Power to the People
Justice Equalized. Power Democratized.
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Universalized civic action strengthens democracy, distributes power and fosters accountability for those in authority -- whether police, politicians, judges, execs, faith leaders or billionaires.
The goal of the work is to equalize justice and democratize power -- each of us adopting social practices that work for all of us, and for the non-majority society we're on the cusp of becoming.
Context
Giving homage to the Black Panther slogan, Power to the People is built on the concept of democracy itself, derived from dēmokratia; demos (“the people”) + kratos (“rule”); “rule of the people” (or, put another way, "power to the people"), and is the legacy of the original Rainbow Coalition who, despite their different flags (see below), were able to do something we still struggle with today -- they saw how they were all fighting for the same cause.
As a result, everyone from AIM (American Indian Movement) and Students for a Democratic Society (Euro Americans) to the Brown Berets (Chicanos) and the Red Guard Party (Chinese Americans) among others, all found a home under their shared banner. "We'll work with anybody, or form a coalition with anybody that has revolution on their mind," was how Fred Hampton would describe the tie that bound them all together.
Fred and Black Panther Party leader/Rainbow Coalition co-founder Bobby Lee first met members of the group that would become the Young Patriots Organization when Fred and Bobby, at Fred's encouragement, attended a JOIN (Jobs or Income Now) event, an initiative launched by Students for a Democratic Society to explore working together. That meeting, understandably tense at first, quickly resulted in a shared awareness of how they were all impacted by the same problems.
Bobby Lee was initially reticent, especially seeing the Confederate flag patches on arms. But the more they talked, the more the walls came down, and he eventually said, "My name is Bobby Lee but my real name is Robert E. Lee." Laughing together erased any lingering suspicions, and in just one meeting, lifelong friendships were established and cemented, with the engagement of Young Lords Party leader Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, with whom Fred already had a relationship, the venerable Rainbow Coalition was born.
As a result, everyone from AIM (American Indian Movement) and Students for a Democratic Society (Euro Americans) to the Brown Berets (Chicanos) and the Red Guard Party (Chinese Americans) among others, all found a home under their shared banner. "We'll work with anybody, or form a coalition with anybody that has revolution on their mind," was how Fred Hampton would describe the tie that bound them all together.
Fred and Black Panther Party leader/Rainbow Coalition co-founder Bobby Lee first met members of the group that would become the Young Patriots Organization when Fred and Bobby, at Fred's encouragement, attended a JOIN (Jobs or Income Now) event, an initiative launched by Students for a Democratic Society to explore working together. That meeting, understandably tense at first, quickly resulted in a shared awareness of how they were all impacted by the same problems.
Bobby Lee was initially reticent, especially seeing the Confederate flag patches on arms. But the more they talked, the more the walls came down, and he eventually said, "My name is Bobby Lee but my real name is Robert E. Lee." Laughing together erased any lingering suspicions, and in just one meeting, lifelong friendships were established and cemented, with the engagement of Young Lords Party leader Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, with whom Fred already had a relationship, the venerable Rainbow Coalition was born.
Three principles
This work stands on three actionable principles:
1. Ultimately, only a society that works For All of us will work for any of us.
2. Any society where a portion of us rules the rest of us is destined to fail.
3. Only a government of the people, by the people and for the people is sustainable.
This is the essence of participative democracy -- rule of the people.
Though participative democracy begins with the sacredness of the vote for every citizen, it's about a lot more than that. It's about inalienable rights and self-evident truths for everyone, about equal protection and fair laws. It's about creating a society where "serving one's country" includes serving a term in public office and where all authority figures, from judges to police officers to heads of government agencies, are subject to the will of the people. It's about unbiasing our frameworks, repurposing our economy, elevating our politics, strengthening our solidarity and becoming a land where everyone can thrive.
And this work is critical. The only way we secure for ourselves a future is by becoming a society where "one nation, indivisible" and "liberty and justice For All" ring true.
This, doing our part to form a "more perfect union", is the work we're all called to do.
1. Ultimately, only a society that works For All of us will work for any of us.
2. Any society where a portion of us rules the rest of us is destined to fail.
3. Only a government of the people, by the people and for the people is sustainable.
This is the essence of participative democracy -- rule of the people.
Though participative democracy begins with the sacredness of the vote for every citizen, it's about a lot more than that. It's about inalienable rights and self-evident truths for everyone, about equal protection and fair laws. It's about creating a society where "serving one's country" includes serving a term in public office and where all authority figures, from judges to police officers to heads of government agencies, are subject to the will of the people. It's about unbiasing our frameworks, repurposing our economy, elevating our politics, strengthening our solidarity and becoming a land where everyone can thrive.
And this work is critical. The only way we secure for ourselves a future is by becoming a society where "one nation, indivisible" and "liberty and justice For All" ring true.
This, doing our part to form a "more perfect union", is the work we're all called to do.
Campaigns
1. Your Republic - Collaborative effort to secure citizen rights for all Americans, and protect the sanctity of the vote; including automatic voter registration, increasing accessibility, including through absentee ballots, making the right to vote irrevocable for every US citizen, including the incarcerated, and reforming Electoral College.
2. One Nation, Indivisible – Recognizing public officials who, across the political spectrum, build an America where everyone is embraced, affirmed and included. Fostering political strategies that work in a non-majority society (and eliminating those that don’t).
3. Just Justice – Tools that make the justice process more democratic, that shift power to the people, and that give the everyday citizen access to equal legal protection and due process.
4. Back Where We Came From - Effort to shift the narrative from talking about building a border wall to making automatic dual citizenship an option for all Mexicans. This was their land first. When we say to them, "Go back where you came from," we forget that, with respect to the western part of North America, they already are.
2. One Nation, Indivisible – Recognizing public officials who, across the political spectrum, build an America where everyone is embraced, affirmed and included. Fostering political strategies that work in a non-majority society (and eliminating those that don’t).
3. Just Justice – Tools that make the justice process more democratic, that shift power to the people, and that give the everyday citizen access to equal legal protection and due process.
4. Back Where We Came From - Effort to shift the narrative from talking about building a border wall to making automatic dual citizenship an option for all Mexicans. This was their land first. When we say to them, "Go back where you came from," we forget that, with respect to the western part of North America, they already are.
Bobby Seale's going through all types of physical and mental torture, but that's all right, because we said even before this happened and we're going to say it after this, and after I'm locked up, and after everybody's locked up, that you can jail a revolutionary, but you can't jail a revolution. You may run a liberator like Eldridge Cleaver out of the country, but you can’t run liberation out of the country. You might murder a freedom-fighter like Bobby Hutton, but you can’t murder freedom-fighting.
Fred Hampton
Fred Hampton