By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
Democracy as we once knew and hoped for is on life support and nearly dead!
Democracy was never absolute. It was a dream. A vision on the horizon that we continuously strived for. As I see politicians and people put their personal and individual needs and wants at the forefront of the greater good of democracy, I am sad to conclude that democracy is no longer understood to be our common dream for the U.S. and the world.
People woke up and realized that democracy meant they would have to give up some stuff so that others could have, and they threw the baby out with the bath water. It ain’t just White folk I am referring to. No. Nope. Negative. It is Black folk. It is Black Americans, Caribbean Americans. Black Hispanic Americans, all of us.
We have put our personal agendas and progress ahead of the greater good. The campaign promises made to the people are empty vessels once these politrickans get into office. Meanwhile, the house is burning down around us and we are none the wiser.
There are over 40 Black elected officials in Broward County. Our Black Greek lettered organizations (BGLOs) have never had more chapters and members as we have today. Yet, we have grown silent in the wake of a war on our existence. House Bill 999 (turned upside down is 666 – bibically speaking the mark of the BEAST) threatens to change HBCUs as we know very well, to abolish the existence of the Divine 9 on all Florida college campuses.
Where is the outrage? When and where are the marches? Where is the national statement from each of the presidents of the Divine Nine? Where is the joint statement from each of the presidents of the Divine Nine? Where are all the presidents of the D9 chapters in Florida? When will they galvanize a joint effort to raise awareness and resist this foolishness?
Black folk have more education, finances, and opportunities today than our fathers and grandfathers ever had. Our ancestors’ lives were in danger if they protested.
Yet, Rosa stood firm and refused to give up her seat on that bus. The parents of the Little Rock Nine insisted that their children go to school despite knowing they would be spit on, hit with rocks, and called ungodly names. The Bridges agreed to let their six-year daughter, Ruby, walk through a mob of hateful rhetoric daily to attend school. Jackie Robinson endured much of the same as he integrated baseball.
Yet, we are afraid. We are too cowardly or too selfish to pay it back and pay it forward to continue the legacy our parents and grandparents paved for us.
We are already behind the eight ball with the War on Woke. How much longer can we afford to remain asleep at the wheel?
Has the Fort Lauderdale NAACP become dormant. Are the BGLOs walking zombies tied to our colors and not the cause.
The Westside Gazette has been sounding this alarm for years and more vigorously most recently.
Must we repeat the debacle of the race for the late Congressman Alcee L. Hastings seat? I know it is a sore spot for many, but is it enough pain for us to move into action together? Wake Up! It’s time to get to work or there may be no work left.
Pastor Martin Niemoller penned a poem titled, First They Came… read it, juxtapose it to your actions in today’s climate: First, they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew.
I would add this as an addendum: Then they came for the Blacks And I did not speak out Because I was not Black. Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.
Wake Up! It’s time to get to work or there may be no us left.
Bobby R. Henry Sr. is the publisher of the Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He was the recipient of the National Newspaper Publishers Association's 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2019 he received the National Association of Black Journalists Angelo Henderson Community Service Award.
