First, civil rights leadership has always involved diverse actors. I recall the fights between the NAACP and CORE would break out in high school. The media appoints leaders. I dont know where Al Sharpton started. He was a fool. Middle class blacks were alarmed by his antics with Tawana Brawley. He threw away the good will of black and white commuters trying to get home. There are professional protesters. Baraka was one in my home city. I can name a corresponding white leader. There is pay off money from large corporations who want peace.
A law school classmate came from a working family. He convinced the university to stop recruiting the same upper middle class black students as Harvard and Yale. The dean and faculty flew down to historically black colleges to recruit. They were promised full tuition with spending money. Current students discussed what school was like. They were given tutors. Basically, no one was promised so much. I was so happy that we found a solution. We knew they might feel awkward for a little while. Hand holders were standing by. Not a single student dared risk coming to a better school. The lifetime impact on their earnings was in the millions.
CNN's coverage is making me angry. We don't know what happened. Remember Tawana Brawley, the 13 year old female with excrement who was raped by a prosecutor. When I saw her in a fetal position on her sofa, I was ready to find a gun and look up the man myself. It turned out he was never near her. He had death threats. There are civil rights leaders who are locals and some come in for a photo op.