By Jeff Thomas
A Simple Guide to the Next Steps in the Movement
2020 is a year of disruption. Covid19 and public protests have transfixed and transformed the country. COVID continues to kill or sicken people in shocking numbers across the country. So much for that hot weather theory, as numbers continue to climb daily across the country. But the 2020 movement needs some structure.
And despite the dangers of close gatherings, people have jammed the streets of cities nationwide to protest police brutality. We all witnessed the merciless murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Horrified citizens realized the pervasiveness and savagery of police interactions with black men. Athletes, celebrities and everyday citizens marched daily and continue to march weeks later.
MARCHING FATIGUE
But unlike the civil rights movement of the 1960’s there is neither a galvanizing leader nor a clearly defined ask. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was able to meet directly with the President and layout the demands of African Americans. The resulting Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination in American life. People will soon tire. Marching in a pandemic will become more risky.
But clearly 60 years later we need an update to the Civil Rights Act. There were a number of improvements in American life for African Americans. But there was a resulting white backlash that has in some cases exacerbated the problems.
In the new 2020 reboot, we all need to learn from this experience. Some of the new updates should include:
- Police reform – redirecting funds and forces. Police are needed for crime not human issues like mental health, homelessness, or drug use. Forces need to protect and serve us all.
- Counseling – the mental struggles of everyday racism are so exhausting that people under perform in more simple tasks.
- Health care – African Americans are seen as more pain tolerant, physically stronger than normal and more able to endure bad health outcomes. Doctors need specialized training.
- Economic Opportunity – Bank discrimination is rampant. Loans must be provided at low interest rates to African American business owners
- Voting – Voter suppression is the real voter fraud. People who would, could and should vote have been denied the opportunity to exercise their right. People must contribute to political campaigns
- Political Representation – Elected leaders must be beholden to the people they represent and not only the donors who fund their campaigns
- Education – Inner city schools need proper funding
- New Ideas – We need input from everyday people who want and need change
Always on point Jeff. The one area I would add would be better housing for minorities too. REDLINING still exists, though it’s a little more subtle. We must organize into one voice. We must also find someone to speak for us in one voice.
Great concise bullet points on what the Movement needs to laser focus on.
Great Job “Young Gifted”!!! Tune out “All” the Worn Out “Old Heads”!!!
LBRC- Beware Young Gifted!!!
1. You have already altered the “Status Quo and Old Paradigm” in meaningful ways, “Old Heads who say you haven’t, never deviate in any meaningful way from “The Old Group Think”, why they hardly comprehend what you have “Already” done via “Unity” of purpose!
2. Lots has changed including but not limited to Policy, Legislation, Resolutions and “Serious Policy Discussions”!!! You have been the “Catalyst” for change and meaningful discussions!!!
3. “Nothing New Under The Sun”! 2020 “Old Heads” are no different than those of old, especially in Scripture! How so? A Chosen Seed was “Governed” by “A Most High” aka “King of Kings”! This same “Seed” requested a (k)ing from “The King of Kings”! As this seed veered away from “Divine Leadership”, The Most High voided Judges and Sampson, “Divinely Appointed” with Great Strength, was their last Judge aka Leader!
4. The masses still insisted on a (k)ing and The Most High gave it to them aka like The Likes of Herod! btw- Dr. king and SCLC Leadership, Malcolm X et al, were the “Real Negro Minority”! “Old Heads want you to believe they were there alongside the cause. “We” were there and ask- “Where were these Old Negroes when we needed “them” on the line, not “Front”, just there? We detest these impostors in our core!!!
5. Ever since common people stopped looking up (Even ignorant to Black Clouds Polluted with ChemTrails/Seritas, which paint Tic- Tac- Toe in skies at High Noon)! Their focus are illusions and “Deceptive Leadership”! These are exceptionally “Self- Deceived! Fools rush into Covid infested environments, motivated via Economics before “Health and Life”! Interesting is? 2020 Protest/Petition March Data, ‘Dats mostly you, says- “Protest Gatherings are Healthier than most Phase 2 Job Venues”! Is ‘Dis ‘Thang on!!!
6. 2020 Gifted Young Leadership “is not rudderless”! Turn off all The Old Heads!!! btw- Don’t get it twisted- lots of us are over 50 yrs. We support our Young Talent and know “The Microphone belongs to Them” now! We gave our speeches, old now, and its time to frankly “Shut up and Sit Down”!!! Provide positive guidance without making a nuisance of yourself! It’s their time to be “seen and heard”, not your resurrected ego! Lots of you Old Heads have “Serious Criminal Records” aka “Know a Tree by its…!!!
7. 2020 is responding to “Gestalt Vibrations”, frankly prophesied in Scripture! A Spirit is being pored out, most Old Heads are so “Whacked” aka missing Antennas- “They just don’t get it!!! The String Theory in Physics says the Universe is a Perpetually Vibrating Fabric with Strings, like Hertz/Hz! Apostate Preachers, Politicos, Hypocrites and ‘Simps have been given over to “The Static of Evil” aka “Are Out of Reach” by virtue “Rebellion”and Deception! The Signals are there but “Stupidly and Ignorance” are “Boxed Radios”, Antennas and Tuning sold separately and “Back Ordered”!!!
