On January 31, a very special North Lawndale coalition was founded in response to the murder of Tyre Nichols. In addition to focusing on police brutality, Father Larry Dowling, along with both Saint Agatha Catholic Church and St. Martin Da Porris Parish, brought groups together to promote peace, love, and healing. The coalition seeks to cover a wide range of marginalized identities and perspectives so that they can help as many people as possible. There were many different organizations and perspectives present at the founding.
The groups involved were:
- Saint Agatha Catholic Church-Saint Martin Da Porris Parish. A vibrant Christian faith community rejoicing in the power of praise. This church is led by Father Larry.
- The Young Lords. A revolutionary organization based in Chicago.
- The Brown Berets. A revolutionary organization focused on Latino liberation along with other forms of liberation.
- The White Panthers. Primarily focused on class liberation along with other forms of liberation.
- Boxing Out Negativity. A boxing organization based in Chicago led by Derek Brown.
- The Almighty Warlords. A street tribe based in Midway. With deep-rooted connections with street organizations with the hope to end gun violence
- Almighty Blessing Team. A talent company involved in activist work.
The coalition is still in its embryonic stages, and strong bonds are forming.
Community Bonds
Moreover, it is those bonds that connect them to their goal and their community. They seek to truly change the world. One of their common grievances is that the reformist nature of many modern social movements is part of the reason why the communities aren’t changing. There is some truth to this sentiment. While Black Lives Matter did its best to raise awareness about police brutality, it seems that was the only thing it was capable of doing.
The nature of the movement was not one of a revolutionary character. Sure, it had all the right aesthetics of a revolutionary movement, but it missed something. It missed that nonmarketable edge that all truly revolutionary movements have.
If a major corporation can say that they support a movement like Black Lives Matter, then not enough work was done to make sure that the movement was explicitly against those in power. The co-opting of community-based organizations is what this new coalition seeks to prevent.
American State Repression
The prevention of co-opting is a great task. Specifically, because this is one of the ways that America likes to defang its movements. It tries to crush them, and when it realizes that that would be a bit hard to do, they try to co-opt the movement. If a corporation can still make a profit by appealing to the masses with a supposedly revolutionary organization’s logo, it isn’t revolutionary at all.
Organizations like this new coalition are founded to make real systemic change and not some petty resolves. Reforms seem to be what so many organizations are about, however, the world hasn’t gotten any better. It seems as if trying to cut off the mold from a moldy piece of bread and then attempting to eat it. This isn’t the best way to eat bread.
All in all, that is what this new up-and-coming alliance is about. Pushing and fighting for real change instead of a paint job on the street or a neighborhood name change. Rather than changing the label on the syrup, it would be better if the syrup factory workers were paid a livable wage. It is these sorts of issues that this new Chicago coalition is concerned with. They are worried about how power impedes the livelihoods of people.
An Epic Future
Ultimately, this new coalition could be something epic for the marginalized people of Chicago. Very rarely do genuine individuals come together to do more than just try and get people to vote. Voting is great and all, but when the choices are between a pile of poop and a pile of poop with sprinkles, that road starts to stink a bit. Coalition building is difficult and takes a lot of work, and yet all the many different folks within this coalition have experience organizing within the community.
Its Outstanding Members
One of those members is Almighty Blessing, a big and positive voice within the Little Village community. Speaking up is something that all of these members know how to do. That being said, with so many different perspectives, it can be a bit difficult to communicate effectively with each other.
Another member is Father Larry Dowling, an organizer and ordained pastor at Saint Agatha Catholic Church. He has an extensive history of organizing and has developed an excellent rapport within the community. The Father has high hopes for this coalition. He is one of the leaders within the budding organization and seeks to nurture it as much as possible.
Its most outstanding member is Derek Brown, the founder of a boxing organization in Chicago. Boxing out Negativity, his organization, has proven itself to be a truly great force of good and positivity within the community of North Lawndale. Not only do its members have great physical activity, but Boxing Out Negativity instills values of kindness and valor into its youth.
Boxing Out Negativity and its founder Derek Brown, are an excellent addition to this coalition of titans. Coalition building can be difficult however, in time the coalition will build bonds that stand the test of time.
This coalition seems to be able to do that just fine. When speaking to each other, it is as if they have known each other for a very long time. With everything in mind, hopes are high for the outcome of this new coalition. The people of the world should expect to see some real change in America very soon because something is brewing on the West Side of Chicago. There is something brewing indeed.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources:
Forge Organizing: Lessons from Chicago Coalition Building by Amisha Patel
HSPH Harvard: Coalition Building & Maintenance
HuffPost: The Difference Between Allyship and Co-Opting Movements by Julia Schemmer
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Neil Cooler‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of RL GNZLZ’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
