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The Black Agenda
- By Deric Muhammad
- Published 03/1/2010
- Editorial and Opinion
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Deric Muhammad
Deric Muhammad is a Houston-based community activist who blogs at http://www.askbroderic.blogspot.com.
Participation in the political process without a unified, decided
agenda is political suicide for any community seeking to have its
legitimate needs and aspirations met.
The potential power of the Black vote in American politics has been a factor for the past 40 plus years that no individual seeking political office can ignore. That power was reestablished with the election of President Barack Obama in 2008.
It was easy for Black youth to dive headfirst into the electoral process at that time. They were energized by the thought of electing this country’s first Black president. Electing Obama was at the top of the Black agenda, Black folks said “we get it” and made a sprint for the polls. We changed the world forever when we decided to speak with one voice.
But, recently some have become disgruntled, claiming that the president is not addressing the needs of the Black community. How can we know if Obama, or any other politician for that matter, is truly loyal to the Black agenda if it doesn’t exist?
And what about those politicians, Black and other, who turned their backs on the Black community when electing Obama was at the top of the agenda? Nothing. But what happens when politicians turn a deaf ear to the agenda of the Jewish community? The Jewish community is the most respected community in electoral politics, bar none. They may argue behind closed doors, but they speak with one voice in public. They have a lion-like lobby in Washington D.C. with a pretty clear agenda and they take no shorts when holding elected officials accountable when they deviate from their community’s agenda. We can learn from this.
What we as a people must do is force our leadership to sit down in a back room somewhere and develop a local, state and a national agenda. This agenda must be based on a professionally executed needs assessment. This is critical for survival and success. Once the best and brightest among us have crafted and agenda it must be vetted by the people.
When this political agenda is finalized it must be passed on to all elected officials including those seeking public office. And whenever one strays or purposely deviates from that agenda we as a people must use our political strength to remove that person from office; for he or she at that time has made a conscious decision to “not” be our representative. Any politician who is an enemy of the Black agenda, then becomes an enemy of the Black vote.
The potential power of the Black vote in American politics has been a factor for the past 40 plus years that no individual seeking political office can ignore. That power was reestablished with the election of President Barack Obama in 2008.
It was easy for Black youth to dive headfirst into the electoral process at that time. They were energized by the thought of electing this country’s first Black president. Electing Obama was at the top of the Black agenda, Black folks said “we get it” and made a sprint for the polls. We changed the world forever when we decided to speak with one voice.
But, recently some have become disgruntled, claiming that the president is not addressing the needs of the Black community. How can we know if Obama, or any other politician for that matter, is truly loyal to the Black agenda if it doesn’t exist?
And what about those politicians, Black and other, who turned their backs on the Black community when electing Obama was at the top of the agenda? Nothing. But what happens when politicians turn a deaf ear to the agenda of the Jewish community? The Jewish community is the most respected community in electoral politics, bar none. They may argue behind closed doors, but they speak with one voice in public. They have a lion-like lobby in Washington D.C. with a pretty clear agenda and they take no shorts when holding elected officials accountable when they deviate from their community’s agenda. We can learn from this.
What we as a people must do is force our leadership to sit down in a back room somewhere and develop a local, state and a national agenda. This agenda must be based on a professionally executed needs assessment. This is critical for survival and success. Once the best and brightest among us have crafted and agenda it must be vetted by the people.
When this political agenda is finalized it must be passed on to all elected officials including those seeking public office. And whenever one strays or purposely deviates from that agenda we as a people must use our political strength to remove that person from office; for he or she at that time has made a conscious decision to “not” be our representative. Any politician who is an enemy of the Black agenda, then becomes an enemy of the Black vote.