Mike Holt - Signifyin'

Local activist and mentor Lawton Merritt has written an informative—albeit shocking—book that details an all-encompassing subculture of drugs and violence that is destroying the lives of thousands of young Black men and women. 

Titled ‘Percs: King of Da Streets,’ the short (62-page) book paints an alarming portrait of the large-scale drug scene that is influencing the future of too many Black youth who are caught up in an ethos that leads to addiction, prison and death. 

While crack and other street drugs were yesterday’s great evils, today they may have been overrun by Percs (Percocets), Fentanyl and ‘Leans,’ a reference to a street concoction that serves as an introduction to other drugs. 

‘King of Da Streets’ is an informational resource, a counseling guide, and a community appeal to youth caught up in the drug community. It also focuses on avenues to intercept and redirect the lives of drug consumers and merchants. 

The book “ain’t just a title, it’s a mission, a lifeline and warning; it’s a call to action,” Lawton explains. 

Written in street slang and providing hard facts, Lawton speaks not from ‘both sides of the glass.’ 

Drugs, like guns, are flooding the community by design, he explained; thus we are both victim and victimizer. 

The strong allure of money and a hammer to break the glass ceiling have been the dual motivations of the powers-that-be to neutralize our successes. It is not a coincidence that while drugs have been allowed to flood our community, educational opportunities have been stunted. 

The media brainwash our youth, indoctrinating them to believe they are ‘niggers’ (n-word) and bitches (b-word), uncivilized and uneducated savages. 

“For 20 years, I sat in the rooms you don’t hear about: clinical reviews, provider meetings, and crisis stabilization centers. I’ve directed programs for youth and counseled those trapped in the cycle of AODA. 

“I have the degrees, the certifications and titles. 

“But I also have a ledger written in scars.” 

“Today, our community is under what he called a ‘strategic assault.’ 

“We aren’t just fighting a drug; we are fighting a (top-down) systemic trap designed by corporate ghosts and fueled by a culture that has rebranded slow-motion suicide as ‘fashion,’ “he lamented. 

“Whether it’s the fentanyl laced into a $10 

bill or the slow poison of a chemically treated blunt wrap, the game is rigged to liquidate your potential before you even realize you have it.” 

In lay people’s terms, Lawton sees a drug disease that influences Black youth, starting with peer-pressured sharing of blunts, to the introduction of Lean (a mixture of soda and cocaine-infused cough syrup). 

Next comes the new ‘glamour drug’, Percocets, a narcotic that is also sometimes infused with fentanyl, not only a serious combination, but one that frequently ends with death. 

Many dealers, Lawton revealed, are themselves people with an addiction, who find they can’t maintain the expense of self-medication, and turn to selling. 

An alarming conclusion to this cycle (aside from death) is imprisonment. 

Lawton recounts a conversation with a young prison inmate who provided a perfect example of a user/seller who spent as much as he made. 

An inmate named ‘Keywon’ followed the worn-out path of innocent victim to a place among the middle of the food chain dealers. 

Responding to Lawton’s inquiry about the meaning of a new drug called ‘Roller’, Keywon opened up about his own experience. 

Rollers, Keywon explained, “are street pills—meth, fentanyl, caffeine, cocaine, and cutting agent—all pressed together. You never know what you’re getting. It’s different every time.” 

Keywon’s lifestyle crashed with his upscale ‘dealership,’ leading to stints in prison. 

In the morning, he would consume Percs ($60), ‘Tussin’ cough syrup ($200 to $300), and cigarettes (which today cost as much as many other drugs. 

The evening consisted of dropping several Percs, Rollers, Adderall and ‘Lean.’ 

The daily cost of his addiction was $530, which adds up to a monthly cost of $14,800. Annually, that amounts to the average cost of a central city house. 

Drugs paid for his elaborate lifestyle and addiction. Still, in the end, the young victim/victimizer could not afford to bail himself out of jail when caught (as most intermediate-level drug dealers will eventually find out). 

“Where did the money go?” Lawton asked. 

