Is Black Activism in Shift?

By DON ROLLINS

The only constant is change — a truism as applicable to the world of Black activism in America as any. Maybe even more so.

This reality was driven home once again in July as an iconic Black champion bowed to time, and a modern day firebrand for reform vowed his return to the halls of power. Taken together they may illustrate a shift not only in the way Black leaders leaders lead, but progressive leadership itself.

Take a deep Google dive into the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and be prepared for praise, disdain but little apathy. This is no mystery, for the sometimes egoistic Jackson has been front and center for some of the most momentous civil and human rights struggles of this and the last century. In short, he’s marched, organized, fundraised, politicked, lobbied, preached and generally stormed his way into the conscience of a nation far too satisfied with itself.

But now Jesse Jackson looks and sounds tired. At 81, and in poor health, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago, he announced July 16 he would be “pivoting” (his word) from his work with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the organization he founded more than 50 years ago to advance educational and economic parity. Jackson insisted in the announcement he is not retiring from his activism, only redirecting his focus.

Just days before (and on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ignominious reversal of affirmative action in college admissions) former US congressperson Mondaire Jones (D-NY) held an announcement session of his own: He is entering the race for his old job.

At 34, Jones was among the youngest members of Congress, and one of the first openly gay Black persons elected to that body. He was also among the most outspoken, drawing blistering criticism from conservatives and some progressives for his stance on expanding the Court to at least 11 members: “We are in an unprecedented moment in American history where there is now a hyper-partisan supermajority on the Supreme Court that is hostile to democracy itself. And so court expansion must be part of the response to that if we are to save our democracy.” (NPR interview, spring 2021)

The timing of these two announcements may portend more than at first glance; for today’s Black activism is significantly less “centralized” in a small cadre of strong representative voices (i.e. Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chisholm, MLK, Malcolm) yet when measured in terms of net influence may be at an all-time zenith. In other words perhaps there has been a shift from what columnist Clarence Page references as the “Black Moses” model of Black activism, to one based on Black awareness and influence in places of significant, sustainable power once reserved for the privileged: legislative bodies, boardrooms, universities, investment firms, tech companies, environmental think tanks, banks, etc.

If the juxtaposition posed by two strong Black activists — the one a weary and worthy icon, the other a laser-focused office seeker — indeed points to a shift in antiracism paradigms, there is something afoot in the way progressive Americans, Black and non measure hard won gains. A movement without heart is unsustainable, but one without a vigilant checking of the pulse tells us little about how we’re actually doing. And how far we have yet to go.

Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, August 15, 2023

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