Dear Ms. Baker,
The more I read about your life in Barbara Ransbury's biography of you, the more inspired I am by you. I can't help but wonder if so many of the insecurities about my abilities and ideas I felt growing up would have been lessened if my history teachers had talked about the work of Black woman activists, and how integral our accomplishments were to the global freedom struggle. African American women's place in history has always felt hazy to me, but the class I read your biography for is changing a lot of that. I feel what I am learning about Black woman grassroots organizers particularly has been especially powerful for me as I'm beginning to define my place in the world.
I read the chapter on your involvement in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party recently. I am less amazed by the sheer numbers you and your group were able to accumulate, than I am absolutely moved by the ideological shift you were able to rouse in the black community there. It is a powerful thing to convince an entire community that they do not need to accept anything less than political parties committed to radical change, and who cater directly to the needs of Black people.
I wanted to ask you now about the overwhelming percentage of Black votes the Democratic Party still tends to get today. Taking the most recent presidential election, I can understand voting blue to prevent a Trump presidency. However, I resonated a lot more with Black people who abstained from voting totally because of racist comments and policies made and supported by Hillary Clinton. What is your take on all of this? Is it time for a new party, or maybe something else entirely? We all know the two-party system is broken, but how can we start building something new in its place when we don't even know what that society might look like?
Sincerely,
Natalie Johnson
Dear Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that hearing my story is helping you put your own together. I am happy to be of assistance in any way I can. It is going to be you and your generation that will change the world. I just don't want to become an idol or a saint. I'm just a person. I hope that instead of being an idol as too often happens, you can use some of the things I learned in my life to help empower you and your friends.
I find it interesting that so many Black people aren't voting these days and that they resonate with you. So many people sacrificed so much to have the vote, and now some people don't care to use it. But really, we weren't fighting for the right to vote, but more for the right to equality and freedom. We thought that voting would get us there, but it seems that y'all have learned over time that voting can't fix this broken, racist system. We even had a Black president and we still had poverty, mass incarceration, and police violence.
In terms of alternatives, I think that we need to stop relying on voting and single politicians to try to fix things. The true power comes from the masses, not from an individual. We need to build a movement again where millions of people are thinking and doing rather than voting once in a while and going back home. I can't answer what the alternative to voting would look like, but I think that the masses will decide that as they build the movement. We have to have confidence in each other that we can lead and make decisions for ourselves, that we don't need single leaders to tell us what is best for us. I know my answer is vague, but an old woman like me can't tell you what is needed. I can only give you lessons from my time and let you use my wisdom to make your own decisions and empower yourselves. Let me know if there's any way I can help.
Ella