No other "ish" should matter, and when I say "ish," you know exactly what I mean. I woke up this morning with a slight sense of depression. It had nothing to do with the Spurs losing the NBA Finals. I don't give a "ish" about some body's new album. I could care less about what happens on some dumb reality TV show, and I don't care who's driving some rented Bugatti in a music video.
What happened these last couple days trumps all that dumb "ish."
Recently, the United States Supreme Court handed down opinions that are sure to set back women, disabled and minorities light years. Many of the gains that were made by the years of work from those who sacrificed their life so we can sit around and boast about cars, jeans, and shoes were reversed this week.
Affirmative action, a policy that's meant to make sure you can get into a college, and equalize hiring, and contracting levels is positioned to be gutted.
Voting rights, fought for by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and others like Medgar Evers, who both were gunned down for standing up for our rights, was neutered by a Supreme Court who believes that Congress, which spends most of its time playing politics, and fighting President Obama will select the districts, precincts, cities, and states that need to get clearance from the federal government before they create laws like: you must have your child support paid up before you can vote.
At first I was upset at the SCOTUS, then I started to get upset at the racist right wingers, but finally I thought about the millions of us that will wake up in the morning and go about the day like nothing happened. Hence, feeding into the mass machine of nothingness giving a free pass to those who depend on you to be more concerned about tweets and Instagram pics of your #shoegame and #clubpics. I can hear Lawrence Fishburne on the school yard shouting "wake up!!!!"
So how do we overcome this? To have your voice heard you have to be recognized, to get recognized you have to upset the stability of the landscape, to upset the stability of the landscape you have to raise your voice. It's great to use mediums like tweets and Facebook, but you can't stop there. We must vocalize and dramatize the urgency of the moment and the urgency of the matter using a combination of political organization and social advocacy. Other communities understand this, in fact, the LGBT community over the years utilized unrelenting protest, demonstration and political advocacy by that, they have furthered their struggle for equality. Also communities across the world have used the same playbook that set in motion the Arab Spring.
If we will take back our rights, and fight to level the playing field, we must get up and return to the streets. Not in violence and mayhem, but in the spirit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and countless other civil rights soldiers that gave their all.
So where do you start? Gandhi said "be the change that you want to see." It all starts with you and on August 24, 2013 we will march in the same steps of where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of people marched. They marched for voting rights and civil rights. Meanwhile, 50 years later, we have to continue that struggle and we have to continue that fight. To join the movement got to: www.nationalactionnetwork.net register and sign up for the march! Get busy, and don't let them turn back the clock on your watch. Click the links to follow Rev. Charles Williams II on Facebook or Twitter.