This article proposes that African Americans vote uncommitted in the presidential primary. It encourages Black Lives Matters activists to become engaged in Democratic Party politics and seek to become uncommitted delegates at the DNC Convention in Philadelphia.

::::::::

I recently spoke at a Jubilee Sunday service in Chatham County, North Carolina and proposed a new tactic in the struggle to ensure that Black Lives Matter and that Black Votes are not taken for granted. Our future and the future of the next 3 generations will be decided by our actions between now and March 15, 2016 (NC Primary Day).

During that first Jubilee JULIUS C. MORELL a native of North Carolina, said that, though he was born in the Old North State, he felt no particular pride in it, I can honestly say that as a North Carolinian, I feel no particular pride in how our state is currently governed. Morell recounted many of the barbarities of Slavery and said that "the present rebellion would have broken out long ago had it not been for the anti-Slavery societies of the North who through their preaching and promises, the slaves were induced to keep quiet."[1]

I have been active in political circles for over 30 years and we were induced to keep quiet and did not hold Democratic Administrations accountable. We kept quiet, we compromised on Criminal Justice reform, on Housing Policy that put our families at risk, on Education Policy, on so called Welfare Reform, we sacrificed our people on the altar of expediency.

Our current president was induced to keep quiet on matters affecting the Black community. He compromised on so much in his first four years in office that even the white middle class is suffering. Let's remember, who he was listening to in those early years, Rahm Emanuel was his chief of staff and Larry Summers was his chief economic advisor. Summers when he was chief economist for the World Bank advocated exporting polluting industries and dumping toxic wastes to"under-populated countries in Africa" because the economic logic was "impeccable." [2] Brazil's then-Secretary of the Environment Jose Lutzenburger wrote back to Summers: "Your thoughts [provide] a concrete example of the unbelievable alienation, reductionist thinking, social ruthlessness and the arrogant ignorance of many conventional 'economists' concerning the nature of the world we live in""[3]

President Obama was induced to keep quiet by these key advisors because he did not want to appear to be the "Black President". So once again, we kept quiet, we had his back and we did not hold his administration accountable to meet the needs of our community. Folks we cannot in 2016 be induced to keep quiet.

If we don't become radical in our thinking the left will take us for granted as they have in the past. We can no longer expect that any party or candidate on the left or the right will address our issues or concerns without a demand, it is NOT in their interest. That is why our actions between now and March 15, 2016 are so important.

The Black Lives Matter Movement is already being congratulated for bringing to other folks attention the facts we face in our communities everyday. We are being told we have won, but the blood of our children still runs red in the streets. No indictments in the case of Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Eric Gardner or Michael Brown. 150 armed terrorists have occupied a federal building, leaving behind video saying they will kill or be killed but there is no wall-to-wall coverage like there was in Ferguson, no tear gas, no calling out of the national guard. It takes 2 seconds to determine that a 13 year old black child is a threat but 150 armed men are "peaceful protesters", how do we change this paradigm?

I am recommending that Black Lives Matter Movement activists and Black Democrats across the country but especially here in NC vote uncommitted in the Presidential race. I want to see Black Lives Matter activists INSIDE the convention hall in Philadelphia demanding action during the first 100 days of the administration; not outside the hall fenced off in demonstration pits.

If we keep our focus on demonstrating and protesting in the streets, once again, we will be induced to keep quiet. Here in North Carolina we demonstrated and nearly 1000 people were arrested protesting the policies of the right-wing led General Assembly. Particularly the leadership of Phil Berger, yet, the NC Democratic Party could not find one living breathing soul to run against him and he returns to the General Assembly unopposed, with no reason to hear our demands.

If we are able to get 20 to 25% of Black voters to vote uncommitted it will send shockwaves through the party and will garner the attention of the candidates.

In Iowa, to participate in the Caucus, you need to be 18 years of age, and a registered Democrat in that precinct (and you can register at the caucus).[4] While there are not a lot of African Americans living in Iowa, 55.7% live in four cities, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines and Waterloo.[5] If we can organize and turnout Black voters for the precinct caucuses and convince them to vote uncommitted in Black Hawk, Johnson, Linn, Polk, and Scott counties we could alter the conversation from rhetoric to committed solutions. We need massive turnouts in predominately Black precincts and we need them to vote uncommitted.

Here in North Carolina we should concentrate our efforts in the 1^st, 4^th and 12^thCongressional Districts. We are engaging in electorial politics but more importantly, we are engaging in Party politics.

How do we go about this? First, we should discuss our strategy with Black Lives Matter and other activists who may not necessarily be party activists to get their buy-in. Second, we should make sure we have people who will go on local radio and cable shows and discuss this strategy. Third, we should understand the Democratic Party rules and make sure we attend precinct meetings, draft resolutions demanding actions in support of our community,and understand the delegate selection process. Fourth, we must find out the time and locations of the early vote sites in the targeted Congressional Districts and devise a strategy to make sure that church vans and caravans are prepared to take people to the polls. Fifth, we should monitor on a daily basis the effectiveness of our efforts. Finally, we should be prepared to be attacked for our strategy and be OK with that, if we are not sucessful we will have made the effort,but if we are successful we can change the future. That is a risk worth taking.

Authors Website: http://www.sjadamsconsulting.net

Authors Bio:

Stella Adams is the founder and CEO of S J Adams Consulting which performs research and policy development in the areas of fair housing, and fair lending.

Ms. Adams served as the Chief of Equity and Inclusion for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition 2016-2019.

Ms. Adams served on the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Advisory Council (1/05-12/07), which advised the Board on the exercise of its responsibilities under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (Ms. Adams served as the Chair of the Community Affairs and Housing subcommittee and lead the discussions on strengthening HOEPA to protect consumers from Predatory Lenders.

Ms. Adams has testified before Congress on many occasions and is the recipient of the 2006 Individual Achievement Award of the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies, 2005 Civil Rights Award granted by the National Association of Human Rights Workers and has received the 2004 HUD FHEO Pioneer Award for her work in fighting predatory lending and the 2004 National Fair Housing Alliance Fair Lending Advocacy Award.