General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I posted some things two years ago about Kamala Harris that were I shouldn't have. [View all]Docreed2003
(16,865 posts)My post was intended towards NJ, and I felt her post was within guidelines and wanted to inform her. No one is setting up a dichotomy like you speak of.
You can spare me the talk about "all white left" vs "x" crap....I don't need that lecture.
Let me ask you a question, ever heard of a guy by the name of Will Campbell?? Most haven't, he was a Baptist minister that grew up in rural Mississippi. I know you know about "Brown vs Board"...well Will helped escort those children to school on their first day. When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed, guess who the only white minister present at its founding was? Will Campbell. When Nashville was in the throws of the civil rights movement, there was a young student from American Baptist Seminary by the name of John Lewis and young adults from other historically black schools in Nashville that were developing civil disobedience techniques and needed mentors...Will Campbell was one of them, a subtle voice helping and guiding from the background. He'd become known as a "bootleg minister" in his later life, which was highlighted by his fight to end capital punishment. Yet, no one remembers Will D Campbell. That always bothered me...will was my friend and my mentor. You have to dig further than Wikipedia to even know most of those facts. I ask him once, "Will, why aren't you pushing for greater historical acknowledgment??" His response hit me over the head and changed the way I view the world. "Son, it was never my desire to be a leader, I was merely supporting what I felt were just causes that Christ would support. It wasn't for me to lead those struggles or to be the focus. I provided my strength and energy and that was enough recognition for me."
Ken, I appreciate your intensity and your zeal for liberal/progressive issues. I would only say, take a deep breath, step back from the keyboard, and listen. The angrier and more emotional and the quicker you are to respond to any perceived or real slight, the less likely people are to take your messages seriously. Again, I admire your fight, but you don't have the only answers or path forward. Sometimes it's more effective to provide strength by supporting the cause from the background. Took me a long time to appreciate that message, but my mentor lived it and, if I could live half his life, I'd do so gladly, even if it meant no one would remember my name!