1�1"1
Opiruon. Commentary Ecitonats Letters
•
. If t of AfricaD­
:Am ri�D' re to survive,
develop Dd pro per iD
AiDCrica, iDdeea if the musiCS
of rkina pie, B cit or
I> e. aDd r miDorities are
to bcacfit from the "goodtife" in
America, then Black politics
m move beyond mere skin
Color to a progressi� vision and
nda for change in America-.
African-Americans m t -
uredly ould aspire to gain -
to power both in the public
ad private sectors nd
see to (i ••
B our eeess to
t ooalil· which propelOW'
Ie ders into position of
prominence, may only produce
,disiU . onmenl if Black politics
is DOt grounded in a progre ive
. . ndagcnda.
Without a vision, an agend·
BI. (; in ¥ places will
e no differeaee.
In fact there i the danger,
nl a progr i vision nd
nOO"that BI c face in high
-places . y only legitimize th
present. )'Stem and thereby per­
petuate the st tus qaw.
- What does it mean t be
"progressive"? ,r " l:;luy .'
Declarati n which W' issued at
t historic 1972 Gary Co en-
. lion ummed up and er the to
for progressive Black politics in
terms or vision, goal nd a
• of mission. It i useful to
cite this document from this
great gathering as basis for
guiding our deliberation and' c-
tl in this crucial period.
"The cri scs we face as Black
peop arc the crises of the en­
tire societ . They go deep, to the
�ry bones . nd marrow, to tb
essential ature of America's
economic, political an� cultural .
ystems .• They are the natural
end product of a society OUi on
the twin foundations of white
r c' m and white capitalism.
Tbe progrc sivc vision i
based on an analy i of the
To •
Theeu,.ler Jefferson Plant
must be kept S' n or aU of its
workers must be uan nteed
100% income' by Cbyslcr until'
tbe' new J cffer on pIa t i
opened
Our t dollar have gone to
support Chrysler in tax bate­
ments, th. bailout and
n ro other subsidies. The
I r of of people in
a'
for creating both the atmos­
phere and the program for fun­
dcmental, far ranging nge in
America ... It is the cbaUeuge to
CODIOlidate and organize our
own Black role the vanguard
in the struggle for new
socletY'.
Progressive politics is Dot a
politics of the stat quo. It .
not ab.out the bu iness of
po1ogi7jng for or legitimizing
tbe present system. Progressive
Black polities is a politics of so-
cial r or i_.�,.�.
Pr .
foroCd 1 I' ions
it relit 0 p sys-
tem. How' that the Ithlest
and most technologically en­
dowed nation on the face of the
earth can have 3-6 million
homeless people, 37 �illion
people with no health in-
uraace, 60 million people wbo
are either functionally illiterate
th Dingina a coin to a beggar;
it com to see t t edifice
which produces beggar needs
restructuring" .
Progressive Black politic
therefore must be bout tbe t
of exposing flaws d contridic­
tions in the American political
- economic system and it must
press for "re tructuring". It Ron Daniels served as the
eks not to plunge into the Directo: 0/ 1M National Rain-
"mainstream" of what America bow Coolition lind tIS the Deputy
. , but to transform the very na- Campaign Ma'iager for the
ture of the mainstream. Reverend J esse Jackson's
Progre ive Black politics Presidential CamJNIign '88.
therefore m t forge a fighting - . Currently, he serves as
program and e r in 0 co.ali- President of th« Institute for
tio s DOt to ail e th BI Community Organization GIld
agenda or to ccomodate the Development in Youngstown.
status quo, but to unite any and
aU who have a vision of a n w
America and a new tomorrow.
. And th Gary Declar ion
exhorted African-Americans
nearly two decadea 0: "The
society sec cannot come
Hence the GaryDedar ioa
went to t c..... truly
Black politics must � with
thi truth; THE A ERICAN
SYSTEM DOES OT WORK
FOR THE MASSES OF OUR
PEOPLE, AND IT CANNCYr
BE MADE TO WORK
WITHOUT RADICAL FUN­
DEMENT AL CHANGE. (In­
deed.. . �
A.�.u .. �cl.n'D·.����������--���������
Pr ' .• B is
based on a n ce-ch
and perspective.
That' (0 • Y that progres­
sive Black politics rccogaizcs
that while racism nd r . 0p­
pression remain p barriers
to African-A riean propcss,
an cxplortbe ccono . system
I 0 works to kccp African­
American, other minorities
and poor and people
locked t tbe botto of t e
economic lad r.
The American political
economy i . a y te of.
prosperity for rJ
COl ny. T r
cllange.
Th . ion of progressive
B politics, t ereforc,· to ".
. . ecept major respo . ility
Iv. Black politic I a
oclal transtcrmatlon.'
,. hi' .I ') J Li tt} , ) •• J *
or completely ill' era 30 mil""
lion plus people who liYc in
poW!rty, nd urb n inner city
centers that are coli ping
under th weight of joble
crim , drugs and decay?
As Martin Luther King put
it: "true comp ssion i more
Next Week: "A, Progressive
Agend for a New Tomorrow"
"so FEW OF US UNDER�TA.ND
·WHA.' rr TJ\\(.E.S ,() MAKE
A. M'''N ... T� E MI\N
'.�' W�·O u. NEVEP,
,I : ·S�'{l I M
W\-\O WlLL NEVE
G\VE UP; T\-\E
M�N W\·\O·
W\L\... .NE.\lER
. DE.PEND UPoN
0,) ERS TO
DO W'r\�T'
HE QUG�rr'
1bDOfOR
'. H\MSELFi
mE·M" WHO WILL
0, BL� N\E GOt:;> �
. O:r �L"�E. .NI\TURf.,
0$ BL"""E FAtE
. FOR \\\CS CO D\T\ON. "
- M"'il.CUS GA�"EY
R
d
Writ
dla
portrayal
confu Ing
Day fter day, month after
month we experience an:J hear
dramatic tory of the hor-
re s quality of life here in
De roit-hundreds of new
. cs on horrible aim : m -
robberi , arso r pes
. We are inund ted by t e
drug' tr d and drug ddicu.
Tho nds of ous are ban­
do d and decaying. so th t
council member said seeti of
town look like "bombed out
Berlin".
At th same time thousan .
are homel . We constantly see
and hear of our 00 going
r p'dlydown Hil�' dequatley
funded, d our youth caught
up in the decay of crime, drugs
a d hopele snes described
crisis.
. And this is tru in many ways.
There is truly c rophic
m . This version of Detroit is
especially favored by tb media
when blamia Coleman Young
for our plight.
The same portr . tis ccurate
lor most of our na . on' �
and medium cities. Small
farmer are wiped out. Millio
in America live in worsening.
monumental misery.
Stop. Now change frame to
Tom Brok w or BiU Bond
comparing the very ame
country, including Detroit,
With Eastern Europe. suddenly
the great W t i "pr perous".
What happened to all of the
misery and crisi we ear bout
e\'eryday?
Tu
