Has Oprah been living under a rock? The post-Ferguson movement will make history in 2015

I love Oprah. She’s an icon, if not royalty. Plus, she helped pay my way through school. She did that for 500 of us at Morehouse College, and we’re a loyal bunch. So are the leaders – yes, leaders, plural, with detailed strategies and real, peaceful intentions for change – of the still-growing movement for justice in Ferguson, in New York, in Los Angeles, in Minneapolis, in Cleveland, and in dozens of cities all across the United States and the world.

That’s why these three sentences, from Oprah’s People magazine interview last week about her new film Selma, cut to the core:

What I’m looking for is some kind of leadership to come out of this to say, ‘This is what we want. This is what has to change, and these are the steps that we need to take to make these changes, and this is what we’re willing to do to get it.’ I think what can be gleaned from our film is to take note of the strategic, peaceful intention required when you want real change.

Not since the civil rights movement has the United States seen a more widespread, sustained peaceful protest movement than the one – than the as-many, one – unfolding since Mike Brown was killed by Darren Wilson in Ferguson. Within 48 hours of those fateful three minutes on Canfield Drive, steps were taken, and policy changes were being advocated, and, quite organically, similar actions have taken place – almost instantaneously but not always out in the open – in Ohio following the deaths of John Crawford and Tamir Rice, and in New York following the deaths of Eric Garner and Akai Gurley. Within the last five months and with rare exception, this movement has been peaceful, intentional, organized, creative and diverse. 

Has Oprah been living under a rock since August?

What she says she was looking for – change – has happened, on the highest levels, for 150 days and counting:

• One week after Mike Brown was killed, I posted these fair and achievable policy solutions on Change.org – and over 250,000 people signed our petition.
• In the weeks that followed, leaders from Ferguson posted these changes they want to see happen – and some of them are. Leaders from Chicago posted this detailed report assessing problems and offering concrete solutions. The Ohio Student Association has consistently advocated for tangible policy changes.
• In December, respected activists and leaders had an incredibly transparent and tough meeting with President Obama in the White House, which led to a task force that will convene this month.
• The day after that meeting, a grand jury in New York City refused to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner, and leaders there posted these changes that theywant to see happen. Maybe they will.
• And don’t forget that the family of Mike Brown and activists from Ferguson, Chicago and Ohio traveled to Geneva to speak before the United Nations – not just to air grievances but to offer concrete policy solutions regarding systemic injustices faced by people of color in the United States. It was a groundbreaking moment – the kind that moves rocks.

Beyond all of these singular moments, hundreds of peaceful, courageous protests and walkouts have been staged by hundreds of thousands of people on streets, in malls and on campuses all over this nation – from the inner-cities to Harvard Law School.

If anything is missing in the year 2015 – and this may be what tripped up Selma’s billionaire producer and co-star – it is that the current movement for justice is not driven by any one singular leader. To infer that the movement somehow lacks leadership, however, is a huge mistake. Each city is full of skilled leaders who’ve quit their jobs, or moved across country – some of whom are incredibly seasoned, while others started protesting in August for the very first time and feel like old pros today.For many of us, 2014 was a pivotal year in which we decided we would boldly stand up for ourselves and for the cause of justice. No matter how it may appear to Oprah, our actions and demonstrations were – and are – very much inspired by historical activists and organizers ranging from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the marches and actions in Selma, 50 years ago. 

So far, this sad reality is missing, too: 2015 will likely bring the same injustices as 2014, and 2013, and 2012. Any day now, we will learn about some new, tragic story of parents who lost their child in an avoidable death at the hands of police. The number of unarmed men and women who are killed by police in our country may actually be on the rise. But lessons have been learned, skills have been gained, and networks have been built. Strategies have been tested and revised and tested again.

This year will indeed still be one of widespread injustice, but you – and Oprah – are going to see action from the ground-up, unlike anything in recent American history. And I’m tempted to believe that none of these predictions will happen, that absolutely no progress will be made on these issues of injustice and justice, of equality and the law. But maybe action in the year 2015 will look a little something like this:

1. We will pass the Civil Rights Bill or Voting Rights Act of our generation.

It won’t be easy to get through Congress, but I believe national legislation will be drafted to greatly advance and modernize how American police properly and fairly assess threats, document citizen encounters, arrest offenders and thoroughly report it all. And I think this kind of legislation will be widely supported across a broad, diverse spectrum – that it will play a role in the upcoming presidential elections, that the movement will not be forgotten.

2. The movement will kick into high-tech overdrive.

The organization of protesters is ready to use every technological tool available, to take the effectiveness of protests and demonstrations to another level. This has the potential to connect protests from city to city and state to state – and even connect leaders from all over the world together. It’s about time this movement went international.

3. The movement will run for office.

More citizens who care deeply about issues of equal justice should start seriously exploring public office – from municipal courts and city councils to the office of the police chief and even the halls of Congress. A new generation of leaders can already operate from inside of the system, but soon they can be allies with those who feel more called to operate from the inside-out.

4. There will be a new Mike Brown.

This is our sad inevitability: a new tragic face to the issue of police violence against unarmed citizens will coalesce people who are on the fence about joining the movement in a meaningful way. The face might be white.

5. Oprah and the old guard of leaders will connect with the new.

The apparent but not-all-that-deep divide between people like Oprah (and some other civil rights leaders from her generation) and people like me (and other leaders of the youthful protest movement) will be effectively bridged. New, meaningful partnerships will be formed between organizations and stakeholders who currently have little to do with one another. We’ll pave each other’s way through this education, one public step at a time.