Correction Washington Post: The Black COMMUNITY Gaining Little After Promoting The Politicians Who Promoted Obama

Washington Post - Black politicians gaining little capital after Obama's election
(Hat tip to Booker Rising for the article)

CNN- Davis loss in Alabama a sign of black establishment's clout
(Hat tip to Redding News Review)

Left unchecked some people prefer to talk about political machinations more than they care to talk about the purported goal of such activities.  As such they tend to index indicators of success upon the wrong attributes.

The purported goal of the "Black Establishment" and the political activism that they lead is to improve the conditions within the Black community.

• Safe Streets
• Quality Education
• Thriving Local Economies
• Healthy Lifestyle and Relationship Outcomes

In the Washington Post article above they attempt to evaluate how Black candidates running for state-wide or US Congressional seats have faired after a Black man named Barack Obama has ascended to the office of the President.  In their conclusion - Obama's "racial coat tails" have not been shown.   

In the CNN article above the author of the piece (as well as many other Black blogs that have analyzed the results) claim that the Black Political Establishment organizations who were not sold on Artur Davis indeed have political power/clout.  

I believe that both of these points of analysis are fatally flawed.

Some people argue that "Black Power" is proven when we see Black faces as "shot callers".  They are in office making deals.   They have the power as a group to cause a political candidate to rise or crash to the ground.

All of these points of focus merely take us further and further outside of the Black community.   What is lost is the key consideration as to how all of this plays out on the streets of Black America.

With the loss of Artur Davis as governor and his vacation from the 7th District seat in Alabama there was no "victory" for the Black community there.   From the perspective on the streets this "Majority-Minority" seat that runs through the "Black Belt" counties of Alabama - Davis will be gone but the rest of the characters who's crops fail to yield much benefit year after year will still be around, acting as political king makers.  Though there are two major universities ensnared by the 7th district poverty and relatively low academic attainment remains.

The real question must be: "Why is it that these conditions remain despite the supposed 'clout' of this Black Establishment Machine?".   

For some the answer is clear.  Having a portrait of a Black elected official hanging in the chambers is good enough for them.   In regards to the misery index - this is merely a residual of slavery, Jim Crow and continuing racism.   As long as the balance of the people with the power of the vote believe this - those operatives that spew this analysis have little to worry about.

The key problem with this analysis is that it provides present cover for those in power today by allowing them an escape hatch through the time machine of history's past.  For many in the Black community - those who fight against our long time oppressors, making sure that they never get back into power over our communities - is a bigger favorable attribute than this same individual being able to prove that they have made any organic progress for the district that he represents.   Ultimately the people receive what they vote for.  It will be no surprise then that this person has a vested interest in performing the "self-chumming" exercise of "racism chasing"  The larger the racial threat - the more that he is needed to defend the community as he fights perpetually for justice.

Few will notate the time line to the left which indicates the amount of time within which the 7th District has been safely in the hands of the "blue party".    Their main concern is that their party not lose its control.  They will do everything in their power to make it so.  Even if it means placing a forbearance upon their own permanent interests.  

Black Power

In my observation the notion of "Black Power" has been hijacked and tucked under the master contract with the Democratic Party and progressive forces.  This relationship was articulated by Bayard Rustin back in 1968 in the December that followed the murder of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

In as much as the present day "Black Establishment machine" is merely a leftist/progressive machine with its purported focus being upon the Black community - there is little that distinguishes them from any other leftist group beyond its focus.  As they form coalitions with these other groups and "scratch each other's backs" this fusion further dilutes what little traces of "organic Blackness" that can be found in these groups.

With great indignity I display the audacity to evaluate these groups NOT on their ability to aggregate Black folks in to their ranks as members, tacit supporters or those who have their votes influenced by these operative groups.  Instead I choose to GO BACK TO THE FORT - the veritable "shot gun shack" that they are protecting from injury.  Look not at the passion of their defense and the size of this standing army.  Instead do a physical inspection of the structure that they defend and tell the world if it is fit for human habitation to your liking.

Indeed - and ironically the biggest indictment that one can bring upon these Black Establishment forces is to do an expose' on their home turf.   Here we will see many cases that prove that their long battles on "foreign soil" fighting their enemies have left their home base dilapidated and in need of leadership and a new paint job.

Too many people confuse the large gathering of a group around the yellow box above with the fruits that are present in the blue box.  

I have previously dismissed the notion that POPULARITY = EFFECTIVENESS.  It is just not so.
In fact the worst situation that we can have is a persuasive leader who convinces the masses that are popularly gathered around him that they need to stick together as a group and not ask questions of the present leadership lest the "enemy" gain more traction in their battle that they are waging against him.  UNITY is not proof that you have moved one step closer to your permanent interests.

BLACK POWER - for me translates into the "above board"  articulation of our community's Permanent Interests and then the transparent enumeration of the effectiveness of the various methodologies that have been deployed to obtain them.

For me the greater power than those who can UNIFY the masses is the power of a system that the people have agreed to humble themselves to as it PURGES POPULAR ASSUMPTIONS FROM THE MASSES because they have FAILED TO WORK!!!!     Dislodging such thoughts from the people's minds hearkens me back to the time when my then two year old son was asked to give up his pacifier .  The challenges are equally daunting.  

I do recall the day that my son came up to me and handed me his pacifier as a sign that 'he gets it'.  After looking around at the others in the house and noting that we were not dependent as such on this artificial comforter his motion to give me that "passy" was a sign that had taken yet another step in the "rites of passage" that I had set up for him.

Please identify the transparent organization that Black America has agreed to yield to.  I would like to know where the collective can turn in their "passy" as it more dispassionately considers its present fate.