The word “leadership” can bring to mind a variety of images: A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause; an explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow; or an executive developing her company’s strategy to beat the competition.
Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to “win” as a team, a family, or a community. It is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.
Interestingly, black leadership has seemingly become an anomaly . Every other demographic is allowed the luxury of its leadership to come from their elected officials, or business communities. In the black community, there is often confusion in who to look to for leadership. There is often the question of “Who is on my side?” The conversation on Black Leadership is one that each and every Black person should consider and define for themselves for the sake of the Black community. No one person can say who we are or are not – we are not a monolith. However, we are all connected to each other.
Here we explore “Black Leadership.” Tameka Bennett (grad student and educator), Shanna Joseph (law student), Tanisha Arena ( executive director for Arise for Social Justice) , and Robert C. Jones (community mentor and advocate) offer their perspectives.
When you think of Black leadership… What comes to mind?
Arena: When I think of Black leadership, there is a duality that exists in my mind. There is the past and the present. Black leadership has looked like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Huey P. Newton, Fred Hampton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin and Coretta, Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X. Black leadership speaking truth to power and implementing action steps, and sometimes losing their lives in that process. Part of black leadership means persecution and ultimate sacrifice. In the present day, black leadership still has the element of persecution and sacrifice. We are still speaking truth to power and taking action, but now we have to deal with the idea that we have somehow overcome. Yes, things are better than they were for us than our ancestors, we aren’t picking cotton, but I would argue we are still experiencing plantation politics.
Joseph: When I think of Black leadership, I cannot help but think of the principles that guide Kwanzaa. As the days pass and we get closer to celebrating, I think those principles in the context of Black leadership become more important than ever. Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. With the world constantly attacking us to our core and attempting day by day to divide us, a Black leader is one who can and does take steps to unify his (or her) people. a leader encourages peace and sameness amongst strife and differences. A leader also encourages his followers to lead themselves. He can take a step back once he is sure he has instilled the right directions in his followers. In his role, a leader enables his people to hold him as accountable as he holds them. He stands where his people stand and walks where they walk. He is not afraid to sacrifice. He relishes in their abilities and celebrates their accomplishments and creativity. More importantly than them all, a leader instills hope in all his people to continue to work together and flourish.
Jones: This question sadly sounds like an oxymoron. Black Leadership should reflect an individual advocating, selflessly for the Black community. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case and those typically with national, or even local recognition tend to be shills for the machine ~ white people in Black face. During the 60’s and before, there was a litany of Black voices, Black movements and Black initiatives that coalesced into a movement. Today, you have the same sentiment, but it’s oddly and dangerously inclusive to the point that our community, the Black community is left voiceless, resource less and powerless.
Bennett: I think about people in urban communities who are there to help with the lingering effects of racism and/or who are there to help educate the youth (or people in the community) about the history of that community or this country; in hopes of changing the course of the community/environment.
Is there anyone that comes to mind in this region who epitomizes Black leadership?
Arena: Honestly, the first person that comes to my mind is Bishop Talbert Swan. As president of the Springfield NAACP, he actively names white supremacy and racism and has been the target of death threats, violence, people looking to dismiss, demonize, discredit, and destroy him and those are the tactics used against black leaders. Being blocked/banned for speaking truth, demanding accountability, and systemic and institutional change, in ways similar to our slain leaders of the past, regardless of the risks to personal health and safety and impacts to family, he shows up anyway and therein lies the ultimate sacrifice.
Joseph: There is no one in particular, who comes to mind as an epitome. I’ve seen a collective of people over time: Hannibal, Cleopatra, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint L’Ouverture, Patrick Lumumba, Langston Hughes, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and the list goes on. While none of the listed people were perfect, they attempted to incorporate those same principles we teach every December. On a local level, the Black leaders I see are in our family centers, writing our newspapers, fighting in courtrooms for our people, teaching our youth (and their families) the knowledge they need outside of the system. They are volunteering with our youth (and families) and working to guide them to betterment. Our leaders are not incorporated within only one person. They are within all who work for the prosperity of the Black collective. At times, the Black community mistakenly seeks a savior. A human being or a group of human beings amongst us that will save us from the oppression we face on a day to day basis. What we fail to recognize at times is that power exists within us all. Does the Black community have an organization to rely on to move the Black agenda forward? The answer is yes. We have many. Here in Springfield, Massachusetts we have organizations like this newspaper who move the Black agenda forward by promoting the truth of the atrocities that are committed against us, of the histories that the white man attempts to race, as well as memorialize the good that we are doing for our children to follow and improve. We have organizations like the African Diaspora Mental Health Association which seeks to erase generational trauma. We have organizations like the Ethnic Study Co-Work Cafe & Bookstore which encourage collaborative work and unity. Businesses like Dewey’s, Level 5, and Malay’s Speak & Eat which encourages creativity and purpose. We have attorneys who work to keep our people with their families. These are our leaders, and these are just a few of our organizations.
Arena: Black leadership has to show up knowing that there are dangers possibly leading up to and including death. black leadership is the ability to show up authentically, to take those risks, even if it means being picked apart by your own community. I feel like there are a lot of people leading and they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Tiffany Alecia Porter, turning the outside of the Springfield police department into a nightclub to draw attention to the injustices taking place and reading the Department of Justice investigation results was brilliant and an example of black leadership. It’s naming our experiences without watering them down, without caring about the backlash because we know there will be some. I also think our leadership looks like folks who are taking the time to educate and change our family trees in terms of generational wealth and health.
