Below is a commentary published by Kinetics -- Faith in Motion that suggests the “blogosphere has supplanted traditional civil rights organizations. . .”
At the risk of attack, I will advise caution in rushing to this conclusion. It is true that grassroots “viral communications” via the Internet sparked a tremendous response to the issue that was largely ignored by the mainstream media. I agree that this informal reaction -- as in the Greensboro sit-ins that helped to spark the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s – is a demonstration of how powerful we can be when mobilized in our self-interests. To truly supplant the day to day work in the trenches that these organizations have been doing for decades, these modern-day clarion calls have to be converted to sustained efforts.
We have shown that we can respond to “lightning.” We can react like lightning rods to Bill Cosby’s comments, to the Rodney King and O.J. Simpson trials. My question is this, Can we sustain an effort to support the economic initiatives of Black entrepreneurs – every day? Can we sustain the efforts of parents to keep their children in school and raise the level of performance – in every school? Can we sustain the outcry in Newark, NJ to rid our neighborhoods of crime and drugs – every day? Can we mobilize the political power in our hands and vote for Black politicians that are committed to our issues – in every election?
Can we be more that reactionaries? What are the thousands of protesters going to do – every day – when they return to their communities from Jena, LA? Michael Baisden will return to his risqué radio show for “grown and sexy” folks. Mos Def will return to rapping. Jesse and Al will continue what they do. The NAACP, Urban League, SCLC will all return to fighting for us every day. What will you do – wait for the next protest?
Look around your communities, identify grassroots initiatives, and think about – no DO SOMETHING – what you can do in our self-interests – every day!
Has the emergence of a progressive African American blogosphere supplanted traditional civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and Operation Push? And have critical bloggers and internet organizers proven fatal to the "HNIC Model" that often signifies black political action in the mass media? Yes, according to Howard Witt, senior correspondent of the Chicago Tribune.
In his recent article (Blogs Help Drive Jena Protest), Witt argues that African American bloggers and hip-hop websites have largely animated today's organized protest in Jena, while Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III have been forced to scramble just to keep up. Moreover, bloggers have served as a watchdog over groups such as the NAACP to ensure that any money raised goes directly to the Jena defense fund and not deposited into organizational coffers. According to Witt, this new "viral" mode of disseminating information and mass organizing marks a generational shift from big name civil rights figures to a grass roots collective.
Witt's claims may be true in part -- particularly due to the rise of advanced media technologies such as MySpace, Facebook and the emergence of blogging as a critical and credible means of publishing among younger scholars, activists and public intellectuals has changed the game. But I think it is important to remember that youth have always been at the forefront of struggle and social change in America.
It was not Walter White, Roy Wilkins (NAACP), and James Farmer (CORE) organizing and leading mass demonstrations. But young folks like Diane Nash, John Lewis, Prathia Hall and a young Jesse Jackson. The Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Albany campaign and many other civil rights events were initiated by members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee while Martin Luther King, Jr and members of the SCLC scrambled to keep up. It was the youth who inspired and animated the civil rights movement not "representative men."
So is this really a new phenomenon? Or just another example of "wayward and undisciplined youth" having to show their elders the way?
We have shown that we can mobilize thousands for lightning rod issues. Let's do what we can to sustain the effort to acti in our self interests every day.
Roger Madison
CEO, iZania
