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Published: 27 Oct, 2005
Millions More - Please, what a bore!
By Raynard Jackson, Guest Columnist
The District Chronicles
Issue: 10/27/05
Once again Farrakhan and his radical liberal friends (Jesse Jackson, Al
Sharpton, Kweisi Mfume, etc.) have publicly embarrassed themselves in
front of the whole nation. They started with the Million Man March and
hopefully, they will end with the Millions More Movement. But, I have a
question that I hope someone can answer for me.
How can you have a "march or a movement" without making progress? I
challenge anyone to list me any progress in our community as a result
of the "march or movement." Before the latest gathering, I actually watched
the entire Million Man March from 1995. With the exception of discussing
contemporary events, there was literally no difference in rhetoric from then
to now. There were identical speakers, all ranting about white folks and
what they are not doing for Blacks. Then as now, they proposed setting up
some type of entity that would be ongoing. What ever happened to this
entity? They promised a full accounting of all monies. Have you ever seen a
report issued by a certified public accounting firm as promised?
Each event lasted well over 8 hours. But, I guarantee that if you edited out
the words "whites, slavery, racism, conspiracy, the man, poor, etc, the
program could have been reduced by half. I challenge you to tell me anything
concrete that resulted from the last gathering or speculate on
anything tangible resulting from this one.
For Farrakhan, this is a helluva opportunity to have him validated before
the world. He has an almost cult following in the Black community (among
both educated and less educated). So, Jesse, Al, Marc Morial, etc., feel
pressured to participate in Farrakhan's events to prove they are "down with
the peeps," and that they are "keeping it real." Notice who didn't
participate - Harold Ford, Barack Obama, T.D. Jakes, former congressmen Bill
Gray and Floyd Flake, just to name a few. I think this is more telling than
those who did participate.
As a result of these two gatherings, white folks view Farrakhan as the
"puppet master" that is in control of the Jesse's, Al's, etc. The sad part
is that they don't even realize they are being played. In their wildest
dreams, none of the others could draw such crowds like Farrakhan.
Do we really need to come to DC to talk about what needs to be done in
our communities? In the Wizard of Oz, Oz never gave nothing to the tin man,
scarecrow, or lion that they didn't already have. We know what needs to be
done in our communities, but our "leaders and politicians" make money and
obtain more stature by maintaining the status quo.
Then, as now, there was little opportunity for participation by the youth.
At both events, the few young speakers were given about 60 seconds. This is
a great indication as to how important the organizers viewed the youth. Do
we really need to hear anymore from Jesse, Al, Mfume and Louis? Can you tell
me the last time they said anything new? Do we really need to have Dorothy
Height roll up on us one more time to say the same thing? But, the question
is, "is the youth ready to assume the position?" I submit that the answer is
no. Stay tuned, there will be a future commentary.
Only Black folks think they will live forever. If Jesse or Al died today,
who is their heir apparent to their organizations? You guessed it, NO ONE!
As long as there is a camera or a speaking fee, these old timers will show
up. Try to get any of these people to show up for free or without a fee. Let
me know how far you get.
.
About the Author
Raynard Jackson
is president and CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, Inc., a political
consulting/government affairs firm in Washington, D.C. RJA provides
strategic advice and counsel to elected officials (White House, Congress),
corporations and entrepreneurs.