For every social ill throughout the course of human history there have been attempts at reconciliation made by individuals who more often than not, felt a deep sense of responsibility on the inside to make a difference.
We call them leaders. They often, cloaked in humility, prefer to be seen as servants of humanity. Their names, we revere. Their quotes, we repeat with great fervor and absolute belief.
Whomever and whatever they are, whether preacher, teacher, or politician, fills each and every one of us searching for a guiding light with hope. But what happens when calamity covers Gotham and the proverbial “Bat Signal” is seemingly ignored?
According to City-County Councilor Leroy Robinson, the answer may lie within each of us. “You’re not going to be able to have one elected official or one pastor or one business owner to fix it. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for one Dr. Martin Luther King or one Black Messiah to fix it and that’s not going to happen.”
Dr. Carlton Waterhouse, professor of law at IUPUI’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law, said that one issue concerning Black leadership in Indianapolis is the lack thereof.
“Certainly we don’t need one leader, we need many leaders. The problem is not that we have too many leaders, it’s that we have too few,” said Waterhouse, who is internationally recognized for his published writing on reparations for historic injustices and human rights violations.
He said that Indianapolis is in need of prominent leadership across a variety of areas, leadership that is committed to taking risks to address the issues.
“Today I think we have too many people that are comfortable and unwilling to push against the grain to take risks and try to address social justice issues and social justice concerns,” said Waterhouse. “One of the things in the history of Indianapolis is that people have protested politely. There’s a certain amount of politeness involved in Indiana and Indiana politics but polite injustice is still injustice. Being polite when people are suffering, I think, is the wrong response.”
In addition to responding appropriately to community concerns, Waterhouse said organization and mobilization will be the key to seeing results.
David Hampton, pastor of Light of the World Christian Church, organized with other leaders to form the Black Leaders Caucus of Indianapolis in June of 2013. In a previous Recorder article, titled “Call to Action,” Hampton spoke on the necessity of such collaboration. “The issues really dictate to us our marching orders,” said Hampton. “I see a dire need right now. The fire is raging, but no one is sounding the alarm.” Now, nearly a year later, the flame of violent crime continues to surge.
When asked what the progress of the caucus has been since its inception, Hampton, whose church hosted a community conversation recently led by City-County Council President Maggie Lewis, notes the highly publicized visit from Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan last fall as a great start for the group. “We felt (Farrakhan’s visit) was a great springboard of encouragement from a national figure,” said Hampton. He went on to say that the group has continued to meet informally and is currently planning more formal events including an interfaith prayer vigil planned for Holy Thursday on April 17.
“Everybody is doing their part, but I think we still have a bit of a challenge to go because again, everyone is doing great work individually but my intent and my goal was to get us to join efforts and work collaboratively, that’s the piece that’s still missing right now,” said Hampton.
Another missing piece, in his opinion, is a lack of cooperation and focus, specifically among faith leaders.
“When it comes to leadership, one of my ongoing frustrations is that if we as pastors are going to work together. We need to work together to win souls to Christ and stop arguing. I think we shouldn’t expect for leaders to see the community cooperate or expect for young people to follow our lead when we are quite frankly, not leading very well. We have too many pastors that want to be police officers – let the police do their job. We have pastors who want to be politicians – let the politicians do their job. We as pastors and preachers are called to preach the gospel and if anybody should be united, it ought to be us.”
In addition to unification, Hampton said that each individual should accept the responsibility of being involved in their immediate sphere of influence. “A march alone is not going to work, getting behind one leader is not going to work – I think we need to stop abdicating responsibility. You be the change you wish to see.”
