![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/enhanced-buzz-wide-30280-1442169618-7.jpg\")
<\/a>Michael B. Thomas \/ Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 The protests in Ferguson did not appear to be stopping anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Last year, in late September, several dozen leaders from the nonprofit sector, black activists, and donors gathered in Washington to figure out what needed to be done to amplify the activism broadly called Black Lives Matter, the organizers working against police violence and racial inequality, whose emotional and physical epicenter was now Missouri, where six weeks earlier, 18-year-old Mike Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.<\/p>\n
Inside the Washington office of the Open Society Foundations, the grant-making network founded by liberal financier George Soros, there was a sense that Black Lives Matter was on the cusp of something bigger \u2014 and a real desire among people with money to make that happen. But there was an open question: How would Black Lives Matter effect actual change in a real, concrete way? How would the movement not disappear?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s bigger is our challenge of what policy solutions actually meet the moment,\u201d Rashad Robinson, from the group Color of Change, said at the meeting.<\/p>\n
This is the high-stakes, unresolved process that could shape what policy gets changed, the public perception of what Black Lives Matter means, and the identity of the movement\u2019s public face: to find a policy or group that, in Robinson\u2019s words, \u201cmeets the moment.\u201d And the early front-runner is a platform called #CampaignZero, led by DeRay Mckesson, the well-known activist who, like his project, is controversial inside and outside the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n
Created by Mckesson and the activists Johnetta Elzie, Samuel Sinyangwe, and Brittany Packnett, among others, Campaign Zero focuses on decriminalizing or \u201cde-prioritizing\u201d minor infractions like marijuana possession, trespassing, and public alcohol consumption (also called broken-windows policing), which affects poorer communities of color. The campaign makes 10 policy recommendations that include broad paradigm shifts to narrower issues (like how police should confront people with mental illness).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a polished set of proposals with recommendations on the local, state, and federal levels \u2014 and the slate of proposals provides the kind of specifics that please donors and national Democrats, and is a favorite of Washington\u2019s black political class.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obvious to me that this is an intelligent movement,\u201d North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told BuzzFeed News in an interview. In the past, Butterfield has been critical of the movement\u2019s lack of centralized leadership<\/a>, but said he believes it is getting better. \u201cIt\u2019s not a reactionary movement, it\u2019s strategic and very well organized and thoughtful. They have compartmentalized each of their agenda items, and I like that because strategy has got to be different at the federal level as opposed to the state level, as opposed to the local level. I\u2019m very impressed with it and I think it\u2019s here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n Campaign Zero has also become a source of contention within the broader Black Lives Matter movement, especially with the increased prominence of Mckesson, the Bowdoin graduate who left behind a six-figure salary as the senior director of human capital with the Minneapolis Public Schools system to protest in Ferguson. Critics say the plan is marked by a lack of transparency \u2014 who helped formulate the plan, they ask. More importantly, some critics argue Campaign Zero might be interfering with other activism and, therefore, lacks accountability. Campaign Zero\u2019s willingness to participate in the question of \u201cWhere do we go from here?\u201d has created \u2014 and even exacerbated \u2014 the tensions that exist between the sprawling factions of the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n The Black Lives Matter organization, with 26 chapters around the country, is not in regular contact with Mckesson and the Campaign Zero team, nor does Campaign Zero consider itself part of the organization\u2019s network. But because they are both under the umbrella of the broader Black Lives Matter movement, their campaigns, rallies, disruptions, and direct actions often affect each other. It\u2019s why one criticism of Campaign Zero is that, in some cases, it duplicates work already being done.<\/p>\n Others are frustrated that the Black Lives Matter network and Campaign Zero are crossing wires. They fight for loyalty among prominent activists. More importantly, though, people outside the movement \u2014 from national leaders to major donors and presidential candidates \u2014 are unsure of how to navigate the different entities.<\/p>\n Therein lies a caveat: Campaign Zero is not an organization \u2014 it\u2019s simply a policy platform. The platform isn\u2019t static; the group releases, for all to see, policy solutions, ideas, and general feedback the team has received since its launch date, and how that feedback is incorporated into what the activists call \u201ca living document.\u201d<\/p>\n Black Lives Matter activists who spoke to BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity so as not to compromise the work of their organizations say they have no problem with Mckesson\u2019s popularity and visibility; they readily acknowledge his impressive background in nonprofit spaces, and his penchant for communicating effectively, which has made him a darling of cable news. \u201cHe\u2019s flourishing right now in part because Teach for America was basically a finishing school for him in terms of how to deal with white people,\u201d one organizer said.<\/p>\n But some people take issue with the effects of Mckesson\u2019s visibility. Local organizers say Mckesson and others have interfered with groundwork they\u2019ve already laid.<\/p>\n \u201c[Mckesson]\u2019s gone into places and countered the organizing on the ground, and tweeted out information he wasn\u2019t supposed to, perpetuated bad narratives and not offer support,\u201d said another prominent activist aligned with the Black Lives Matter organization who asked to remain anonymous because the activist was not authorized to speak on behalf of the network.<\/p>\n \u201cThat shouldn\u2019t be a surprise when you have hashtags like #GoHomeDeRay\u201d in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting, the activist said. \u201cIt was like he was perpetuating an Al Sharpton model [of leadership].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy critique comes from this seemingly type of individual activism as opposed to working with people and groups that have been doing this work for a while,\u201d said Black Lives Matter organizer Rosa Clemente. \u201cFor example, in 2012 the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement published the \u201cEvery 28 Hours\u201d report, which as early as 2010 began compiling the names of African-American men women and children killed by the police.