Achieving Independence in 2020
This article was written by Stevon Cook: Commissioner on the San Francisco Board of Education, Landon Dickey: Board Member, San Francisco Achievers & Duane Wilson: Executive Director of San Francisco Achievers.
We have had different pathways into leadership, but a common set of motivations for improving outcomes for the Black Community. Having committed our careers to this work, we have a unique perspective as we have seen an onslaught of interest in supporting Black People in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. We have seen international protests, riots, companies like Apple and others make statements along with pledges of millions of dollars to racial justice, and mobs tear down statues of former slave owners.
We have White friends that we have not heard from in years asking us if we are okay and if there is anything they can do to help or protect us. We see opportunists seizing the moment to advance agendas that have nothing to do with actually improving outcomes for Black People. We also see politicians pandering by kneeing in kente clothes and making empty promises to enhance their brand.
We have important responsibilities in our respective roles and despite all the noise about having conversations and White People owning their privilege, we are more interested in what it would take to actually achieve independence and true liberation for the Black Community in America.
This Independence Day, we seek to lay out solutions that would allow the Black Community to exercise the benefits of American citizenship that we have been denied throughout our history in this country. This is not an exhaustive list and we do not claim to be the ultimate authorities on the matter, but as men that have been leading this work for decades these are the types of immediate actions that would make us believe our community is serious about reform and advancing the Black Community.
Policy Recommendations:
In his 1845 memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Mr. Douglass writes “the more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery.” It should come as no surprise then that denying education to Black Americans has been a central policy of the United States. From declaring Black literacy criminal to defunding public education, the prospect of educating Black Americans with a true sense of their African identity — kingdoms, wealth, and invention — and their American identity — leadership, collective action, and resistance — threatens White Americans. And yet, we owe Black children the truth. Wakanda is a place on earth.
We recommend a K-12 Black Studies curriculum be implemented in every school in San Francisco — public, private, and charter. We recommend that Black People be hired to write the curriculum and teach the curriculum. We do a disservice to Black Students, and truly all students, by treating Black People and other communities of color as the supporting cast, victims, and antagonists in a Eurocentric history. Furthermore, there is a blueprint for this type of curriculum already in place at San Francisco State University’s Africana Studies Department and several Bay Area public schools have implemented some form of Black Studies curriculum. Between the three of us authors, the earliest any of us read Mr. Douglass’ memoir in school was in college; it should not have to be this way for the next generation.
Incentivize Hiring Black: In an ever-connected world which allows companies to explore new markets, it is increasingly clear and validated from both academic institutions and global management consulting firms that diversity in the workplace can positively impact ROI.
Teams with diverse perspectives not only avoid tone deaf pitfalls including stereotypes and PR disasters, but thrive on the unique experiences brought to the table to build a better product.
However, in order for these benefits to take place, we the Black Community must have a fair opportunity to be at the table. Simply and vaguely stating a commitment to shaping an ethical and just society is not enough. As the Montgomery Bus Boycott taught us in the 1950s, the quickest and often most durable action involves money.African-American citizens made up 75% of regular bus riders, causing the boycott to have a substantial negative economic impact on the public transportation system and on the city of Montgomery, which depended on Black Economic Power . This reinforces a statement that is still as true today as it was from our elders who participated in similar boycotts: don’t shop where you cannot work.
To encourage the hiring of Black Workers, we recommend the expansion of policies similar to The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) which is a federal tax credit available to employers which hire individuals from certain targeted groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment. There are drafts of policies throughout the country that have yet to be ratified that even target specific industries ranging from media, education, tech and even sports, where the Black Community is consistently underrepresented, and especially in leadership roles. These incentives will not make up for previously missed opportunities to get Black Workers into these industries time, no, but they will help even the playing field and communicate to the next generation- particularly our youth- that they cannot only have a seat at the table, but one day design and own the building in which it stands.
Reparations: In January 1865, General William Sherman declared in Special Field Order 15 that freed Blacks be given family lots of forty acres and that the army would lend them a mule. President Andrew Johnson reversed the orders and land that was allotted to Black Families was given back to their White pre-Civil war owners. This attempt to provide land ownership to former slaves was the closest attempt at reparations the country ever achieved.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ now-famous 2014 study The Case for Reparations popularized the conversation in the national discourse by laying out the factual and moral reasons the country must address this issue. More recently, Black business leader and founder Bob Johnson recommended that $14 trillion be paid in reparations to the Black Community in order to repair the compounded harm the country caused, and give the Black Community the economic independence to chart its own course.
We are not taking any gesture from corporate America or the US Government about addressing systemic racism seriously unless reparations is on the table.
***
In the end, history has taught us that liberation is never given, it must be taken. Our ancestors built this country and as Black Men in leadership we continue the work of improving our country. Our own journey in leadership has shown us that this important work starts within. Before we ask a country, we have first asked ourselves what is it that we are willing to give to leave our communities better than we found it.
True independence starts with knowledge of self and for Black People that must be anchored in our true history that goes beyond our more recent ancestry connected to White Colonists and Enslaved Africans. All children must be educated on the systematic oppression and institutional racism in the same way that every German school-aged child is educated on the atrocious of Nazi-Germany. We have to change our hiring practices to diversify every sector of our economy. And we must implement reparations.
When the Declaration of Independence was written, everyone that signed it was assured they would die for having committed treason against England. They resolved themselves to make the ultimate sacrifice to have the opportunity to set their own course that they considered a God-given right to pursue happiness. Our community has been locked out of that pursuit and continues to be denied fair treatment. In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, we have seen massive protest around the world. To those that have come into their new-found wokeness, we say if you’re serious about this work, join us in achieving these changes or simply get out of the way.
