by Marcelle Edwards
guest columnist
Race wasn’t something I talked about for a long time. By ignoring it, I thought I was treating everyone as an individual, therefore doing my part to diminish the effects of racism. I was wrong. By ignoring the topic, I wasn’t acknowledging what people of colour experience daily.
Most of my conversations about race are with my good friend Marcelle Edwards, who looks at me as a mentor. I wrote about her here. I’ve been reluctant to broach the subject with my Black friends because I don’t want to turn them into “My Black Friends”, but Marcelle often starts the conversations and has been generous with her thoughts and feelings.
She was asked to share her perspective in an article for her workplace. I’m turning over my blog to her today because we need her insight, especially white people. You should also know that the original article was fully footnoted, because when Marcelle speaks her truth, she back it up with reliable sources. Here’s Marcelle’s take on the times.
Marcelle’s Message
I was born by the river, in a little tent Oh, and just like the river
I've been running ever since
It's been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come Oh, yes it will
When I feel oppressed and have to cope with feelings of neglect, anxiety and anger resulting from racism, I turn to Sam Cooke’s song “A Change is Gonna Come”. It eases my frustration, giving me hope that one day a change will in fact come. Cooke’s beloved song was written to describe many of the civil unrests Black people were facing in the early 1960s. Inequality, lack of voting rights, shooting of unarmed Black men and police corruption were common. Cooke was further inspired by Bob Dylan’s protest song“Blowin’ in the Wind”, and Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream”.When Cooke was denied entry to whites-only Holiday Inn in Shreveport, Louisiana, he put his ideas into this song.
Cooke never saw the change. He didn't even see the release of his single. “A Change is Gonna Come” was released days after his funeral in December 1964. Hotel Manager Bertha Franklin shot him dead after claiming he broke into her office and attacked her. But his family believes he was set-up because of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Cooke’s popularity was growing, crossing colour barriers and entering the homes of White America who were hearing his protests. He refused to play at segregated venues. Cooke also owned his own music, and there was a sense that he was getting too powerful. Music executives wanted Cooke to just focus on his fans, but he was determined. It’s been reported that Cooke’s friends even said, “He was getting too big for his britches for a suntanned man”.
It's been too hard living
But I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there Beyond the sky
It's been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come Oh, yes it will...
It didn't take long for “Change” to earn a spot on the national pop and R&B charts. Sung straight from Cooke’s heart and soul, it delivers the message of pain, urgency, suffering, determination, desperation, anxiety and hope. Unfortunately, his full voice wasn't heard. The single was released without the third verse, “I go to the movie. And I go downtown. Somebody keep telling me. Don't hang around”. Removing the bold message of segregation was meant to eliminate the politics from an intentionally political song. Fortunately, the full song had already been released on an album.
At the time of the song’s release, Black people’s full voices were not being heard anywhere, especially in the South where they yearned for change. Voting rights were still being denied even after the Civil Rights Act passed a few months before Cooke’s death. In Dallas County, Alabama, more than 50% of the population was Black, but only 2% were registered to votev. Tensions were running high, so the Civil Rights Movement picked up on “Change” immediately. Cooke’s song expressed what was going on, what would happen and what needed to be done.
Civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) led by the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., were faced with fierce pushback when trying to register Black voters. For months, people organized peaceful demonstrations to gain voting rights in Selma, Alabama; but nothing worked. Their voices weren’t heard. On the night of February 18, 1965 things took a tragic turn. As 26-year-old deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson was trying to protect his mother and grandfather from being clubbed by troopers, he was brutally beaten and shot. Days later in the hospital, he died.
Instead of stopping the protesters it fueled their fight, resulting in a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. On March 7, 1965, 600 unarmed demonstrators took to the streets in Selma, to walk 54 miles to the state capital of Montgomery. Activists John Lewis led the way with King’s colleague, Hosea Williams. Lewis was only 25 years old at the time, but like everyone else in that protest, he wanted the basic right to vote. The demonstrators also detested the “whites only” bathrooms and water fountain. They wanted to voice their grievances directly to Alabama’s Governor George Wallace, a man who arrogantly opposed desegregation. Wallace knew the demonstrators were coming and ordered his state troopers to use any force necessary to stop them.
