ArcaMax

But I think the energy and enthusiasm for Black Lives Matter street protests peaked out sooner than that. I think it happened last July when five police officers in Dallas were killed by a sniper at a Black Lives Matter protest. Ten days later, three more police were killed in Baton Rouge, La., after street protests over the shooting of another black man.

No, I don't believe it is fair to blame peaceful protestors for the shootings any more than I think it would be fair to blame Republicans for every deranged right-wing shooter who also happened to vote for their party. Still, it's a little harder to criticize President Trump for his various inflammatory remarks if you dodge accountability for any anti-police tone in your protests.

Loosely organized flash-mob movements with weak leaders and vague agendas have become a trend in the Twitter age. But they tend to lack control over their members, their message and their momentum.

Lack of organizational discipline leads to embarrassments like the foolish protesters from St. Paul who chanted, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon," while marching behind police officers at the Minnesota State fairgrounds two years ago. Conservative commentators still replay that video as though it was yesterday.

Everybody seems to have an opinion about what Black Lives Matter should do with itself. Here's mine: I think it's time for the movement to move up from protests to planning, policies and programs. Protests have a lot of romantic appeal but they're no substitute for an agenda, firm goals and a plan to get there.

Conservative media have pinned all manner of racist beliefs on Black Lives Matter, yet the movement has not put much of a priority on appointing official spokespeople to push back.

On the contrary, today's young self-styled "woke" (politically conscious) generation, I have found to my chagrin, too often thinks it is beneath them to arm themselves with knowledge and employ the simple art of persuasion to win people to their side. "It's not my job to educate you," I have been told by some righteous activists in a form of intellectual snobbery that is bound to lead to failure.

Indeed, a lot of people find it easier to call for dialogue than to actually engage in one. That's changing. Some Black Lives Matter activists have organized a formal agenda and leadership development programs, just for starters. Leaders matter. Whether things go right or wrong, somebody has to be where the buck stops.

========

(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)

(c) 2017 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.