When You Get Everything Except What You Asked For

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By Rachael Drew-Kinuthia

Perhaps you’ve heard the news by now: “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” commonly known as the Black national anthem, is expected to be performed live or played before “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to each Week 1 NFL game. You may have seen Black Lives Matter being painted on streets. I love the new murals, the shows, the documentaries, the call for more art and writing by Black creatives, and yes, acceptance of writing “Black” with a capital letter. But do you know what these things have in common? They have nothing to do with saving a Black life or improving the chances of survival. Positive feelings or vibes, as much as I love them, won’t save a life. The work is still being taken up by those who can lead and get organized. Black men and women, along with many allies, are not allowing these distractions from continuing the work of building power with, and among, all communities in a movement for change.

Now we can’t enjoy improvements if the police have not implemented real changes and are still prone to disproportionately killing Black people. If we can’t slow down the numbers of people who feel compelled to call the police whenever they’re unhappy with a Black person, or questioning them about their actions, empty gestures like the aforementioned, are fleeting. The root of the problems still remain. Watching the Trump administration’s approach to police misconduct and civil rights since taking office, proves there is little hope that they will rise to the occasion. I don’t know how many people by now have watched home improvement shows, but I’ve never seen someone come in and tell a person they’ll do all cosmetic fixes, knowing there was a problem with the foundation. Or buying new light fixtures for the house, all while ignoring the faulty electrical wiring. We don’t want this great nation to ignore the structural issues.

Recently, I discovered the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral Virtual March on Washington. This was a digital “Justice Gathering” on June 20th and 21st to demand an end to systemic racism, poverty, militarism and the war economy, ecological devastation, and the corrupt moral narrative of religious nationalism. Everyone, no matter the state you live in, is affected by the consequences of high housing costs, infrastructure and transit, endemic gun violence, police brutality, and bitter political and racial divisions. Even for those who previously seemed to live in denial of any problem, the U.S. has felt less appealing. It should remain a place for all lovers of freedom to live. I felt empowered and invigorated by Rev. Dr. Bernice King, Rev. Dr. William Barber, and others in the Virtual March. No posturing took place, only finding ways to stay involved in the fight for equality and prosperity. Open house zoom calls hosted by state campaigns are coming up later in July, where anyone can learn about the organizing in their state and how to get involved.

Some of this did not begin under Trump, but all of it was accelerated by him, particularly the demonizing of political opponents. He has slurred those who disagree with him as “crazy,” “nut jobs,” “dopes,” “nasty,” “stupid,” “fake” and “sad” among other insults, and this contempt is often echoed by his followers. Now protestors have been vilified and the great movement to fight for justice viewed as some terroristic agenda. I’d encourage readers to look at comments made by Vanita Gupta, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who headed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division from 2014 to 2017. One of her more recent comments caught my attention. She said, “The Justice Department was not perfect, but we understood our mandate: to promote accountability and constitutional policing in order to build community trust.”

Yet now, for the second time in its history, this rich and prosperous nation whose standard of living was the envy of the world, this nation that stands secure from military threat by any foreign power, this nation you would think had every reason to be pleased with itself and its place in the scheme of things, chooses to attempt a form of suicide. Is it because of race? What happens when you don’t get what you ask for on your nation’s birthday? There is no returning to normal and we shouldn’t want more of the past. We have to create a new way forward. We’ve been through this too many times. Voters must do more than reject President Donald Trump in November. They need to vote against his congressional Republican “enablers” and those in the Senate too. If these enablers could find it sensible to sacrifice the nation’s dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles and convictions so easily, they don’t stand with you.

At the conclusion of that virtual event I signed into weeks ago, these words stuck with me:

“Now is the time, this is the place, and we are the people.
Let’s get to it.
Forward together, not one step back!”

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