Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Op-ed #25

Are you tired yet?

Fact:

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired”

I wish they were my words, but they are not.  They were uttered by Fannie Lou Hamer who some call the “First Lady of Civil Rights.”  These words were spoken in the summer of 1964 at the Democratic National Convention which was being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  She had seen it all in her lifetime in the quest for civil rights.  One time, she was severely injured as a result of police brutality which almost killed her.  Many people are drawing close parallels with her era and the era in which we are currently living.

I have always been a fan of Hamer and have used her words quite often.  I can recently recall using her words when as a high school principal I was sharing the standardized test scores of my students who were primarily African American and Hispanic students. These scores were not good.  I was sick and tired of the rhetoric.  I was sick and tired of the outrage that would last until my meeting was over.  I was sick and tired of nothing changing.  We tend to get angry for a few minutes and then forget all about our outrage and anger until the next incident occurs. I’m sure that you will see this play out when the next school shooting occurs.  We all say “never again,” yet it always happens again. 

Every time a black man is killed or brutalized, we show the same outrage and say never again.  But it always happens again.  Fannie Lou, where are you now?  We need your leadership. This time, let’s mean it when we say “never again.”

I have also thought a great deal about Howard Beale’s character in the movie Network (1976) where he encouraged everyone to go to the windows and yell “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”   Although he was in the midst of a psychotic break, I feel like going to my apartment window and yelling those words.  Those words mean different things for different people.  But for me, they are clearly a call to action.  And when we say those words, let’s mean it this time.

And I do not believe that this will change until the white majority feels it and gets mad as hell and sick and tired of the racism that exists in just about every facet of life in America.  It may begin to change when we start to really listen to each other and actually respect each other.  Is this that pivotal moment?  Or is this just another freeze frame in time, (like my test scores) that will quickly be forgotten?

So, today I will close this article just like I started it, with words from Fannie Lou Hamer.  Remember, “NOBODY’S FREE UNTIL EVERYBODY’S FREE.”