I will be tweeting this session next - looking forward to this one for weeks. Alabama is in the (virtual) house! #asalh2020 @ASALH @AsalhConvention
.@ProfJeffries is moderating this session with Angela Y Davis, @TaranaBurke, Ruby Sales, Sonia Sanchez, @DeJuanaT. "From the Front Porch: What Alabama Teaches the World" is starting now. #ASALH2020
Jeffries: The in-person conference would've been held in Montgomery, AL. The front porch is a space for convening, dialoging, coming together. It's a private and public place. Where organizers and children and farmers and neighbors all planned and organized. #ASALH2020
Jeffries: We gather in that spirit, the spirit of the front porch. "My role is simply to serve the lemonade. Grab a seat on the steps."
Jeffries: The panelists will first each talk about what AL has taught them and what it has to teach us about the fight for freedom. The common thread for the panelists is AL. Ruby Sales was born there, went to Tuskegee, and organized there.
Sales: Appreciates the opportunity to consider what AL has meant to the movement. "Freedom has always been a contested territory... Black freedom has always been a threat to white freedom." #asalh2020
Sales: Grandmother was part of the first generation of free African Americans. AL became an optic that the movement is a dynamic struggle, a progression. This progression began in AL. Selma and Montgomery were important sites in the struggle.
Sales: Set forth a model for women's rights as well as civil rights. Suggests we need to expand the idea/definition of civil rights to be a freedom movement. You undermine the total struggle and significance of the movement when defining it only as a the racial struggle.
Sales: Honors Parks, Bethune, McLeod, Hawkins Brown, Boynton, and others of coalitions in AL and the US south. A movement against segregation, right to Black agency. The movement has spanned generations. Didn't just happen in one verse.
Sales: "We suffer from historical dismemory." So we end up fighting against one another instead of realizing it is progress, not conflict. New generations will have their own ways. Important to understand that we are connected. Each generation must pick up the torch.
Sales: The moment we become an adult, we have the responsibility to fight for freedom. Amelia Boynon brought the Freedom Fighters to Selma. She planned that events and was also brutally beaten and burned on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Sales: Shouldn't raise people above the movement. Black movements in the South are different than progressive movements of the North. They were rooted in spirituality. Always rooted in idea of Black lives mattering. Troubled by the fragmentation of the struggle.
Sales: "We all suffer from the stigma of Blackness in a white supremacist world." When we reduce the movement to a civil rights movement, we cover up the notion of state-sanctioned violence. Essential to understand that "the moment we were in chains, we were policed."
Sales: Captivity was a precursor to enslavement. Must rethink how we think about and discuss the struggle for Black freedom. More than just about civil rights.
Jeffries: It's also about God-given rights, not only those granted by the state.
Jeffries: It's also about God-given rights, not only those granted by the state.
Angela Y. Davis is up next to discuss the influence of AL on her and the movement. Unfortunately Sonia Sanchez was unable to make it today. Davis can't imagine her own personal and political trajectory without growing up in Birmingham.
Davis: Agrees with Sales that we not reduce Black freedom struggles to only struggle for civil rights. Learned in AL community, love, togetherness, perseverance, and that hope can be generated if we resist, persevere, build community.
Davis: Her grandparents didn't necessarily emphasize the importance of education. But her mother understood that she needed to get an education. Wanted to go to high school and this was a phenomenal decision at the time. Moved to Birmingham at the time to do so.
Davis' mother also attended college, an HBCU. Father also went to college thanks to the Episcopal Church. Davis also discusses Southern Negro Youth Congress (the first SNYC), as Sales did. Davis' parents were involved in SNYC.
Davis: Is just now learning about some AL incidents and developments that ae it possible to work in that terrain. Honors Recy Taylor who was sexually assaulted by white men. People created Justice for Recy Taylor at that time.
Davis: Parks was a part of this group to stand up against racist sexual violence. All of this and more took place in AL before Davis understood what it meant to grow up in Birmingham.
Davis: Her segregated school teachers made her feel proud of who she was. Studied the contributions of Black people. It was important to attend a segregated school because they learn Black history, sang the Black national anthem. Wouldn't have gotten this at an integrated school.
Davis: This formative period helped her understand the importance of community. Movements aren't about leaders, they are about the people. She wouldn't have learned that if she didn't grow up in Birmingham.
Davis: Mentions Birmingham Civil Rights Institute offering her an award and then rescinded award because of her fighting for Palestine human rights. Black community in Birmingham was so outraged, they created their own celebration that was 10x larger.
Davis mentions that this is where she met DeJuana and Woke Vote. Turned out accepting the award not long ago virtually.
Jeffries: The "persistence of resistance" is an important theme in Black activist communities. The movement began long before we normally think of it and continues today. DeJuana Thompson is up next.
Thompson: "Fanning out" right now in the presence of Sales, Davis, and Tarana Burke. "This is the story of Alabama." It is a testament to what the state has birthed.
