playing politics

How many of us have heard, heard of, or seen Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton lecture on electoral politics, lobbying, or on the reforming of state policies concerning the electoral college? I don’t mean complain about. I mean instruction on how to use and control. I haven’t, and I think it’s because they haven’t and that’s one or our major problems. How can we seriously run for office when the people we are looking to for support seriously don’t know what they’re doing?  Pride aside, as a people African Americans have to admit we are ignorant of how politics work. I don’t mean the “what” happens. I mean the “how” it happens. Until we master the “how” we will always be playing politics instead of participating. Participating is having a say and influence in the creating, carrying out, and interpretation of law and policies.  Playing is finding out after laws and policies are shaped and then marching, rallying, and protesting when you are harmed by them or find out they will negatively affect you. We play at politics.

            This leads me to a conversation where a guy told me, it’s not about who is in office it’s about the people who influence them; as if the people who can influence an elected official are not based on whom that official is and what their allegiances are. I said that protest rallies, when they are your only political process, are not politicking they are begging. To which an organizer said, I disagree rallying is effective and it is a political process. Let me clarify, people hold protest rallies when they have been totally ignored by system or have no other recourse. You’ve never seen the democratic or republican parties hold protest rallies. That’s because they control what’s going on, they don’t have to rally. My main problem with rallying is, you need a victim or to be at the end of your political rope for rallying to work and to have a purpose. Absent of an ineffective or unjust political process what would be the need to protest or rally?

            I’m tired of waiting to be victimized to organize and exercise our right to free speech and economic choice. Let’s use over voices before we are bound and duct taped. Let’s exercise our economic muscle and influence to increase our options and possibilities instead of waiting to use it to limit our pain and liabilities. It’s a nice thing to know that we can overcome adversity. It’s a better thing to know we can put ourselves in a position where we most likely won’t have to. Although I think this is basic common sense, as a mentor once said around 1990 common sense ain’t so common any more.