Democracy Now!: Ron Daniels on the 1972 Gary Convention and March on Washington

In 1972, Gary, Indiana, was the site of the historic National Black Political Convention. To many, it was known as the Gary Convention, its impact still felt today. Among those who attended, oh, Coretta Scott King; Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X; Jesse Jackson; Bobby Seale; Louis Farrakhan; Shirley Chisholm; Harry Belafonte; Amiri Baraka, the great New Jersey poet; and others. The convention led to the founding of the National Black Political Assembly. Our next guest, Ron Daniels, served as president of the assembly from ’74 to 1980.

Ron Daniels joins us now, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, convener of the National African American Reparations Commission, host of Vantage Point on WBAI 99.5 FM, New York, and on the Pacifica Network, just back, actually, from the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington, where thousands gathered this weekend for that incredible day 63 years ago when Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Dr. Daniels, if you can start off by talking about, placing Gary, Indiana, in this political context, this historical context, that many young people who are watching and listening to the show right now had never heard of?

Dr. Ron Daniels:

Well, there are a lot of young people now asking about the Gary National Black Political Convention. It was one of the great gatherings in the history of Black people in this country. I did have the honor of being and playing an incredible role in it, actually, coming out of Youngstown, Ohio. I’m listening to all of these steel towns, and Youngstown is a steel town, had the opportunity to serve as co-convener of the Ohio delegation along with Mayor Stokes of Cleveland.

And so, there, the Gary convention set forth a Black political agenda, which, if you look at it — and I read it occasionally — you would think we’re still in the same spot. We’re not actually in the same spot, but some of the same issues. D.C. statehood, for example, that was raised at the March on Washington, I’m reflecting back on how D.C. statehood was a major call at the Gary National Black Political Convention.

Its historic outcome, really, more than anything else, was it led to a watershed number of Black elected officials leaving with the idea that it wasn’t necessarily the skin color or the character of a person that was important, or of individuals. It was about an agenda — no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, but a permanent agenda — that process of having periodic gatherings to say, “What is our agenda?” That’s what we should be fighting for.

And when I think about Gary, I think about Richard Gordon Hatcher, one of the most — I think, the most influential and most progressive mayor of his time, along with Marion Barry of Washington, D.C., and Maynard Jackson’s first term. He and I were very close friends. We worked together in the Jackson campaign. Of course, he was chairman of the 1988 Jackson for President campaign. I served as the deputy campaign manager.

And when you look at, really, where we are today in terms of urban policy, you look at Gary, and you raise the question about cities being left back, the whole question of deindustrialization. You had Mayor Hatcher, one of the most progressive mayors. He was sharp. He was brilliant. But the fact of the matter is that town was run by U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel was the second-largest steel-producing center. It may have had the biggest plant — Pittsburgh number one, Gary number two, Youngstown was number four. So, when U.S. Steel dictated its terms, or when U.S. Steel eventually pulled out, it was a devastating blow to the city of Gary, leading to increasing crime and poverty, the kind of situation that you see now.

And it really raises questions, really, about an agenda moving forward. For example, I’m listening about the private electrical company. Well, you know, Amy, one of the things that a lot of people have forgotten about is there was a time when we had a much more robust public space. And I argue that the public space is the great equalizer in a racialized capitalist system. So we need public utilities. But instead of having public utilities, we’re negotiating with private utilities. And they don’t serve almost any community well, but they certainly don’t serve Black and Brown and marginalized communities well, and I do mean by that also poor white communities.

So, there’s a lot to be unpacked in terms of what’s going on in Gary, but it’s also important to look forward in this moment to the need of Black folks to come together. You know, one of the outcomes, ultimately, that relationship between Richard Gordon Hatcher and Jesse Jackson, the Rainbow Coalition. We’re in a period now where we need something similar to a Rainbow Coalition to really address the critical issues that were talked about at the March on Washington that just occurred. Kudos to Reverend Sharpton and Martin King III and Arndrea Waters King for convening again a huge number of leaders that came together, which we need for this moment, because this is one of, if not the most dangerous moment in the history of these United States of America. That’s the negative side.

The positive side is we have the capacity, utilizing the concept of King’s beloved community and a rainbow formation, to actually lead the way to a very positive agenda, in fact, and, in fact, a game-changing, transformative agenda that will deal with finally getting rid of some of the kinds of things that you just talked about — the money, dark money in politics — and also really beginning to deal with the question of a basic standard of living for all human beings in this society, in terms of not only Medicare for All, but King’s call for a guaranteed annual income, a Bill of Rights that would talk about education for all. These bold ideas is what we need right now — bold, bold, transformative ideas.

Amy Goodman:

Ron Daniels, on Friday, you were in Washington, D.C., 63 years after Dr. Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Thousands assembled on Friday, including you, to warn against the attacks on voting rights. Among the people who spoke: Martin Luther King’s son Martin Luther King, Senator Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.s granddaughter Yolanda Renee King.

YOLANDA RENEE KING: We will pick up the baton. We will restore the dream when voting rights are weakened. We will restore the dream when hatred tries to divide us. We will restore the dream when children are afraid to go to school. We will restore the dream when people are threatened, are treated as less than human because of their race, religion, gender, immigration status, whom they love, how much money they have or where they were born. We will restore the dream!

Amy Goodman:

So, that is Martin Luther King Jr.s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, speaking. You were there on Friday, Dr. Ron Daniels, and you were there 60 years ago. Your final comments about the significance of this moment and the attack on the Voting Rights Act and voting overall?

Dr. Ron Daniels:

Well, I think the other theme is we’re not going back. And we need to know that history because we’ve been here before. Every time there’s been significant progress in terms of Black Americans and people of color and the oppressed, there’s been a backlash. This is the ugliest backlash we’ve seen. It is perhaps the sort of the dying gasp of a system that needs a major overhaul. And one of the things that was so inspiring about the March on Washington, there were really, really thousands of young people there, as well, and they spoke out. You saw them assembled under the leadership of the NAN Youth Division and whatever. So, I’m very optimistic that, as Maya Angelou says, strong young women and men, strong people, keep coming on. We are going to change this country, no matter how difficult it is. We’re not going back.

Amy Goodman:

Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, thank you so much for being with us.