“I tricked that money off many times and couldn’t get out. I didn’t know I was that reckless. That money could’ve gone to my kids, a house and all kinds of stuff. I missed too much of my daughter’s life. My family sees me like a dope fiend. I’m ashamed.” 

The allure of a lavish lifestyle, drugs, and the women (who go with those temptations) are traps that often end in prison, or worse. 

Few dealers see beyond the big cars, high-priced Jordans, and large wads of cash. 

None of the dealers realize their ‘careers’ can be shortened by gold-plated handcuffs. 

In the beginning it’s “all about partying, fun, sex and coping,” Keywon explained. “They see the Big Homie in the Benz truck, making thousands in minutes and cars rolling up to pay. 

“Man, they’re working the ‘game’ from every angle, buying pill presses and keeping fresh ‘scripts’ on the Lean; selling pints for around $4,000.” 

Lawton, who is on a mission to educate both the victim and victimizer on what he calls a national scheme to destroy the Black community, provides a dictionary of drugs, including many I was totally unaware of. 

Ironically, many innocent Black teens who can’t recite the Black national anthem (nor read the instructions on a bottle of aspirin) can tell you the names of drugs, and how to cop them. 

The counselor/interceptor also noted that marijuana use is so pervasive in the Black community that businesses and schools are undertaking processes to warn parent(s) of the impact on children. 

Toward that end, ‘King of Da Streets’ includes a letter sent toparent(s) by Mac’s Childcare: 

“Please be advised that the staff at Mac’s Childcare havesmelled some of you ‘out.’ What you do in your leisure (time) is none of our concern. However, when your habit follows you into our facility, it then becomes a problem. 

Please, before you drop your child and/or children off, ‘smell check;’ if you come into our facility and you or your child smells like marijuana or any other illegal substance, we will call CPS or the police…we apologize for being so BLUNT!” 

Lawton uses his position as afree-flowing Lone Ranger to intervene between young victims and dealers. He also seeks to help dealers jump off the drug ‘Wheel of Fortune’. 

I found Lawton’s book, one in a series he is publishing, very enlightening. And scary. And upsetting. 

In some respects, the book aged me. 

I thought I was up to date on what’s happening in our community, and as such knew we had an ever-evolving drug sub-culture. 

But when I went through his definitions of street slang, I had to come to grips with the fact that I’m not as in touch asmuch as I thought. 

And leave no doubt that we are in a war, not just for our youth who are caught in the middle, but for the very soul ofwhat we once called ‘our community.’ 

Sadly, it’s a battle we are losing because there are not enough Lawtons out here. Norare there enough parents to warn or interject before their offspring see another ‘daddy’ (beyond the one who is MIA) who will provide them with a‘snip-snip’ to get them started. 

The allure of drugs—startingwith weed (do they still call itweed?) is a door hinge. Littledo the victims realize what’s on the other side of that door. 

Hotep.

I took my 13-year-old granddaughter to the Civil War exhibit in Menomonee Falls so she could learn first-hand about the war and the reasons behind it. 

Before the afternoon was over, however, she also learned the difference between history and His-story. 

With my offering corrections and clarification as we stopped at the various booths and tents of exhibits, she’ll take back to school this fall a new understanding of the war that divided and ultimately reunited the country over the issue of slavery. 

Princess Alaiah (a descendant of the Fulani and Mende tribes of Sierra Leone) was in awe as Union and Confederate soldiers engaged in a theatrical battle, with ‘bodies’ littering the park grounds. That battle concluded with the Gettysburg Address by a President Abe Lincoln lookalike. 

Much of our two-hour adventure, however, was grounded in my offering corrections of His-story, particularly of Honest Abe’s true motivations and goals, not just of the war, but his feelings about Black people (versus citizens) in general. 

The most engaging segment of our venture took place when we visited a tent that served as headquarters for the Colored Troops, which I quickly noticed included only one Black (Colored) soldier. 

As it was explained, the coordinators of the event said their efforts to ‘enlist’ additional Black ‘actors’ to fill out the Colored ranks fell far short of their goals. 

That was unfortunate not only because most of the event visitors were White suburbanites whose knowledge of Wisconsin’s involvement in the Civil War in general was limited, particularly as it relates to the role of Colored troops who made up Company F of the 29th Regiment. 

