Up until about a week ago, the most hated Black man at Marion County Democratic headquarters was probably yours truly. That was up until a week ago. I think that privilege now goes to Indianapolis City-County Council members Vop Osili and Joe Simpson.
As you know, both Osili and Simpson decided to show an independent streak and committed the unforgivable sin of listening to their constituents and voting in favor of expanding the downtown TIF District to Mass Ave and 16 Tech. It is something a number of business people, church groups and neighborhood organizations wanted. So they expanded the TIF and at the same time found money for business loans and workforce development. And instead of getting praise, they are getting grief.
Apparently when the council Democrats got together at the start of the year, they made a pledge to vote together as a group, regardless of whether a measure was good or bad for their respective districts. They made a pact to stick together and no one would break from the caucus ranks. Now that several of them have, life reportedly is not going to be good for Osili or Simpson.
There was a meeting this week between council President Maggie Lewis, Osili, Simpson, Vern Brown and new chairman of the Metropolitan Economic Development Committee, Leroy Robinson. Steve Talley stepped down from the post. Osili and Simpson apparently got a lecture and were questioned as to where their loyalties were.
I’m not sure what they told them, but I would have made it clear my loyalties were to my constituents and not slave master Ed Treacy and overseer Brian Mahern. I find it fascinating that these guys ran on representing their districts and listening to their constituents, however when they actually do it, they get called on the carpet.
The plight of Simpson and Osili is not a unique story. The people who organize Indiana Black Expo frequently come under fire for trying to expand the breadth and depth of the event’s appeal to a wider audience, which in turn brings in more dollars to the organization and for more scholarships.
And do they get any credit for their efforts from the “plantation class”? No, instead they get grief from the individuals who would rather kowtow, step and fetch it, and shuck and jive to their political slave masters that would keep people of my complexion in intellectual bondage and mental slavery. Yes, I went there.
And how about I go somewhere else. This recent move you might have heard to get the names of minority vendors who do business with the city has nothing to do with informing the public, but everything to do with trying to figure out who the small business owners are who have contracts so that someone can show up on their door and pull a “Sweet Daddy Williams” from “Good Times.” I went there too.
And don’t get me started on their hatred of the Ten-Point Coalition and other groups that put people before Democratic politics. That’s another column for another day.
This may sound brutal, I don’t apologize for anything I write on these pages or anywhere else. People like my parents and grandparents did not fight a civil rights struggle so I could trade one form of bondage for another. I don’t have to put up with it and neither do you.
That’s the nice thing about walking off the political plantation; there are a lot of free people waiting for you on the other side. Come join me! You can go there too.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
