Following local and national protests after the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August of 2014, activists and organizers declared, “this ain’t your grandparents’ civil rights movement.” Indeed. More than a few veterans of the civil rights movement have scratched their head at how Black Lives Matter—both the broad, overall movement and the national organization—goes about its work of calling attention to the state-sanctioned violence against black people on a daily basis. And, more than a few activists in that movement have “talked back” to those civil rights activists. The disconnect between elders and youth, between the veterans of the black movement of the past and the current activists of today is real. But it is not insurmountable.
That’s part of the takeaway from Huffington Post’s recent article on the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Black Lives Matter (BLM). Unfortunately, the article was a little light on details from all sides involved in the conversation. A little too light for my taste.
"I had no idea it was actually a group in Congress," said Kwame Rose, a 21-year-old Baltimore activist best known for confronting Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera.
"Are they relevant? I don't think a lot of people are relevant in the form that they aren't effectively creating change for the people they are representing," Rose added. "A lot of people get attention for putting 'black' or 'activist' in front of their name, but if they aren't on the ground doing work, they aren't relevant."
Several CBC members who spoke with the Huffington Post were surprised to hear suggestions about a generation gap.
"You're questioning the relevance of the Congressional Black Caucus? Therein lies a problem right there," said Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), who granted that the caucus may need to better explain its work. "We are fighting every single day for the things they are talking about. We have been at it for years. We know how important this is. They're our children. They're our babies. They're our grandchildren. They matter to us."
Granted, many 21-year-old students are given a quick-fast-in-a-hurry-down-and-dirty version of Black History in U.S. schools, so not knowing about the CBC is not necessarily that implausible. But moving beyond that, how exactly does the CBC “fight every single day” for the things that BLM is talking about? That is not clear from the article. Its also not clear from the CBC’s website.
"We need black elected officials and representatives to authentically represent black communities. We believe Black Lives Matter has been a part of the conversation to make it all right again to say the word 'black' and to be unapologetically black," said [Melina] Abdullah, who chairs the Department of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. "We want our black officials to be unapologetically black and need them to advocate for the specific empowerment of black people."
Details would be nice; how about legislation requiring police officers to carry insurance? When wrongful death lawsuits are settled out of court due to an officer’s actions, that officer should pay, not the budgets of cities and counties where black people live and need services and resources. How about some federal legislation that defunds racism and invests in Black freedom? Tall order, I know, but since we’re on the subject …
For months, six members of the CBC have also been meeting to push forward criminal justice reform with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, a GOP committee chairman and a bipartisan group of other lawmakers, [Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the current chairman of the caucus said.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas is part of the criminal justice reform effort. She described herself as a strong ally of Black Lives Matter. As ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, Jackson Lee has been outspoken about the problems facing black communities -- including police brutality -- and she pushed for a federal investigation into the fate of Sandra Bland, a black woman who died after being locked up over a traffic stop.
It’s taking months to push forward criminal justice reform with the president? Black Lives Matter hasn’t formally requested a meeting with the president but I’m sure they could get one if they wanted it; just shut down Washington, DC. Being outspoken about police brutality and pushing for federal investigations is necessary, it’s needed, but it’s not enough. Black Lives Matter has made it their business to confront power, not simply dialogue with it. As legislators, the CBC’s job is to advocate and legislate in the best interests of their constituents. The majority of CBC legislators that were elected from predominantly or solely black districts have their mandate.
Many CBC members, including Payne and Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), said the way to obtain truer representation in government is to get out and vote. Rose and Abdullah want more engagement and face time between the caucus and black millennials, and they'd like to see lawmakers physically standing on the front lines.
Butterfield said that the CBC is a part of Black Lives Matter, just one that is pushing for change in a separate way.
"I learned when I first got to Congress we are not the minority caucus. We are the black caucus. And we will promote that everyday," Butterfield said. "We have identical values with Black Lives Matter. We understand the importance of peaceful confrontation and to confront injustice. We must join hands and do even more."
“We must … do even more.” Everyone should be in agreement on that issue.