Community Voices Reflect on the 2023 Civil Rights Agenda: Pressing Issues for the Civil Rights Movement
State Rep Samba Baldeh, 48th Assembly District
The Right to Know Who We Are
As I walked through the “House of Slaves” on the Island of Goree off the coast of Senegal, I could not help but feel that I was walking in the footsteps of my ancestors who, 300 years ago, were taken captive and exported as nothing more than cargo to North America.
Fortunately, some of my Fulani and Mandingo ancestors were able to elude the African and European slavers. We were able to continue to live our lives as we wanted to live without having to endure hundreds of years of involuntary servitude followed by a hundred years of Jim Crow laws instituted to demean and devalue the lives of Black Americans.
The lives of our ancestors who were taken, the millions lost at sea, the millions forced to live in an alien world of hard labor enforced by violence are, to this day, largely unknown to most Americans — and Africans.
Instead of attempting to bring new knowledge and understanding of the foundational role of African-Americans in creating every aspect of US economic power, the backlash against coming to terms with the deep racial divide has become a political tool of the political Right.
Under the banner of opposing CRT (which few know what it stands for, let alone what it entails), the Right seeks to bury the history of the slavery and the racism it created as a rationale to perpetuate its expansion and continuance. Instead, they want to misconstrue any discussion of our common history as “anti-white” and thus, the truth cannot be spoken.
They want an American history of contented slaves, who, once freed, lived happily ever after in a nation that treated them as equals. A history where American Indians willingly gave up their land and culture to white settlers and decided to move to desolate reservations.
One legislative proposal actually stated that schools cannot teach any history that makes (White) students feel bad about themselves.
This backlash against knowing and teaching about our true history is an assault on who we are. Similar to the ban on American Indian languages in schools or African languages in the farm fields, we are being told that we will dare to speak the truth about “what happened” at our peril.
It may be dangerous to do so, but we cannot be deterred from our right to learn, speak and teach the truth because only then can there truly be reconciliation.
Achieving Equity and Inclusive Growth
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is always a reflective time to reassess our commitment to justice and allows us to reorient our goals at the start of the year. His commitment to equality and forging a better future for generations to come is an inspiring story for all of us who want to follow that same path of equality and equity. It is also a reminder of how the same issues that Dr. King fought for are still prevalent today and how there is so much more work to be done.
When we think about equity, so many forms of equity come to mind. From racial to socioeconomic equity, there are many angles to approach creating a better community for everyone. At the cornerstone of Dr. King’s mission was a commitment to economic justice. In his 1967 address at the National Conference on New Politics, Dr. King highlighted the three evils in the world: the evil of racism, the evil of poverty, and the evil of war.
The evil of poverty and the evil of racism often work together to create barriers to marginalized communities. It is with systemic racism that communities are left disadvantaged and subjected to poverty. Whether it’s housing discrimination, unequal access to employment, or even with inequitable work environments, the problems that Dr. King spoke about are still present today.
Racial equity and Economic equity are inseparable when fighting to create a just and equitable society. Dr. King’s vision was to create a world where all people from all backgrounds could work in fair and equitable conditions to support themselves as well as their families. From supporting Black sanitation workers fighting for better working conditions to leading national advocacy efforts for full employment, Dr. King understood that the living and working conditions of people needed to be at the forefront in the fight for justice.
We can see the same issues play out in our communities today. With the economic downturn, the living and working conditions of so many have turned for the worst. Housing is becoming more unaffordable for families and homelessness is also a persisting issue for
Nasra Wehelie, Alder, Madison District 7 and CEO of Empathy 4 Equity LLC
advocates. It is apparent that all of the issues are heavily intertwined, and that at the root of many of these social issues is a need for an economic empowerment of all peoples and a more equitable economic system to dissolve disparities.
Whether it is advocating for increasing income for people facing poverty or homelessness, fighting for equitable wages and working conditions, or working to make housing more affordable for individuals and families, there are so many different approaches we can take to begin solving society’s most pressing issues. As Dr. King stated: “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” So many of the same efforts that Dr. King started are continuing to be carried on by his family and those who worked to fulfill his legacy. This continuous struggle is one that will not be solved by one magical solution but by many concerted and multifaceted approaches. May this MLK Day be a reminder to reaffirm our pursuits of justice and do our own individual part to fight for equitable living and working conditions for our communities.
