GOTV: "Souls to the Polls"
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
I know that there are people who are critical of certain churches and religious groups - I've made some of those criticisms myself. I can never forget however, that the backbone of the black community since before the end of slavery has been the black church, moreso than any other institution, and that many of our leaders have been preachers, whether they were Sojourner Truth, or MLK Jr., or Malcolm X.
With the onslaught of repressive voter disenfranchisement and suppression legislation comes the black community response - spearheaded by both churches and civil rights organizations. Souls to the Polls is not just taking place in Florida, it's happening in our communities across the US.
Kossak Scandalous One had a great diary on recent efforts, MASSIVE "Souls to the Polls" Drive Planned for Sunday in Florida, and Slate had this piece: The Fraud That Failed: How the GOP’s voter suppression laws may have inadvertently cost them Florida.
The plan, coordinated by at least 150 black pastors, is called “Operation Lemonade.” On Wednesday, I visited New Birth, parking near the van that promotes his radio talk show, and finding Curry’s office in the sprawling, 10-year-old gated complex. Outside the chapel, there’s a signed message from President Obama congratulating Curry on the church’s anniversary. Inside Curry’s office, there are multiple pictures commemorating his meetings with Sharpton and with Bill Clinton, next to his lifetime membership plaque from the NAACP, and a picture from election night 2008. That year, churches got two whole weeks to turn out the early vote. This year they get one.
I love the "Operation Lemonade" name, which is featured in this articles headline, "
African-American clergy say blacks were handed a ‘lemon’ when the GOP Legislature shortened early voting days. So they say they’ll make lemonade"
Souls to the Polls efforts are taking place in Ohio, and in Maryland as part of the campaign to support marriage equality. They have a downloadable toolkit.
Democracy NC is also moving souls to the polls. I like this quote from their website:
"The call to promote justice, compassion, and equality is one shared across many religions faiths. Engaging people of faith in the civic life of their communities helps fulfill that call."
Let my People Vote, a voter engagement movement led by African American and Latino congregations is using this powerful image, and has a resource kit on their website.
Let us know about the efforts in your area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every time there has been an advance in American race relations, there has been a backlash. The Grio: Black America, Barack Obama, and the racial backlash.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the midst of the rancor, there is consensus on one thing: Barack Obama will win the black vote.
According to an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released in August, Romney’s share of the African-American vote was zero. Margin of error aside, for the first time in history a presidential candidate may exceed 95 percent. Many, including whites and blacks, are pointing to Obama’s ethnicity as a deciding or at least informing factor—albeit for different reasons. Ironically, both groups point to racial prejudice as the culprit.
“Black people are racists!” someone shouted at me in a tweet. “You wouldn’t vote for him if he wasn’t black!”
African-Americans are not hesitant to count racial pride among our reasons. Photos depicting a rear shot of Obama with the words, “we’ve got his back” continue to make their way around the Internet. But we are equally as quick to point to the president’s policies and voice fears over what a Romney Administration might mean to social justice, women’s reproductive rights, health care reform and public education. Anticipated cuts to entitlements, Pell Grants, school lunches and the Head Start program, as spelled out in the Ryan budget, also top the list. We were not amused by Paul Ryan’s photo-op junket to a homeless shelter to re-wash clean dishes or his “poverty” speech.
While studies show black voters are less inclined to support the president’s position on marriage equality, we African Americans—by and large— often use words like “trust”, “fairness” and “honesty”; words almost never used to describe Romney or his running-mate.
But do we vote exclusively for black candidates? The answer is no.
“If we only voted for black people, we would’ve voted for Alan Keyes and Herman Cain,” said another tweet referring to candidates who garnered too little black support to fill a broom closet. Indeed, if the angry voices on the right were correct, Al Sharpton might have been hosting monthly card games at Camp David. Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte might have been guests in the Lincoln bedroom if Shirley Chisholm had her way. And well, Jesse Jackson…
“The history of the American republic is black people having to vote for white people,” said MSNBC host Chris Hayes on a recent broadcast. “No one votes for people of a different race more — more reliably and historically than African-Americans.”
