"Obama and The Sisters":The Forgotten Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm

We as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. More is required -- More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.Barbara Jordan 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote

Melissa Harris-Lacewell wrote a mini essay for the Nation about the symbolism of Obama speech in about two weeks on the forty-fifth anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. She points out that in the frequent comparisons between Obama and members of the CRIC ( Civil Rights Industrial Complex) we often leave out some of the most passionate orators in history:BLACK WOMEN:

On August 28, most will be listening for a resonance of Martin Luther King Jr. because Obama will be speaking exactly forty-five years after Dr. King declared, "I have a dream." These are fair comparisons, but they ignore another important tradition from which the Obama candidacy emerges--that of Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm and the many thousands of black women activists whose names history failed to record. These women are the lost prophets of American democracy. As a country we dimly recall their accomplishments and have almost wholly forgotten their words. The epic battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton heightened conversations about race and gender, but it did little to illuminate the intersection between these identities where black women leaders have made significant contributions. The Nation

As a Texan, my idol was Barbara Jordan. My church librarian said they she knew Barbara Jordan and I reminded her of Barbara Jordan ( yes, I was a rather outspoken tot- shocking isn't it?) Sister Robinson had to have told me this when I was four or five. Every February, Sister Robinson would plaster pictures of famous Black folks on the wall including Barbara Jordan. (She also put up posters of Lola Falana, but that is neither here nor there.) I decided I wanted to be a lawyer because Barbara Jordan was a lawyer too. (Kids, that's a really bad way to select a career by the way. Don't do that, Okay?) But Melissa Harris-Lacewell is right. Some of to most powerful oratories in American history were given by Black women, but its amazing how they have gotten excised from history once again. We highlight the work of Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, Ella Baker, and Fannie Lou Hamer after the break In today's political environment where our politicians are more likely to cut up and act a fool or remain silent in deference to their corporate overseers, take a walk down memory lane to a time when people actually thought about what the heck they were going to say . I know it is not Black History Month, but a little historical perspective outside of the month of February won't hurt you.

Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan could" BRING IT!" and not in some rhyme-scheme, nonsensical, empty, rhetorical Krispy Kreme donut kind of way. Every year I take off to trudge up to the University of Texas, LBJ School of Public Policy to attend the Barbara Jordan National Forum. Its free and its always good. When you hear Barbara Jordan speak about the constitution you almost get a tear in the inside corner of your eye and the Star Spangled Banner starts to play in your head. 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address: I have quoted some chunks of the speech which is rated one of the Top 100 Speeches in American History, but you HAVE to listen to it.

We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.

Throughout -- Throughout our history, when people have looked for new ways to solve their problems and to uphold the principles of this nation, many times they have turned to political parties. They have often turned to the Democratic Party. What is it? What is it about the Democratic Party that makes it the instrument the people use when they search for ways to shape their future? Well I believe the answer to that question lies in our concept of governing. Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set of beliefs firmly etched in the national conscience of all of us.

Now what are these beliefs? First, we believe in equality for all and privileges for none. This is a belief -- This is a belief that each American, regardless of background, has equal standing in the public forum -- all of us. Because -- Because we believe this idea so firmly, we are an inclusive rather than an exclusive party. Let everybody come. Barbara Jordan 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote

And the most famous passage from the speech:

Many fear the future. Many are distrustful of their leaders, and believe that their voices are never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private work -- wants; to satisfy their private interests. But this is the great danger America faces -- that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good? Barbara Jordan 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote

Whew! and Somebody a print this out and show this one to Detroit's Mayor, Kwame "The Tethered Superdelegate" Kilpatrick. Read this three times:

And now, what are those of us who are elected public officials supposed to do? We call ourselves "public servants" but I'll tell you this: We as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. More is required -- More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.Barbara Jordan 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote

If you ask most partisans, Republican or Democrat to tell you WHY they are or WHAT they are, they couldn't tell you if their lives depended on it. She did it in one paragraph, but perhaps her most famous speech and the one that put her in the national spotlight was her opening salvo during the Watergate hearings.

Nixon Impeachment

Part 1 "I was not included in we the people" Through the process of amendment interpretation and court decision, I have finally have been included in 'We the People'" Part II: Barbara Jordan on Nixon disobeying an order of the Supreme Court of The United States. She goes over impeachment criteria all the way from the days of James Madison.

Shirley Chisholm

Fannie Lou Hamer

Ella Baker

Unfortunately I couldn't find any Ella Baker video on the ubiquitous yet often times demonic YouTube, but I will share with you some Ella Baker quotes.

I have always felt it was a handicap for oppressed peoples to depend so largely upon a leader, because unfortunately in our culture, the charismatic leader usually becomes a leader because he has found a spot in the public limelight.

PREACH!

I have always thought what is needed is the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership in others.

Amen!

Strong people don't need strong leaders.

Buy that T-shirt!

There is also the danger in our culture that because a person is called upon to give public statements and is acclaimed by the establishment, such a person gets to the point of believing that he is the movement.

So it will be interesting to see whether the DNC highlights the role of Black women in history at the convention. If they mention everybody else BUT Black women, trust me, I'll be the first to post about it.

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