Thompson: Has been on the ground the last 40 days with the family of Breonna Taylor. She was in MN after George Floyd was murdered. Both of these and more were state-sanctioned violence. Began WOKE VOTE. Voting is one tool of resistance.
Thompson: Voting is one thing but its another thing for Black people to have a space to imagine Black power, Black contribution, Black pushback and then a safe space to then employ these tactics. That's what Woke Vote is.
Thompson: Still having to feed people in her community bc there is no grocery story within 10-15 miles from her town. It's not just about the right to vote, it's about the right of existence. Process has to be married to culture. Must be tied to what is inherent Black culture.
Thompson: AL has shown time and time again that there is not only one way to package someone coming into their understanding of process to liberation.
Thompson: Woke Vote working with SNCC now. Good for intergenerational lessons. Her mentor Harry Belafonte knows they got Black young people liberty but didn't teach them the strategy. So he began this work as well and Woke Vote has tried to become this for people.
Thompson: As Davis said, it is imperative that people see a larger view than their Southern communities. Young people should see different states, countries so their minds expand. So they understand that what happens elsewhere does impact them. It's a global moment we are in now.
Thompson: This is as much about Black sisterhood as it is about Alabama.
Jeffries now introduces @TaranaBurke. They were both born in NYC and migrated South.
Burke honors elders on the panel. Grateful she gets to talk about Alabama. She feels a connection to AL and NYC.
Burke honors elders on the panel. Grateful she gets to talk about Alabama. She feels a connection to AL and NYC.
Burke: Started visiting the South as a child. She has deep familial roots in South Carolina. Says she comes from "the Blackest family in America." Her father was a Garveyite and mother was in Black Power movement. Spent time in African dance classes and Swahili daycares, etc.
Burke: Also her Grandad gave her lots of books and she had a lot of culture, historical info, and consciousness in her childhood. But no one in her family was an activist so she didn't know what to do with the knowledge, esp as a kid in NYC in the 80s.
Burke: 21st Century Leadership Movement born in AL at 20th anniversary of Selma Montgomery march. She was a part of a youth group in NY that was invited to attend youth camp with the org. Met kids from the south. Joined the org and it became a huge part of her life.
Burke: Motto is "organize by doing". So she went down to AL a lot as a young person and practiced the education she was getting from 21st Century. Was able to apply lessons and skills in NYC as well. 21st Century said you need to lead right now, not only when you are an adult.
Burke: Went to AL State the year of Rodney King. History of activating there and so she activated when this happened. She could apply her lessons. She found a home in AL, even though it was a jarring change.
Burke: In 1992, National Voting Rights Museum created by elders. She helped to set i t up and was there from the beginning. Had the benefit and privilege of sitting at the feet of the giants of the movement. But she was also seeing how elders weren't being cared for.
Burke: First rule of organizing: food, clothing, shelter. But how are these are only needs? The heroes were also traumatized, they had inner needs as well. It's almost unethical. We need to speak to people's full humanity when we ask them to put their bodies on the line.
Burke: Mentions JoAnne Bland as a second mama. Honors her and her sister and Amelia Boynton, Mother Marie Foster, Annie Cooper. So she thought a lot about the elders as well as the young people.
Personal plug: See this interview with Mrs. JoAnne Bland where she mentions @TaranaBurke and @MsLaToshaBrown msmagazine.com/2020/08/18/civ…
Burke: Felt childhood sexual assault had to be a priority. Must be a part of the work. Found it challenging and had to fight for it. This was before #metoo. Imperative to have radical community healing alongside the work of liberation. There is no liberation without healing.
Jeffries asks Davis about healing and internal dynamics within the movement. How do we negotiate priorities within the movement? How do we get past conflict to move forward together in productive ways? #ASALH2020
Davis: Reluctant to tell people what they should be doing. Sees herself as a student instead of new developments ushered in by young activists. Used to leaving trauma outside. Didn't learn how to incorporate healing into activist work.
Davis is so thankful to the younger generations for helping us to acknowledge trauma and healing. National Black Woman's Health Imperative was the first time Davis had an opportunity to think about importance of health, physical, mental, and spiritual.
Davis: Grateful to have multiple generations bringing what they have to contribute to the development and leadership of the movement. In order to remain relevant, Davis says she needs to learn to become a student of her students.
Burke: Must bring your full self to the movement. Not segment pieces off. Learned much from her elders but is happy to teach as well. Must be healthy to do so and deal with trauma.
Thompson: It's about spaces as well. It's almost a protest in itself to admit to trauma and bring your full self to the movement. Don't need to segment off pieces. Can be a beautifully flawed justice leader. Elders helped us to be able to do this.
Thompson: Some elders worried about next generations not being committed or having the doggedness or zeal that they had. They must have the chance to try!
Sales: Must have hindsight, insight, and foresight in order to be authentic in the movement. Black people developed an important pedagogy of accommodation and resistance. Knowing when to move forward and when to step back. This is essential to any movement.
Sales: Generations cannot be strangers to each other in the movement. Culture carriers are the teachers. In the South they were building a people. They developed modalities that allowed them to navigate the trauma without becoming "broken winged birds" (HT Hughes).
