Tonight, the nation will hear from mothers of black Americans whose names have made it into our lexicon as hashtags in recent years. The mothers of #SandraBland, #EricGarner, #TrayvonMartin, #JordanDavis, #HadiyaPendleton, #MikeBrown, and Wisconsin’s own #DontreHamilton will give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention under the banner of Mothers of the Movement.
Their remarks will rightfully detail tragic stories of loss that affect them, their families and all Americans. They will no doubt provide us with instructive moments of human empathy for our country. In addition, simply by speaking out, Mothers of the Movement will help us all understand that we have important chances to affirm the social justice values of a Democratic Party in the coming post-Obama administration.
A global town hall talk
Just over a week ago, President Barack Obama held a live town hall meeting — streamed globally — about race and public safety in America. During this hour-long event, the president took questions from people who had been directly impacted by the deaths of five Dallas police officers as well as by the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and others.
The tone of the town hall was one of the most notable things about the entire event. The spirit of the discussion was largely hopeful and optimistic. Considering how very grim things felt coming out of that intense week of death in the streets, it was important for our nation’s first black president to address the issue head-on and also find a calm and optimistic framework for discussion.
I have no predictions about what the Mothers of the Movement will offer as their words of encouragement or advice to the nation, but I hope that they build upon the president’s optimism, and draw further inspiration from the recent reflections of Michelle Alexander. As one of the great modern voices of social justice and racial consciousness, Alexander recently wrote a clear-minded piece titled “Something more is required of us now.”
Voting is part of “something more”
In her piece, Alexander speaks about a profound shift in our nation’s collective consciousness that needs to occur.
I hope that Mothers of the Movement will echo her call for us to get honest with ourselves about who our democracy actually serves. I hope that we all understand from their speeches that our government is a reflection of our collective consciousness as a society. And I hope that, as they speak, we see that government is a reflection of the people’s votes.
As we all reflect on what more is required of us now, we must understand with certainty that voting is a non-negotiable part of the answers we seek. And we must understand the need for our society to protect or pass laws that more closely reflect our views of justice today.
Many people have strong feelings about our American political system, which is dominated by two parties. And everyone has opinions about the candidates for president that such a system produces. I hope that the voices of Mothers of the Movement will remind us all that on November 8th we are going to elect one of two very different people as our new president.
Once again, the stakes are high
If the next president is a xenophobic, racist, misogynist, bullying and demagogue, you and I can fully expect our country to regress drastically regarding matters of race and social justice. If you don’t care whether this happens, feel free to stay home on Election Day. If you don’t want this to happen, what more is needed of you now is to vote for Hillary Clinton on Election Day.
In addition to championing policy, the next president will likely appoint one or more justices to the United States Supreme Court. This court will decide important issues that will, in turn, shape the soul of our country: voting rights, immigration rights, reproductive rights, gun control, health care, affirmative action, and money in politics. So it should matter to you that we don’t elect Donald Trump to make these appointments.
“Dr. King spoke frequently of the idea that we are all caught in an intertwined web of mutuality. He explained that whatever affects one American directly, affects all of us indirectly. It would appear that the Democrats are giving Mothers of the Movement a platform to address the nation during the convention because of a belief that their unique experience impacts all Americans and it is worth us learning from what they have to say.”
In addition to voting for our next president, I hope we take from the stories of Mothers of the Movement that we need to vote in state elections even outside of presidential years. Particularly here in Wisconsin, where we would be much better off with a governor who isn’t fighting to make it harder to vote, harder for communities to fund public education, harder to maintain a social safety net, and harder to hold government officials accountable for their actions.
Politics are local, too
Lastly, in addition to reminding us that we need to vote in national and state elections, it would be great to see people understand from Mothers of the Movement stories that a government that reflects the people starts on the ground, with people participating in local elections each spring.
If you live in a city where the mayor is so out of touch that he is calling for a campaign to educate folks on how to be submissive to police, while failing to acknowledge the importance of holding our officers to the highest standards, then you have found an obstacle to the progress that we require in order to establish a modern community where their children are less likely to become remembered as hashtags.
Dr. King spoke frequently of the idea that we are all caught in an intertwined web of mutuality. He explained that whatever affects one American directly, affects all of us indirectly. It would appear that the Democrats are giving Mothers of the Movement a platform to address the nation during the convention because of a belief that their unique experience impacts all Americans and it is worth us learning from what they have to say.
Whatever their message, I’m glad we’ll have the opportunity to hear from them.
Let’s hope we learn from them.
