We’ve bid farewell to 2024 and ushered in 2025. There is no shortage of experiences of hardship amongst many people. This time last year, it was said to me that everyone was having a hard time. And that was just the BEGINNING of the year! It was such an understatement. But the testimonies shared with me throughout the year were remarkable. Despite the relentless challenges many people faced, there were silver linings that helped them to prevail over their circumstances. For these things, we are grateful.
As the nation mourns the passing of President Jimmy Carter, I am reminded that many people were looking forward to an Inauguration of the first female president who, incidentally, would also have been the first Black female president. I remember reading that he was trying to live long enough to see her become president. There is a certain solemness that comes with him not being able to bear witness to an historical event such as that. But there is also yet another standard that he has set in his love for his nation.
President Trump spoke about wanting to get rid of the Department of Education, which President Jimmy Carter established during his term. This department has been responsible for decades for the regulation of public education. Over the last several years, we have seen several instances of schools trying to eliminate anything that points to what they perceive as “negative history”. In doing so, they truly give meaning to history, as it is put when the full truth is not told.
Are we entering into a new realm of struggle in 2025 as we brace ourselves for the next four years? Oh, and by the way, did you hear that there was a bill introduced to allow a third presidential term?!
President Trump, while he may have some upsides, is a controversial president…one who is a convicted felon. I can’t help but wonder whether or not he is president simply to avoid accountability for so many wrongs, those known and unknown. I’ve always held firm to the belief that he is self-serving…nothing more and nothing less. The upsides we experience are happy by-products.
We want long-term success. And I am not so sure that includes eliminating the Department of Education. It seems that we are regressing…which I suppose is the whole idea of “Make America Great Again”. There are countless radicals, as evidenced by the January 6th attempted insurrection, who are emboldened by President Trump’s very presence.
We live in a society where people are still oppressing and mistreating other races. Have you heard about the lives of 5 adopted African-American children who were mistreated at the hands of a white couple? [1] These are the types of characters who live in plain sight, and are empowered by the rhetoric of people like Donald Trump. These are the types of characters we begin to see more boldness from as he makes it more comfortable to “Make America Great Again”. I’d like to think that he is referring to our economy, but the truth of the matter is that often times, the words that we hear send a different message. His influence doesn’t even require oration at this point.
To be fair, we really started seeing a lot of this emboldened racial tension during campaigns for President Barack Obama as he ran against Senator John McCain and Sarah Palin. White superiority never went away…one could probably also argue that white supremacy never went away when we consider systemic racism. But certain groups of people became more vigilant in their attempts to preserve what they believed to be the essence of a great America…so much so that we eventually got to January 6, 2021. And what’s even greater: President Trump has pardoned the actors of that day. Do we really want to Make America Great Again?
Thank God President Joe Biden has placed many bipartisan judges on their respective benches. I see this as a way to counteract much of what has been put into place by President Donald Trump. After all, the Supreme Court can’t and won’t hear all cases…Now, if we can just do something about all of these Executive Orders…
So, not only are they trying to erase history by way of not only taking certain books that are no longer “approved” literature out of our school systems, but they are also trying to do away with the school systems altogether. To top that off, they are already mistreating those who are not like them…this white superiority is how this country began, and if we are not careful, it’ll be its demise.
So, we want to “make America great again” by way of denying voting rights for African-Americans and for women…all that Women’s Suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement meant…we want to go back to the days of the Industrial Revolution, where much of the technology that was prominent then has become antiquated and without wide usage except for vintage purposes, normally…we want to go back to manual labor when there is technology available to help with more difficult tasks…all while giving more power to Elon Musk? What’s the real agenda, here? To cast a blindfold over the vast majority of those who support these “make America great again” endeavors so that the 1% that is knowledgeable and privy to information can excel and leave everyone else behind? To further widen the margin between the wealthy and the unwealthy? That’s the trajectory I have in mind from willful ignorance.
I’m sure you’ll hear more from me on these topics…especially as we enter into Black History Month, which is not being observed by many corporations with the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
God be with us.