 Leadership
of the Poor |
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In
our study of history we've seen that at every turn in this country
where major problems that defined those times have arisen, those
problems were solved when the sector or segment of the population
that was most affected, most devastated by the problems, was
placed at the forefront of the struggle. As they moved to the
forefront, and consolidated their position and participation
in the movement, that problem was solved. If any other segment
of the population was placed at the forefront, and had a stake
in the status quo, if they were leading that process as the
most organized force, then the problem was not solved. There
was stagnation, or a reversal of fortune, and the movement could
not go forward. What we're seeing is the major social problem
which is undergirding every other polarity, and shaping all
the other problems, is this problem of the ever-increasing polarity
between wealth and poverty. This process of concentrating resources
and wealth into fewer and fewer hands is central to everything
else which is going on. Unless we address that question, and
unless we tie everything we're doing today to addressing that
question, then we're not really developing the kind of movement
or the kind of approaches that are going to affect the real
root of the problem we're facing. We'll be attacking the leaves
and branches of the problem, but not the root of it. This is
very important to those of us who are making commitments to
deal with some real problems - it's essential that we really
deal with the problem at its root, and not it's leaves and branches.
 In
the periods of history where we saw the contradiction between
the American colonialists and the British crown, we saw that
it was the colonialists who sought to resolve their problems.
There were forces within England who were fighting for the
American colonialists seeing that their interests were aligned.
They were fighting, in the Parliament and they were able to
establish some kind of position in those politics. But they
did not lead that fight, it was the American colonists who
had to take the lead. In the fight for women's suffrage, women
were in the leadership; in the industrial union movement the
industrial workers were in the leadership; in the struggle
for civil rights Blacks were in the leadership of the movement,
and those struggles were brought to success. Today we see
the disparity between wealth and poverty as being the critical
question, and those most impoverished need to be placed in
the leadership of that movement.
This idea is contrary
to every stereotype that is put forward about poor people
- that they're lazy and crazy, they are helpless and so somebody
has to help them. They have to be taught, they have to be
led by those in the know in the process. We see in our estimate
of the situation, that in this segment of the population there's
developing a whole strata, a new core, a new class that has
tremendous talents and resourcefulness, that are capable not
only of leading themselves, but participating in the leadership
of this nation.
I think people
would agree that there's some leadership that needs to happen
in this nation. It's clear when you have a situation where
you have 46 billion pounds of food thrown away every year
and you only need 4 billion pounds to end hunger. It's clear
when you've got whole states, like California, that are capable
of feeding every man, woman and child on the face of this
planet, and yet you have the hunger and depredation that's
taking place in this nation, the richest nation of the world
This is not the third world, but we have babies living under
bridges, we have people going hungry that are malnourished,
right here! We have a case we heard about in New York, last
year when we marched to the UN, of this woman who could not
breast feed her kids because she was only living on Coca-Cola
and potato chips. Her system couldn't generate the kind of
nutrition needed for milk production. Therefore, her kids
were malnourished and hungry. If it was just this one case,
we'd say hey, there's something wrong with this person. But
we're seeing the problem multiply throughout this country.
In this country, with the kind of productive capacity that
it has, and the kind of plenty and resources that it has,
such poverty is uncalled for. People are beginning to awaken
to that, especially those that are affected by it, and to
do something about it. And that's what this process represents.
It's efforts on the part of people who see what's going on
and who are directly affected aligning with each other, and
beginning to counter these conditions in an effective way.
We think that our message and our approach, based on this
understanding of history, based on this analysis, is the one
that's going to secure and procure a future where people can
have their basic human rights.
Our approach is
that the question of leadership, both with regard to individual
leadership and collective leadership has to grow from and
be founded upon the unity and organization of those who are
under economic fire. This is the basis of the movement that
is being called for to resolve the kind of crises and problems
that define this period. We're having to deal with this question
of leadership under circumstances that are very explosive.
I don't have to tell you that people - well maybe ones and
twos, or maybe a hundred here and there - on the whole are
not going to sit by quietly and die. History says that people
will not suffer long and not say anything; on the scale that
things are happening today, people are not going to just accept
the situation. So the strategy of the poor leading a massive
movement to end poverty is critical at this point in how you
approach things, and we think that over the last seven to
ten years we've identified some real lessons based on our
experiences.
The pivot of our
approach is our estimate, and either it corresponds with reality
or it don't. We want to negotiate, discuss it. We talk to
people who come from all over, from different walks of life,
and we want to debate and discuss these things.
[Continued tomorrow
- Part 2 of 6]
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-
On
the Poor Organizing the Poor
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By
Willie Baptist, Education Director of the Kensington
Welfare Rights Union
[Part 1
2 3 4
5 6]
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About
the Campaign 