For the record, there were over 200,000 brothers in blue (not cops), and nearly one third gave their lives for the end of slavery and a promise of equality that was never fully achieved. 

It was during my conversation with the ‘lone ranger’ —colored trooper—that I learned as much as I taught. At the center of my debate with a ‘Union’ chaplain and ‘Abe Lincoln’ and myself was whether the 16th president was liberal, conservative, or a ‘liberal racist.’ 

Honest Abe and I got into a debate of sorts when I explained that the 16th president and author of the Emancipation Proclamation was a ‘liberating racist.’ 

I based that latter title on a September 1858 speech Lincoln gave in which he said ‘ex-slaves’ should not be allowed to vote, because they were not intelligent enough to participate in that sacred act of democracy. And they definitely shouldn’t ever be allowed to intermarry. 

In his defense, Actor Abe said I was misinformed, as the real Abe was fully about equality of the races. 

If so, I explained, why did he say he would continue slavery if it would end the war? Moreover, I asked if he so loved the Colored folks, why did his emancipation proclamation exclude slaves in the northern states? 

Lincoln also called Frederick Douglass and selected White abolitionist leaders to the White House (built by enslaved Black people, by the way), seeking their support to ship all of our ancestors to South America when the war concluded? 

Douglass, a formerly enslaved person and one of the greatest orators in American history, told him where to stick his stovetop hate…er…hat. 

Douglass should receive some of the credit for the enlistment of Black free and enslaved brothers to the Union forces. 

And while the involvement of Black folks was prompted by Lincoln’s mandate that our ancestors be allowed to fight for their freedom and kick the grits outta Confederate bigots, there was a hidden agenda at work. 

My reading of history suggests that, similar to his Emancipation Proclamation, the call to arms of Black soldiers was intended to undermine the Confederacy. 

And despite rampant racism and underpayment, historians reported that the Colored troops contributed mightily to the Union victory. Without them, slavery would have continued in the new nation of the Confederate States of Amerika.’ 

What we did learn from the Chaplain was about the heroic involvement of the F Troop (wasn’t that a comedy TV series of White soldiers in the 60s?), which consisted not only of the few brothers who resided in the free state of Wisconsin, but of several surrounding states as well. 

Even more surprisingly, he revealed, members of the Wisconsin Colored troops were on hand in Texas when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced that Lincoln’s executive order had freed them. 

That announcement was the foundation for Juneteenth, which former President Joe Biden made a national holiday. 

I further explained that since Lincoln’s proclamation excluded enslaved people in the North, ‘Jubilee Day’ should be held on January 1, 1865. 

That date is significant because it signaled the enactment of the 13th Amendment, which officially ended slavery in America (but not prejudice and bigotry). 

Lincoln rushed to enact the 13th Amendment in part because his proclamation was illegal and probably would not have withstood judicial scrutiny. 

In total, it was an enjoyable and educational experience. I’m sure Princess Alaiah saw the Civil War and ‘Honest’ Abe through a new prism. I only wish more brothers and sisters could have participated, as we were the only freed ‘Coloreds’ in attendance 

Dante is an 18-year-old Black man-child walking a road to nowhere. 

For the past decade, he’s been swallowed up in a school system that has all but ignored his cries. 

Under-educated and apathetic, he has given up on a ‘normal’ life and now follows a path of hopelessness. 

The road he’s toddling down will leave him with few career options. If he is lucky, he’ll latch onto a training program and end up working all of his adult life at a job he hates, barely making enough money to survive, let alone sustain a family. 

Junior college is not an option because he’s in great need of a remedial education to allow him to ‘catch up’ on subjects for which he was socially promoted. 

Unless he is detoured, there is a good chance he’ll join a gang or stray into drugs, thus ensuring he will be trapped in a cycle of despair and misery. 

A bottle of Hennessy, or a quarter bag of weed, or harder drugs, will serve as his foundation. Put out of his home by a mother who is burdened by his siblings, he will occasionally find himself sleeping in a heated hallway or an abandoned building. 

