Post by Optimus on Dec 10, 2020 7:55:11 GMT -5
*Pretends to be shocked*
So, apparently an outcome that pretty much anyone could have seen coming, BLM might be fracturing under the strain of being pulled in several directions at once from within. Just like with nearly all originally well-intentioned movements, people within BLM are trying to power-grab and seemingly use the movement for their own agendas...one of which is money.
www.politico.com/news/2020/12/10/black-lives-matter-organization-biden-444097
Not sure whose side I'm more sympathetic to here. The most urgent issues, it seems, are those at the local level but many of the activists at the local level have really stupid ideas like "dEfUnD tHe PoLiCe" that don't actually align with the wishes and needs of the communities they claim to represent. But, some of the cooler heads who have a more realistic view of what can be done and how to best accomplish it are closer to the national level, but at the level there seems to be a lot of thirst for power and money, with little attention being paid to issues at a local level.
Not sure what a good solution is but it's an interesting development nonetheless.
So, apparently an outcome that pretty much anyone could have seen coming, BLM might be fracturing under the strain of being pulled in several directions at once from within. Just like with nearly all originally well-intentioned movements, people within BLM are trying to power-grab and seemingly use the movement for their own agendas...one of which is money.
www.politico.com/news/2020/12/10/black-lives-matter-organization-biden-444097
The Black Lives Matter movement is buckling under the strain of its own success, with tensions rising between local chapters and national leaders over the group’s goals, direction — and money.
...
The moves have triggered mutiny in the ranks. Ten local chapters are severing ties with the Black Lives Matter Global Network, as the national leadership is known. They are furious that Patrisse Cullors, its remaining co-founder, named herself executive director of the group and made these decisions without their input. That’s a move, that, to some, signaled a rebuke of its “leaderful” structure, which gave every member an equal say and kept any one -- including a founder -- from overreaching.
...
If this dynamic sounds familiar, that’s because it is, said Omar Wasow, a political science professor at Princeton University, who studies protest movements.
"It's almost a truism that movements will [fracture] over time," Wasow said. "It's exceedingly hard to hold movements together over the long haul."
Activist organizations often split along factions as members disagree about how to advocate for change, Wasow said. Typically, they disagree about whether it’s more effective to work within the system or continue to agitate from the outside. And Black movement leaders from different groups have been at odds over reforms even earlier this year.
...
The moves have triggered mutiny in the ranks. Ten local chapters are severing ties with the Black Lives Matter Global Network, as the national leadership is known. They are furious that Patrisse Cullors, its remaining co-founder, named herself executive director of the group and made these decisions without their input. That’s a move, that, to some, signaled a rebuke of its “leaderful” structure, which gave every member an equal say and kept any one -- including a founder -- from overreaching.
...
If this dynamic sounds familiar, that’s because it is, said Omar Wasow, a political science professor at Princeton University, who studies protest movements.
"It's almost a truism that movements will [fracture] over time," Wasow said. "It's exceedingly hard to hold movements together over the long haul."
Activist organizations often split along factions as members disagree about how to advocate for change, Wasow said. Typically, they disagree about whether it’s more effective to work within the system or continue to agitate from the outside. And Black movement leaders from different groups have been at odds over reforms even earlier this year.
Not sure whose side I'm more sympathetic to here. The most urgent issues, it seems, are those at the local level but many of the activists at the local level have really stupid ideas like "dEfUnD tHe PoLiCe" that don't actually align with the wishes and needs of the communities they claim to represent. But, some of the cooler heads who have a more realistic view of what can be done and how to best accomplish it are closer to the national level, but at the level there seems to be a lot of thirst for power and money, with little attention being paid to issues at a local level.
Not sure what a good solution is but it's an interesting development nonetheless.
