Thread by @rolandsmartin

God always drops certain things in my spirit and I’m obligated to share a word when it is revealed. This came this morning: “There Is A Cost To Fighting For Freedom” 1/11

Why are there so few freedom fighters today? Because you can’t fight for freedom if you are not free. It’s hard to say you are going to fight to free your people if you have depend on dollars from those you are fighting. That means their interests will one day 2/11

collide with yours and then you have to make a decision. In 1964, Fanie Lou Hamer, Bob Moses and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party went to Atlantic City to break up the all-white Mississippi delegation. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood with them and 3/11

was an ardent supporter. President Lyndon Baines Johnson wanted nothing to stand in the way of a successful convention got sick and tired of their protests. So he dispatched United Auto Workers president Walter Reuther to issue an ultimatum to MLK and the other civil rights 4/11

leaders: accept the two-seat deal or labor will pull their funding of SCLC and the Black Freedom Movement. They were forced to take the deal.

My second point which is tied to the first one is that freedom fighters can’t work for free. They have to eat, Live and provide for 5/11

their families. It’s real easy to sit on the sideline and say, “Keep fighting!” Or “Give em hell!” And “thanks for fighting for us!” But if you never make a donation to their cause, how can they keep putting it on the line? I have talked to MANY freedom fighters in the past 6/11

and today who face this. MLK was always stressed about making payroll for the SCLC. #BlackLivesMatter activists today face major financial problems for putting their heart and soul into the work. When you work within an industry & you are vocal about fighting for diversity 7/11

inclusion and opportunities in it, you will be whiteballed. They will label you too controversial. I’ve seen it in the past and the present. Folks, Warriors for truth, justice and righteousness should not have to wonder how they will eat or take care of their families. 8/11

They must be “free” of that burden into order to have the “freedom” to not have to cut deals in order to achieve maximum results. You may say, “my little $5 or $10 or $20 don’t matter.” Not true. Collectively we can make it happen. If a person running for office 9/11

has 500,000 donors and the average donation is $28, that means they have raised $14 MILLION. You’ve often heard me say we must fund our freedom because freedom ain’t free. Folks, if you are not giving to a cause, but you want them to keep fighting for you, DONATE. 10/11

People appreciate you saying, “you are doing great work,” but you can’t deposit that. Yes, it makes you feel good and it will feed your soul, but it won’t feed your family.

Do your part to help your favorite freedom fighters remain independent and “free”! 11/11