Civil Rights Movement needs to get moving
By James Buford
Guest Columnist
With the recent passing of the great Rosa Parks and the conclusion of the Millions More March, I took the opportunity to review the Civil Rights Movement of the past and present.
Mrs. Parks’ arrest and the 1963 March on Washington resulted in measurable change in society. Her arrest resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the destruction of Jim Crow laws separating blacks from whites. The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington resulted in the Civil Rights Agenda being placed on the forefront of the nation’s conscious and the subsequent passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There was even a National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana in 1967, which helped to spark a dramatic increase of elected blacks from 300 to 10,000 today.
Now the torch has been passed to us to advocate for ourselves in this era. Today, racism is more undercover and thrives in the nation’s political and economic undercurrent. More than just a day’s worth of speeches and a cross-country trip, the new Civil Rights Agenda needs to be focused with outlined goals. The time has come for civil rights organizations to unify as they once did with the NAACP, Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Council and others. Instead, we have black organizations clamoring for the president and the media’s attention on reactionary issues.
Not to belittle the activities of others, but I feel there is an overwhelming need for African Americans from all organizations and independents to join together for a movement towards equality.
It shouldn’t be a movement of the National Urban League or NAACP or Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, where loyalties may divide us. This national summit should include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, black Greek organizations, civil rights organizations, churched, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Black MBAs, 100 Black Men and other groups. It should be a collaboration in which black political, economic and societal powers work as one collective mass.
At this meeting, agendas can be drafted and African Americans can become informed and empowered to change their communities. After this meeting, a national executive committee will follow up with implementing the plan and creating a national fundraising campaign to finance the agenda.
What had been misunderstood about the Civil Rights Movement is that it was a grassroots effort that negotiated with the powers-that-be to become a political force to be reckoned with. It is time for us to take responsibility for our own communities, educate our own children and create our own destinies. As we saw with Hurricane Katrina, if we wait for the mainstream to take care of us we are in for a long wait. Family, it’s time to wake up.
James Buford is president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.