[GPSCC-chat] Bruce Dixon on Occupy Atlanta and the "Black Misleadership Class"

[alexcathy at aol.com]

Dear Green Friends,
      
Bruce A. Dixon is a distinguished journalist living in Marietta GA, where he is a principal at a strategic telephony and consulting firm, and a state committee member of the Georgia Green Party.
      
He wrote this after Atlanta's African-American Mayor Kasim Reed ordered a violent crackdown on Occupy Atlanta. I have cross-posted the entire commentary because, in my opinion, this is a beautiful example of the critique I would like to see published about California's own "Black Misleadership Class." Where I live in Los Angeles, the 3 city council members most hostile to Occupy LA are the 3 African-Americans: Herb Wesson, my Councilman Bernard C. Parks, and mayoral candidate Jan Perry. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of L.A.'s race-obsessed presumed to be "progressive" intelligentsia has either been indifferent, lukewarm, or hostile to Occupy LA. Too many progressives cling to sentimental feelings about Democratic Party Hacks in communities of color -- bamboozled by 40-year-old myths that simply "Being Black" confers a special high-minded moral sensitivity for "the poorest of the poor" and "the most vulnerable" ... blah, blah, blah.
      
If I had my way, documenting this phenomenon in Boston, New York, D.C., Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and everywhere else would be an on-going project of the Green Party Black Caucus.
I am sincerely convinced that during this unprecedented crisis, independent progressive action is absolutely necessary to save the planet. And that means the Black wing of the Big City Democratic Party Machines must be destroyed!
      
Do you think this is too harsh? Post a comment. I am sorry to report that we have no consensus among L.A. Greens about our relationship with Occupy LA and the "Black Misleadership Class." A few Greens insist on quoting the "Evil Lord" Bernard Parks as an "expert" on financial matters solely because in this one instance, Parks and Perry are in conflict with Richard Alarcón who they detest for good reasons.
    
    I hate shooting off my mouth as a "lone wolf" but as many of you know, I have been city here in inner-city Los Angeles seething over this crap for years.  I am determined to write a statement on this and I need your input.
      
Please. Go to my blog and leave a comment -- whether you love it or hate it or just plain indifferent.
      
Alex Walker
LA Greens

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Posted on The Black Commentator, October 26, 2011
Occupy Atlanta VS Kasim Reed, the Black Misleadership Class and the One Percent
By Bruce A. Dixon

Back in January 2010, I wrote that

"...the black political elite no longer believes its mission is to fight for peace and justice. The newer, more cynical black elite are unmoored from their peace-and-justice-loving base. They are focused on their own careers, and the corporate largesse that makes those careers possible... the black politics of a previous generation, in which black candidates and public officials were expected to stand for something beside their own careers, is over..."

I pointed to Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed as poster boy for this new and cynical generation of the black misleadership class.

On Saturday afternoon, Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed screamed, shouted and threatened representatives of Occupy Atlanta, declaring that those who wanted to be arrested "would get their wish." After a mobilization of several hundred additional protesters, some barricades and a threatening display of police numbers, City Hall decided not to clear Woodruff Park that night. The mayor declared he would send a delegation of preachers to talk to occupiers, but that this would be their "last chance."


. . .
Please Read the Full Text and Leave a Comment at my blog:

California Greening:
http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2011/10/bruce-dixon-on-atlanta-template-for-la.html

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