Black Activism: Yesterday & Today
State Rep. Byron Rushing joined local community activists at Hibernian Hall Oct. 19 to discuss the history of the 45-year-old Madison Park Development Corporation, as well as highlight the roots of black activism in Boston. It was an enlightening conversation among elder activists that showed that change is possible when all people organize as one around a common agenda and goal.
So it was interesting when Occupy Boston activist Brian Kwoba got up during the discussion to ask the panelists what tips the current Occupy Movement could take away. Panelist and Dudley Main Streets executive director Joyce Stanley said that unlike the Roxbury activists of the 1960s who organized around not allowing the I-95 to be built in the community, the Occupy Wall Street movement doesn’t have a clear agenda nor has it made any specific goals for their protest.
“If you don’t have clear goals when you are organizing a movement, eventually people start to lose interest in what you are protesting about,” Stanley said.
Watch the video here