51St Black Solidarity Day honors vision of Panamanian
Dr. Carlos E. Russell. IBW21.org
Caribbean Life, November 6-12, 2020 11
Before there was a national
holiday day dedicated to the
memory of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., a month-long celebration
of Black History, or national
movement toward acknowledgement
of Juneteenth Day
there was a Black Solidarity
Day.
Established in 1969, from the
beginning years Blacks and Caribbean
nationals in NYC heeded
the call for a day to unify and
reflect on cultural and historical
issues.
It was the vision of Panamanian
Dr. Carlos Russell — born
Aug. 6, 1934 — to launch the
day in order to assess the conditions
of Blacks in America;
gather and find solutions as a
unified race committed to solidarity
and purposeful change.
The Pan-African intellectual
chose the eve of each November
election as the annual commemorative
date to execute his
ideal, which demanded participants
refrain from work, school,
shopping at white owned establishments
and instead dedicate
the time to teaching, learning,
volunteering and enhancing the
conditions of disfranchised individuals.
Russell’s intent was also to
demonstrate the economic
might of the race.
By holding a one-day moratorium
on shopping, indisputable
evidence of Black economic
might would not be ignored.
The day of absence resonated
with immediate attention
from Black college students
who embraced the notion of
investing 24 hours to positively
impact the community.
Some used their campuses
as rallying points to hold workshops,
forums, and a myriad
of enlightening replacements to
scheduled curriculum.
In time, senior citizens, activist
and politicians acknowledged
BSD.
With reportedly increased
incidences of racial strife, flagrant
exhibition of white
supremacy and emergence of
the Black Lives Matter Movement,
commemoration of the
51-year-year anniversary in
2020 seems more significant
than ever.
In his lifetime, Russell conferred
with Malcolm X, Cong.
Shirley Chisholm, diplomats
from Africa, Latin America and
the Caribbean and in his position
of Dean at Brooklyn College
expressed the urgency of a Pan-
African perspective on issues
related to the global population.
Had he lived past the age of
84 years, Russell might have
had more than a few words to
opine about the kneeling suffocation
death to Floyd Lloyd,
the intrusive police shooting of
Breonna Taylor in her home, the
irresponsible shooting in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, the most recent
police shooting of Walter Wallace
Jr, who was killed in Philadelphia,
protests throughout
the nation, the political discord
that divide the nation, America’s
diminishing image around the
world, disparity among Covid-
19 casualties and a plethora of
other concerns.
He might have positioned
himself at the fore-front leading
discussions about police brutality
and undoubtedly raising an
urgent call to vote in the Nov.
3 election.
Since migrating to Chicago,
Illinois and later here to Brooklyn
he relentlessly advocated for
change.
It has been widely published
that “While serving as the Panamanian
Ambassador for the
United Nations, Dr. Russell was
inspired by Douglas Turner
Ward’s fictional play “Day of
Absence” in which a small town
in the South is suddenly devoid
of its Black population and is
crippled by their absence.”
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