8. Old Head Linear Thinkers are attempting to spin a “Linear Narrative” void Nuance! Their Logic is not only Linear but “Anecdotal”! Our Gifted Youth are “Gestalt Thinkers” and movers! Why they embrace “Technology” easily and are so proficient!
9. Generally, we regard “Old Heads” as your typical “Go and Went Along Cautiously” to get along, even as “Cowards” attempt to justify “Inaction! They might have achieved measures of financial pittance, which “Enables” their “Illusions” and ‘Stuntun! Their so- called security is their enabling illusion! Lots are walking Cancers and are diseased, even mentally! How secure is this??? “Big Fish in a Small Pond” if they’re lucky!
10. Advocating for the “Least of Thee” is foreign except when and if its “Personal”! They’ll never “Honestly Critique” the “Status Quo”, especially the ambitious Negroes- The HNIC’s, especially when and if it is disadvantageous to their “Personal Status Quo”!!! Carry on Young Gifted!!! Make it happen, do not allow it to happen to you like all the Dim Witted, Conformed and ‘Stuntun “Old Heads”!
Peace Out…
btw- The 2020 Paradigm instituted by those other than “The Old Heads” misses Key Essentials and it appears they can hardly comprehended minus anachronisms aka “Experiences ingrained in “Old Stripes”, which we know Tigers can’t change! A Linear Thinker hardly embraces “Nuance”! Mr. Spock found this difficult aka Human Logic Nuance- his weakness! What is Nuance?
a. a subtle distinction or variation
b. sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)
c. Guber/ Gazelle Study of Leadership proposed? Also The Harvard Review-
https://hbr.org/2004/01/understanding-leadership
d. Some follow others and will go to the mat for those bearing titles!
e. Others follow others because of who this leader is! Dr. King was a “Personality”, not simple title! Guber/ Gazell concludes? When “Titles meet Respect for the Real Person less Contradictions”, Charisma is Birthed!!!
Wealth has been robbed from Black workers from the beginning of this country. Reparations are called for. But also needed are very basic changes to how workers are paid for work and are treated. A higher proportion of Black workers are in low-wage no-benefit jobs. Stopping retaliation for talking about wages in the workplace will show up racial as well as gender bias in pay and help Black men as well as women with tools to achieve “equal pay.” Raising minimum wage to living wages will give those who have been disproportinately stuck in poverty jobs at least some more security and power. Paid sick leave and paid family leave will save lives – especially Black lives – as the disproportionately Black frontline workers and Black women’s maternal mortality statistics have shown. I think these and other basic changes in labor policy are part of the systemic changes needed to build economic and social power to combat racism.
LBRC- ‘Luv ‘Yah Julie Schwam Harris!!! Knew you were out there!!! We’ve seen a lot since our work with LEAN and on other issues critical to the masses! Our young Gifted would do well to seek your guidance, especially since your experiences with Marc and Mary Landrieu helped and guided us from the inside! We not only met, but exceeded some Environmental and other Benchmarks!!! Heap see but few really know!!! Some here remember when you and another approached Jim Bob Moffet at ‘Dat Luncheon and challenged him to adhere to codified Environmental mandates (Bob Thomas went on to head The Loyola Environmental Endowed Program). Also, we thank you for all the inside work and efforts you made to help push our “Environmental Justice” Agenda in the city and in the U.S. Senate!
2020 has so many imposters, it’s hard to believe how much we have regressed Educationally, since our Environmental Breakfast days via Mildred and Marietta!!! Our Gifted Young would be well served via your experiences and guidance! Stay close and continue to provide input!
Finally, and frankly why we respect you so? You never sought the spotlight except to shine it on others! You had boundless energy and never ever quit! Defeat was not a part of your vocabulary and you made The Energizer Bunny look like an amateur! Regardless the injustice and just like Today’s Young, Multi Ethnic- To you, an injustice was an injustice and your efforts to eradicate them was “Serious” and so was your commitment, just like lots including our friend Mark Davis!!! Again, Heap see but few know!!! You are the “Real Deal”! Working in the trenches with you was fun, fun, fun, exhausting but fun!!! You are a Gifted soldier!!!
Blessings to you always and continue to provide input!!!
I am an Old Head with a few tips for the young gifted and Black.
1. Stop referring to yourselves as “Minorities” unless you actually feel “lest-than.” You call yourself a minority and then get pissed when you are treated like one. As a Man thinketh it, so is he.
2. I love that its your turn and you are truly young, gifted, and Black. Now only if you had wisdom, then you would truly be powerful. In all thy getting, get understanding., Finally,
3. Thank you young people for what you are doing. I am proud of you and pray for you daily. Do not stop.