Charismatic-leader narratives erased the grassroots machinery of the Black freedom struggle
Evidence
Jackson figured himself as the successor to Dr. King and, in doing so, he narrowed our understanding of the black freedom struggle. Here the grassroots organizing and the array of political organizations that made up that fight were reduced to a bland black liberal politics with a charismatic preacher as its head. It was a tidy, if not entirely inaccurate, story: one that moves seamlessly from Dr. King to Reverend Jackson to President Obama. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 474
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- BMF: The collapse of a diverse movement into a single linear story of great men echoes the way The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Home Boy likewise sketch simplified self-narratives over lived complexity.