Who is the current voice of Black Americans?

[WIA20XX]

I think poor and working class people can be reached if you engage with them on the platforms they engage with. I'm not persuaded by the cynical take that they can't be reached, especially if a good faith effort hasn't been made.

You think, but I have experience in trying to do so.
I've seen fellow organizers fail as well.

We've also seen how well monied interests have failed to do so.

Do you have any evidence or additional arguments? Or is it just a feeling?

 

[ogc163]

You think, but I have experience in trying to do so.
I've seen fellow organizers fail as well.

We've also seen how well monied interests have failed to do so.

Do you have any evidence or additional arguments? Or is it just a feeling?

Your anecdotal evidence is irrelevant--unless it is closely comparable to the specific situation being discussed--, and so don't engage in the anecdotal fallacy, as it will likely lead you to be biased in looking at the situation.

 

[WIA20XX]

Your anecdotal evidence is irrelevant--unless it is closely comparable to the specific situation being discussed--, and so don't engage in the anecdotal fallacy, as it will likely lead you to be biased in looking at the situation.

Your requirements for Coates was that he couldnt' reach your poor and working class

Please show the modern day examples or data of Black leaders being able to reach the "poor and working class".

 

[NZA]

roland martin is not a boomer, just flabby

 

[mastermind]

roland martin is not a boomer, just flabby

Flabby, ascot wearing, greasy, Gen Xr

Not a boomer

 

[Remy LeBreh]

"Progessive Black Discourse"?

The way The Coli uses these words, I'm never sure what folks are trying to say.

In terms of leaders are we talking

• Democrat Blacks?
• DSA Blacks?
• Elected officials?
• Academics?
• Entertainers with good thoughts and no baggage?

And when we talk about Black America, who do we really mean?

• Them boys in Chicago (Baltimore, NYC, St. Louis, etc) - who have little regard for the social contract
• The 1/6th of Black people in the Belly of the Beast - who do their part, but can't escape the grist mill
• The 2/3rds of Black people that are in the Middle Class and Better - who are only middle class by stats, but not truly middle class.
• The Increasingly female professional Class - who is represented by Kamala, Michelle Obama, and Stacey Abrams?
• The Black folks attending Prosperity Gospel Churches?
• The BLM folks?

A lot of these different groups have different interests, and don't have the same goals.
That's largely because previous generations were able to get Reduced Racism in

• Education
• Employment
• Political Participation

Our interest no longer align, because a lot more of us have gotten what we wanted out of the system.

In terms of What Black Folks want

• Criminal Justice Reform?
• Reparations?
• Voting Rights?
• Abortion?
• "Access" to Education and Jobs?
• Economic Parity with our white "peers"?

I find these conversations to get tense because nobody wants to define the terms they use.
So conflict just happens when folks aren't even on the same page.

You raise fair points and I think you articulated better what I was trying to. It seems like an easy thought but as someone else mentioned, we are not a monolith (not that I would ever imply that). At a baseline I would ask who is the Progressive Leftist public "representative" for the working and middle class black communities. I work in academia so I'm definitely biased towards valuing the opinion of those who are well educated.
I don't want to hear from entertainers
I thought we had something with BLM until we realized the actual organization was a grift. But yeah, as a heavily left leaning, agnostic atheist Black man who works in corporate culture, I don't see anyone who looks like me publicly that seems to be legitimately pushing organization and making change through policy. Everyone with a public platform and influence seem to be covert republicans i.e. Charla and Stephen A.

 

[Hood Critic]

Farrakhan is the closest, and yes, I understand he doesn't speak for all black voices.

But he has the name recognition, has the reach across class and generational lines, and has enough respect - whether you agree or disagree with him - for participating in multiple phases of our "struggle" while still having a platform where he speaks annually.

Now that his health is deteriorating we won't see as much of him but as someone who doesn't subscribe to any particular organized religion, I feel his last few saviors day speeches have been lighter in the usual rhetoric while promoting more unity within the community.

 

[WIA20XX]

At a baseline I would ask who is the Progressive Leftist public "representative" for the working and middle class black communities.

Limiting the discussion to Progressive Leftist, and leaving the Kamala's and Stacey Abrams of the world out of consideration...

As far as I know, there isn't a single salient Black figure for the Progressive Left

Elected Officials - The closest thing to "progressive left" that's actually in the public eye is Ayanna Pressley, Jamaal Bowman, and Summer Lee. And all of them are outshined by AOC, who has to carry Bernie's water.

Audience is not paying attention - Even without that baggage, my general sense is that the average member of the Working Class and the Middle Class is not staying abreast of 3 Black Congress Persons. But it's not for lack of them not being on TV/Traditional media.

On the more street/youth level - the leaders of the street level anti-police brutality organziations have died/died under mysterious circumstances, or been marginalized by top down BLM groups.

