Are Black activist movements lacking strong leadership?
By Kathrina Tiangco
In today’s generation of Black activists, some are pondering when the next Martin Luther King Jr., or perhaps Malcolm X will emerge from the pack. These two iconic and historical figures helped shape the Black movement and shifted the entire course of the Black community.
While many continue to remain hopeful on that thought, there are some people who are voicing out that Black activists including the Black Lives Matter are lacking a strong leadership. They have somehow deviated from the old method of leadership where previous leaders have taken issues beyond police violence.
Meanwhile, the Movement for Black Lives is a group that encompasses the global network of the Black Lives Matter as well as other organizations that have all merged to fight the injustice against police shootings of their fellow Black people which started since 2014.
The organization is creating an improved model for Black social movements.
The concept behind the model is when people make decisions and come up with answers, the results should be able to address the real needs of the Black people which therefore, becomes sustainable for many years to come.
They believe that it is more effective to create a solution that they formulated rather than base their decision on a hand-me-down from previous leaders, which may no longer be relevant in today’s society and situation.
This also gives the activists ownership over their actions as to how it will affect the lives of the people involved.
According to NAACP secretary Ella Baker, strong people don’t need to have a strong leader and the current Black movements have embraced that message. She also considers the traditional male leadership model as a dead end and thinks that it doesn’t help empower people specifically women and working-class people. The local leaders tend to be more dominating and put a high emphasis on hierarchy.
The current group-centered leadership practices act better towards entry-level members and even their celebrity members have their own share of responsibility. The leaders of the Movement for Black Lives are greatly influenced by Black feminists and LGBT communities. They put a high importance on models of leadership and how to reinforce it effectively.
Other local organizers such as the Black Youth Project are active followers. They create their own campaigns in various major cities across the US. The Movement for Black Lives also has their own projects including the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Beyond Vietnam speech as well as protests against white supremacy.
Movement for Black Lives are greatly influenced by Black feminists and LGBT communities. They put a high importance on models of leadership and how to reinforce it effectively.
Other local organizers such as the Black Youth Project are active followers. They create their own campaigns in various major cities across the US. The Movement for Black Lives also has their own projects including the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Beyond Vietnam speech as well as protests against white supremacy.
