This post is about Leadership for the people. Years ago I wrote about advocates of the movement called science for the people. Major governments, such as the United States, have not done very well carrying out science for the people. But science for the people will be the subject of another post. It will be especially based on a book that my Australian friend, Roger Cross recommended, Atoms and Ashes: The Global History of Nuclear Disasters by Serhii Plokhy.

The citizens of Georgia have a choice to make on December 6. They can elect a person who has already shown what kind of leader he would be in the United State senate. One of ablest senators elected by Georgians is Rafael Warnock. Or citizens from Georgia can elect a person who has lied repeatedly on the campaign trail.

Herschel Walker has lied about his academic record at the University of Georgia. He claimed he graduated when he didn’t. Walker lied about abortions. Walker says abortions should be banned. Two women said they had abortions after they were impregnated by Walker. He lied about his business. He claimed he had 800 employees, when he had only eight. At the only debate he entered, he showed his fake law enforcement badge after he opponent called him on working in law enforcement.

These two men represent different types of leadership. One knows how to be a leader. The other is nothing more than a follower of Donald Trump, and other Republicans who still believe in the fairy tale of a stolen election. Walker actually suggested that the elections in the states that Trump lost in 2020 be forced to do a vote do over!

Leadership for the People

When Martin Luther King was leading the movement to battle against injustice, his “courageous weapon of choice was nonviolence, empowered by love.” Dr. Bernice A. King, Chief Executive Officer, The King Center and MLK’s daughter said this in an introduction to Donald T. Phillips book, Martin Luther King, JR on Leadership: Inspiration and Wisdom in Challenging Times.

America is in a battle for justice in the year 2022. In 1956, MLK said this about leadership and justice:

We need leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the pressing urgencies of the great cause of freedom.

Donald T. Philips, Martin Luther King, JR (New York, Grand Central Publishing, 2021), XV.

Today we went to vote in the runoff election between Hershel Walker and Rafael Warnock. The lines were very long, so we’ll vote next week. Election day is December 6, so there is time for us to cast our vote. In the general election, Warnock beat Walker by about 30,000 votes, which was less than 1% of the total vote. But there never should have been a runoff. In every other state (except for Georgia and Louisiana), the one who gets the most votes wins the election. Years ago, the Georgia legislature enacted the 50% + 1 rule, meaning that to win outright, you needed to get half the vote plus one. This rule was enacted to prevent Black Georgians from winning state-wide elections. Isn’t it ironic that two Black men are on the ballot opposing each other.

Social Justice

My view of leadership for the people is one rooted in the concept of social justice. Leaders who understand this act on the belief that everyone deserves economic, political, and social rights, and opportunities. These ideas are put into practice by leaders such as the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP. He has dedicated his life to social justice.

The Rev. Dr. Rafael Warnock practices leadership for the people. He is willing to be in the midst of problems, their issues, their questions. He listens to the electorate. Being this kind of a politician, Rev. Warnock is willing to put aside party biases and seek outcomes and solutions to problems impacting the community of his citizens. Unfortunately, Walker seems incapable of the kind of leadership advocated by Dr. King.

Hershel Walker has not been willing to engage with the electorate, and is followed around by two election denial U.S. senators. I’m referring to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Walker refused to participate in any of the debates among Republicans running in the primary last summer. And he only would debate Rafael Warnock once, avoiding other debates that were scheduled. It’s difficult for me to trust Walker. And I also don’t think he would represent the people of Georgia in the way that Rafael Warnock has already demonstrated.