By Mahari A. McTier
I grew up in a post-civil rights era that consisted of organizing, strategizing, and taking a stand for what we believed in. We were led by a deep ideology of justice for all. I learned many transferable skills during my time as a congressional staffer and community leader from Dr. Richard Arrington and the Jefferson County Citizens Coalition, and Dr. Joe L. Reed and the Alabama Democratic Conference. If you know these iconic individuals or have had the opportunity to experience the magnitude of their power and influence personally, it is to be admired or to some despised.
I often watched in amazement the influence these individuals had over their constituency. Dr. Arrington often credits his success as a leader to his ability to organize. I would summarize the success of Dr. Reed’s tenure as a community leader who has influenced the political landscape for the last five decades to his unique dogmatic presence as a fighter and a man to be feared if crossed. I would also contribute his long standing power to being what I call a free Black man who can take independent action independent of what repercussions may have been inflicted against him from his opposition.
It is now 2014 and the question is, are organizations like the Jefferson County Citizens Coalition and the Alabama Democratic Conference still relevant today? Will we ever have iconic leaders like Dr. Arrington and Reed again to lead our grass root organizations? I think it is appropriate to rewind back to the time when these leaders were at their peak. At their peak, if they spoke the crowd moved. If they said vote for their candidates, the people voted. It may be fair to say that during those times the people were less educated or less informed on the complexities of the issues and relied on these leaders and their organizations to guide them in making the right decisions they hoped were the best decisions for their community. I remember passing out the old powerful Blue Ballot of the Coalition on election day. There were hundreds of volunteers waiting to be assigned a role to further the agenda.
Fast forward a couple decades and what you see when you look at these organizations is a shell of who they once were. Meetings consist of a handful of members, mostly seniors. You have a handful of workers, not volunteers, who all want to be paid for any work they do. These organizations are broke financially and are trying to influence the political landscape with no resources or unified agenda.
This is what I think as it relates to their relevance. This is applicable both locally and nationally. I don’t think these organizations will ever exist again in the same version of old. I seriously doubt we will have iconic figures like Dr. Arrington lead with unchallenged power again. Yes, these organizations will become totally irrelevant if they don’t change with the times. People are too independent and informed to blindly do or vote the way someone tells them to vote without debate or their thoughts being considered. They have to become inclusive of a wide base of conversation and input on the agenda. They have to effectively use technology and embrace issues relevant to a younger base to get them connected. They have to become financially independent of corporate dollars. If this doesn’t happen these organizations will never truly be independent, because it’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you.
If these organizations understand that collective power is greater than the individuals of organizations, they will stay relevant. If they develop a collective agenda that is motived to improve the lives of the majority and not just a select few, they will stay relevant. If they become financially independent from corporate dollars they will be able to take a stand without fear of financial repercussions. We need these organizations, because every movement in our history that has been successful was manifested through our ability to organize and get the people to unite behind a unified cause. Until these organizations regain the respect of the masses, the trust that their agenda is not just for a select few, and effectively expand their membership beyond an aging base, they will become extinct.
(Mahari A. McTier is a Financial Advisor with Tier 1 Advisors, LLC and can be reached at maharimctier.tier1@gmailcom.)
