Strategic Plan is needed for the Progress of the US Black Community
Som Karamchetty, PhD
Protests can result in several outcomes. Some protests end up antagonizing other people and may lead to opponents harden their positions. Some protests peter out and are forgotten. Other protests yield limited positive results. Yet other protests cause historical changes.
The result of Black Lives Matter protests will depend on what proposals and plans the organizers come up with and promote them. It is not merely about police treatment of Blacks. It is not just about justice in courts. It is about a much bigger issue.
The African-American leaders have to develop a comprehensive list of outcomes that should become the goals of any movement. It takes time and effort to gain outcomes. It takes effort on the part of various leaders and bodies to reach the objectives and goals/outcomes. Hence there should be milestones, schedules, and a strategic plan.
It may be best to frame such a plan in the framework suggested by Professor Russell Ackoff. It starts with a description of the Situation Analysis; this describes where the African American community is in America in various measures, especially in relation to the majority White Americans. The Ends Plan will describe what the desired key objectives and goals are, while the Means Plan shows what should be done to accomplish the ends. The Resource Plan lists what are the requirements to execute the plan. In this case, there are several players and they have to do certain things and they have to act in specific ways to reach the objectives and goals. It requires enunciating the actions on the part of various groups and some of them may require training and understanding. All these tasks should be specified in the execution plan. Concerned groups and people have to discuss and agree on various issues beginning with goals and resource allocation. It may also require changes in attitudes and behaviors and people have to be convinced about the benefits to various sections of the society. There is the requirement to develop measures and metrics to gage how the execution of the plan is progressing. As part of the tune up, feedback from local communities should be used and as beneficial results emerge, such information should be well publicized so that more people and communities feel encouraged and motivated to follow the lead in the plan.
No plan, especially one that is so stupendous as this sociological change, can be executed easily. But, it can be done through goodwill and negotiations and an understanding how the various parties to the discussions and the nation as a whole will reap a variety of benefits with peace and harmony in the society as the big results.
The above was written after reading the article at link: BLM2020
