Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

How Both Rev. Al Sharpton and Michael Eric Dyson Tricked the Black Community
Yvette Carnell
14 Nov 2012
🖨️ Print Article

 

by Yvette Carnell

African Americans “leaders” – or “liars,” in the case of Reverends Sharpton and Dyson – did a great disservice to their constituencies by failing to pressure President Obama. “These men selfishly took advantage of their proximity to power, and successfully used it as leverage for their personal brands, at the expense of the black community at large.

 

How Both Rev. Al Sharpton and Michael Eric Dyson Tricked the Black Community

by Yvette Carnell

This article previously appeared in Your Black World.

“We weren’t smart. We were tribal.”

As a black media consumer who scans mountains of black media stories every day, I have to tell you, I get tired of being lied to. And the two biggest liars by far during President Obama’s first term have been Michael Eric Dyson and “Rev.” Al Sharpton.

In the lead up to the election, when Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley both implored the black electorate to push Obama for a black agenda, both Sharpton and Dyson circled the wagons, insulating the White House from any criticism from the black community, ensuring that Obama would not be held to task, certainly not during his first term.

Presumably, Sharpton and Dyson safeguarded the president to ensure that he’d win reelection. Sharpton gave up on any serious assessment of Obama early, saying he wouldn’t offer any criticism of Obama during his first term. He was rewarded with an MSNBC show.

Dyson, who initially gave a fiery roundtable lecture on how blacks couldn’t allow racial symbolism to trump accountability, recently demonstrated a complete 180 in his debate with Black Agenda Report’s Glen Ford. His reward is coming, I’m sure.

But now there is good evidence that, contrary to the wisdom of Dyson and Sharpton, Obama didn’t need any protecting. He trounced Romney in Tuesday’s election, becoming one of only a handful of presidents to win 50 percent of the popular vote, and leaving me with no other choice than to believe that doing something substantive for black people during his first time wouldn’t have upended Obama’s election prospects.

The black community could’ve gotten its pound of flesh, much like the LGBT and Latino communities had already, if we’d not been snookered, listening to old “Marble Mouth” Sharpton and “Bee Boppin’” Dyson.

“Being loyal to people who aren’t loyal to you will get you nowhere.”

Now we are all left hoping and wishing that, for the sake of his legacy, President Obama doesn’t forget about us during his second term. The smart thing to do would’ve been to secure something, such as legislation to reduce black unemployment or mass incarceration, before the election, but we weren’t smart. We were tribal.

To put it plainly, the black community got screwed by trusting two men who were never honest brokers in the political game they were playing. These men selfishly took advantage of their proximity to power, and successfully used it as leverage for their personal brands, at the expense of the black community at large.

Listen black people: Nobody cares about us. Not even the people who were hired to care about us care about us. My advice? F*ck ‘em. And I don’t just mean f*ck ‘em right now, I mean f*ck ‘em forever.

Al Sharpton’s nothing more than an old guy with a bad perm. And Dyson’s just a smart guy who talks too fast. Who cares. Ask yourself, for once, what do you want? What would you like to see President Obama do for black people? Put yourself and your family first. Then fight for that, no matter what. And if you find somebody with a platform who shares your view, all the better.

But being loyal to people who aren’t loyal to you will get you nowhere. You don’t need Sharpton or Dyson to tell you what to do or think. You only need courage to stand up for yourself and the people you love. Once your love for yourself and the people close to you becomes stronger than your love for Obama, or your respect for Sharpton or Dyson, then you’re ready to break free.

You don’t need Maybach money or a black prez to do it. You only need to love yourself more than you love everybody else. Love yourself, and then go for what you want. Everything else is just black noise. And it’s about time we drown it out.

Yvette Carnell is a former Capitol Hill and campaign staffer turned writer. She is currently an editor and contributor to Yourblackworld. You can reach Yvette via Twitter @YvetteDC or on Facebook.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Anthony Rogers-Wright
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    "Abundance" and the Democrats' Neo-Liberalism
    18 Apr 2025
    We’re joined by Anthony Rogers-Wright, a Black Agenda Report contributor and a climate/environmental liberation and racial justice advocate, writer, and policy expert. He is an active member of the…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Western Nations Join the United States in Repressing Dissent
    16 Apr 2025
    Trump is not unique in the collective west. As the crisis of capitalism deepens, "democratic" states intensify repression and criminalize dissent.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Racism and the American University, Addison Gayle, Jr., 1971
    16 Apr 2025
    The appraisal of American universities as liberal institutions remains one of the purest examples of the elasticity of the English language.
  • nato protest
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    NATO Was Founded to Crush Communist, Socialist, and Anti-colonial Movements Worldwide
    16 Apr 2025
    NATO was never a good idea gone wrong. It was founded to crush communist, socialist, and anti-colonial movements in Europe and around the world.
  • Jon Jeter
    The Dog Whistle Heard ‘Round the World: How Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City Bombing Birthed the Trump Era
    16 Apr 2025
    Thirty years after Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing, his legacy lives on in the racist mass shooters, anti-government extremists, and MAGA reactionaries who continue to target Black…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us