Here is a history lesson. The fact is African-Americans have been voting not only for white candidates but for democrats since the close of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Sr. and those of his era (including my grandparents) had been Republicans. Black voters flocked to the “Party of Lincoln” upon passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870 and voted that way for nearly 100 years.
“[Blacks] have been voting for white people for years and years and years and years,” Hayes continued.
The Grio
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the four years since the United States elected the country’s first black president, a majority of Americans express outright prejudice toward blacks. Slate: Poll: Majority of Americans Are Racist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perhaps even more surprising though is that the numbers have slightly increased since 2008. A full 51 percent of Americans explicitly express anti-black prejudice, up from 48 percent in 2008, according to the Associated Press. When an implicit racial attitudes test is used the number increases to 56 percent, compared to 49 percent four years ago. The AP surveys, which were carried out by university researchers, ultimately found that President Obama could lose a net 2 percentage points of the popular vote due to anti-black attitudes.
Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to express outright racial prejudice, 79 percent to 32 percent. But the implicit test found that the two are far closer in attitudes, with 55 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans having anti-black feelings. Experts aren't really surprised by the findings. "As much as we'd hope the impact of race would decline over time ... it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago," said a Stanford University professor who helped develop the survey.
President Obama could lose an estimated two percentage points of the popular vote due to anti-black attitudes.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We know his name, and why a Swiss resort town is named after him. The Root: Who Was the First Black Saint?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The jet-setters who frequent the Swiss resort town of St. Moritz are no doubt unaware that it was named after the first black person to be documented as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He was known as Saint Maurice (aka St. Mauritius, or St. Moritz).
A third-century Roman legionary who was born in Thebes in Upper Egypt, Maurice was martyred in what is today Switzerland for refusing to massacre Christians for the Roman Empire. He was canonized by the early church, long before the Pope reserved the right of the Holy See exclusively to canonize souls in 1634.
In the late fourth century Theodore, the bishop of Octudurum, had a vision in which he saw the martyrdom of Maurice and his fellow soldiers at Agaunum, Switzerland. Soon after, the cult of Maurice was established and a church built on the site. Then, in the early sixth century (ca. 515), devotees established an abbey there on land donated by King Sigismund of Burgundy. The abbey is still an active monastery and pilgrimage site, and the tomb of St. Maurice has been excavated. Maurice's feast day is Sept. 22.
Maurice was named a saint in the early Middle Ages, and many early depictions were of him as a white man. The first representations of him as a black African appear in the middle of the 13th century, when he is depicted as a black African soldier, in a magnificent stone statue in the Magdeburg Cathedral in central Germany in about 1240 A.D., standing next to the grave of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Matthias Grunewald (artist). St. Erasmus and St. Maurice. From Halle, Collegiate church. Ca. 1520-24. Painting on wood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's pastors must learn from civil rights activists and lead from the pulpit. The Root: The Black Church's Role in School Reform.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Education is the civil rights issue of our time. President Obama rightfully made this assertion in 2011, but local leaders -- specifically in black-American communities -- have faced this harsh reality for decades.
While strong public schools have played major roles in transforming neighborhoods and spurring local economies, African-American communities have been continuously plagued with poor-performing schools that fail our children.
Recent statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Education paint a vivid, yet sobering picture of the state of education in these communities. Almost 85 percent of African-American fourth-graders and nearly 90 percent of eighth-graders in our public schools are not proficient in reading or math.
We are too great a nation not to provide a high-quality education for every child, especially those in our most vulnerable communities. As bipartisan support for meaningful education reforms to eliminate these ills continues to build momentum and expand, it is vital that the role of the faith community also increases.
