HOW TO BE A POLITICAL PLAYA: NOTES ON POLITICS, ORGANIZING, & LOBBYING

AUGUST 2022 EDITION: Leadership Development is key to Movement Building

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Over the last 10-15 years, we have seen an increase in grassroots activists of color, and other non-traditional candidates, running for elected office, winning, and working within the electoral political system (e.g., the 2008 election of President Barack Obama or the 2018 election of NY Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez).?We have also seen the rise in grassroots activism over the last decade around issues like police brutality with the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013 in Sanford, Florida by vigilante George Zimmerman.?The murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri a year later transformed the movement into a national one. This surge in grassroots activism is also present within the labor movement, e.g., the fast-food campaign that launched the fight for $15 per hour wage rate, or the organizing victory of Amazon workers on Staten Island, NY. led by Chris Smalls in the spring of 2022.

The more we see these grassroots movements emerge the more it becomes clear that experienced leaders and activists must prepare the next generation by paying more attention to leadership development. Building a movement requires empowering and developing other leaders because any movement that relies on one or two leaders is doomed to fail.?In fact, any organization that only relies on one or two leaders will struggle to be relevant as well.

Why is leadership development key? What is leadership development?

Leadership development is key because it is really the life blood of a movement or organization.?Having fresh ideas and fresh leaders enables a movement or organization to live on in the future. This issue is addressed in the conversation between the characters George Washington and Alexander Hamilton in the Broadway musical Hamilton, by Lin Manuel Miranda. ?Washington states that it is important for him to step down as President after two terms because it will allow the country to grow by having different leaders, as well as a peaceful transfer of power.?(This notion of a peaceful transfer of power takes on different meaning in the current political climate as we watch the public hearings on the January 6, 2021, insurrection and the Monday, August 8, 2022, F.B.I. search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.)

Contrary to popular belief, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was NOT the only leader of the Civil Rights movement.?He just became the most famous.?Nevertheless, without multiple leaders pushing for civil and human rights, the Civil Rights movement would not have had the impact that it did.?There are always activist, or there are always people who function as activists in their community, but movements don’t always happen.?Change does not always happen.?Movements make change possible, and good leaders make movements possible.

For those of you who wonder, what is leadership development? It is simply focusing on identifying and training new leaders, and then empowering them.?A critical component of leadership development is letting prospective leaders know that they cannot be afraid to make a mistake.?Any leader that is afraid to make a mistake is going to be risk averse, and the struggle for political and economic empowerment of African Americans calls for strategic risks.?The other critical component of leadership development is to distinguish the difference between leaders and activists.

Leaders have a following and can mobilize the people who follow them. Leaders think strategically, i.e., for the long term.?Leaders understand that they cannot attend every rally or march or protest, and that victory depends upon getting others involved.?Activists cannot necessarily move anyone to action but themselves.?Sometimes they don’t always think strategically or for the long term.?Activists try to attend every rally, march, or protest, while leaders do not.?Now of course this characterization does not tell the full story, but you get the point.

Developing other leaders allows movements to grow. Empowering other leaders makes it difficult to derail a movement by focusing on discrediting the “one leader”.?Even looking at an organization, leadership development allows an organization to function in different locales simultaneously if needed.?

If you want to build a movement, develop leaders. If you want to build a strong organization, develop leaders.?Leadership development equals empowerment and it is the key to sustainability.?The last thing I will say on this is that people sometimes confuse leadership with yelling at people and telling them what to do.?Leadership is about developing other leaders and putting them in positions to be successful.?A leader believes in holding others accountable, but the emphasis is more on advancing others instead of yelling/screaming at others. The most important thing that a true leader can do is to duplicate himself/herself. Leaders multiply!

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(Opinion) The Economics of WNBA Star Brittney Griner’s Conviction in a Russian Court

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The detention, and conviction, in Russia of WNBA Star Brittney Griner for possession of two vape cartridges containing hashish oil has captured the imagination of Americans of all walks of life.?WNBA Basketball afficionados, casual basketball fans, and people who follow international affairs are all aware of the precarious position that Brittney Griner, affectionally known as BG, finds herself in because of her wrongful detention by Russia.?Her conviction on August 4, 2022, in a Russian courtroom was expected, as was the 9-year sentence she received.?The reality is that international experts have felt all along that the pathway back to the U.S. for BG was via a negotiated prisoner swap, which is what Russia wanted all along.

One of the common statements made is that if Griner were Lebron James or Stephan Curry she would not be held in captivity in Russia. This sentiment has been expressed by people who understand the economics of the WNBA, as well as people who do not.?Nevertheless, the fact of the matter, is neither Lebron James nor Steph Curry would EVER be in the position that BG is currently in, wrongfully convicted in Russia.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are American men basketball players who play overseas, a number in Ukraine.?In fact, there have been news reports of the challenges that some of those men in Ukraine faced as they tried to escape while the war between Russia and Ukraine was escalating.?However, most men who play internationally are former NBA players, or players who could not make it into the NBA.?Brittney Griner is one of the best women basketball players in HISTORY! If she were a man, she would be the equivalent of Shaq or Tim Duncan, not a player whose NBA days are over, or who could never make it in the NBA. BG is going to the Hall of Fame when her playing days are over. However, her WNBA salary is not a “Hall of Fame salary”.

Brittney Griner, and other WNBA stars, are forced to play overseas because they don’t make nearly the amount of money as their NBA star counterparts.?Brittney’s annual WNBA salary is $221,515!?This is the reason that she is being wrongfully detained in Russia.?The highest paid NBA Center Rudy Gobert will earn $38,172,414 in the 2022-2023 NBA season.?Brittney Griner is an All-Star WNBA Center whose annual salary is less than a quarter of a million dollars!?This is the economic situation that is often overlooked by commentators who are justifiably concerned with what is happening to Brittney over in Russia.?It is time for the WNBA to raise the salaries of their best players.?It will take years for them to approach what their NBA counterparts earn, if ever, but the WNBA needs to be able to pay their best players a minimum of $1 million dollars annually.?

There are other factors at play regarding the wrongful detention and conviction of Brittney Griner in a Russian courtroom: the issue of the Russia/Ukraine war, the issue of negotiating for hostages, or whether President Joe Biden is fighting hard enough to bring her back to the United States.?However, we must examine the economic aspect of the situation to prevent this from happening again, because if WNBA players feel the need to go abroad to earn a living, they will continue to have to navigate the realities of international relations. ?Nevertheless, WNBA players need to take a stand and refuse to play in Russia anymore. That is the least that they could do to show solidarity with BG.

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Hashim Shomari??????Government/Political Affairs Consultant

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(Hashim Shomari is the Author/Publisher of From the Underground: Hip-Hop Culture as an Agent of Social Change.?He provides government affairs/political strategy consulting services in New Jersey and New York on behalf of his clients in the cannabis, affordable housing, healthcare, financial service, and economic development sectors.)?