Are there any organizations that the black community can rely on to drive the black agenda forward?
Arena: In theory, there are a lot of organizations the black community can rely on to drive the black agenda forward, but before any organization can drive the agenda forward, we need to get clear on what our agenda is, across all of our communities and neighborhoods. As we deal with intercommunal problems like colorism, which again, goes back to plantation politics and how some of us know all skin folk ain’t kinfolk, it makes it harder for us to unite and do what is best for the community as a whole and not just for select individuals. We have to get clear on the fact that whether you are in the proverbial house or field, it’s still the plantation. Now in practice, organizations that the black community can rely on? Faith spaces of course. Pastors have great reach in educating and connecting issues in our community and helping us get clear on what we need to do collectively. I am biased in saying that grassroots organizations rooted in social justice like Arise are also organizations that the black community can rely on to drive the black agenda forward, but I’m saying it specifically because of black leadership that has a clear understanding of white supremacy and racism and what anti-blackness looks like. At the root of these issues and why we specifically need a black agenda is because the systems and institutions that oppress us are rooted in anti-blackness. If we can create systems and institutions that are actually pro-black, it is helpful to everyone else at the same time.
Jones: There are grassroots organization and/or people putting the work in but there is no national movement per se. It’s difficult trying to see through the distortion, considering all the weapons and resources white supremacy has at its disposal. White supremacy/government actively seeks out these organizations and destroys them or disrupts the momentum through infiltration.
What is lacking in your city when it comes to black leadership?
Arena: The biggest lack that I see in terms of black leadership in the city of Springfield is unity among black leaders. We need to know when/how we are moving, regardless of who you align with. Get the message. Period. There are a lot of amazing people doing amazing work in our city and we should all support each other and be united in what we are doing and know that about one another. What are our shared goals? Can we communicate that to each other so regardless of which one of us you bump into on the street or whoever is speaking at an event or rally, the message is uniform and clear. We know how to move, how we are voting and why and we recognize what is best for the whole community. I think it is also important that we are able to hold each other accountable in ways that do not replicate dominance and superiority. It’s not enough to just be black as a qualifier for leadership, public office, etc., especially if you aren’t the most qualified, if you cause harm, or if you align with the very things that oppress us.
Jones: When I am asked what is missing from our community as a whole I focus on two principles: collective responsibility and cooperative economics. We are building businesses and buying Black, but we need to invest more into ourselves. Where a new business fails to commit to what they claim to have sought to do, we must hold them responsible. Be caring but be firm. Encourage excellence within one another. Especially in our youth while they are young. We must always remember unity. Where we all think we are doing the one thing that is going to help us as a collective, we need to remember that we are all contributing to the steps that propel us forward. What we are missing at times is our focus. Our mission. It is a mission that should always be pointed toward our success.
Black leadership in the city of Springfield is risk adverse. What I mean by that is people don’t want to upset white folks and they will go along to get along even with the knowledge of policies, administration, policing and economic development intentionally being routed away from the Black community and landing with everyone else that is not Black. The fear of speaking up and losing their positions, jobs or standing within the white supremacy structure is more important than advocating, planning, and fighting for their community. No actions and no words equate to living in a perpetual vacuum of platitudes.
Bennet: What is lacking in the community, to me, is togetherness. We have become so detached from being an actual “neighbor” hood that we just refer the place that many of us grew up as the “hood.” I believe that if we begin to honor thy neighbor and our neighborhood things would change. Overall I feel like the job of community leaders are to empower the community. There are so many, when I think of 5A Denise Jordan comes to mind, Tracey Thomas with her dance school but D. Moss will forever stick out and come to mind before them. Since I was 13 he has been in the community working hard to educate the youth as well as going above and beyond to help the elders and just about anyone and everyone within the Mason square area.
What is your vision for the future of the black community?
Jones: The vision is to engineer more within his community to be unapologetically Black and not be afraid of saying, “Black”. Taking that position and working toward achieving tangible (not symbolic) progress in the areas of economic development, education, resource acquisition and protection. It’s critical that we create a Black narrative and plan and focus solely on that.
Arena: My vision for the future of the black community is of us truly embracing one another and being unified. collectively we have the knowledge, the experience and fortitude to take care of ourselves and our communities. we have been able to thrive when we are allowed to. There are so many things that have been put in our way to divide us, which is also a way that white supremacy thrives, with division. I want us to be able to recognize it for what it is. I want the future of our community to include generational healing and the breaking of generational curses. We as a people have experienced a great deal of trauma, ancestrally, generationally and in our current day to day experiences. Poverty is violence and violence is trauma. White supremacy and racism is violence. Living under those conditions is not natural and it impacts us and we deserve so much better. Health, wealth, thriving, healing, gratitude and joy are also our birthright.
I feel like our first order of business needs to be in our homes and addressing that generational trauma and pain. You can’t heal in the same environment that you got sick in. P
rioritizing our mental health, going to therapy, staying prayed up and taking medication is what we need to do. I’d like us to hold one another accountable, to return to being the village and brother/sister’s keepers. I think it is important that we engage full throttle in civics and politics because the personal is political and most often, our lives and rights are up for debate. We can learn from our history, how our ancestors/elders moved in terms of political strategy to get what we needed in our community and not let up or get distracted with shiny, performative gestures like a Juneteenth federal holiday, but no anti lynching bill or George Floyd justice in policing act being passed. There is power in our vote, in our existence and there always has been. While the world is so busy being anti-black, we need to be as pro black, pro us as we can be and move accordingly, building collective power.
