The ‘master’ list

30th April 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor

I’ve been cash advance 10 mile and kelly thinking a great deal about the growing list of Black elected officials in local, state and federal government who do absolutely nothing or as little as possible to protect the interests of communities of color even though their successful campaigns wouldn’t be even remotely possible without the support of Black people.

Many of them have been able to get away with this because Black people have not collectively taken the time to assess the job performances of these “public servants” and make whatever adjustments are necessary to move a justice-centered Black Agenda forward.

Reflecting on the failure of many Black politicians has led me to the conclusion that we need a “master” list of all of the Black elected officials whose actions or inaction in office, legislation and/or endorsements run counter to the needs and interests of Black people.

With many Black people struggling every day to make ends meet and to avoid being murdered by trigger-happy cops or neighborhood watch captains, it’s admittedly a lot to take on. But it’s also as necessary to the growth and survival of Black people in America as healthy food, clean water, clothing and shelter.
We need an updated list of Black elected officials who personal loans upto 5000 give their all to ensure Black people enjoy equal protection under the law and a tally of the spineless and shameless individuals who can’t seem to summon the courage, commitment, conviction and dedication needed to stand up for Black people even if their lives depended on it.

There are some very specific questions we should ask ourselves before pushing a button to vote for someone even if he or she looks like us. Among these questions are:

• How often do we see these candidates when it isn’t election time?

• What has this candidate done to support the creation, growth and development of Black businesses in his or her district?

• Has this candidate aligned himself or herself with a candidate or candidates who clearly do not respect Black people and have contributed to the demise of communities of color?

• Has this candidate done anything over the course of his or her political career that suggests that he is actively seeking ways to increase the decision-making power of Black people?

• Has the candidate in question authored co-authored or actively supported any legislation or changes to the law that contributed directly to Blacks’ decision-making lenders act power with regard to public education, the awarding of public contracts or city government?

• Since none of us is perfect, has any candidate that has made a move in public government that betrayed the trust of Black people actively sought to make amends and right the wrong(s) committed?

• Does the candidate take an active role in his or her district and support efforts to strengthen Black families, increase public safety and create independent Black institutions?

• Has the candidate in question said or done anything in office that would suggest that he or she is an independent thinker?

• Does the candidate step up to the plate on issues of critical importance to the Black community and is he or she willing to take an unpopular stand even if it means potentially damaging his or her political future?

• If the candidate has been in office for any considerable length of time, does he or she have a list of accomplishments and successes he or she can point to that most Black people would agree are important to the growth and survival of communities of color?

• Does the candidate secure cash loans for bad credit behave as though he or she believes that public office is his or her birthright?

• Does the candidate appear to be more afraid of losing his or her job or stepping on the toes of the ruling class than he or she is of earning the disapproval of Black voters?

• Does the candidate’s votes in office and his or her actions suggest that he or she understands the concept of public service?

• Who does the candidate endorse and who are his or her campaign donors?

For the record, we don’t have to apologize or explain ourselves for conducting research and compiling a list of elected officials who continually let us down. That’s our constitutional right as law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. We might want to consider enlisting the skills and energy of college students in collecting data and creating dossiers on every elected official. Eventually, we could assemble quite a data base of elected officials’ job performances and chart their progression, growth or stagnation while in office.

Lest someone think this has the makings of a witch hunt, consider the example set by Louisiana Gov. Piyush Jindal and his allies who used every political tool and play at cash advance and interest their disposal to remove their political adversaries from bodies like the Louisiana Legislature and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The governor has even gone so far as to appoint people with no love or respect for Southern University to serve on its Board of Supervisors. Former Gov. Mike Foster, Jindal’s former mentor and the grandson for a former KKK grand wizard, must be somewhere beaming with pride.

If we have learned nothing else from Gov. Jindal, we should have learned that we are in the fight of our lives and can’t afford to worry about offending someone or stepping on someone’s toes. All that does not violate the U.S. Constitution is fair in love, war and politics.

We could use this “master” list immediately and need to do everything in our power to first look at the legislative history and voting habits of each candidate in order to move accordingly. Moving accordingly may involve doing more than simply launching a campaign to support a more suitable candidate for an open seat. Moving accordingly may involve letting a candidate that has a history of letting us down know that we aren’t going to take it any more. We can do that grading legislators and other elected officials annually and distributing reports on how these elected officials voted on issues of critical importance to the Black community. We can also do this by making phone calls to his or her office, sending out emails, getting vocal about our dissatisfaction with their job performance at official events and, as Mama Sandra Hester has already suggested, showing up at these candidates’ favorite restaurants, stores and drinking holes.

Mind you, we don’t have to hate or vilify these candidates when they have demonstrated a lack of concern for our needs and interests. We simply need to let them know that we are uber-aware of how they are performing in office and that we plan to do everything in our power to remove them from office. The constituents of New Orleans have a right to know who and what they are dealing with and where these elected officials’ loyalties lie.

And we should tell these chronically low-performing elected officials that we are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

All power to the people.

This article was originally published in the April 30, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper