Civil Rights: The spirit of freedom, In an exclusive with Essence, Network's National Executive Director Tamika D. Mallory makes a passionate call to reignite the fire for social justice.
In 1963 we faced an uphill battle for the right to vote. We couldn't sit at the front of the bus and had to drink out of separate water fountains. And our schools and public spaces were still largely segregated. I wasn't alive on August 28, 1963, when hundreds of thousands joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the nation's capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. That historic day brought both Blacks and Whites together on the side of justice. At a time when we were still disenfranchised at the polls, facing discrimination in employment and housing, and suffering from unfair pay and unequal access to just about everything, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was one of the largest rallies ever convened. With no Internet, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail or cell phones to get the word out, the organizers did whatever it took to bring the marchers to Washington, D.C. In the spirit of that historic day, and in light of the many challenges we still face as women and as people of color, I say it's time to do it all again.
Our children are hurting and when they suffer, we all suffer. The epidemic of gun violence is tearing our communities apart, as is the high rate of incarceration. Our young men are constantly profiled, harassed and endangered by programs like the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices and the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida. And our young women are far too comfortable being called b--ches and h--s in the name of entertainment. Fifty years ago we were called out of our name by the segregationists. Today the segregationists. Today the segregationists pay us to call ourselves out.
In 1963 Josephine Baker spoke at the March on Washington. She was there to introduce several Negro Women Fighters for Freedom. Today women of color are especially missing from the boardroom, our reproductive rights are under attack and the pay gap is still a chasm. We must understand that while we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of Dr. King's historic dream, we must raise our voices around an entirely new dream.
Whenever I think about the Tea Party Movement, I'm amazed at how definitively they were able to influence the conversation to their benefit by gathering in huge numbers and shifting policy in their favor by voting their members into office. We need to do the same around our issues of concern. If folks made it to the March in 1963, we have no excuse not to show up today.
You may have two cell phones, a nice ride and a little bit of money, and think things are good. You may watch celebrities or reality TV stars flaunt their success, and somehow think things are straight. I'm here to say, We are not good! We still don't own enough businesses (even in our own communities); we still have unequal schools and unequal access to higher education; we're subject to higher mortgage rates; we're often the last ones hired and the first ones fired, and the list goes on. Dr. King's dream of our children being judged on the content of our character and not by the color of our skin still hasn't been fully realized. The reality is, even though we have made some obvious gains, the struggle continues.
We may not be confronting actual water hoses or bulldogs, or dealing with lynchings and Whites Only signs. But today the guns in our community are even deadlier than the water hoses; we face the bulldog of unequal education; the lynching is police brutality, and the water fountains are corporate boardrooms. Some may think we are too complacent to organize and continue Dr. King's legacy, but I know we still have the fire—it just needs to be ignited. Come light a flame with me.
In 1963 we faced an uphill battle for the right to vote. We couldn't sit at the front of the bus and had to drink out of separate water fountains. And our schools and public spaces were still largely segregated. I wasn't alive on August 28, 1963, when hundreds of thousands joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the nation's capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. That historic day brought both Blacks and Whites together on the side of justice. At a time when we were still disenfranchised at the polls, facing discrimination in employment and housing, and suffering from unfair pay and unequal access to just about everything, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was one of the largest rallies ever convened. With no Internet, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail or cell phones to get the word out, the organizers did whatever it took to bring the marchers to Washington, D.C. In the spirit of that historic day, and in light of the many challenges we still face as women and as people of color, I say it's time to do it all again.
In 1963 Josephine Baker spoke at the March on Washington. She was there to introduce several Negro Women Fighters for Freedom. Today women of color are especially missing from the boardroom, our reproductive rights are under attack and the pay gap is still a chasm. We must understand that while we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of Dr. King's historic dream, we must raise our voices around an entirely new dream.
Whenever I think about the Tea Party Movement, I'm amazed at how definitively they were able to influence the conversation to their benefit by gathering in huge numbers and shifting policy in their favor by voting their members into office. We need to do the same around our issues of concern. If folks made it to the March in 1963, we have no excuse not to show up today.
You may have two cell phones, a nice ride and a little bit of money, and think things are good. You may watch celebrities or reality TV stars flaunt their success, and somehow think things are straight. I'm here to say, We are not good! We still don't own enough businesses (even in our own communities); we still have unequal schools and unequal access to higher education; we're subject to higher mortgage rates; we're often the last ones hired and the first ones fired, and the list goes on. Dr. King's dream of our children being judged on the content of our character and not by the color of our skin still hasn't been fully realized. The reality is, even though we have made some obvious gains, the struggle continues.
We may not be confronting actual water hoses or bulldogs, or dealing with lynchings and Whites Only signs. But today the guns in our community are even deadlier than the water hoses; we face the bulldog of unequal education; the lynching is police brutality, and the water fountains are corporate boardrooms. Some may think we are too complacent to organize and continue Dr. King's legacy, but I know we still have the fire—it just needs to be ignited. Come light a flame with me.
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