Sales: Ancestors were spiritual geniuses. They developed pragmatic optimism. They looked horror in the face and not become nihilistic. Kept tilling generations even when there was no evidence they would come. Gave voice to the trauma.
Sales: "My feet are tired but my soul is rested." Because of the cultivation of inner light Black elders could survive plantation life and enslavement and still be life-affirming. History is not dialectical, it is simultaneous. More than one thing can happen at once.
Jeffries: We all need a sip of lemonade after that.
[No one wants to follow the amazing words of Ruby Sales!]
Davis steps up with "the elephant in the room" of capitalism. Racism emerged from colonialism and colonialism and slavery introduced capitalism.
[No one wants to follow the amazing words of Ruby Sales!]
Davis steps up with "the elephant in the room" of capitalism. Racism emerged from colonialism and colonialism and slavery introduced capitalism.
Davis: So few people are aware of SNYC because there were communists who were members and anything critical of capitalism in the past or present is ignored or glossed over.
Davis: Black people are not only capable to demonstrate resilience or oppression. Have figured out under the worst possible circumstances how to create pleasure, beauty, art, music. This allowed people deal with horrors and to imagine.
Davis: Capitalism is at the center of this. Even radicals can get pulled into it. How do we link capitalism with mass incarceration, the PIC, violence, IPV, state violence and the violence within our communities, etc?
Davis: In this moment, the pandemic has allowed for people to recognize the systemic character of racism. It is not about you and how you feel, it's about the structures that keep white supremacy alive. The health care, economic, political, etc structures.
Davis: Protests are important for a sense of community. But permanent changes will come from people dedicated to the work. The work is boring compared to protesting in the streets but it must be done for sustained change
Davis: "Diversity and inclusion ain't gone do it anymore!" How are we going to make those changes stick?
Sales: "Diversity" and "inclusion" only confirm white supremacist capitalism. We didn't fight to be a part of the burning house, build a new house (HT MLK Jr.) Fighting for more, fighting for democracy.
Burke: Black women often feel #MeToo was co-opted by white women or Hollywood. But when she came up she was surrounded by a Black community and her imaginings are from a lens of Blackness. The Me Too movement is not a hashtag. The hashtag amplified the work already being done.
Burke: So they can't take something that is not theirs. It's theirs if you let them have it. Just say, "The Black lady said it was ours." They can create all the hashtags they want but they can't take the movement. Black people shouldn't give up their power to white people.
Burke: While we are fighting for white people to include us, we still have Black and Brown boys and girls and trans kids in our communities who we need to attend to. White people will always get what they need. Let's center us.
Thompson: Need to reimagine the work of voting. It's a tool, not the end-all, be-all. We also have to do the work. What has the person's experience been re: voting? How have they been conditioned. Motivating factor for many is to prove your power on behalf of your community.
Thompson: Your vote is a protest. Your vote is powerful. Show people that even if they can't be on the front line, their vote can be just as significant. It's how to hold elected officials accountable.
Thompson: Woodson said the worst lynching is when people are conditioned that their situations can't be changed. Right now, people who have a platform need to tell people to use their vote as a protest and stand up for their community's issues.
Thompson: It's not about civic participation. it's not about the candidates. It's about your life. It's a vote for your life. #asalh2020
Sales: The first SNYC's mission was the fight against global fascism. That is still what we fight today. We are living in a capitalist technocracy that is careening towards fascism. White men see democracy as antithetical to their power.
Burke: So many lessons in this moment from the movement. How it took place in AL, GA, etc. As we build political consciousness, reach back into the history to move forward. There are invaluable lessons to be learned. It is still alive. Put your feet on the ground in AL.
Thompson: Honoring and thanking Davis and Sales for the weights they've carried on their shoulders. Thanks Burke for her struggles and leadership. Thanks Jeffries for his participation. Thanks to @asalh for allowing her a moment. #asalh2020
Davis: Reminded why DuBois argued that while the vote was important for the Black community it was probably even more important for Black women to get the vote. Important to remember this 19th Amendment anniversary, that Black women didn't get the vote until 1965.
Davis: Black women are the most sophisticated of the electorate. Can't fetishize the vote. The vote has been central to Black liberation but it can't be in isolation from the freedom movement.
Davis: People ask "Why should I vote when there is no one to vote for?" And why should you if that's all you're going to do?? We don't need a savior candidate, that's not why we vote. We vote for extend our capacity to continue to engage in a struggle that will bring us freedom.
Davis: Everyone should vote for those candidates who will help us maintain and expand the space for our activism. Alabama has shown the world that it is activism that changes history. #asalh2020
Jeffries acknowledges that this has been the highlight of his career to date. Grateful to share the virtual porch with the inspirational panelists.
Natanya Duncan honors Sonia Sanchez and acknowledges that she was here even if not on the call. Shouts to #citeblackwomen @ASALH @AsalhConvention. Remember as you depart that you have been given the charge TO VOTE.
