Who shall Bell the Cat Now?
Have you ever been shook to your core?
Or, experienced a feeling so impactful that it makes your gut wrench?
This was the type of blow that I felt just moments ago. It was as if someone had punched me in my stomach so hard, that it had taken all of my breath away. Huh, huh, huh, I even pant now, as if I just crossed the finish line of a five mile marathon.
The loop of CNN’s Tony Harris plays constantly in my head. “Lady and gentlemen, I am sad to announce the death of civil rights leader, Benjamin Lawson Hooks.” What? Are you serious? Not Mr. Hooks? Not the greatest past President of the NAACP in post-modern history? Not the last living one who helped Thurgood Marshall to develop the NAACP’s famous litigation strategies? Not the one who took the reins of leadership from civil rights great, Roy Wilkins? Tony, you should know better than that; I mean that is not the type of news that you just spring on a brother. How can he be? Mr. Hooks is like the grandfather of the NAACP, and having grown up in that association, that made him like a grandfather to me.
However, it is not just Mr. Hooks’ death that causes me to mourn, that makes me sob, but it is also that damn cat. You see Mr. Hooks had a hold of him for many years, and now that he is gone, I afraid the cat may begin to run loose again and to wiggle himself back out of his bell. He’s a conniving critter, and I’m sure that he’s been waiting to take advantage of a situation like this, for a longtime now. But Mr. Hooks knew how to handle him, and he spoke about him all the time. As a matter of fact, during his last public appearance before the NAACP, at the Centennial Convention this past summer, he told the story of this cat.
He said…“There once were three mice, who were troubled by this cruel cat and so the mice held a meeting to get rid of the cat. Each mouse suggested their idea but all ideas were rejected, as they were not practicable. At last, the youngest mouse suggested tying a bell round the cat’s neck when cat was fast asleep, so that when the animal would move, the bell would ring and warn them of the danger. Everybody approved of the idea but the question arose, who shall bell the cat?
Mr. Hooks said that this was the question that he and those of his generation had to ask themselves? Who would it be to bell the cat of segregation, of Jim Crow of Laws, and of racial tyranny? He said, “I answered the question and helped to bell the cat, when I joined in leading student sit-ins efforts in the south. Martin answered the question and helped to bell the cat, when he faced threats while trying to end unequal treatment, because he declared that he had seen the promise land and that he wasn’t going to let nobody stop him from leading his people there. Marshall answered the question and helped to bell the cat, when he fought against the outlandish law of separate but equal education.” But Hooks then asked the question, “Who shall bell the cat now? Who shall be the leaders of this generation bold enough to confront the challenges that we face today. ”
As sorrowful as I am at this moment, when I consider these words in hindsight, I believe that Mr. Hooks knew that his time was drawing near. However, as I reflect, I stand froze in a petrified manner, for I realize that the bell has fallen into me and my generation’s hands.
