Post-election reflections: What happens to a dream deferred?

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Thank Black Jesus and all the disciples it’s over.

That’s my first thought in the aftermath of an election that drained my will to believe in the advent of a collective Black agenda. Elections are about people. They’re also about policy decisions. This election was also about defining and redefining what it means to be Black in a city known as the historical hub of Black prosperity.

Yesterday’s primary followed a city council election that seemingly shifted the power of Durham politics. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) celebrated the election of Mayor Elaine O’Neal, Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton, DeDreanna Freeman and Leonardo Williams – all endorsed by the Black political action committee.

DCABP members touted the victory a statement against an agenda to further defund the police. Were we witnessing a historical shift back to DCABP controlling Durham’s political landscape, or was the previous election about more than local endorsements?

The battle for PAC supremacy is what separates Durham from other communities. Durham isn’t trapped in tension between political parties. Republicans are rarely welcomed in Durham’s political culture. Ours is a battle among varied interpretations of what makes a progressive agenda.

What do we learn from yesterday’s election after DCABP taking a major ass whipping? The perception of DCABP assuming PAC supremacy hit the brakes after candidates endorsed by People’s Alliance (PA), Durham Association of Educators (DAE) and Indy Week defeated candidates endorsed by DCABP.

Valerie Foushee defeated Nida Allam in the race for U.S. Congress; however, Allam won in Durham. Foushee’s strength outside of Durham was enough to defeat Allam by more than 16 percent.

What are the lessons for Durham’s Black community?

A Divided Black Agenda

I wonder if the founders of DCABP foresaw a day with multiple Black candidates pitted against each other? The group that met for the first time on August 15, 1935, were called “a committee of influential Negroes”. They drafted a creed to promote voter registration, to run and support candidates who promoted an agenda that benefits Black people and the support of initiative to improve education, health, housing and economic power in the Black community.

Yesterday’s election underscores the complications related to endorsing and electing Black candidates with varied perspectives involving public policies impacting Black life in Durham.

What happens when multiple Black people run for the same office? Some conclude its democracy at its best. It also unveils the mounting tension between electing Black people to office while promoting an agenda reflective of a common Black agenda. The days of naming and supporting Black candidates supported by the DCABP is circumvented by processes outside the control of the Black people gathered with the expressed desire to speak on behalf of other Black people.

The ultimate question regards the ongoing purpose of the DCABP. Black candidates no longer need the affirmation of the DCABP. Is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing, or is it just a thing?

More critical in this conversation is the surfacing of multiple Black led platforms and candidate slates. Voters endured the pressure of campaign workers with varied combinations of Black candidates. Yesterday’s election felt more like a civil war between Black people with different agendas.

This raises another fundamental question. Is it relevant, in 2022, to seek and implement an agenda aimed at addressing concerns of Durham’s Black community? Even more, is it valid to assume such an agenda can only be formed by a community of all Black people? Are the Black people endorsed by PA and DAE doing Black stuff better than the people endorsed by DCABP?

These are sensitive questions best addressed among Black people, but which Black people? Is it time for the Black people endorsed by PA and DAE to hold camp with the Black people endorsed by DCABP? I’m suggesting a massive readjustment related to the construction and implementation of a Black agenda.

As for this current moment, Durham is limited in addressing concerns involving Black people due to a severely divided Black agenda.

Grumbling in the Midst

I’m among the people who cheered when Donald Hughes, candidate for the district 2 school board seat, publicly rejected participating in PA and DAE’s endorsement process. I celebrated even more when Hughes blasted INDY Week for the reporting on the story involving his decision. There’s no doubt his public repudiation of INDY Week ended the possibility of receiving their endorsement.

I rooted for Hughes due to the significance of a possible win. Winning with no endorsement from PA and DAE would significantly speak to the limited power of PAC endorsements. I wished for a win due to the magnitude of that story.

Hughe’s statement introduced a troubling brewing development. Black people, once aligned by allegiance to the DCABP, broke from the ranks. Alternative Black candidates received support from Black people fueled by a variety of issues. Some personal. Some policy based.

The uncivil war presented in public view. District Court Judge Pat Evans failed to receive the endorsement from DCABP. The local press received news leads from people opposing Evans. It became nasty.

The personal mudslinging came from numerous camps. The collateral damage involves the depleted reputation of numerous first-time candidates. Will they be able to run again? Maybe. Does it matter? I sense a more pressing question.

The grumbling in the midst distracts from the importance of a Black agenda. There are no villains in this story beyond the deterioration of Black solidarity. Sadly, there is an absence of heroes charged with the task of rescuing the Black community from the appearance of massive dysfunction.

 Only the Shadow Knows What the Future Holds

Yesterday’s election relates the story of diminished dreams. This is the story about what happens when the determination to win elections takes precedence over the implementation of a progressive Black agenda.

Durham’s Black residents endure the encumbrance of living under the shadow of a once promising future. The life and legacy of Black Durham remains as a collective memory. The former Black Wall Street. Old Hayti with streets laced with successful Black businesses. The pride of Black life in Durham serves the people with the resources to remain glued to their dreams. Left are the disillusioned children with parents with barely enough to pay their bills.

