I am a young black male who is trying to understand why #BlackLivesMatter activists are going after progressive politicians like Fmr. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders when center-right moderates like Fmr. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are not being called equally to task.
As result of the incident at Netroots Nation, I believe there should a clarification as where does the movement stand in relation to the Democratic Party as well as the presidential candidates.
This evening after the 2015 Netroots Nations debacle in Phoenix, Arizona, Patrisse Cullors, the co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter, warned presidential candidates that "We will shut down every debate".
Source: http://www.rawstory.com/...
Specifically calling out, in particular, Sanders who attended Netroots Nation:
“He couldn’t take 15 more minutes of the heat,” Cullors said of Sanders in an interview on This Week in Blackness, making reference to the senator ending his appearance as demonstrators at the event walked out en masse.
Journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas, who interviewed both Democratic candidates during the forum, later told The Raw Story that he was directed to wrap up his discussion with Sanders 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
Cullors goes on to say:
Cullors told This Week host L. Joy Williams that she felt neither O’Malley nor Sanders were “humble enough” during their town hall appearance, and called on presidential candidates to be willing to openly discuss issues of race and gender.
“No more skirting around the issues,” Cullor said. “We will shut down every single debate.”
What about the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who did not show up at Netroots Nation the only Democratic venue where #BlackLivesMatter has been included in a few presentations?
Nothing.
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As a result, for clarification, I have seven questions:
1. Will #BlackLivesMatter also protest the Republican debates? If not, why not?
2. Why hasn't #BlackLivesMatter protested the presumed front-runner Hillary Clinton?
3. If not, why not since Fmr. Secy. Clinton is the presumed standard-bearer for the Democratic Party?
4. Have you asked Hillary Clinton what specific policy statements would benefit African-American families regarding police reform and quality-of-life issues?
5. Are you satisfied with the response from the Clinton campaign to #BlackLivesMatter?
6. Has #BlackLivesMatter protested at the offices and events of the Congressional Black Caucus demanding accountability and change? If not, why not?
7. Do you mind when #BlackLivesMatter works directly with other grassroots campaigns such as @Boston4Bernie (advocating for Bernie Sanders) this week in Boston on Dewey Square?
Source: http://www.boston.com/...
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I believe as politically-engaged citizens and voters, we have a responsibility to hold our politicians accountable. Likewise, we owe it to ourselves as Democrats to gleam basic information from up-and-coming members of our body politic about 1. policy content, 2. politicians which can be allies, and 3. future direction.
As you know, African-Americans are far from being a monolith politically and I believe answering these questions will go a long way to defining what exactly is the #BlackLivesMatter movement and perhaps, most importantly, what impact the collective will have overall in the 2016 presidential election cycle.
Thank You for reading and listening.