Hundreds of peaceful protesters arrived at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after a Civil War Confederate general who became the leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. As they crossed the stark reminder of their oppression, a band of state troopers and local police formed a blockade. A voice over a loudspeaker blared, “This is an illegal gathering. Either go back to your churches or go home”. But the protestors did not leave; they bowed down to pray. That is when things turned ugly.
Then I go to my brother
And I say, “Brother, help me please”.
But he winds up, knockin' me Back down on my knees.
The troopers moved into the crowd of unarmed marchers, striking them with billy clubs and crushing their bones. Tear gas dispersed the crowd. People screamed with burning eyes. Police on horseback chased retreating marchers and continued to brutalize them. A crowd of White onlookers did not intervene. Instead they cheered the troopers as people fell to the ground with each hit. Lewis, his head severely beaten, almost lost his life. It’s almost as if Sam Cooke wrote part of his song to explain this very incident.
Television coverage of the march, showing the violence in real time, triggered national outrage. That day came to be called Bloody Sunday. President Lyndon Johnson called it an American tragedy and addressed the nation with a plea to stop the legacy of bigotry. This led to a federal judge overturning bans on demonstrations in Alabama. Martin Luther King organized another march, and Johnson ordered the National Guard, along with the US Army, to protect them.
This time, Martin Luther King was there with his wife and kids. King delivered his “How Long? Not Long?” speech. Actions of bravery and hope led to the Voting Rights Act, which Black people had been seeking for 300 years. Unfortunately, Sam Cooke would never see the change that was gonna come.
Oh, there been times that I thought
I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able, to carry on.
It's been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come Oh, yes it will.
Sixty years after its release, I’m still listening to “A Change is Gonna Come”. But when will a change come? How many times does this sixties anthem have to soothe my pain when I hear the same news in the twenty-first century? Breonna Taylor, Daniel Prude, Ahmaud Arbery, James Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Dijon Kizzee, Walter Wallace Jr., Johnathan Price, Casey Goodson Jr., Andre Hill...These are all the cases of senseless acts of brutality against Black people in the last 12 months. They all became rallying cries for protestors. Most of them were killed at the hands of police in the USA.
Historic Black Lives Matter protests erupted around the globe 8 months ago, fighting for the basic right to be treated as an equal human life. Then there was the attack on the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of President Trump, almost all of them White, stormed the building with little resistance from the authorities. They waved Confederate flags and hung a noose to scream white supremacy. It is clear that the fight is not over. It is clear that a change STILL needs to come. We are still seeing what Sam Cooke pleads.
The legacy of slavery is still here, deeply entrenched in systemic racism, involving schools, healthcare, workplaces, housing, government, the list goes on. Canada is not exempted from racism. There is a low representation or absence of Black Canadians in leadership roles in all institutions and systems. Black University graduates earn 20 cents less on every dollar earned by White university graduates, even with the same qualifications. More Black youth and children are seen in child welfare systems. Black Canadians are more likely to be victims of hate crimes than any other racial group in Canada. Black people in Toronto are 20 times more likely to be shot by police than white residents.
However, the Civil Rights Movement we are in now is giving me some hope. The crowds at Black Lives Matter protests were filled with people from all different backgrounds and it happened all over the world. There have been actions to root out police brutality. Many institutions have publicly stated that they will work to tear down all forms of systemic racism, increasing not only diversity but also inclusion at all levels. Ontario schools are putting an end to academic streaming in Grade 9 that disproportionately places Black kids in lower levels than their white peers. Monuments honouring racist figures are being torn down.
Things are in motion, but they must not be short–lived victories. We have to keep talking, keep telling the full truth about racial oppression, keep working together, keep moving forward, keep fighting and fully knowing that ending racism starts with each of us. Our voices must finally be heard.
If a change is finally going to come, the change has to be YOU.