This is a condensed transcription of Belinda Parker Brown’s presentation given at the Black is Back Coalition’s 17th Annual Conference on August 23-24. Belinda Parker Brown is a member of the Blak is Back Coalition and a community organizer at Louisiana United International.
I want to share something with you all. Something that I had been meditating on when we came up with the topic for this conference: ”Don’t Agonize! Organize!” When I first returned home, this was home for me. I grew up here but left at an early age. I grew up right on Tupelo Street in Grand Travis. That’s the Ninth Ward. My mom and dad separated, and my mom relocated to Michigan. So, I want to share this with you because when I left here, I said I would never live in Louisiana.
Don’t say “never” because the Lord dealt with me to get my affairs in order and come back home in 2007. That was right after Katrina, when I did everything in my power to rescue my family members from the storm. And a lot of them didn’t want to leave. A lot of them did not leave and till this day, I still don’t know where some of my loved ones, family members are.
So, I know that this is the 20th anniversary of Katrina, but God dealt with me in 2007 to come home and help my people. And I’m telling you, I hit the ground. And to be here in Louisiana and to see some of the things that were still happening here, it was sickening.It was heartbreaking. [But], I’m here, and there’s no place like home.
That is why I believe that this is the boiling point. Right here, in this state, this is ground zero for what the Black is Back Coalition is all about. A lot of these great presentations that you have heard so far are all about our National Political Agenda for Self-Determination. I believe within my spirit that it should start right here, right now. And that Louisiana is going to be the spotlight for the whole world to see what will happen when people unite and come together.
I want to share a quote from Maya Angelou. You know one of her famous quotes is that “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feel.” I want you all to let that set in right there for a moment.
And I want to share this story with you. Something that’s burning in my heart about “Don’t Agonize! Organize!” and the power of unity.
In California, there are magnificent redwood trees that can reach heights of 350 feet and live for 2,000 years. They’re incredibly resilient. You know that was said during our time of Katrina; how resilient we were to come back and restore and rebuild our families.
Resilience is a powerful word. Withstanding strong winds, storms and pests that take other trees down. What’s interesting is that their roots are only 6 to 12 feet deep. The only way the shallow roots can hold up these massive trees is that the roots spread out 100 feet and intertwine with other Redwood roots. Listen to me: They spread out 100 feet, and they intertwine with other Redwood trees against the storm. Again, the whole Redwood forest is linked together and stands strong.
Now, I know some of you out here are wondering about [how] we’ve been told that Black people can’t trust each other. They’ll never come together. We don’t get along. It’s always constantly bickering and disunity and we are all separated and divided. I know you all heard those stories before, about us talking about each other. Then we have also seen how people who look like us, who have been hand-picked and paid to represent us, but they’re not for us. They look like us, but they got price tags hanging on them.
They’re for sale. We vote these people into office. They get out. They rally our vote. We put them into office. They jump up and down and say, Hooray, we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that. But as soon as they get in office, we know what happens. We can’t even get a phone call. We knock on their door. We can’t even get a visit. They don’t even talk to us. Matter of fact, they change their number. “Oh, here you can have my cell phone number.” But as soon as they get in office, they get a new number. I’m not making this up. We know it’s true.
We’re talking about what happens when we all unite and come together and we refuse to be denied. We’re talking about the fact that we have been created to rule and reign and take dominion over everything. We’re talking about what it is that we are not doing, that we should have been doing, that we better do. And the time that we’re in right now is our opportune time to do what we need to be doing. Not what they’re doing. Because everybody is talking about what they’re doing. Trump doing this, Biden did that, the Democrats, the Republicans, the black, the white, you know, all of that. It’s not about what they are doing. We’re saying that everybody is not going to unite with us.
We have some freedom-loving white people who will unite with what we’re talking about. You are going to hear from some of those people here today because we’re serious about building what it is we need to be building for our self-determination, for our future generations.
When the storm comes, and it will come…we have to move, because we are going to win. And we’re going to build. I just bought up 20 acres of land here about a couple of months ago. We are going to build it. I got a building over here in Chalmette that was given to me. We are going to build it. But then, how are we going to defend it?
Because you know what? They never intend for us to have anything. Never. And so, we done made up in our minds that we’re not going to run to the fox that’s guarding the hen house, whining and crying and begging them for anything. Because we know they never intended for us to have anything in the first place.
We’re saying that day is over. When the storm comes…nobody is coming to get you. You’re on top of the roof. No boat. Matter of fact, if the boat’s in sight, they might pass you by like they did those people during Katrina.
But I’m here to say, we’re going to weather the storm. We’re going to stand together. We’re going to unite. And that’s where the power is at.
