I spent yesterday in Washington, DC, where the the fiftieth anniversary of the March On Washington was being commemorated. And unsurprisingly it was a big disappointment, just as I expected it would be. It may seem harsh, but to think that a day packed with pretty speeches by a diverse array of powerful elites, like Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic representatives Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer (to name a few), would appropriately symbolize the legacy of Dr. King or the civil rights movement is borderline delusional.
Sure, there were plenty of exceptional speakers, my favorite being 9-year-old Asean Johnson, who’s been giving Rahm Emmanuel and co. hell for the racist school closures in Chicago. But, as Dave Zirin explains in an excellent summary of yesterday’s disappointments, these exceptional individuals were allotted just seconds to speak, barely enough time to challenge the establishment. In fact, Asean was cut off by Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, when he attempted to go off script. I wasn’t the only one who heard Asean say, “Wait, I ain’t done,” when she snatched the microphone away while patting him on the back and smiling as if interacting with a pet.
“Based upon the speeches during the main portion of today’s events there can be little doubt that the Dr. King who was murdered in Memphis in 1968 would not have been allowed to speak at this fiftieth-anniversary commemoration of his life,” says Zirin. Who can argue with that?
It’s no secret that the civil rights leaders who organized and spoke at the March On Washington in 1963 were heavily monitored (and harassed) by the FBI both during the march and throughout their lives. This made it excruciatingly painful to watch big name speakers who moonlight as NSA cheerleaders celebrate the legacy of those who were once the surveillance state’s most sought after targets.
When President Obama praises the civil rights movement and the March On Washington in his speech later this week, I wonder if in the back of his mind he’ll recognize the irony that as the nation’s first black president he is responsible for the largest expansion of NSA surveillence in US history. Jelani Cobb at the New Yorker said it best: “The moral arc of the universe is long, and it bends toward irony.”
Still, there were positive aspects of yesterday’s celebrations. For me, it was hearing Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an activist and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, speak live at Busboys and Poets. I didn’t know Taylor before yesterday, but her speech resonated and even gave me chills. She’s perhaps the most powerful speaker on racial inequality I’ve ever heard. You can check out her speech below. The beginning is cut off, but it’s still worth listening to.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T95QeNDrgcU&start=2436]
It would be hard to witness and listen to so much hypocrisy in one place. Obama represents the cynical co-optng of the civil rights movement rather than it’s culmination, unfortunately.
August 25, 2013 at 2:57 pmIt would be hard to witness and listen to so much hypocrisy in one place. Obama represents the cynical co-optng of the civil rights movement rather than it’s culmination, unfortunately.
August 25, 2013 at 2:57 pmRania:
Same reaction as yours. Luckily, I attended the more relevant commemoration at the Busboys and Poets restaurant (where I finally got to meet Dave Zirin). All the speakers were exceptional and actually (thought not stridently) pointed out what was not being spoken about at the “official” march.
As the day included a quick saunter through the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, the afternoon’s delights made up for the barely lukewarm experience of the morning.
August 25, 2013 at 10:22 pmAt the Busboys’ event Cornel West mentioned Stokely Carmichael. You may be interested in Lenni Brenner’s recollections of Carmichael http://youtu.be/kgGrJ2h6ta0
Stanley Heller
http://www.TheStruggle.org
August 26, 2013 at 12:55 pm