Blackroots Awakening

Blackprof contributor and GW Law Professor Spencer Overton has a fantastic post on how the controversial CBC/Fox News debate has really awakened the Black Netroots community (Blackroots). Overton notes that for many years the Black community has been stuck in a MLK/Malcolm X model of leadership, headed up by a few charismatic but unelected leaders, relatively unaccountable, and very top-down. The rise of the Blackroots offers an alternative mechanism for the liberal Black community to assert power and influence, outside the traditional channels. This is how there could be such a groundswell in the Black community against the debate, despite its endorsement by the epicenter of Black political power, the Congressional Black Caucus.