Left with the option of social welfare or a life of crime, he’ll probably choose the latter, and society—you and I—will pay either way, unless he can move in with one of his baby mamas. 

If you think Dante’s story is unique, think again. Some estimates suggest that as many as half the Black youngsters in Milwaukee, unprepared by a school system that either can’t or won’t educate poor Black children, could follow his path. 

You could easily look at dropout statistics and find validity in that assumption, but better yet, why not drive to your neighborhood basketball court and see the ‘young bucks’ milling around? 

Listen, if you’re allowed close enough. The conversation will leave you alarmed and bewildered. 

En route to and from the basketball court, you’ve witnessed dozens of Dantes’ sitting on porches or cruising in their jacked-up cars. Some may look angry; others may appear listless. 

All have been victimized by a society that has turned a deaf ear to their cries, an educational system that has failed them, and a home environment absent of a man who can prepare and nurture them to manhood. 

The school system blames the parents or poverty (poor kids can’t learn).The parents blame the schools, the teachers, and ‘educracy’. 

The teachers blame the parents, the school administration, and even the teachers’ union for blocking reforms. 

Yet as the finger-pointing continues, thousands of our kids learn not to learn. Nearly half will leave school unable to read, an indictment against the educracy that has resulted in the worst reading proficiency rate for Black children in North America. 

“It truly amazes me that so very few people understand what is going on,” remarked Debbie Johnson, a former MPS teacher, “or care. 

“Literally thousands of Black youngsters are being lost every year because nobody wants to take the blame as a first step; and there are fewer people—parents and politicians— speaking out. 

Johnson emphasized that “we’re not talking about mentally inferior, or physically impaired youngsters, but average kids who, because of their socioeconomic status, need something extra—motivation, a little push, or family support—and don’t get it.” 

Johnson had hoped for a long and satisfying teaching career. Educated in the local school system and attending colleges throughout the state, her dream of returning something back to her community turned into a nightmare two years ago when a Black student threatened her. 

From a teacher’s perspective, she said, “I can easily put the blame on the parents. You try to call them, explain a problem—usually discipline related to their academic failure—and often they cuss you out like you’re the enemy.” 

Not by coincidence, those parents never attend teacher conferences, much less a school board meeting. You won’t find their name on the voting list either. 

“Yes, I could blame the system too. The system knows about the kids who need something extra but doesn’t seem interested in our children. 

“They are numbers that guarantee employment and benefits. Not students who are nurtured and academically prepared for adulthood. 

“And there are some teachers out there who shouldn’t be teaching at all. On the other hand, there are teachers who feel (poor) Black kids can’t learn, so they really don’t try to teach them.” 

In the end, most students will need remedial classes, particularly in reading and math, to earn their diplomas. 

MPS educator Geraldine Hamilton can attest to everything Johnson said. Like Johnson, Hamilton has gone against the educracy and teacher union policies and has given that little ‘extra’ in the form of after-school tutoring. 

Last year, she joined several other MPS teachers to form a counseling program. The program utilizes volunteer teachers to provide counseling and tutoring to several central-city youngsters identified by teachers or concerned parents. 

Unfortunately, the group has not been able to sustain itself within the system (educracy), and has been put on notice by the teachers’ union for operating programs outside the MPS contract. 

Hamilton has gone to several churches to assist, but her pleas for even minimal involvement or support has fallen on deaf ears. 

“Everybody I talk to seems to recognize the problem, but few are willing to take a stake in our children’s future. I say ‘our’ future because that’s what it is.” 

If current trends continue—dropout rates and children graduating without the ability to fill out a job application — what will our future look like, she asked? 

Hamilton sees a community of children born to naïve mothers and fathers—baby daddies—without the wherewithal to nurture or pay support. 

She mentioned one recent graduate, with a sixth-grade reading ability and no (legal) job, who has five children, by four ‘girls,’ all of whom are on some form of assistance. Thus, the cycle continues as another generation of lost souls is stuck in cement. 

Hamilton and Johnson agree on solutions to the problem, but are frustrated that politicians are only interested in sustaining the status quo, even if it is failing far toomany Black children. 

