The Promise of Democracy

MLK Marade Keynote Address January 18th, 2016 – Denver, Colorado

This nation is not a true democracy. Every time we say it is, we lie to ourselves, our children, and the world. When we elect public officers in the name of democracy, it becomes a lie as soon as a camping ban is passed or evidence is withheld of a public servant taking a citizen's life. If this was a true democracy, then there would be none of that.

The promise of democracy eliminates any chance of using religion to deny entry to this country. The promise of democracy would not treat a southern border any differently than the border to the north. The promise of democracy is just that, a promise, and what we've seen is nothing like a promise. What we've seen is the antithesis of democracy, a promise in pieces, but it truly is consistent with the culture of this nation, both in the past as well as the present.

Abraham Lincoln stated in 1861 that the promise of this country was that “in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.” Lincoln was referring here to the statement in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” This promise that we all are equal is at the heart of the promise of democracy, and it is supposed to guarantee that this nation would be founded on social equality and equal liberty. But we have only seen this promise in pieces.

Social equality means that each person, regardless of age, race, gender, language, hair-texture, religious beliefs, strength, or ability is equal to all other people. Social equality means that when an immigrant and a farmer are pulled over by a police officer, they are treated the same, because they are equal in our society. It also means that there is no such thing as looking like “an immigrant” and being pulled over because of reasonable suspicion.

I must admit, it is ironic that I’d be asked to give a speech, in honor of Dr. King, about the promise of democracy. Me, a young Black man who would not have been counted a full person during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence — in fact, I’d have been no more than the property that each of these equally created white men had equal liberty to own and do with as he pleased. The promise of democracy more than a century ago was only for some—men meant men, who were white and owned land. As I said before, the promise of democracy is in pieces

The same is true here in Denver where a single city block at 25th and Arapahoe that was once owned by the Denver Housing Authority was sold to a private developer. What was once a safe-haven for the homeless called Resurrection Village, was twice fenced off, and the homeless community was again displaced by police officers who were acting under command by city authorities. This is not the promise of democracy in this country, in this state, or in this city and county.

The Declaration of Independence states that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Self-evident? Here is what is self-evident to me about the promise of democracy.

The promise has been broken, and it will remain broken for as long as Blacks are not free to demonstrate without being called “thugs” and facing a militarized police force and being arrested, intimidated, and shot while armed Whites who take over a federal building are called patriots and invited to negotiate with federal authorities.

The promise of democracy will remain broken for as long as women earn 79 cents for every dollar that a man makes.

The promise of democracy will remain broken for as long as we criminalize the homeless by banning them from sleeping under cover outdoors.

The promise of democracy will remain broken for as long as movements like Black Lives Matter splinter, while also ignoring the suffering of people of color in oppressive states such as Syria and Palestine.

The promise of democracy also is not limited to what happens here in this country between Blacks, Latinos, Whites, American Indian, and immigrants. In order for the promise to be full, it cannot be geographically bound. The true and full promise of democracy is that all people are created equal, whomever comes to this country, whenever they arrive, and for whatever period of time they may be here. Those of us who enjoy the economy and convenience of this country are not bound by the stripes of our flag, but by the law of deep, abiding love for all people.

In Palestine, the state of Israel — largely sponsored by U.S. tax dollars — systematically denies Palestinians human rights like water, electricity, education, and access to roads. It is not uncommon for a child to leave her house for school in the morning only to return by evening to piles of rubble that were once her bedroom. This is not democratic, and the US’s involvement in maintaining the oppression of Palestinians defies the promise. Those of us who long for democracy must be concerned about this. We cannot ignore it and feel the comfort of democracy at the expense of the suffering of others. That is why we must name Abdulrahman — an American Citizen killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen — in the same breath as Trayvon Martin. That is why we must protect the babies of South Sudan even as we protect the babies of North St. Louis.

Over the shores, in Syria, an on-going civil war has killed or displaced more than 11 million people — it is considered the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. The humanitarian crisis of which I speak is worldwide. It is not just on our shores, and it is much bigger than any of our own efforts. Secretary of State John Kerry recently announced the quota increase for Syrian refugees to come to this country. If we believe that all people are created equal, then we must welcome refugees and immigrants without treating them suspiciously, refusing to hire them, or asking them why they refuse to learn English. There is no official language in this country, in case you weren’t aware. If we all are created as equals, then we all must be treated as equals if we are to know and fulfill the promise of democracy.

If the promise of democracy is truly a promise, then we must pursue it without excuse if we are to reap its benefits. The steady failure and inadequacy of our federal justice system does not offer us the tools to achieve justice. Here in the US, Black bodies are killed by police, and this has been deemed something other than murder 85% of the time within the court of the Grand Jury.

When our national and domestic policies do not make justice available to us, where are we supposed to go? To whom shall we make our appeal? Do we take it to the streets, shut shit down, and put our pain and frustration on display for all to see? Do we follow the nonviolent path of revolutionary love? Again, I ask: when our own justice system fails us, repeatedly, to whom do we turn if the promise of democracy is true? This is the question before us, and before Syrian refugees, and before Palestinians, and in each developing nation, which is, essentially, what People of Color seem to be in this country, a developing nation.

My point is this: if nothing changes through the beneficence of government, through social programs, through the secret grand jury system, then through what means are we to achieve the liberation that our grandmothers hoped for and that our children deserve?

We must turn our focus and attention to a higher moral and social plane if we are to experience democracy’s promise.

First, Denver must lead the nation in fulfilling the promise of Democracy by amending the Camping Ban to provide designated spaces in the city and county for people to sleep under cover without fear of arrest or abuse, and this city must protect the percentage of land purposed for low-income housing, not affordable housing, but low-income housing, regardless of the wealth that comes to buy away this land and push us out of the city.

The second change that we must see if we are to experience the promise of democracy is that the city has to release the tape of the death of Michael Marshall while in the custody of the Denver Sheriff’s Department. We do not have faith in this justice system, and we will not gain faith in a system that asks us to trust a process that is not transparent and that would allow activists who are exercising their social rights through hunger striking to suffer. Chicago showed us just a few months ago, by hiding the tapes of the violent murder of Laquan McDonald, that the self-interests of legislators and city authorities are more likely to protect their own asses than do what is right by the people.

Third, the promise of democracy is that every person also has fair and equal access to a justice system that protects them from mistreatment, discrimination, and oppression even by power structures such as government. The evidence in this country suggests that people of color are equal to a developing nation. We need a higher court of justice to appeal to when our nation’s justice system fails us. The integrity of the United Nations has been compromised by western bias and the interests of capitalism so we must begin the necessary task of rebuilding a robust International Court of Justice that serves the interests of WE THE PEOPLE. Over the next 12 months, I will be working with organizers and scholars around the country and world to develop and launch a global citizens campaign calling to restructure the International Court of Justice and increase its oversight powers.

Once a wise man said that as far as nations go, The United States of America is still in the laboratory. That means that our young democracy is one grand experiment — we can’t wait for it to happen to us, we’ve got to make it happen. We, the people, are the scientists, the architects, the builders of this democracy, and it will be a promise in pieces until we do. If we walk with brilliance and courage, when history looks back upon us, upon you today, they will say, “these were the promise-keepers of this more perfect union.” Your names will be written onto the promissory note of justice delivered to our descendants. The world will proclaim:

“Blessed are the feet of those who carry the good news,”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,”

“Blessed are we who live the promise of democracy!”

My name is Anthony Grimes, the son of Catherine Mckee — a keeper of the promise!