More than a year ago, the Cook County medical examiner's autopsy revealed the true story of Laquan's death. Last week, an electoral autopsy revealed a vote of no confidence in government's performance in poor communities, as a new political chapter buried 7-term incumbent State Representative Ken Dunkin, and gave life to the historic ascendancy of Democratic nominee for Cook County State's Attorney, Kim Foxx.
Dunkin's "People over Politics" campaign boomeranged, severing and exposing itself for what it really was ---- a racialized and well-financed "Politics over People" campaign failure that used chicanery, and personality-vilifying to distract a majority African American electorate from focusing on draconian policies that stand to exacerbate the downtrodden condition of the many. Dark money can't buy an enlightened and engaged electorate. The voters called the campaign out: one that sold its constituency out by wrongfully assuming it could play them for stupid. Dunkin's lost was a wake-up call for the marginalizing few.
On the other hand, Laquan's killing fast became a rallying cry, as Foxx's "restoration of fairness and credibility" campaign became a white horse, antithetical to government misconduct, illegality and hypocrisy in marginalized communities of color. Millennials fueled this spirit, as it also fueled them. It ignited a movement, aided and abetted by a litany of local and national events magnifying government oppression. Government tyranny can't mute the voices of the people forever.
Pundits harshly asserted Foxx won because of Laquan.
No. Laquan pulled bureaucratic corruption from under the rug of government secrecy. Voters demanded more and better from a colluding group of agencies intentionally unresponsive to poor communities and riddled with ineptness. Foxx's nomination is a therefore, not a whereas; a consequence of government malfeasance exposed, not because of Laquan.
The Dunkin and Foxx campaigns are flip sides of the same victory coin. But not to be celebrated ad nauseam.
"I understand the excitement, but let us not get lost in the gravity of the work that is ahead of us," Foxx stated during her victory speech.
The marginalized have been here before. Where, in the wake of victorious social and political battles, jubilance became a distraction from staying the course. As a result, today's marginalized are still fighting to win a war over the same ideals, beliefs, and legislation from yesteryear.
The Tortoise and the Hare reminds us that steady wins the race. In the short-term, a movement can be like the hare; energetic, exciting, making things happen, and outpacing the lethargic nature of a tortoise-like campaign. But, in the long term, when movements bask too long in the afterglow of a one lap victory, a campaign with staying power wins the race, leaving the movement and its supporters behind, with a consolation prize of inspirational folklore, scratching their heads, asking, "What just happened?"
As Foxx faces a general election in November, the movement, the marginalized and those opposed to government corruption must stay the course.
There are several mandatory steps.
1. Remain civically engaged. Government disregard of poor people was a match that lit a forest fire of protests in the form of countless marches, sit-ins, die-ins, and rallies. Global peace activist Helen Caldicott is right. "Sometimes it's appropriate to scream at them." Citizen participation brought attention to issues previously cast aside or ignored by the status quo. Staying the course requires consistently and unabashedly defining the issues, taking a position, and mobilizing support with and on behalf of the marginalized.
2. Focus on the "what" not the "who." It is more profitable for the marginalized to pay more attention to the policies a candidate supports, and less on the personality a candidate purports. Dunkin tried to distract voters from the policies endorsed by his benefactors by focusing on the personality of his opposition's donor, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, to no avail. Voters saw through the campaign's trickery, focusing more on the regressive policies and the negative impact on their daily lives, including but not limited to the potential closing of the state's community colleges, universities, and social service provider agencies.
3. Vote your interest, not special interests. The ballot box is democracy's microphone for the marginalized. The more people access it, the louder the crescendos of opportunity, fairness, and equality become. On March 15, Cook County broke its early voting record. Voter turnout for Chicago was over 50 percent. 26,000 voters registered. Exit polls showed African American turnout was 150 percent higher than 2014, and higher than normal in Latino communities. In the wake of local organizations drawing attention to abusive government toward African Americans, Foxx won in areas where they were the largest population. And despite his attempt to convince the electorate otherwise, a vote for Dunkin was a vote for regressive policies hurting a majority of his constituents.
4. Hold elected officials accountable. Maintaining political pressure forces elected officials to comply with what's in the best interest of the electorate. Years after electing President Obama, pundits in the African American community, regret not holding him more accountable to addressing issues specific to the African American community. Caught in the rapture of the country's first black President, observers opined that marginalized communities gave Obama "a pass," relieving him of addressing the specific interests of the marginalized group of which he is a member.
For the marginalized to remain complacently satisfied with the status quo, and drunkenly jubilant over short-term victories, is a recipe for a repetitive and dizzying cycle of oppression. Long term victory requires the marginalized to confront two perpetual realities: The path never ends and the steps never cease.
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