Harriet Tubman, under her leadership, led over 700 slaves to freedom. Martin Luther King Jr., under his leadership, led the 1963 March on Washington demonstration that ultimately disbanded segregation across the United States of America. Under your leadership, the NAACP was instrumental in passing the Civil Rights Legislation that propelled the country towards reformation.
You served as the Executive Secretary and Executive Director of the NAACP for 20 years. You were extensively fighting for civil rights before and after the Civil Rights Movement. You helped to organize the marches and were on the frontlines protesting, Dually so, you worked with politicians on the legal sector. You made obtaining rights your lifework. To be accessible to political America, you fought peacefully and were in no way an advocate of violence contrary to the ethics of Leader Malcolm X. This approach termed you the "Gentle Giant". You did not see anger as a fix or resolution to abolishing racism. You stated, "Muffle your rage. Get smart instead of muscular."
Right now, I feel overwhelmingly angry. Talking nice has allowed us to go unheard for too long. But what do we do when either way we turn there is a blockade? We talk too nice then we become inferior to the white man asking for what should be basic human rights. If we talk too loud and show our anger in the streets then we are not allowed to have a conversation about the injustices done unto us. Either way we turn, it is ultimately the white man's inability to hold the conversation of their wrongdoings and how the system they have created must be destroyed. They can not yet meet admittance for the blood on their hands. They are not yet ready to hand over their benefits rewarded by the system that is on their side. Their white fear is surmounting.
I guess what brings this confliction of mine is the reality that change may not ever happen overnight. That we have to make progress in baby steps. A progress that can not come fast enough because black lives are still being taken. Your incredible involvement in bringing about change exhibited to us the need to claim positions in politics and government to have a direct say-so. You counseled presidents Kennedy, Nix, Johnson, Ford, and Carter. Due to your influence, you brought President Johnson to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act who said this, "We believe all men are created equal yet many are denied equal treatment… not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin." Your strategy of taking a peaceful approach brought acknowledgment and addressed that there indeed was oppression. However, the system is in full gear. It is still fulfilling in doing what it was mean to do. To overcome it will come to a coalition of individuals with your gift of organization and leadership to call for the demolition or this self-proven malfunction of a machine. A new generation continuing your work in exterminating systemic racism from this country.
Sincerely,
Kayla Mary Jane
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