This panel discussion is full of amazing insights, information and food for thought - well worth the more than an hour and a half it takes to watch. This diary offers just a taste...and here is the whole video.
Starting at 14:40 Van Jones explains why the "hope bubble burst." From his vantage point in the White House he got to see first hand the informal lines of power that block progress and maintain the status quo in terms of race (and probably everything else). The racial discourse in the media is part of the problem. He believes that we need to find other ways to tell our stories.
Rinku Sen talks about the different attitudes toward race of the right and the left. The right's core idea regarding race is color blindness. The left stresses diversity which plays out as trying to get People Of Color to take on their agenda rather than share power to shape the agenda. Both concepts miss the mark. Diversity is a good first step but equity is the final goal.
Van Jones says that we need to look back at what we did not do.
He says that racial justice voices were missing in action in the financial crisis and that resulted in a focus on preventing future meltdowns rather than addressing the current victims of the financial crisis.
During the summer when the anti-health care reform people were disrupting town hall meetings they represented a very tiny minority. They used a strategy of disruption that called more media attention to them then their numbers really warranted. According to Jones, social justice groups missed their opportunity to organize white people as well as People Of Color in large numbers to protest the racism and divisiveness of that effort.
It's not about just trying to win on election day, but every single day. And every time we're challenged, standing up.
The discussion moves on to the tension between working toward social justice and working on electoral politics.
Van Jones:
We talk about power all the time and are more afraid of power than anyone I know...because when you have power you become a real target...we've been trained not to have power, we've been trained to protest. We've been trained to critique and to be mad at massa. We have not been trained to grab the whip and put it down and run the plantation.
Wow. More about this at about 37:02.
Jones talks about the multi-pronged approach to working on racial justice: first "inside to outside" changing our attitudes, then "bottom-up" growing the grassroots then top-down.
So much good stuff here - I find myself wanting to write down everything.
Rinku Sen says that we tend to use ourselves up on elections and don't save energy for the governing. She also noted that once we get someone we love in office, we find it hard to engage with and confront our friends who make it into office.
Moderator asks how we can make sure to represent everyone in our communities - LGBT people were brought up in particular. Great discussion.
Tim Wise: So oftentimes we don't see that what are obviously race issues may also be obviously class and obviously gender are also about sexuality.
When we can see how issues affect all constituencies we can better build coalitions and support each other. That makes the movement stronger.
And on and on...
If you want to get energized, have some things put into perspective and hear some thought-provoking ideas - watch this and share it!