Op-Ed: Will you answer the call?
This Op-Ed was originally published in the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper
For the past several days, I have witnessed my city in a way I never thought I would. Downtown is boarded up for the foreseeable future. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the streets protesting day and night (sometimes right outside my window), and as of this writing, there is no immediate end in sight. Though I wish we were dealing with better circumstances, I could not be more proud of what I see. People, of all different backgrounds, are rising up in solidarity all over the world not to ask, or suggest but to demand that things change. Many of the actions that have garnered public attention and media coverage are the boots on the ground physical protests and demonstrations. There are people who due to one circumstance or another cannot participate in this manner and some have lamented this fact. Folks with preexisting conditions that make them susceptible to disease (COVID-19 is still here, y’all), folks that are differently-abled like author and disability rights activist Keah Brown who tweeted, “Reminder to self: I am not useless because I cannot physically protest,” often feel left out or like they cannot make any contribution at all.
There are others who can’t be involved because they have to work, care for children or do any number of things that would keep them preoccupied but not any less passionate than the droves of people out chanting and pounding the pavement.
This week, I spent some time thinking about all of the “unsung heroes” of the movement. My inquiries led me to an article about a woman named Georgia Gilmore who ran an underground food business to help fund the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), the grassroots group that organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Gilmore, a single mother of six children who worked two jobs, somehow found the time to organize a group of other Black women cooks who went door to door selling pies, cakes, fish and greens. The women, deemed The Club from Nowhere, collected the money from their sales and Gilmore was the only one who knew who they were as they worked under anonymity to prevent being caught by their white employers. Gilmore eventually went on to open a restaurant in her home which became a rest haven and headquarters of sorts for Dr. King and many other civil rights leaders. Her place was one where all sorts of people, not just those on the front lines, could come and fellowship with one another. I can only imagine the thoughts and philosophies that were exchanged at her dining room table. Gilmore is someone I want to spend much more time learning about because her story is one that gives an example of what it means to work within your gifting — aka stay in your lane — in order to benefit the people. Gilmore had already been boycotting the bus system independently because of her own experiences of being discriminated against as a child and adult woman. She was inspired to use what it is she had at her disposal to help benefit the movement and kept that same energy up until her dying day. She heard the call and leveraged her resources to help make a mighty mark on the world.
We all have our roles to play and we need each other to survive. The movement is not only for the foot soldiers and the speakers behind the bullhorn but for the service workers, soothsayers and scribes. It’s for the healers, teachers, c-suiters and the spooks who sit beside the door.
It feels to me that a call has gone out far and wide waking us up to the reality of what could be, because Black people have always known what it is — the rest of ya’ll are finally catching on. The question now is whether or not you will answer. There are as many ways as there are people to address this issue and your voice, your energy and your support is needed. The time is now. Will you answer the call?