“Our tutoring service is not the solution, but it does exemplify the problem,” Hamilton said. 

“The teachers are here because they care. We’re like doctors. We don’t want to lose the patient- even if it’s by the time they are on the critical list. 

“If we have to give up our free time towards that end, we will. But it’s like an uphill climb because the (school) board seems to have a misguided agenda, and parents are either apathetic or chained to a lifestyle that blinds them to reality. 

“Everybody wants to blame each other, but that’s not going to change anything. Black parents, and I’ve saidthis a thousand times, must be willing to understand that they must be involved in the education of their children. 

“They must talk with teachers, stress the importance of education to their children, and challenge the failing system when it is not responsive.” 

Though the board and superintendent declare they are open to input, Hamilton suggests neither provides the leadership necessary to alter the failing status quo, a process that puts its focus on reading and math, closing theachievement gap. 

When she was young, “it was the school, family and church working together, despite poverty and segregation,” Hamilton said. Even schools like North Division High School produced Black leaders, corporate heads,and politicians who impacted the status quo. Even if theirvoices are mostly drowned out. 

Back in the day, the community—nuclear families—served as gatekeepers. 

Something happened in the 70s and early 80s that rewrote our cultural anthem. Instead of brother and sister, we accepted and glorified ‘niggeritude’ (n-word), a cultural phenomenon that forced us back into slavery. 

“We’re entering a technological era in which the demand for labor will be reduced,” Johnson explained. “Whether you want to believe it or not, there are peopleout there who don’t want to see Black kids educated, competing. 

“We have parents who can’t parent and children who learn not to learn. Even many of the good ones find themselves collateral damage. 

Where to place the blame for this societal purgatory? It’s not the devil orchestrating this scenario; it’s all of us: uncaring or ill-prepared teachers, a union more interestedin greenbacks and benefits than the welfare of the children, and a board too influenced by special interests. 

On the flip side, Black politicians are hiding their headsin the sand, or too afraid to buck the union. 

The larger community looks down on the tragedy and cements its biases. 

To that, I’m singing the same old tune: Wake up, get involved, or better yet, return to the culture that allowed us to grow without the poisoned fertilizer. 

Hotep

Did you know the original design for the Statue of Liberty was of a Black woman with broken chains at her feet? 

Celebrating the shared principles inherent in their Constitutions, the French thought it appropriate to create a monument that righted the wrongs recognized in the ending of American slavery. 

That bit of trivia is among the hundreds I’ve introduced to our readers over the last 50 years. 

I am a student of American history, particularly as it relates to our sojourn here in the supposed ‘land of the free…’ 

Some call me a griot, a manifestation of the African teachers who kept alive — through oral traditions —the culture and history of their various tribes and nations. 

I’m an American version of that sacred position, keeping alive the journey of Africans on these shores, through the oppressive and inhumane periods of slavery—including our untold fight for freedom—to the civil rights movement, to our most recent past. 

Every day, I’m reading or researching key historical events and the people who paved the way for our freedom and our quest for equality. 

Of late, I’ve been researching the women who often stood in the shadows but who made significant contributions to our freedom and quest for equality. 

While most of you were bar-be-cuing last Saturday to the sounds of music and merriment, I was reading about one of the most influential—albeit unrecognized—central figures in the civil rights movement: Ella Baker. 

In many respects, Baker—the woman behind the men –cast a ‘feminist’ cloud over the civil rights movement and many of the men who carried the torch. 

While the men of the movement took center stage, Black women were primarily restricted to the background –second-class citizens within the Black culture as defined by Old Testament scripture. 

An activist ‘journalist’ during the Harlem Renaissance, Baker first came to prominence (while shunning the title of leader), when she helped launch a co-op during the Great Depression. 

That initial quest to organize grassroots defined her career. 

At the onset of WWII, she traveled the country organizing and expanding the NAACP’s membership, which, in its early stages, consisted of middle-class Black professionals. 

Many NAACP leaders took issue with her emphasis on uplifting the downtrodden, despite their essential role in the movement. 

