that exist between the traditional civil rights Old Guard and Millennial activists were sometimes evident.

“The CBC is bringing the conversation to the grassroots space. We are forcing uncomfortable conversations which haven’t been had. These are uncomfortable conversations because both worlds need to meet,” said Los Angeles Black Lives Matter activist, writer and researcher Funmilola Fagbamila after the Annual Legislative Conference National Town Hall meeting. “At this point, police killings have not stopped. We’ve added anti-Black state violence to the conversation. We’re not critiquing policing in its entirety. We’re looking at LAPD and paying close attention to what’s going on in the presidential elections.”

“A lot of people who’re affiliated with Black Lives Matter don’t have much trust. We made gains when we forced them to do it.”

Dr. Melina Abdullah, a member of the Black Lives Matter leadership team, agreed.

“This was a very important discussion but it illustrates the divide between those invested in the system and those who challenge the system. Most young people are disillusioned with the system. This conversation has to happen or they will lose the support of the people,” said Dr. Melina Abdullah, an original member of the Black Lives Matter movement and chair of California State University’s Pan-African Studies Department in Los Angeles. “I will be voting but I may not vote for the people they tell us to. Those who are deciding who we vote for must do a better job. We have to recognize that it’s very hard to whip up enthusiasm for voting based on the lesser of two evils model. And we cannot summarize civic engagement by voting.”

Ms. Fagbamila said just voting and not continuing to pressure politicians isn’t enough. The outcome would be unsure if activists and other voters left that in the hands of politicians.

“We still have a job to do,” she asserted.

Ms. Fagbamila said she welcomes authentic engagement between both sides and hopes that the CBC and related organizations “will surrender the space and make it welcoming and inclusive” of young activists who bear little resemblance to traditional civil rights activists.

“They told us we were too loud, had too many transgenders involved and played the wrong music,” she said. “You have to affirm who we are.”

Noted economist and educator Dr. Julianne Malveaux hit back during the question-and-answer phase of the town hall.

“It goes both ways. I’m tired of being called a dinosaur. We don’t build community unless we build relationships,” she said. 

Ms. Perez, executive director of the Gathering for Justice and co-founder of Justice League NYC, said there’s a gulf that needs to be bridged.

“It’s extraordinarily important to come to talk to elected officials,” she said. “Black Live Matter still needs spaces like these to have dialogue … a lot of these elders are not connected to young people anymore. They live in the past. We do the work in isolation. How can we coordinate and collaborate more effectively?”

Ms. Garza and CBC members acknowledge that they’ve been meeting, strategizing and seeking common ground.

CBC Chair Rep. G.K. Butterfield and colleagues like Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Barbara Lee have been very supportive publicly of the young activists.

Rep. Jackson Lee has, in other interviews, counted herself as a strong ally of Black Lives Matter.

“I was in the Black Power movement. I feel as energized about Black Lives Matter. I don’t feel in any way separated from Black Lives Matter,” she said. “I do believe we are hand and glove. I am the legislative tool. I am implementing, hopefully, the message within the context of a Republican-dominated Congress to keep pushing the agenda of getting some reasonable criminal justice reform … [The relationship] is a perfect combination. It’s a Thurgood Marshall to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

Rev. Chavis, president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, said the same.

“We have to ensure that each generation rises to the occasion and never entertains anything that makes them look like they’re going backwards. We are going forward with Black Lives Matter,” he asserted. “It’s not just a hashtag, it’s a progressive movement. I’m not here to judge our young people who are audacious and bodacious in the face of oppression. It’s always been historically necessary to get into the face of oppressors.”

Rev. Chavis encouraged older Blacks to embrace and support Millennial activists.

“We should not be bystanders throwing stones at those seeking to make change,” he said. “This generation represents the best we’ve ever seen. We need to embrace them, love them.”