I’m left beholden to a creed established long ago. A vision inspired and nurtured by Black residents.

I pray we’re not witnessing the death of those dreams.

 

Rev-elution Durham municipal election endorsements: First up, Mayor

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Getting the endorsement results from Durham political action committees is like watching a beauty contest. The winner is based on the eyes of the beholders. The political action committees want us to believe tremendous thought went into the process, but it often comes down to who best fits the swimming suit.

In Durham, political action committees have ruled the outcome of elections. It’s that truth that provoked my desire to play the endorsement game. While Durham’s People Alliance and Durham Association of Educators tag team against the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, words like progressive, inclusion and gentrification are used in a battle for the soul of the city. It’s hard to win when the larger more financed groups join forces to offset the agenda of a group formed to consider the affairs of Black people.

My criterion for endorsement considers more than where people stand on the political sphere. I’m bearing in mind my perception of what Durham residents need most. Durham is damaged. Durham is broken due to contradictory ideologies. Durham is fractured by divergent perspective regarding the role racism plays in public policy decisions. The battles are intense, and Durham needs politicians capable of modeling leadership that comprises more than the sentiments of the people on their team. That’s how I see the bathing suit.

This process has been grueling due to how deeply winning for the home team is imbedded into local political culture. Most of the players are defined by the game. The fray for political supremacy outweighs a measured approach to government. As difficult as the task has been, my endorsements, and statements reflecting the rationale behind these endorsements, reflects weeks of reading, hearing, and analyzing hours of statements from candidates. It also contemplates Durham history and recent events.

These recommendations aren’t made in a vacuum. In considering the merits of service as members of the city council, I’ve thought critically about how each candidate can potentially hinder collective healing or move us beyond the chaos entrenched in decades of political maneuvering.

Mayor

Seven people are running for Mayor – Rebecca Harvard Barnes, Charlitta Burruss, Javiera Caballero, Sabrina “Bree” Davis, Jahnmaud Lane, Elanie O’Neal and Daryl Quick. I respect the rights of all citizens to participate in the electoral process; however, five candidates are excluded based on their lack of experience and perceived understanding regarding what the job entails.

Elaine O’Neal and Javiera Caballero are running on the strength of strong endorsements from former Durham mayors. It was no surprise that William V. “Bill Bell, who served as mayor for 16 years (2001-2017), endorsed O’Neal based on her long service as a judge and dean of the North Carolina Central University Law School. Many residents were disappointed when current Mayor Steve Schewel endorsed Caballero. Given Schewel’s work and relationship with O’Neal, many assumed he would sit this one out. The perception that Schewel’s endorsement is a slap in the face of Black residents is based on his public support of Heidi Carter, and his tenure as a former member and vice-chair of the Durham Board of Public Schools. Schewel’s popularity as Durham’s mayor has been fraught with tension among some Black residents who never embraced his leadership.

My endorsement considers a trend that minimizes the integrity of the election process. The previous two elections have ended with members of the city council adding a new member. After Caballero replaced Schewel, Pierce Freelon replaced Vernetta Alston after she was elected to replace Maryann Black in the state senate.

It also matters that Caballero campaigned as part of the Jillian Johnson, Charlie Reece team. The public perception related to the dangers of their collective force significantly impacts my endorsement decision. Their vocal intrusion in the affairs of the Board of County Commissioners and the Board of Education massively impacts potential reconciliation after months of contention before and after the termination of former Durham County Manager Wendell Davis.

On February 19, 2010, Caballero released a statement endorsing Heidi Carter after the leaked email from County Manager Wendell Davis. The healing of Durham demands a critical gaze at how comments made by Caballero, Johnson, Reece and Schewel are heard and felt by Black residents. The combined efforts of the city council coalition energize a perception regarding a lack of sensitivity to the affairs of Black citizens.

My endorsement measures the valued work of Caballero as a member of the city council. Her support of LA Pulguita de la Avondale, when there were efforts to force vendors off the property, is significant and models inclusive governance for other elected leaders. She stood in solidarity with Durham’s immigrant community to block Senate Bill 101 and House Bill 62. Her leadership on the city council in advocating on behalf of local artist speaks to the significant role she plays in listening to and learning from citizens.

I endorse O’Neal not because Caballero lacks the qualities of leadership essential in service as mayor. My decision is based on: (1) concerns regarding granting the city council authority to select her replacement after doing so after the two previous elections., (2) Comments in support of Heidi Carter and the termination of Wendell Davis that intensified racial hostility, and (3) apprehensions among many residents that the block agenda of current and potential members of the council will have implications regarding balanced governance.

My endorsement of O’Neal considers her work as co-chair of Durham’s Racial Equity Task Force. The recommendations of the task force have implications on the management of both city and county government and offers a blueprint for shifting the culture of hostility. O’Neal participation in constructing antiracism procedures is best juxtaposed against the public actions of members of the city council who placed themselves in the middle of an already overwhelming hostile situation.

If Durham residents truly honor the values on diversity, equity, and inclusion, they will make Elaine O’Neal mayor while honoring and supporting the continued work of Javiera Caballero as an at-large representative on the city council. Together, work can be done to alter the perceptions keeping Durham entangled in massive confusion.

Next up: Ward 1