Listen to Faye Williams, Chair of the National Congress of Black Women was on NPR to talk about the Enough is Enough protests outside the home of BET. Dr. Williams echoed *gasp* the sentiments that I expressed on our podcast about the Enough is Enough campaign. Folks have to take to the streets because BET has not set up a mechanism for these folks to be heard and when people have had legitimate concerns with BET without being arrogantly dismissed:
It was actually a interesting show.
"We're there for positive reasons. If we were able to sit down in the studio with Ms. Lee or with any of the other studio executives -- which we have done with many, by the way -- and they had listened to us and not just dismissed us, as the CEO of BET has, there would be no need for us to go to her home to get her attention. ... If we went to BET, we would not even get close to BET, she would not know that we were there." NPR
Shecodes actually had an interesting quote that I am working on a long post for probably on Friday. Here is what Shecodes had to say:
Please allow me to use the words of MLK, who had the same questions concerning 'mechanisms of protest' level against him -- which he addressed in 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail'.I feel like we have revisited the past, and this letter is a precious gift to help us navigate through this present situation.I'll be posting more about this because she has a good point. Lots of folks have been talking about "protests without purpose" as if protesting in and of itself is a waste of time in the absence of a simultaneous plan to end the protest. Upon further reflection, protests often create an environment to cause those who were intransigent to at least consider coming to the table. Again, I will be talking about this more later in the week.
A quick exerpt:
"You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." Submitted by Shecodes in the WAOD Comments.
Listen to our podcast on the Enough is Enough campaign and protests from October 11, 2007. Our Guest was Pastol Delman Coates of Enough is Enough. Listen to him beat back a relentless assault.