To expand on your thread a bit, Why don't we have these people?

The old me would think there's a pipeline problem, but the current me realizes that Black America's inability to develop political leaders (grassroots or electoral) is not inherent, but the result of various forces combining to stop them.

Rosa Parks comes to mind as someone that had a lot of problems getting gainful employment after her "hey day". Similarly, DeRay McKeeson wrote about not having a place to stay either.

The BLM National Organization could have parlayed some of that grift money into setting up organization centers with living quarters for their on the ground activists...but instead they did what they did.

So part of finding and developing a progressive leftist set of leaders means

• Financing their lives
• The Financiers agreeing with the Cause
• Accountability

There's so much disinformation out there, everything is a grift and everyone is a grifter.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

there's no one agenda for black folks anymore, especially not in this internet age. you got black feminists, black LGBT, black MAGA/red pill, both sides, reparations or bust, etc. gonna be very hard to unite the black community behind 1-2 major movements as there are more and more factions of beliefs and priorities

 

[WIA20XX]

Farrakhan is the closest, and yes, I understand he doesn't speak for all black voices.

But he has the name recognition, has the reach across class and generational lines, and has enough respect - whether you agree or disagree with him - for participating in multiple phases of our "struggle" while still having a platform where he speaks annually.

Now that his health is deteriorating we won't see as much of him but as someone who doesn't subscribe to any particular organized religion, I feel his last few saviors day speeches have been lighter in the usual rhetoric while promoting more unity within the community.

IMO, the Nation should have been developing other leaders.

I see stuff like this on occasion.



And The Nation should be doing a lot more of this.

It's not just rhyming over current beats, it's the iconography that The Nation has developed.

• The suits
• The bowties
• The discipline.

Even You Know Who aka "Progressive Black #1" gave them props.

 

[Hood Critic]

IMO, the Nation should have been developing other leaders.

I see stuff like this on occasion.



And The Nation should be doing a lot more of this.

It's not just rhyming over current beats, it's the iconography that The Nation has developed.

• The suits
• The bowties
• The discipline.

Even You Know Who aka "Progressive Black #1" gave them props.

This is why I'm a fan of what 19Keys is doing.

 

[Godless Socialist CEO]

I guess there's the BLM types like Patrisse Cullors and Shaun "Talcum X" King...

Shaun King is a grifter

 

[Godless Socialist CEO]

IMO, the Nation should have been developing other leaders.

I see stuff like this on occasion.



And The Nation should be doing a lot more of this.

It's not just rhyming over current beats, it's the iconography that The Nation has developed.

• The suits
• The bowties
• The discipline.

Even You Know Who aka "Progressive Black #1" gave them props.

fukk the NOI I want no part of their beliefs. I’m a socialist btw before u start guessing wrongly my beliefs

 

[Godless Socialist CEO]

Limiting the discussion to Progressive Leftist, and leaving the Kamala's and Stacey Abrams of the world out of consideration...

As far as I know, there isn't a single salient Black figure for the Progressive Left

Elected Officials - The closest thing to "progressive left" that's actually in the public eye is Ayanna Pressley, Jamaal Bowman, and Summer Lee. And all of them are outshined by AOC, who has to carry Bernie's water.

Audience is not paying attention - Even without that baggage, my general sense is that the average member of the Working Class and the Middle Class is not staying abreast of 3 Black Congress Persons. But it's not for lack of them not being on TV/Traditional media.

On the more street/youth level - the leaders of the street level anti-police brutality organziations have died/died under mysterious circumstances, or been marginalized by top down BLM groups.

To expand on your thread a bit, Why don't we have these people?

The old me would think there's a pipeline problem, but the current me realizes that Black America's inability to develop political leaders (grassroots or electoral) is not inherent, but the result of various forces combining to stop them.

Rosa Parks comes to mind as someone that had a lot of problems getting gainful employment after her "hey day". Similarly, DeRay McKeeson wrote about not having a place to stay either.

The BLM National Organization could have parlayed some of that grift money into setting up organization centers with living quarters for their on the ground activists...but instead they did what they did.

So part of finding and developing a progressive leftist set of leaders means

• Financing their lives
• The Financiers agreeing with the Cause
• Accountability

There's so much disinformation out there, everything is a grift and everyone is a grifter.

How could you forget about cori bush who actually homeless at one point

 

[Professor Emeritus]

There isn't one. I'm not sure I have a good answer why, but the varying responses in this thread and, most especially, the way many people are responding and criteria they're using to try to undercut people do say a lot.

Jesse Jackson and Sharpton are the most recent I can think of, though their agendas were tainted by their religious ties.

The reason Jackson and Sharpton didn't hit wasn't their "religious ties".

What did you think MLK Jr. and Malcolm X had as their associations?