independentsforkerry.org

Movements to the Mountaintop
History as Collective Failure: Lessons from the Black populists
Omar H. Ali
February 19, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C.–Famously, George Washington lost almost every major battle during the American Revolution, yet he won the war. His final victory at Yorktown is embraced as an example of individual perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.

In our winner-take-all culture, we tend to glorify the winners, emphasizing the individual–from historical figures, such as Washington, to contemporary figures, such as Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama. We learn about them as individuals who “make it”–on their own, through extraordinary acts, with vision, and a little bit of luck. The formula: They struggled, they failed, but pressed on until they won (glory, money, the war, the vote, the presidency).

But what if in history there is no such thing as “the individual” or “winning”?What if there is only the seamless process of collective creation–no victory (no defeat), only what people do together? Back stories–the ones you don’t usually hear–can teach us about collective creativity, about the fleeting nature of winning and about the production of history of many people doing mostly ordinary, but sometimes, extraordinary things together.

What most of us learn about “black history” entails the people and/or movements that succeeded in making political changes–notably, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. But what about those who didn’t make it to the mountaintop? What about the dreams that remain unfulfilled and the movements that failed?

Black populism, the movement of black farmers, sharecroppers, and agrarian workers from 1886 to 1900, was such a movement. It sought, but was not able to make, the economic and political reforms that were so desperately needed by a generation of Southern African-Americans coming out of slavery. Black populism was also the largest independent black political movement in the region before the modern civil rights movement. Read more …

Omar H. Ali is associate professor of African-American history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and author of “In the Lion’s Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900″ (University Press of Mississippi, 2010).

The Hankster

Please check out the latest conversation among independent activists at the latest “happening” in Harlem — Omar Ali and Lenora Fulani at the Schomburg.

The Hankster

Following the collapse of Reconstruction in 1877, African Americans organized a movement–distinct from the white Populist movement–in the South and parts of the Midwest for economic and political reform: Black Populism. Between 1886 and 1898, tens of thousands of black farmers, sharecroppers, and agrarian workers created their own organizations and tactics primarily under black leadership.

Dr. Omar H. Ali  has written a new book, In the Lion’s Mouth: Black Populism in the New South, 1886-1900 (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010) which chronicles the largest independent black movement prior to the modern civil rights movement. Dr. Ali traces its origins, growth, and demise. It’s particularly relevant to what independents are struggling with today in the building of a black and independent alliance.  

In the Lion’s Mouth breaks new ground … Omar Ali paints a compelling portrait of an independent movement. But understand that by independent, he does not mean separatist. It is an important distinction, for if we follow Ali’s arguments and the evidence he marshals seriously, we can only conclude that the white Populist movement, more than any, exhibited separatist tendencies. Ali flips the script, if you will, and compels us to rethink the entire history of late 19th century Southern politics.
—Robin D.G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression

In this insightful survey of a generation of African American political activism, Omar Ali lays to rest the common misconception that black politics in the South ended with the death of Reconstruction. He shows how, during the 1880s and 1890s, two Populist movements, black and white, mainly separate and unequal, challenged the political status quo. Any one interested in the innovative and often bold political action undertaken by black southerners in these trying times will benefit from reading In the Lion’s Mouth.
—Charles Postel, author of The Populist Vision

COMING SOON:
Watch for Dr. Ali’s new column on The Hankster, historical notes on independents throughout American history … from the Abolitionists, the Populists, to today’s movement of non-aligned voters.

The Hankster