On Election Day, Amiri Baraka sent out an email with
the charge for the day: …”get rid of the Republican
Majority. If you’re getting yr butt whipped, you got to disrupt
that butt whipping…”
My response was simply an affirmation of “Ashe!”
I’m not in love with dem Dems but any organizer
worth his or her salt understands the degrees of separation between
the Democrats and the Republicans. It’s about under which
regime will you have the better organizing conditions.
Mind you, I was a lil giddy the day after—the
day after the GOP got its righteous butt whipping—but only
for a spell. Reality quickly sunk in as I thought about the character
of the Democrats.
John Kerry tried to assert himself in the waning
days of the campaign and got smacked back in line. He wasn’t
allowed out of his cage for the rest of the campaign.
Charlie Rangel fired on President Hugo Chavez for
talking about his President Bush.
Hillary is dodging the raindrops of criticism against
her position on the Iraqi war.
They are a pitiful lot for sure. But where is the
plan of radicals to build our own power base? Where is our radical
vision for the different world we say is possible? Where is our
agenda to change the quality of life for the majority of working
class and poor people in this country who are on a slippery slope?
Radicals of all hues need to heighten the discussion
about political strategy and the kind of organization that we need
to carry it out. That’s the kind of debate that I’d
like to see us engaging in seriously before we get bounced in the
next election.
BC Editorial Board member, Jamala
Rogers, is the leader of the Organization
for Black Struggle in St. Louis and the Black
Radical Congress National Organizer. Click
here to contact Ms. Rogers. |