Baker’s philosophy was in contrast to that of many Black (religious) leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a victim of the era, defined by misogyny; a fact that the Negrocracy at the time sought to sweep under the tattered rug. 

Despite, or should I say in spite of, the Black male leadership, Baker’s bottom-up strategy increased NAACP membership from 20,000 to 40,000. 

Most of the new members were lower-income and uneducated brothers and sisters—the true grassroots. That was not an accident, in that Baker felt the movement should be bottom up, instead of top down. 

Thus, she found herself in a continuous fight with her Black male counterparts over the strategies and make-up of the movement. Nonetheless, she worked her way up to national director of the NAACP, expanding the clout and membership across the country. 

The Montgomery boycott prompted Baker to organize and start a new, more activist organization: the Southern Christian leadership Conference (SCLC), for which she served as a key consultant. 

Bayard Rustin, another unsung Black leader whose contributions were masked because he was gay—another taboo of Black religious leaders—convinced King to lead the organization. 

Another aspect of the ‘conservative nature’ of the Negrocracy was its disdain for homosexuals. 

Their conservative philosophy manifested itself in many forms, including the rejection of the young sister, Lucille Times, who begged the NAACP to initiate a boycott of the bus company after a fiery confrontation she had with a bigoted driver and the equally hateful police. 

Unwilling to ‘know her place,’ she physically confronted a bus driver who called her a Black ‘bitch’ (b-word). 

Times was arrested and beaten by the Montgomery police who said she would have been beaten to death had she been a man. 

She appealed to the NAACP to take up her case and initiate a boycott, but her cries fell on deaf ears. 

Shortly thereafter, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin took up the mantle. She too was arrested for her disobedience, but this time the NAACP reacted more affirmatively…that is, until it was discovered Claudette was ‘sinfully with child, out of wedlock.’ 

The male leaders of the NAACP, many of whom were conservative Baptist ministers, ‘ruled’ that Claudette was a sinner whose status would jeopardize the image of the movement and their holier-than-thou image. 

Interestingly, history revealed that many of the Black religious leaders, including King, held their Bibles with dirty gloves. 

Baker filled the bill as a squeaky-clean leader, other than the fact that she was of the lesser sex. 

Her next campaign put her in further conflict with the status quo civil rights movement, as she founded a direct-action organization of young activists, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 

The creation of SNCC was in direct opposition to NAACP leaders who felt a youthful component should come under their banner and control. 

But Baker, who influenced the movement from the background, felt otherwise. 

There are many themes I could offer to highlight Ella Baker’s significant contributions, but the bottom line is that her civil rights campaigns came in spite of Black leadership. 

In essence, she fought not only to eliminate racism and injustice in White America, but also the sexist attitudes of her Black male counterparts. 

Her sojourn also brought to light the era’s conservative underpinnings. Indeed, many of the ministers, including King, rationalized that their exclusive leadership was ordained by biblical decree. Ironically, that myopic philosophy was also used by White Americans to justify slavery. 

While restricted to footnotes, without the leadership of the sisters—princesses and queens—we wouldn’t have achieved the successes we have. 

Far too many sisters proved the adage that ‘behind every great Black man’ was a greater woman. Actually, today that adage could be amended to say, ‘Beside every great queen is a supportive husband, significant other, or baby daddy.’ 

Ella Baker’s contributions was obscured and/or hidden, like that of dozens of sisters who redirected the movement from the shadows. 

As such, few realize her contributions were no less significant than those of King, Ruskin, and John Lewis’s. 

Hotep.

 I’ve been to hundreds of political debates, and just about all of them have essentially followed a similar script.

The winning candidate for local office — alderman, county supervisor, school board- is normally the aspirant who best articulates the problem, but not the solution. Think about that, and you’ll realize my truth. 

In partisan elections, each of the Democratic candidates will blame the ‘racist, condescending and mysogynistic’ Republicans. 

If they don’t point a finger at a specific Republican, they will blame Donald (the) Trumpster. 

Saturday’s gubernatorial debate at North Division High School followed that latter script. 

And while each candidate offered proposals to offset the myriad problems confronting citizens, it is unlikely that they could bring most of those systemic plans to fruition. 

