Today's suggested topic is about Rev. William Barber's call to action and the metaphor he used "Rise Above The Snake Line." This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome.
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself beyond the fold in a comment.
Rev. William Barber's speech at NN14 was a game changer for me. It was a validation of of what I have been trying to do in my political struggle in Vallejo, California. Further, it has become a potent tool in my political tool kit for building a new coalition for governance in my local community. I'm a community activist in a city that has been called the most ethnic diverse city in the United States. Because of that demographic getting elected to local and county office requires reaching out to two or more of the major groups mentioned in article: Vallejo is tops in the nation in ethnic diversity.
A 100 percent diverse city would have 25 percent each of Hispanic / Latino, white, black and Asian/Pacific Islander. At 96.9 percent diversity, Vallejo has a population that is 23.7 percent Latino, 24.1 percent white, 21 percent black and 24.5 percent Asian / Pacific Islander. Vallejo is tops in the nation in ethnic diversity.
The conventional progressive and Democratic party political wisdom around town has been to never use references to Morality or the Bible in political arena. So, in general, our progressive groups in my sphere have avoided running candidates are employed in the Religious-Industrial complex. (With a few exceptions that ended in political defeat because of inexpert image management and poor use of metaphor in public debate.) See my diaries about the the last Vallejo City Council election where, at the request of Labor the Democratic Party backed a local Black pastor who had lose ties to Ed Silvoso:
For more information on the Vallejo race see: Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Introduction Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Meme Warfare Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Category Collapse Disorder Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Jump Start Vallejo Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Cartoons & Correspondence Vallejo City Council Race 2013 - Election Results
At this time I was unaware of Rev. William Barber's Moral Mondays movement, but in spite of this lack of knowledge, I found myself realizing that not reaching out to the Black Religious community was both a political and moral mistake. Moral in the sense that our candidate represented the Vallejo Black community and was actively involved in creating Jobs, feeding the hungry, and most importantly helping young Black men re-enter our community after serving time in Jail. Myself, as a white LBGT man, had no experience in these areas of importance to the Black community. And, nether did the candidates on the Jump Start slate that won. Vallejo needed his voice and his unique background on the City Council to speak for the rights of the Black community. And he lost because of snake words being used by progressives that have bought into running elections using the tools of the Right. Today I want to share with everyone the most important lesson I learned from my experience. And this is the most important political lesson you will ever learn. It is simple but hard to implement in practice, because it requires a lot of hard work researching the issues and framing the political debate.
Street Prophets Moral Monday Action Tip #1 Treat the political opposition with respect, as if at some future time they might be an political ally. Study the issues and only attack the ideas not the messenger of the ideas.
Now that we are about 8 months beyond this election, described above, many who vilified me in the past election are not only my allies on new political struggles, but are employing me in their political action groups because of my social media and website design skills. I attribute my quick re-integration back into the Vallejo Progressive arena to "Rising Above the Snake Line." Although, at the time I did not have a name for my code of conduct. The good news is now I do have an extremely effective metaphor to describe this behavior and to encourage my fellow citizens in Vallejo to do the same. Below is a quick round up of diaries on Daily Kos about Rev. William Barbers ideas for those that have not been following the Moral Mondays movement.
Rev. William Barber's electrifying speech at Netroots Nation 2014 by Egberto Willies William Barber Takes Us to Church at Netroots Nation by Frederick Clarkson Moral Monday - Street Prophets Coffee Hour by linkage Sad, But True: Activism Just Ain't Sexy to the So-Called Netroots by shanikka Rev. Barber may be the one I've been waiting for by Arrogant Ape NN14, Rev. Barber, and the snake line by dkmich North Carolina's Moral Mondays Movement: 90% of Success is Just Showin' Up by DocDawg I'm glad I didn't miss it: Transcript of The Rev. Dr. William Barber at NN14 by TrueBlueMajority Morality As A Secular Concept by kevinbr38 (please bring to my attention any other diaries that should be on this list in the comments below and I will add them.)
Next week's Street Prophets Moral Monday Coffee Hour topic will about how George Lakoff's theories about empathy and language resonate with Rev. William Barbers message. Please share your thoughts about Rev. William Barbers Moral Mondays movement and your plans to bring the movement to your community in the comments below. Best, JON