Jim Crow Coming Back? IKYL

Transcript

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Hi everyone, this is Eva, and welcome to the Thoughts of a Mad Black Woman podcast. Let's go. Recently, civil rights activist Clarence B. Jones passed away at the age of 95. In addition to being an activist, Mr. Jones was an attorney. He was also the personal counsel as well as a good friend to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And one of the many things that he'll be remembered for is his role in drafting Dr. King's iconic I Have a Dream speech. Shortly before his passing, Mr. Jones addressed the Supreme Court decision that gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He said that Jim Crow will never come back to the South. When I read this, I had to think back to my own reaction to the Supreme Court decision. Let's just say it was not as optimistic as Clarence B. Jones's reaction. Now, first I need to explain that I live in Florida. Florida, the home of Mar-Lago, Trump's primary residence. Florida, the location of the villages. Now, if you haven't heard of the villages, it's a huge retirement community. The population of this community is about 95% white. And a lot of conservatives live in the villages. So they love Trump. They love him so much that when he visited the community about a month ago, some people showed up 24 hours ahead of time just to get a place in line because they wanted to be as close as possible to their crooked, racist, hateful cult leader as he spewed his nonsense. Some of them even stood out in the hot sun so long just to see Trump that they started passing out from the effects of the hot Florida sun. Calling for emergency assistance. It was a pitiful sight. Now, if they weren't as morally bankrupt as their leader, I would have had a little sympathy for them. Now, going back to my reaction when I heard about the Supreme Court decision, I was angry. I felt defeated in that moment. Now, this is in the moment. I also felt scared because I knew I wouldn't survive if Jim Crow came back to the South. Because there was no way in hell that I was giving up my seat anywhere just because someone has a fair complexion. The recent Supreme Court decision reinforced what we already knew that MAGA would do anything, not only to silence our voice, but their ultimate goal is to strip the black community of our rights. MAGA would like people to believe that laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 were passed because the powerful white man decided to give us black folks a break. Now we know that's not true. We know that our ancestors suffered and in some cases died for us to have those rights. Here's the thing: great leaders like Martin Luther King, Fannie Lou Hammer, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, and John Lewis, they also left us something else. They left us a blueprint, a clear blueprint as to how to organize, strategize, and mobilize nonviolently. And that's what we're doing now. On May 16th, thousands of people gathered in Alabama for a national day of action to protest the Supreme Court's decision. A lot of protesters intentionally gathered at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to pray. They also gathered there in remembrance of the events of Bloody Sunday in 1965. At that same location, civil rights leaders, Josea Williams and John Lewis, and over 600 peaceful protesters were attacked, beaten, terrorized, brutalized by law enforcement officers who were determined to stop them from crossing that bridge and continuing their march from Selma to Montgomery. Now, this was widely televised at the time, and you can imagine how images of the brutality galvanized support for the civil rights movement. That and a series of other events led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. So the organizers of the National Day of Action were very strategic. They knew that starting the protest in 2026 at the Edmund Pettus Bridge would link our struggle today with the struggle of the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. You might have seen where the NAACP has launched the out-of-bounds campaign, where the NAACP is calling for black student athletes, families, alumni, and fans to withhold their athletic and financial support from public universities and colleges in the South. Because we know that that's going to hit them where it hurts in the pocket. Now, let me be clear. When I say we, I just don't mean the black community. I'm also talking about our allies. Whether it be the white community, the Latino community, the LGBTQ community, whichever community. I know that some of you don't trust or like some of these communities. Your white next-door neighbors, they're progressives, they got yard signs out that say leave the immigrants alone and deport the racist, you still don't trust them or like them. We have got to put all of that aside because no matter who it is, they are an ally. And when one community loses its rights, other communities are affected as well. It's all intertwined. So our allies are fighting for their rights as well. And there is strength in numbers. And the only way we can claim victory in November's midterms is if we show up in November and vote. We talked about national protests, national initiatives like the National Day of Action, the Out of Bounds campaign, but there are protests and initiatives happening in your state, your city, where you can contribute, whether it be reaching out to voters, reaching out to people in your community to make sure they're registered to vote. And if they're already registered to vote, to make sure that their voter registration is in order, to make sure that their polling station hasn't changed, because we know we are dealing with some crooked, amoral, hateful people who will do anything to keep and retain power. So we always have to be a step ahead of them. Now, if the only thing that you are willing or can do is cast your vote in November and post updates and encouragement and information on your social media accounts, that's okay. Just show up in November and vote. Now we've all seen videos of former Trump supporters crying, whining about how hard life has gotten for them. Just like the rest of us, they're feeling the pain at the pump. They're paying $80 for five items at the grocery store. They're mad because Trump started a needless war with Iran. Now, when I watch these FAFO moments, I'll be lying to say I wasn't happy. Now, I'm not getting up out of my chair and doing the Dougie and overall rejoicing in their obvious pain and misery. But I don't feel bad for them. And I know that they're saying that they're not gonna vote for Republicans come November, they're gonna vote Democrat. That's what they say. But I also know that these are the same people who in 2024 were happy to vote for a hateful racist. And if Trump does miraculously manage to turn things around even a little bit, these same people wouldn't have a problem with going into that voting booth in November and voting Republic. They can't be trusted to do the right thing. So we need a massive voter turnout for the midterms in November. We need to gain a majority in the House and the Senate. The black community is a community of praying peoples. Stay prayed up, do what you can when you can. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you. Until next time.