We Cannot Walk Alone
I will truly be saddened when the term of President Barack Obama, the nation’s first president of African descent, is over this coming January. I am proud that in my lifetime I had the opportunity to elect a President who not only looks like me but who looks like my children, who are also bi-racial. I believe, as a progressive, that he has accomplished a lot as President, despite overwhelming obstacles, which include the inheritance of a failing economy, a worldwide recession, leading a two-front war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a hostile Congress that gave birth to an even more hostile insurgency movement, whose only aim during his governance was (and is) to stop his agenda at every turn.
Many of you may disagree with my assessment of the Obama presidency, which is perfectly fine. It is also completely welcomed in a country of free ideas and opinions. If the reasons for your disagreement are based purely on philosophical, ideological, and/or political reasons, this is why we hold elections and I support your right to disagree. If, however, your disagreement comes from a place of entitlement and privilege that manifests itself into a hateful, vitriolic, ugly discourse that is devoid of decency and is borderline the disgusting rhetoric of racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, then this is where you and I have a problem. The right to disagree should not intersect with a need to be disagreeable.
I come to this place with thoughts of the many significant events from our past that shape not only my experience as an American but the experiences of all of us as Americans. These events include the March on Washington, which took place on August 28, 1963, some 53 years ago. Iconic leader Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered an oration for the ages, his “I Have a Dream” speech.
We are familiar with many of the passages from this historic speech but one passage that stands out for me is where he says:
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
These words can be lifted, verbatim, and transported six decades forward to describe the present day Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. BLM is a movement born out of a desire to eliminate the distrust between the police community and African Americans, reach detente, understanding, and agreement on how to move forward, together, as brothers and sisters in common step and not in conflict.
It may also apply to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests happening in Standing Rock, North Dakota, and the more than 1.3 million Facebook followers recently who stood in solidarity with their Sioux sisters and brothers against aggressive tactics by law enforcement to shut down free speech and violate basic privacy protections through the use of Facebook as a tracking and identification tool.
Have we just forgotten that it was social media that served as a catalyst for the 2010 Arab Spring uprisings? That it was social media that sowed the seeds of revolution and brought about the beginning of some change to the repressive regimes throughout the Arab world (although Tunisia is the only country experiencing the fruits of transition to a quasi democratic society)? The words Dr. King uttered in 1963 are ever so prescient today. In a civilization, local and global, we simply cannot walk alone.
We are also shaped by the events that took place on March 7, 1965, 51 years ago, known as Bloody Sunday or simply the March on Selma. The haunting, iconic image of Alabama state troopers wildly swinging billy clubs at the heads of peaceful protesters crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge are a disgusting reminder of a time not too long ago and for many of us very much a part of the world we live in today.
The violent response to a peaceful assembly stands out as shameful evidence of our inhumanity toward each other, and to our own interests. The response stands out in particular when compared to the acquittal of the “Bundy 7,” who threatened to engage in violent, armed insurrection against the United States. The main gripes of these so-called brave “freedom fighters” pail in comparison to those of the marchers beaten on the Pettus Bridge 51 years ago. And yet they didn’t feel any of the violent repression of their act of protest as those marching on the bridge felt.
Future congressman John Lewis, one of the march’s organizers and head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, lay underneath violent blows to the head and one more delivered by the same trooper, as he attempted to stand up. The image, captured for all-time, invokes a stomach turning, visceral reaction of anger, sadness, and outrage.
To heard words such as “move back, move back, you niggers, disperse,” volleyed by one group of Americans, those in a position of power and influence, against another peaceful, respectful, and vulnerable group of Americans is appalling. We need to learn to live together in a society. We simply cannot walk alone.
Finally, I think about the bravery of a young little girl named Ruby Bridges. Ruby, who recently turned 62, was the subject of a famous illustration by Norman Rockwell:
Ruby was six-years old and about to attend the first grade in New Orleans. A rather innocuous event for many of us during our formative years. This particular day, however, November 14, 1960, 56 years ago, was significant for all of us Americans. Ruby, walking in stride between her three escorts who were U.S. Federal Marshals, was a profile in courage, bravery, and strength among adults, grown men and women, who hurled filthy, degrading insults and epithets, rotting vegetables, and stones at a six-year old. A six-year old who is my six-year old, your six-year old, our six-year old. Shameful.
Black people, brown people, dark people, white people, are not each other’s enemies in this country. And yet the rhetoric of this current campaign season has reopened old wounds, pitting us versus them in an ultimate battle for supremacy and control. We need to understand that in the 240 year history of this country, our experiences are shared ones, those that are good as much as those that are bad and tragic.
The sin of slavery, the oppression of native peoples (even today as we seek to dishonor the 1850 Sioux treaties in favor of a pipeline in Standing Rock), lynching, suffrage and the rights of women to participate, vote, work, receive equal pay and equal say, and to control their bodies, are as much a thread in the American fabric as is our efforts in two great wars of the last century and the technological advances that have set this nation apart from others in the world. We don’t need to make an already great America; we need to make a better America for all of her children.
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The movie about the story of Mildred and Richard Loving titled simply “Loving,” is scheduled to open nationwide in theaters this November. Already the subject of critical acclaim and seen as an Oscar contender, the story being told is one of the triumph of love over ignorance, prejudice, racism, and fear. If fifty years ago it would have been deemed illegal for blacks and whites to cohabit and procreate, the U.S. Navy would be less one sailor in my middle son. Because we cannot walk alone.
I will be first in line to see the movie. I will no doubt be balling my eyes out like a baby. I am sure that I will not be alone.
