The Silver Standard and Romona Paden, contributor
Marcel Reid, within a few years of entering the world of grassroots
activism, shifted from pointing out institutional injustices against
low- and middle-income communities to calling foul on the very “social
justice”
organization where she had been devoting untold amounts of time and effort.
Discovering theft and fraud at the highest levels the Association of
Community for Reform Now (ACORN) transformed Reid from community
activist to whistleblower.
“Whistleblowing is saying something no one wants to hear,” says
Reid. “The kind of truth we’re talking about is the kind that can change
the world.”
Too many organizations, while presenting a public face of great
benevolence, are in truth fostering abuse, corruption, and wrongdoing at
the expense of the needy they claim to help. The whistleblower who
speaks the truth that shatters that image can expect plenty of
blowback. It takes a strong chord of heroism to weather that, and that
was certainly evident at last month’s 2019 Whistleblower Summit in
Washington, DC.
As Reid describes her experience in exposing institutional
corruption, one is reminded that doing the right thing often means
facing disdain and contempt from colleagues as well as some form of
retaliation. It frequently can result in job loss, false accusations,
and maligned reputations—even with existing whistleblower protection
laws. “They’re traumatized,” Reid says of whistleblowers facing down
corruption.
Whistleblowing itself plays out on multiple levels. Oftentimes,
whistleblowing comes down to calling for institutional accountability
around illegal, unethical, or otherwise destructive and dishonest
activity. It can be a powerful tool in building general societal
awareness around norms and behaviors that need to be changed.
Whistleblowing dates back to the country’s very earliest days. In the
months following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a
group of 10 sailors petitioned the Continental Congress with a complaint
about British prisoners of war being treated in a “most inhuman and
barbarous manner.” In response, the Continental Congress suspended the
commander from his post.
Those seamen took on the risk of whistleblowing with open eyes.
Though not often mentioned in present-day biographies, the commander,
Commodore Esek Hopkins, was the brother of one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence and a former governor of Rhode Island.
As the soldiers must have expected, he retaliated. He filed a
criminal libel suit against all the men and arrested and jailed the two
service members who were present in the state of Rhode Island.
Again, the whistleblowers spoke up, appealing to the country’s new
Congress, in a petition stating that they had been “arrested for doing
what they then believed and still believe was nothing but their duty.”
Not long after, on July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress unanimously passed the first whistleblower law.
As Reid plowed through the trials of her modern whistleblowing
experience exposing ACORN’s entrenched corruption, she found an ally in
Pacifica Radio, a progressive/liberal non-profit organization of five
independently operated, non-commercial,
listener-supported radio stations. She was ultimately elected to serve
as a director on their national board, leading it to become the first
national media outlet to incorporate whistleblowing into its platform.
Many say that credit for the passage of the 2012 Whistleblower
Enhancement Act rests with Pacifica’s steadfast commitment to
whistleblower coverage.
Currently, Reid serves as the first national media whistleblower
liaison for Pacifica Foundation, a sole position within the media
industry. By supporting whistleblower efforts globally, Reid continues
her efforts to shed light on corruption worldwide.
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Full Article & Source:
The Light that Illuminates Whistleblowing
