“Tell me, who I have to be. To get some reciprocity.” Lauryn Hill
Anthony Clark, one of the best, most committed community leader, social justice leader, and all-around coalition builder, is running for Democrat Congressman of our IL-7th district. As someone who cares very much about social justice and racial equity, I think everyone, in this community, should be supporting Anthony Clark’s bid for Congress 7th District, enthusiastically. In fact, I am more than a little shocked that he hasn’t been getting more support from our community.
Anthony Clark has proven that he is committed to serving this community. Anthony has proven that he is committed to helping all individuals in this community, regardless of their race, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference or ideologies.
In fact, Anthony is even willing to support folks, especially POC, who don’t support him and call him names like “racial agitator” and “trouble-maker.” On more than one occasion, I’ve seen Anthony show up for his critics, when they encounter their own personal community “racial-equity incident,” regardless of how unsupportive and negatively they treated him previously.
Why? Because for Anthony, the movement for social justice is about individuals; it is about all us uniting together. Anthony has spent his professional career, showing up for all people who are on the correct side of “racial and social equity” issues.
And with the moral crisis happening in our nation, Anthony Clark is exactly the person we need representing our community in the United States Congress.
ShaRhonda’s Rant: Liberals, can we support Anthony now, while he is alive, instead of waiting for him to be dead and then revere him?
Americans have a solid history of loving, appreciating, quoting, and revering social justice leaders—after they die. But while they were alive, many social justice warriors, especially the Black ones like: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells, Fred Hampton, James Baldwin, and Shirley Chisholm, were seen as “trouble-makers” and “respectable liberals” both Black and White, kept their distance from those “radicals.” Instead, liberals and political moderates preferred to link themselves to people and movements that were more socially acceptable than “radicals” like the Black Panther Party or people who actively protested the War in Vietnam.
BUT…once these “trouble-makers’ died, sorry, let’s be clear, many of them didn’t “die;” they were murdered. Once the “trouble-makers” were dead and gone, THEN liberals and progressives all LOVE and SUPPORT them! They were “trouble-makers” when they were alive, but now they are our heroes and we proudly wear t-shirts with their faces and movements to show how “down for the movement” we are. It would be nice if we could support our current “trouble-makers” with our time, energy, and votes. The, Charlene Carruthers, Jahmal Cole, Greta Thunburg, and progressive Rockstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is proudly supporting with Sen. Bernie Sanders, our Anthony Clark! Maybe we should start wearing t-shirts with their faces and organizations.
Anthony Clark has been doing the hard social justice work with and for those in the community that are oppressed. Here are just a few examples of things that I witnessed Anthony do:
- When someone in our community had a swastika spray-painted on their garage, Anthony Clark showed up to support the family.
- When a student at Oak Park school was called a nigger, Anthony Clark showed up to support the student and family.
- When a same-sex couple encountered hateful remarks, Anthony Clark showed up to support the couple and community.
- While many of us are outraged at Trump’s detention policies against refugees and especially the children, we’ve stayed home. But Anthony Clark went down to the border, at these detention centers, and supported the organizations fighting against this evil.
Anthony Clark has proven his commitment to our community.
Anthony fights for community unity by supporting, collaborating with real actions, for all people regardless of their racial, ethnic, class, gender, or even if they dislike him personally. Anthony supports the community because it is never about him personally, it is about the movement for racial social equity.
Anthony has always been there to support us, and now it is our time to support him.
I urge everyone to vote for Anthony Clark for IL-Congress 7th district.