Our historic and powerful constituency provided key leadership during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. During these tumultuous times, pastors provided leadership from the pulpit, becoming a catalyst for eradicating injustice and inequality across society. Given the state of public education in our country, black America needs that same orchestrated guidance to overcome this generation's education crisis.
The Washington Post/Getty Images
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam
Black Kos Tuesday's Chile, Poetry Editor
Benjamin Banneker, who lived from 1731 to 1806, was the first black man to devise an almanac and predict a solar eclipse accurately. He was also appointed to the commission that surveyed and laid out what is now Washington, D.C. On 19 August 1791, Banneker composed a letter to Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in which he included his almanac and an entreaty to uphold the Founder's doctrine that there were truths that were...
... Self evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certan inalienable rights, that amongst these are life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness.”
On 30 August 1791, without directly addressing the charge of inequality,
Jefferson replied,
... no body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colours of men, & that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Africa & America. I can add with truth that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecillity of their present existence, and other circumstance which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of sciences at Paris, and member of the Philanthropic society because I considered it as a document to which your whole colour had a right for their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them.
Jefferson's letter to the Marquis de Condorcet was rather effusive,
I am happy to be able to inform you that we have now in the United States a negro, the son of a black man born in Africa, and of a black woman born in the United States, who is a very respectable Mathematician. I promised him to be employed under one of our chief directors in laying out the new federal city on the Patowmac, & in the intervals of his leisure, while on that work, he made an almanac for the next year, which he sent to me in his own handwriting, & which I inclose to you. I have seen very elegant solutions of Geometrical problems by him. add to this that he is a very respectable member of society. he is a free man. I shall be delighted to see these instances of moral eminence so multiplied as to prove that the want of talent observed in them is merely the effect of their degraded condition, and not proceeding from any difference in the structure of the parts on which intellect depends.
Three years after Banneker's death though,
Jefferson expressed some doubts as to the authenticity of Banneker's abilities,
The whole do not amount, in point of evidence, to what we know ourselves of Banneker. We know he had spherical trigonometry enough to make almanacs, but not without the suspicion of aid from Ellicot, who was his neighbor and friend, and never missed an opportunity of puffing him. I have a long letter from Banneker, which shows him to have had a mind of very common stature indeed.
So there you have it. Even the great man Jefferson, the man of letters, a dignitary of the Renaissance and Liberal Tradition, the author of the doctrine of all men as created equal; doubted that a black man could be equal, that any accomplishment was an exaggeration or a fraud.
When I consider the hurdles Obama or any Person of Color in America must surpass, I can see that these views have not changed much these last two hundred and twenty-two years.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Vote as if someone's life depended on it. It might be your own.
Banneker
What did he do except lie
under a pear tree, wrapped in
a great cloak, and meditate
on the heavenly bodies?
Venerable, the good people of Baltimore
whispered, shocked and more than
a little afraid. After all it was said
he took to strong drink.
Why else would he stay out
under the stars all night
and why hadn’t he married?
But who would want him! Neither
Ethiopian nor English, neither
lucky nor crazy, a capacious bird
humming as he penned in his mind
another enflamed letter
to President Jefferson—he imagined
the reply, polite and rhetorical.
Those who had been to Philadelphia
reported the statue
of Benjamin Franklin
before the library
his very size and likeness.
A wife? No, thank you.
At dawn he milked
the cows, then went inside
and put on a pot to stew
while he slept. The clock
he whittled as a boy
still ran. Neighbors
woke him up
with warm bread and quilts.
At nightfall he took out
his rifle—a white-maned
figure stalking the darkened
breast of the Union—and
shot at the stars, and by chance
one went out. Had he killed?
I assure thee, my dear Sir!
Lowering his eyes to fields
sweet with the rot of spring, he could see
a government’s domed city
rising from the morass and spreading
in a spiral of lights....
-- Rita Dove
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Front Porch
Community members who are/were in Sandy's path please check-in and let us know how you are doing.