\u201d<\/p>\n Clemente said the platform is full of legislative or public policy changes that people have already been fighting for \u2014 \u201cold ideas that have taken fertile ground,\u201d she said \u2014 that have taken hold recently because of radical protest. The ideas are reformist, while other activists are fighting for more radical things, like defunding the police and ending systematic police brutality and oppression by calling for the police to withdraw from communities. Clemente added that Campaign Zero\u2019s approach to the work has created, in her mind, and indeed in the minds of other activists, a problematic leadership model, though she said she was \u201cdishearted and dismayed\u201d by the veiled attacks on social media aimed at Mckesson in particular.<\/p>\n Mckesson\u2019s profile in the movement as something of a lone actor has added to the tension. He has repeatedly said he does not wish to join an organization. \u201cYou can\u2019t be accountable to folks you are not in community with,\u201d one activist said.<\/p>\n But Mckesson sees the the independence as freeing. \u201cI think that there are many people who believe in social justice, work writ large, who are invested in the movement who have chosen not to be in traditional organizations, who want to be in the work without [living] whatever connotation membership brings,\u201d Mckesson said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. \u201cI think there\u2019s a way to organize for those people, too. It doesn\u2019t make any other models of organizing any less effective, but it does say we have an opportunity to think about digital organizing in a new and profound way.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Mckesson\u2019s critics will say Campaign Zero represents a pivotal moment in the movement\u2019s young history. The question of policy and national politics remains a challenge \u2014 and one demonstrated, some activists say, in Black Lives Matter activists\u2019 confrontation with Hillary Clinton in New England.<\/p>\n Following a campaign event, Clinton told the activists that their analysis of history \u2014 and about the systems that hurt black families \u2014 was fair, but something further was needed. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to come together as a movement and say here\u2019s what we want done about it,\u201d Clinton told the activists on video later widely seen.<\/p>\n A Black Lives Matter organizer who has lent policy expertise to movement organizers said he was \u201cmad as hell\u201d when the video came out. It\u2019s a popular sentiment with activists focused on policy: The people who confronted Clinton didn\u2019t seem to have specific solutions prepared \u2014 and it made the broader movement look bad, they say.<\/p>\n \u201cThat [confrontation with Clinton] didn\u2019t need to happen, and the fact that it was taped and then broadcast, it was clear that it was used as a way to make black people feel like they don\u2019t have answers when they do,\u201d the activist said.<\/p>\n For his part, Mckesson has not been shy about his willingness to discuss policy with anyone, from Bernie Sanders to Martin O\u2019Malley. His willingness to engage politicians offers a stark difference to the Black Lives Matter network. Mckesson infamously accepted an invitation from Hillary Clinton to attend her official rally on Roosevelt Island in June; the network\u2019s activists had come to New England that day, in August, intending to interrupt her. (These were two different events, months apart.)<\/p>\n The tension between Campaign Zero and the network came to a head when Mckesson responded to a tweet from the Sanders campaign. A meeting between Sanders and Campaign Zero is in now the works. Activist and filmmaker dream hampton tweeted at the time that Sanders would do better to meet with leadership from the Black Lives Matter network. \u201cWhile a meeting with @deray<\/a> might be a blast, I would expect@BernieSanders<\/a> to meet with actual BLM folks, those who forced this platform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Activists with the Black Lives Matter network, however, have said they have no desire to meet with the candidate \u2014 including at the request of the Sanders campaign after activists confronted him in Seattle.<\/p>\n According to the ally of the Black Lives Matter network, activists are finalizing a blueprint for action similar in scale and ambition to Campaign Zero. Activists are also setting up a hierarchal infrastructure for the sole purpose of accountability, a reluctant course of action in an organization that brags that it is full of leaders. The platform, and a new website, will focus on a set of reforms centered on correcting the plight of black transgender women.<\/p>\n Outwardly, the Black Lives Matter network leadership remains defiant \u2014 it will not seek to work with the DNC<\/a> and other political figures. Activists say the organization is holding to a philosophy that BLM cannot operate in what it deems an oppressive system.<\/p>\n But internally, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conflict, Black Lives Matter network leadership is torn over the perception that the network and Campaign Zero are not working together.<\/p>\n The Black Lives Matter organization also remains unsettled about the idea of aligning with groups like the DNC. Leaders, for instance, were unaware of the fact that two black female veteran political operatives \u2014 A\u2019Shanti Gholar and Donna Brazile \u2014 had championed the resolution through an arduous process. And in turn, DNC officials were surprised by the negative reaction from the activists, sources familiar with the inner workings of the DNC said.<\/p>\n Mckesson tweeted that he hoped the DNC would support Campaign Zero \u2014 and has been candid about the advantage he sees in established political institutions taking up causes. \u201cI think there are many institutions that can leverage their influence and power to highlight and address issues that are core to the movement, including the DNC,\u201d Mckesson said. \u201cI think that in doing so these institutions will need to confront the legacy of their inaction or come to terms with the role they played in creating, or sustaining supporting systems and structures that we know hurt people.\u201d<\/p>\n After Campaign Zero\u2019s launch, in a telling series of tweets, Brazile shared links to some of the early press about the platform\u2019s release \u2014 then she sent one of her own: \u201cPlease read & endorse #CampaignZero<\/a>. Great job pulling this platform together. Our elected & community leaders should embrace this agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Correction<\/p>\n Before he began protesting, Mckesson worked for Minneapolis Public Schools. A previous version of this story misstated where he was employed.<\/p>\n ___ The Success And Controversy Of #CampaignZero And Its Successful, Controversial Leader, DeRay\u00a0Mckesson Campaign Zero is designed to stop the police from killing people and has a new tool to track its feedback. Some prominent Democrats are already sold \u2014 and … Continue reading
\nhttp:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/darrensands\/the-success-and-controversy-of-campaignzero-and-its-successf?utm_term=.kbn7e2BjBM#.hsgRAelVlW<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"