No, not on the level that these Black nationalist want. Jena 6 is not a good example, that isn't the type of scale these dudes are interested in. The way Black America looks today is very different from how it looked 50 years. We are more diverse financially/economically, we have more Black immigrants today, and then you have different views on things like unions, religion, the role of the family,etc. Some examples...
Your statement was that black people won't get behind a united cause, I point to Jena 6 and you say it doesn't count, but you don't give any reason why.
The difference between Jena 6 and the Montgomery bus boycott was the boycott got laws changed. They both were originally grass roots movements, ultimately received national attention, and had the black leaders at the time championing the cause to the masses. The main difference, as I pointed out, was the Montgomery boycott got laws changed. Jena 6 did not because we didn't take it far enough.
Do you think Black feminists who are increasingly more and more influential in media and academia are going to co-sign Brother Polights polygamy stance?
Do you think these type of quasi-religious organizations are going to be open to Black atheists who have very little tolerance for religion being pushed on them?
How is that different from the time of Garvey and the UNIA or Malcolm X and the NOI? There's always going to be differences of opinions. There's always going to be black organizations who don't agree or get along. Look at what W.E.B. Du Bois said about Garvey:
Marcus Garvey is, without doubt, the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world. He is either a lunatic or a traitor.
and Garvey said this about Du Bois:
Du Bois purely and simply a white man's ******" and "a little Dutch, a little French, a little Negro ... a mulatto ... a monstrosity
That's the head of the UNIA and the head of the NAACP hating each other's guts on a national stage. And we all know how X felt about the black leaders at the time, at least before he took Hajj. But despite their differences, those separate movements were still able to accomplish a lot.
I could go on about how major issues surrounding the Black community won't necessarily have easy concrete solutions if somehow Black people or Black 'leadership" was more united. I don't believe I am ever going to see any Black group on the level of scale that these dudes want, but EVEN if they were able to get the numbers by some miracle the ability to come to anywhere near a consensus on various issues would be highly improbable. Because the major problems in the Black community with the exception of a handful do not have clear cut solutions.
Solutions have never been clear cut. The NOI wanted black nationalism, a separate black state within the US. Dr. King wanted integration and hoped that whites would just accept us. Garvey wanted repatriation back to Africa and attempted to make Liberia the new African capital. The idea that everyone is going to agree on everything doesn't have any sort of historical precedence.
I would rather have local groups with great organizing skills who can focus on local issues to alleviate problems. I have seen that bigger is most definitely not always better, and that when many grassroot orgs grow larger the ceremonial grandstanding and internal bickering increases as well.
Grass roots organizations are definitely needed, but there's also national, and international issues that need to be collectively addressed. It's what Garvey preached in his movement and why he urged for organization among the masses and to leave your politics, religion, country of origin, and any other issue at the door and let's focus on the thing we all have in common: our African heritage.
And honestly, I'm of the opinion that most black people who decry these movements typically are complaining just to complain. They themselves have and will do nothing to be a part of the struggle, but they're always the 1st to point out the deficiencies in others. Either do something to help, or just be quiet and let those attempting to solve problems cook.
......Like???
