DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
When President-elect Joe Biden addressed supporters last week to accept the highest office in the land, he took a moment to thank one specific group of Americans.
“When this campaign was at its lowest, the African American community stood up again for me,” Biden said. “They always have my back, and I’ll have yours.”
Leading Black Lives Matter activists plan to hold him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to that I.O.U. with a vengeance.
In a tumultuous election year, one that both gave rise to a new civil rights movement in response to the death of George Floyd and saw Black Americans suffer disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic and staggeringly high unemployment, Black Lives Matter activists are asking the new administration to make Black matters paramount.
“For decades, Black people have shown up time and time again for a country that consistently tells us that our lives don’t matter,” said Mary Hooks, a founding member of Black Lives Matter Atlanta and co-director of Southerners on New Ground, a social justice advocacy organization. “Beyond a cheap thank you, we need this administration to be bold and unapologetic about paying that debt through enacting policy changes.”
Mary Hooks, with black T-shirt, speaks in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Hooks is a key leader in the city's Black Lives Matter chapter.
After Biden accepted the presidency, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors wrote an open letter to Biden and Harris saying “we want something for our vote” and asked for an immediate meeting.
To date, no meeting has been set, which is concerning, said Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and co-director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, a national organizing arm of the organization.
“Hopefully this is just a delay,” said Abdullah, who also is a professor of Pan-African studies at California State University, Los Angeles. “We need to be sure this administration realizes that Black people voted out Donald Trump. Because of us, we saw a massive turnout and a rejection of blatant racism.”
The degree to which the incoming administration works with groups such as Black Lives Matter will help answer a larger unresolved question: how much influence will the progressive arm of the Democratic party have over a career centrist such as Biden and Harris, a former California attorney general, during the biggest reckoning on civil rights and racism since the 1960s?
While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a milestone achievement anchored by Martin Luther King, Jr., that landmark legislation far from erased the hurdles facing Black Americans, whose educational and economic opportunities continue to be stymied by legacies of slavery and systemic racism that surfaced in the form of redlining, redistricting and other restrictive measures.
Biden has promised to assemble a cabinet that includes voices from across the Democratic spectrum. Despite charges by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that Biden and Harris will "defund, dismantle, and dissolve police departments," the Democratic leaders do not support defunding the police. It remains to be seen how Biden and his team will handle other demands from Black leaders.
Biden should 'acknowledge' BLM
Biden’s acceptance speech nod to Black voters and his choice of vice presidents — Harris being the first woman and first Black and South Asian American in the position — suggest the incoming president is aware he has debts to pay, says Todd Boyd, the Katherine and Frank Price endowed chair for the study of race and popular culture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“There seems to be a consciousness on Biden’s part that African Americans had a lot to do with him being victorious,” said Boyd. “As to whether Black Lives Matter in particular has leverage, well, they’re not a huge lobbying group like the National Rifle Association. But that doesn’t mean they don’t get acknowledged.”
It is not an overstatement to say that Biden's campaign was brought back from the dead by a March primary victory in South Carolina fueled by the work of South Carolina Congressman and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, who is Black and was an organizer during the 1960s civil rights movement. That endorsement soon had a snowball effect.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, right, and The Rev. Al Sharpton, left, listen to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., speak Feb. 26, at the National Action Network South Carolina Ministers' Breakfast, (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)More
Although Trump gained some ground with Black male voters this election, African Americans in crucial swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and recount-poised Georgia were instrumental in delivering the White House to Democrats.
In return, Black activists say, the winning ticket must take immediate action on matters such as health care, housing, education and, perhaps most paramount, police reform.
A Biden administration could provide a swift change in how law enforcement tactics are discussed across the nation. Trump has repeatedly voiced support for officers while calling those protesting for change "left-wing mobs," a stark contrast to the previous Obama administration where Biden served as vice president.
“When this campaign was at its lowest, the African American community stood up again for me,” Biden said. “They always have my back, and I’ll have yours.”
Leading Black Lives Matter activists plan to hold him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to that I.O.U. with a vengeance.
In a tumultuous election year, one that both gave rise to a new civil rights movement in response to the death of George Floyd and saw Black Americans suffer disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic and staggeringly high unemployment, Black Lives Matter activists are asking the new administration to make Black matters paramount.
“For decades, Black people have shown up time and time again for a country that consistently tells us that our lives don’t matter,” said Mary Hooks, a founding member of Black Lives Matter Atlanta and co-director of Southerners on New Ground, a social justice advocacy organization. “Beyond a cheap thank you, we need this administration to be bold and unapologetic about paying that debt through enacting policy changes.”
Mary Hooks, with black T-shirt, speaks in front of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Hooks is a key leader in the city's Black Lives Matter chapter.
After Biden accepted the presidency, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors wrote an open letter to Biden and Harris saying “we want something for our vote” and asked for an immediate meeting.
To date, no meeting has been set, which is concerning, said Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and co-director of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, a national organizing arm of the organization.
“Hopefully this is just a delay,” said Abdullah, who also is a professor of Pan-African studies at California State University, Los Angeles. “We need to be sure this administration realizes that Black people voted out Donald Trump. Because of us, we saw a massive turnout and a rejection of blatant racism.”
The degree to which the incoming administration works with groups such as Black Lives Matter will help answer a larger unresolved question: how much influence will the progressive arm of the Democratic party have over a career centrist such as Biden and Harris, a former California attorney general, during the biggest reckoning on civil rights and racism since the 1960s?
While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a milestone achievement anchored by Martin Luther King, Jr., that landmark legislation far from erased the hurdles facing Black Americans, whose educational and economic opportunities continue to be stymied by legacies of slavery and systemic racism that surfaced in the form of redlining, redistricting and other restrictive measures.
Biden has promised to assemble a cabinet that includes voices from across the Democratic spectrum. Despite charges by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that Biden and Harris will "defund, dismantle, and dissolve police departments," the Democratic leaders do not support defunding the police. It remains to be seen how Biden and his team will handle other demands from Black leaders.
Biden should 'acknowledge' BLM
Biden’s acceptance speech nod to Black voters and his choice of vice presidents — Harris being the first woman and first Black and South Asian American in the position — suggest the incoming president is aware he has debts to pay, says Todd Boyd, the Katherine and Frank Price endowed chair for the study of race and popular culture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“There seems to be a consciousness on Biden’s part that African Americans had a lot to do with him being victorious,” said Boyd. “As to whether Black Lives Matter in particular has leverage, well, they’re not a huge lobbying group like the National Rifle Association. But that doesn’t mean they don’t get acknowledged.”
It is not an overstatement to say that Biden's campaign was brought back from the dead by a March primary victory in South Carolina fueled by the work of South Carolina Congressman and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, who is Black and was an organizer during the 1960s civil rights movement. That endorsement soon had a snowball effect.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, right, and The Rev. Al Sharpton, left, listen to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., speak Feb. 26, at the National Action Network South Carolina Ministers' Breakfast, (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)More
Although Trump gained some ground with Black male voters this election, African Americans in crucial swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and recount-poised Georgia were instrumental in delivering the White House to Democrats.
In return, Black activists say, the winning ticket must take immediate action on matters such as health care, housing, education and, perhaps most paramount, police reform.
A Biden administration could provide a swift change in how law enforcement tactics are discussed across the nation. Trump has repeatedly voiced support for officers while calling those protesting for change "left-wing mobs," a stark contrast to the previous Obama administration where Biden served as vice president.