The Tampa Police Union has called for a boycott of Beyoncé's Formation World Tour. They have vowed they will not secure the venue in protest of Beyoncé's Super Bowl 50 half-time show. And, while it is hard to fathom how her half-time performance was anti-police, it is well within the right of the police union to act on the behalf of officers in this way. In fact, this is a strategy the Black Lives Matter movement and all of Black America might want to consider employing ourselves.
Absence can often be a more powerful and effective tool than a boycott that calls for your presence. First, you have your perspective and others have their own. Often, arguing against another's perspective only strengthens their resolve to hold firm to their chosen viewpoint. Second, sometimes the very people you're addressing have no intention of listening to your concerns what-so-ever. There is a saying - "Power cedes nothing without a demand." So, the powerful are often unmoved, until and unless forced to act.
The act of 'not showing up' gets people's attention, especially if and when they have an expectation that you will be present. So, the police union is putting Beyoncé and all entertainers on notice. You will not align yourself with any group, action, ideology (or in this case imagery) that even suggests anti-police sentiment. Again, it doesn't matter that the Black Panther Party was pro-community. Further, it doesn't matter that the group disbanded decades ago. To those who fear some kind of imagined Black uprising, the iconography stands as a threat.
The sad thing is - the Tampa Police Union did not seek discourse or dialogue, toward determining if Beyoncé's performance was intended as anti-police sentiment. This further broadens the divide that exists between the community and the police, because it feels like the police are using the well-worn 'go-to' strategy of bullying individuals into submission. To the on-looker, this is absolute over-kill. It is reminiscent of so many stories we tend to hear about in the news - that the police shot multiple times, without being provoked to do so.
However, protestors can learn a thing or two from the Tampa Police Union. Absence is a very powerful weapon to have in one's arsenal and at one's disposal. As opposed to showing up to protest, don't show up at all. Don't join any conversations that don't include you or concern you. If Blacks and Mexicans, especially, got that our presence is needed for the game to continue, we would quit arguing with opponents and focus on having our constituency pull-back from the table.
Without criminals and crime, the police would not be in business. So, we are better served convincing the community to stop showing up in that way. We should push for an 80% reduction in crime in our communities, as a means of reducing the police-force by 50%. Let them face the challenge of going to school and finding legitimate work (or turning to a life of crime) like others feel forced to do. A drastic reduction in crime would force the very focus of the police department to change from "law enforcement" to "service-orientation".
Second, we must form our own towns, where we can live free from negative influences. Then, the police who are hired to arrest Blacks and poor-people can police their own communities. Let's see if they can do a better job there. We must stop showing up for the debate on whether gun-ownership makes sense. The numbers suggest it does not, especially in the inner-city we use guns to kill ourselves. Why continue to showing-up in support of gun-ownership, when we are the victims of the very laws that make it easy to acquire guns??? Funny how the gun is never available as a defense against the perceived threat.
We must stop showing up at polling places to defend candidates who perpetuate a broken two-party system, until and unless we have 'a dog in the race'. We must stop showing up to support a culture that has determined that certain classes of people will always be under-represented and under-valued. We must limit our cultural contribution as a means of forcing change.
Last year, I proposed the formation of a day of absence. I called it Black Out Mondays. The goal was and is to have Black people spend nothing on Mondays. In withdrawing our regular financial support of a 'corrupt system', it will do two things. First, it will shake things up. The 'system' will realize that we do make a substantial contribution and over time some course corrections will be made. Second, it will stand as proof that we can empower ourselves if and when we choose to do so.
Absence is a strategy worth employing because it has been proven to work. We have spent 50 years arguing for Civil Rights, only to find ourselves in the same condition in 2016. So, it is time to separate ourselves from those who are unwilling to cultivate relationships that foster real and lasting harmony among the whole of humanity.
Very simply, there are two types of relationships worthy of our consideration. The first is friends and family. You know your friends and family, regardless of race, culture or class. You love and support them. They love and support you. These are your loved ones. Otherwise, if it is not a relationships of intellectual, cultural or economic exchange, why keep showing up for people who absolutely refuse to show up for you? Your absence can make as powerful a statement as your presence. #absence #protest #blacklivesmatter #beyonce #formationworldtour #tampapoliceunion
James W. Power
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