Hearing voices

Signs point less to protest, more to progress

When all the shouting, chanting, singing and occasional violence of the 2020 protests are done, does it mean the movement has fizzled?

We don’t think so, and hope not. The upheaval in the wake of George Floyd’s death serves an important purpose. Not the looting and burning, which are products of people taking illicit advantage of moments in which they choose to sow chaos. Many, many others aren’t concerned about stealing something; they’re marching in the streets in pursuit of equality, fairness and justice.

Don’t get hung up on tactics. Sure, some aren’t built for sign-holding and protests. Some aren’t necessarily prepared to articulate their arguments in the ways political leaders prefer to be addressed. But who in our communities can’t embrace the basic notion that a nation should strive toward equal treatment, fairness and justice for all its citizens? Sounds awfully American, doesn’t it?

Count us among those who are glad to see the turmoil turning toward discussion, collaboration and, what’s perhaps needed more than anything, understanding.

Just the other day, a second protest in Bentonville — days after one that ended with tear gas, confusion and anger — featured protesters shaking hands with Bentonville Police Chief Jon Simpson, who stood alongside organizers with bowed head as he and several hundred people remembered George Floyd, the Minnesota man whose Memorial Day death at the hands of police triggered protests around the world.

This time, city and county officials and organizers of the protest met in advance to discuss plans. That paid off with a peaceful rally featuring a series of speakers in front of the county courthouse in addition to a peaceful march around the square.

“It was a community event,” organizer Jessica Angelica said. “Our voices are being heard.”

In Little Rock recently, activist and educator Leron McAdoo touched on exactly what is needed to ensure these important voices of the community continue to be heard.

McAdoo reminded a crowd there that Floyd wasn’t the first to die from police brutality, but “we kept hitting snooze.”

“Hopefully, you are all awake now,” he said, urging demonstrators not to confuse “activity with accomplishment.”

What wise words. If the focus of one’s efforts after Floyd’s death is solely to be active, the people who need to be convinced of the need for changes will, eventually, move on to other matters. Not that we want to sound like a book on management and leadership, but it’s the truth that being busy is not the same as being productive.

It is impressive to see these mostly young voices for change transition from protests to purpose and strategy that’s needed to achieve long-term change.

The first days after Floyd died had a clear us vs. them tenor, with the streets of cities large and small serving as the battleground. But in more recent days, the tide has turned toward a greater understanding that a lasting pursuit of change must do more than make noise. Unquestionably, the noise has opened up some spaces at the table where changes can happen, but that only matters when the people with the most riding on the outcome are willing to occupy those spaces.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, for example, created a state government task force to develop recommendations on police training and operations, community policing and the disciplinary processes for officers who violate protocols. Among the task force members are four activists active in recent demonstrations — Tim Campbell, Jimmy Warren, Emma Davis and Layla Holloway.

The use of police chokeholds and whether the state should prohibit them is part of what the task force will review.

The task force will look for actions that can be undertaken by the governor and Legislature.

Hutchinson — rightly, in our view — specified the task force will not have the leeway to recommend “defunding” law enforcement agencies, an idea advanced by some protesters around the country. But based on what’s known today, it appears the task force has room to make an effective change for the future.

This is where change becomes less a question of us vs. them and more a question of whether one is prepared for a marathon vs. a sprint. At that Little Rock protest, McAdoo called on those in the crowd to think about what their demands are. It was a brilliant move to shift the thinking of protesters from an event to a movement.

Unfortunately, in every push for systemic change, some prove they don’t have the stomach for the long haul of producing it. Change requires coalition building, late nights and hard work that doesn’t get a lot of attention, McAdoo told his audience. And sometimes it requires taking smaller steps that can lead to bigger steps.

The most effective activists recognize advocacy cannot thrive on expectations that every battle will succeed or that every election will be won. Sometimes, though, losing a fight is just one step on the journey toward a greater victory ahead.

We hope the “establishment” is listening, too, for they must open themselves to possibility of change, and of changing their minds.

Black Americans have every right to be cynical. They’ve heard lots of promises before and yet, for many, their lot in life hasn’t significantly improved. And yet in the days since George Floyd died, one can see the evidence that this is perhaps a moment in U.S. history when change is going to come.

That change is not inevitable. But the last few days suggest the odds that will happen have grown immensely.