Last month, I became the second Black man to serve on the Northampton City Council in history. At the time I could not have predicted that by the next month, I would be informed by the police abolitionist group Northampton Abolition Now (NAN) that I “don’t care about racial justice. Period.”
On Jan. 20, the City Council received a financial order to authorize a five-year contract for Information Technology Services Department equipment and software. Over the course of three full council meetings and one subcommittee meeting, there were hours of public comment, presentations by department heads, and deliberations by the City Council. Ultimately, the council voted to approve the mayor and the IT department to begin negotiations for replacing the city’s failing dashcam system. Following this decision, NAN took to their social media platforms and posted two images that troubled me due to their content and mean-spirited nature.
While everyone has the right to free speech, I take offense to people mislabeling me by using my words and actions in a false narrative. As an artist and lyricist, words hold the utmost importance to me. I have spent most of my life making a living on my words, working hard to ensure my word is indeed bond. As a Black man in America I also know how hard it is for people of color to gain credibility as well as have their words be believed and respected. This is why I must speak up, to reclaim my agency and my words.
What is even more disturbing is the fact that this isn’t the first time that NAN has dismissed, downplayed and twisted the words and intentions of people of color.
When I was running for office, my NAN-endorsed opponent chose to publish documents which attributed false claims to me. It wasn’t until I publicly called him out on this during debates and on Bill Newman’s radio show Nov. 1 that he finally acquiesced and removed those false statements from his website.
At the Feb. 17 City Council meeting I spoke out about NAN’s treatment of our city’s IT Director Antonio Pagán. For weeks I watched as they downplayed and ignored Pagán’s hard work and expertise, questioning his integrity during public comments to the point that he felt the need to publicly state his own history of advocacy for underrepresented people. Pagán, himself a person of color, also felt the need to speak up and state for the record that he would never do anything to harm the very community that he has spent years fighting for. It was heartbreaking to watch him forced into this position.
Last term, this group asked Councilor John Thorpe to recuse himself during budget talks. Instead of seeking the advice of a person of color who had very relevant knowledge on the subject of policing, they tried to silence him.
Director Pagán, Councilor Thorpe and myself. Those are three real times where this organization has removed the agency of people of color. Looking at these instances it seems only reasonable to presume that this group might only care about people of color when they strictly agree with their vision of racial justice.
These tactics don’t just stop at taking away the voice of people of color working for the city, but have also hampered our citizens from expressing themselves. A number of my friends, neighbors and constituents have privately stated to me that they feel uncomfortable speaking out publicly for fear that NAN will label them as racist, supporting white supremacy, or simply be told they are “showing their white privilege.”
By weaponizing this racially charged language, this group has successfully created an atmosphere that stifles true discussion and public discourse. Shaming and intimidating others is a tactic that oppressors use. You don’t always have to have power to display bullying behavior — look at any school playground to see that. Bullying is often about implied power and using vulnerability to intimidate and harm others. While dire times might sometimes call for dire measures, I don’t see how using such tactics in our city moves us closer to racial harmony or justice.
For me this is about civil discourse and how we all together can bring about a change for Northampton. We have learned from national politics that division doesn’t work. It is why Congress is in a standstill. At the local level and especially in Northampton we have a chance to truly make a difference. Let us be that shining example.
I want everyone to have a voice in this city. I want to hear every side and respect the varied opinions the citizens of Northampton have. I want NAN at the table without racially charged rhetoric and oppressive tactics. I want racial justice. Simply because I do not agree with the path NAN has laid out does not make me pro-white supremacy nor does it mean that I don’t care.
To the NAN folks, if I might give a bit of advice — I would suggest that you stop only rigidly advocating for the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) demands. M4BL is but one entity working for racial justice and its demands hardly reflect a consensus about how to meet the tremendous challenge of creating an anti-racist future for our communities and ending police violence.
I encourage you to look at our city, see what fits or what doesn’t and adapt your tactics. I want you to succeed and help bring racial harmony. Be original, be innovative, be kind yet forceful while challenging me instead of trying to intimidate me, dismiss me or push me away. I also know that sometimes you’ve got to make some noise and get in a lil good trouble and I’m down.
I’m not your enemy. The system is. Let’s work together to actually make a change.
To Northampton I ask: Is this what politics have become? Are we comfortable in this city with a group using demeaning language, silencing, and intimidating others all in the name of a goal we all share, racial justice? I know where I stand and I look forward to hearing how my fellow neighbors feel.
Garrick Perry is the Ward 4 City Councilor and your friendly neighborhood rap dad.