Legacy of Leadership

I originally planned on posting about Jesse Jackson's ridiculous comments but my man Nellz did as good of a job as I would have, so I definitely urge you to go and check it out (arkitekt's blueprint). Yet, there is something I want to address with this entry and thats the legacy of leadership. Since before the end of the Civil Rights movement (or what tons of people say is the end, seeing as how the movement isnt over), there has been a fight for prominence and leadership of the "black community". I have argued before, and again argue now, that beginning April 5, 1968 (the day after the assassination of Dr. King), there has been a constant struggle for the control of the continuation of the movement. With no recognized leader present to take the lead, the movement lost its luster and was in an uproar. However, it would be historically myopic to constrict the power struggle to this time period. In fact, there were noted struggles between King's SCLC and Stokley Carmichael's SNCC over the direction of the movement and perceptions of leadership. Carmichael and SNCC were upset that King was getting most of the media attention, while they were doing "most of the work". They were also fed up with the continued non-violence of the movement and were seeking to convert the movement to the militant strand that preached Black Power. King feared that the slogan of Black Power would confuse white people, as it did, and further hurt the movement, again as it did. So the fight over mission and strategy, as well as recognition plagued the movement early on, however, after the death of King, the leadership struggles of the movement were amplified by a need for a leader to continue the movement. The death of King led the selfless to become selfish and led them to stray away from the flock like sheep without a master. It is known by many that King declared Ralph Abernathy to lead the movement. However, Abernathy's lack of leadership ability and vision (at least in comparison to MLK) led to his losing control of SCLC and lead to the rise of Jesse Jackson amongst other people. So what then is the legacy of Dr.King's Leadership? Barack Obama seems to be next in the trend of charismatic, compassionate, intelligent leadership needed to transform this country into what it claims to be: One nation, under God, indivisble, with liberty and justice for all. So why the hate from Jesse Jackson? The answer is that it is a problem that is endemic to the Black Community, as well as our national community. You see, the Civil Right generation is exiting the stage and they are having a hard time dealing with a society that is working to be more integrated and globalized. The problems that people of color faced during the Civil Rights generation's heyday have become problems for more than one group of people and the post-Civil Rights generation is looking to correct all problems not just one. It is a multifaceted attack on the social and institutional ills of our society. So it is a shift from the days of marching and boycotting that is understandably unsettling for them to experience this dramatic shift. What Jesse Jackson said is inexcusable. To make matters worse, the questionable Al Sharpton came to his defense. It didnt help much. There is new leadership in place to take this country to the heights that it should be taken to. While the "old guard" is much appreciated, it is time for a change that can be seen and felt. Besides, Jesse and Al, in the past 21 years, havent spoken for a cause that I think they should be speaking on. Neither of them (both Reverends) defended Jeremiah Wright. They both remind me of the Rev. Rollo Goodlove . Your thoughts?

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

So, at the urging of one of my friends, I have decided to start my own blog. It will undoubtedly give me something to do and a place to vent on a wide range of issues. The name of the blog is The Redmond Report which is a throwback to my old high school column. While that column focused primarily on sports, I think I'm gonna talk about a lot of things on here. But if there's something that you wanna know my position on, let me know. So for now, this is the first entry.