II
o
'1
IDde.peodent Black poli tics
m t be t the cutti ng edge of
tbe drive to create a ne
ociety. African in America
ill never be free in the fullest
ense of the word until
America ha been trans
formed.
Indeed improving the
plight of people of color and
poor people in cneral in this
society a well a po itively
changing th condition of mil
lion of people in Africa nd
the Third WorhJ i� highly de
pendent on Ihe r' dical and
fundemcnt I transformation
of America.
, African in America must
work 10 en ure thai "we the
people" con truer a genuine
and viable economic and
politic I democracy in this
country.
TO ACHIEVE THAT
goal African Americans nd
their allie m t be prepared
for a protracted nd often
dangerous struggle; a struggle
in which the peopl who are
committed to social tmasfor
m tion m t b equipped to
utilize a range of trategie
and tactics.
Throu bout the 60s and 7
progre ive ctivi ts w ged a
r lenrle baule to broaden
n
B1 W t"·.I1_
Dr. Glady Brame, director
of public heal tb for manatee
County in outh est Florida.
.b a b chclor ' de rce, two
ier' degree. a doctorate,
nd a medical degree. Seeing
. all tho e degree, after her
name you might think he
gre up in middle-clas
home here education fit
comfonably within the flmily
lifestyle and budget, But
you'd be wrong.
Dr. Branie rew up in' a
de perately poor single
parent fami Iy in rural South
elro ina. As a child he wa
told sbe ould never amount
nytbing, that she would have •
I b by or two before she wa
, ut of ber teen ,
Her high school principal
told r he wa too poor to go
to college even thougb he had
eceived a government loan,
and refu ed to rite her a
recommendation for a job to
pay room and board. She
remembers saying "I'll find a
ay." And sbe did.
Where did young Glady -
bo e mothe'r upported three
cbildren on 52 ,a d y ho
yany�ean
tbe scope of politics and
political tugJe bcyo elec-
toral poli . cs. I
Progre ive ctivi t ar
gued t t any Slra IY or t c
tic used by aD oppre sed
people to c· e goal of
freedom and liberation rrom
oppression i political.
IDdependeDt Black politics
as it evolved in 60's and
70's refused to accept the
notion tbat electio = power.
In tead pe nt Blac
politi� dvaocecl t concept
that community ihzation
and communi ty organization:
community develop nt and
institution develop nt; and
electoral politics and lobby
ing are among rhe broad
strategies bich must be
utilized to dvance tbe strug
gle for t liberation of Black
people and the creation of a
new ociety.
U DE STOOD ROM
tbis . perspective. poliucs
neces arily i 1 protests
and electie .
Developin, co muni ty
develop nt torporatio 10
harness the ceo . poten-
tial of Afric:an ri a
ell t b'l i of inde-
peodenl ed abO 1 i titu
tions to provide an
Abo-ce tric ed liOD and
ater,
teeDa
, child 'I
make more of
tbe skills 10 develop and
streDllben the Black com
m 'ty· political.
obilizing a mass
demonstration to figbt for
job' and justice is political.
Using civil disobedience to
defy unjust laws or 10 promote
civil rights and human rights
is political. A boycott is politi
cal. A pic et line is political.
,The struggle I
to create a new
society.
Therefore
political
organizers
',shoUld always
vI w political
education for
the m,_sses of
the peopl a an
Integral nd
Indl pensable
component of
th organizing
proc
When all el e fails arid people
explode in defiance and rebel-
cial or from UCLA.
Eventuall y he became
director of the Internalional
Center for Health Science at
,Meharry Medical College in
Na ville, here she be ded
traimDI program (or African
nurses and conducted
orts ps throug u Arrica.
Botb re an in Arrica
people a omed seas a
medical doctor and I ked ber
to elp iD clinics. Altbough
she tried to explain that
Isn't qualified, people
tbought she ju t didn't want to
help. Tbat troubled her, ho
says. ·So at tbe age or 35 I
said to my elr, 'Why not do
so thing about it?·
IT WASN'T F..ASY with a
youn son and a full-time job.
First sbe had to go to night
cbool tOlake chemistry and
pbysics. During medical
sc 001 Dr Brlnic eparated
ero ber busband, and money
was scarce. "One day I ent to
the refrigerator and I literally
had DO food,· say Dr. Branic.
·1 b d to go to the police
tation for food." And tbere
lion, tbal too
"Freedom by
necessary.·
The crucial
of tbe use political
stra.tegies is to ke p the objec
tive/misson of p Iitica! strug
gle in roc .
The struggle i to create a
ne SOCiety. The (ore politi
cal organizers h uld always
view political e ucation for
tbe m se of tbe eople an
integral and in ispensabte
component of tb organizing
process.
, It is imperati e to keep
before the peopl the flaw
and contr diction within the
sy tem aDd to pro ect the go I
of creating a so iety as the
remedy bicb wi 1 d�livet on
tbe promise of a tier life fo,
the masses of the eople.
I do not mean to diminish
the important 0 electoral
politics, but rat r to place
electoral pelitic n it proper
perspective.
that Arricans i America
achieved bistoriQlIy, inc 00-
ing the gli won in the 'vi
Rights Revolution"'of tbe 60s
and 70s, were on tbrougb the
use of vario form of c m
mumty struggle I and prote l
politics.
D
BRANIC also make
I.
. oman . who never a�
were Ii duriag ber iDter!.
n hip ,aDd resideacy when sbe
as on call 40 bours at a time.
Yet. say. Dr. Branic, tbere
ere alwlYs mentor bo
"took me under tbeir ing
and belped e througb tbe
toup Ii •
After tbose. bard years, pro
Bra· 'Ibt ve decide� to
et up a I rative privlte prac
tice. B t • e did 'to be
ch� i te d to serve p or
orking families witbout
medical care.
As Mlnltee County's
healtb director, Dr. BraDic is
orkin to eatabli b a DeW n
digent bealtb care plan
financed 'by tbe intere t on an
unused county t t fund.
She ba begun a wal ·in
hult clinic, a program of
"baby bo en- to encour ge
pregDant women to star.
prenatal care early, a pro�m
to care for b bi born w th
AIDS, IDCI I be lib informa
tion e'rvice tblt travel
around abe county in a van to.
erve the bard-to-reach.
Indeed an overdependence
. on electroal politics to the ex
clusion of non-electoral (orms
of politic can be counter
productive.
Community mobilization,
i nsti tu tional development,
electoral politics and lobby
ing, all of these broad
strategic mu tbe employed
in t fight to liberate Black
people and oppressed
humanity. And all of t ese
strategies must be aimed at tbe
arne Objective - tbe .tran -
formation of America and the
creauon of a new ociety.
Malcolm X wa right, its'
"freedom by any mea neces
sary.
Ron Daniels serves as
Presideni ollhe lIutuMle lor
Co",,,,ullity Orlllllalioll IIl1tl
De elop",elll ill YOtIIIISIOWII,
Ohio� He ",IIY be COlli cted III
(216) 746-5747.
I .
can't
time to tllk to youDg ters
growing up in tbe ame kinds
of circumstance she Jme
a chil . "I tell them they have
choic� . They don't have to,
give into expectation tbat
they can't change their live ,.
she sa .
"But I also warn tbem tbere
will be failures. It' important
to see posi tive lesson in our
failures. ) often tell the tory
of the Army officer ho aid
he w 10 ing a battle, 'We're
not re reating; we're advanc
ing in he other direction for a
while. "
MarilUl Wright Edel",1UI is
president 0/ Ihe Childrell's
De/ellSt! FUlld, a lIatiolllll
voice lor childrell.