LIVING FOR CHANGE

IS JOHN CONYERS DOING THE RIGHT THING?

By Grace Lee Boggs

Michigan Citizen, Aug.19-25, 2007

The controversy over the recent pro-impeachment demonstration at Congressman John Conyers’ office provides an opportunity to revisit black leadership which, like everything in these changing times, can use some revisiting.

The demonstration, on July 23, was led by Cindy Sheehan, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President of the Hip Hop Caucus, and Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. They brought with them a petition signed by a million citizens, asking Conyers, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to put impeachment back on the table. When Conyers rejected their request, they refused to leave and he had them arrested by Capitol police.

Traditional Democrats, stuck in electoral politics, criticized the demonstrators. They believe in waiting Bush out until November 2008 and then getting back at him by voting in a Democrat for President. Pro-impeachment activists wrote articles attacking Conyers for “betraying” our country and saying that he is “no Martin Luther King.” Some African Americans found these attacks deeply disrespectful of Conyers’ long record of supporting progressive causes Others, viewing impeachment as a “white” issue, cited the lack of support by anti-war and peace activists’ for “black” issues like “reparations.”

To assist in the revisiting, I recommend two articles by Rev. Yearwood entitled “Race: Tripwire for the Progressive Movement, Part I and Part 11.” (Common Dreams, July 26, August 3).

In the first article Yearwood addresses his African American counterparts with a refreshing directness. “ I understand your criticism of our recent action in Mr. Conyers office, but I do not agree. It was extremely difficult to challenge a man that means so much to African-Americans, but impeaching Bush is critical to the future of our country. We cannot let the precedent stand that Bush has established, which severely oversteps the bounds of executive power. We cannot send the message that such actions will go unpunished, or at least unchecked.”

Now that he has the power, Yearwood contends, Conyers has the responsibility to provide moral leadership for the whole nation on this issue.

“Impeachment begins in the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, which Rep. John Conyers chairs. He is in the position to begin the impeachment process or keep it from happening, and no other human being

is in that position. In addition, Rep. Conyers is the recognized authority on Capitol Hill both on impeachment and on the impeachable offenses of Vice President Cheney and President Bush. He and his staff literally wrote the book on them before the Democrats won the majority last November.”

“This moment is not about race,” Yearwood explains. “It is not about John Conyers, and it is much bigger than the divides within our movements. This moment is about our future as a country, because humanity is at stake. The Bush administration’s hunger for war has caused so much instability in our world that we face a state of permanent wars.”

In the second article Yearwood challenges the progressive movement to grapple with its segmentation. Black suspicions are understandable, he recognizes, because blacks have been so often betrayed by white organizations. But he also warns against the interest group thinking of those who remain stuck in the identity politics of the 60s and 70s.

“When I speak at anti-war rallies the audience is usually all White, when I speak at immigration rallies the audience is usually all Brown, when I speak at rallies and events with Katrina survivors the audience is usually all Black. Global warming, usually White, police brutality, usually Black, and so on. Not only do I find this to be very discouraging, it is self-defeating.”

As a young black leader, Yearwood is calling on all progressives, including blacks, to stand on principle and do the right thing. As he declared at Howard University on the 10th anniversary of the Million Men March, “The time has come for all of God’s children – black, white, yellow and brown, straight, gay, male and female – to come together to fight for justice once and for all.”

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