Black Lives Matter rips Democrats for leaked memo on how to pacify activistsBy Valerie Richardson
September 1, 2016
Black Lives Matter accused the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee of trying to placate activists after a hacker leaked on Wednesday an internal party memo advising candidates on how to handle the movement.
The Nov. 9 memo to by former DCCC staffer Troy Perry urged candidates to listen but "don't offer support for concrete policy positions"; limit the number of activists who meet with staff; and never say "all lives matter."
"We are disappointed at the DCCC's placating response to our demand to value all Black life. Black communities deserve to be heard, not handled," Black Lives Matter said in a statement issued Wednesday. "People are dying."
The group added that, "We expect that our elected officials will stop pacifying and take us seriously."
Mr. Perry, who now works for the Hillary Clinton campaign, characterized Black Lives Matter as a "radical movement" and the memo as a "best practices" guide for candidates and campaign staff.
He warned that the document "should not be emailed or handed by anyone outside of the building."
DCCC national press secretary Meredith Kelly issued a statement Wednesday in support of Black Lives Manner, insisting that, "We will not allow this hacking to distract from our common goals nor disparage the BLM movement."
"The DCCC highly respects and values the leadership of the Black Lives Matter movement," Ms. Kelly said. "In less than two years, BLM has evolved from three words into a political force that is changing and waking our nation. At the DCCC, we highly encourage our candidates to not only embrace the importance of this movement, but to meet with and listen to community activists to partner social change."
In addition to avoiding "all lives matter,"
the memo advised against mentioning "black on black crime," saying, "This response will garner additional media scrutiny and only anger BLM activists."
Democrats have endured a series of high-profile hacks during the 2016 campaign, most recently the Aug. 13 release of 2,500 internal documents by DCLeaks from billionaire donor George Soros" Open Society Foundations.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/1/black-lives-matter-rips-democrats-leaked-memo-how-/