As one observer noted, “Politics don’t operate that way. A governor can propose eliminating poverty, but that’s just an idealistic goal that will never be achieved unless orchestrated by God.” 

Moreover, the two-party system has worked against the best interests of minorities and the poor, he continued, as the Republican majority has either blocked or voted down the rare Democratic Party proposals being offered. 

When not advancing anti-Black, anti-education and anti-taxpayer policies, state Republicans—who have maintained the majority in the Senate and Assembly for a coon’s age (no disrespect to coons)—currently follow the MAGA philosophies of that Caesar in the White House. 

Governor Tony Evers has been an advocate for using his veto pen to keep the Republican agenda at bay, even as his fellow Democrats in the assembly and senate have offered little to counter to Republican goals. 

The powerful veto pen, each candidate said, is an important tool that should be maintained. 

Saturday’s debate (actually, it was more of a bullet-point forum) followed the script I mentioned earlier. 

Shannon Sims, a former opera singer and TV-4 anchor, ‘sang’ a series of questions ranging from the ecosystem to affordability concerns.

The candidates participating in the forum were Democrats Francesca Hong, David Crowley, Mandela Barnes, Sara Rodriguez, and Kelda Roys. 

To his credit, Republican candidate Andy Manske made his mark as an alternative to the Democrats, although his responses didn’t deviate far from the consensus. 

There was essentially a pattern of consensus among the candidates’ responses to questions about clean energy and addressing flaws in school funding. 

While Crowley was the first candidate to wrap the issues aroundtheir impact on the Black community, Barnes repeatedly mentioned that most of the problemsfacing the Black community would be solved if “we can fix poverty; everything else will fall in place.” 

How to achieve that Herculean task—like most proposals— was left to the imagination. 

Hong, a Democratic Socialist, received consistent applause for attacking corporate greed, and stressing the need for regulations that will ensure a ‘brighter future for our children.’ 

Rodriguez, the current Lt. Governor, used her time to talk about affordability for those negatively impacted by Trump policies. She stressed the need for a health safety net, and taking a page from Hong, taxing billionaires. 

There was a general consistency about NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) which have been used to advance data centers around the state. 

Each candidate said NDAs were essentially undermining public input and opposition to data centers.

Rodriguez added that in far too many cases, neighbors didn’t know about data centers coming into their neighborhoods until it was too late. She also noted those corporate interests should be forced to invest in communities and the state. 

Hong lamented corporations that seek state subsidies should be required to offer community benefit wages. 

Barnes offered that he served on a committee under Governor Tony Evers as his lieutenant governor, that advocated freezing rates. He went on to say he advanced an energy plan that advocates for lower energy rates and clean energy. 

(A Journal Sentinel story Monday revealed that Barnes’s statements that he ‘authored’ the Clean Energy Plan, was false. Actually, the plan was written by the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy and the Great Plains Institute.) 

Following the debate, I quizzed a dozen audience members on their reactions to the debate and who they felt was the most impressive candidate. 

Surprisingly, after Crowley, whose tenure as county executive makes him the only candidate with administrative skills and a track record, the second most impressive candidate was Hong. 

I would have thought given his name recognition, Barnes would place second (he ran a statewide campaign against Senator Ron Johnson two years ago.) 

An audience member who was among four given a chance to pose questions, instead commented that he was not optimistic the winning candidate would enact policies that would significantly impact the lives of most Black folks. 

Asked her impression of the ‘debate’, a 30-ish sister named Tasha, said it was informative, but she was disappointed so few people were allowed to ask questions. 

“I was also disappointed because the questions posed by the moderator didn’t address the problems we face in the central city.” 

Another sister named Shenquale, said the debate was very informative and she was also impressed because everyone in attendance was respectful, as was the candidates toward each other. 

Two White audience members echoed that Crowley and Hong stood out the most. 

“He (Crowley) has the experience of running the county, a million people, and he’s done an excellent job, providing housing, attacking mental health problems and anti-violence initiatives,” said Dee Dee. 

His companion endorsed that assessment, but offered that Hong offered a philosophy and agenda that would shift resources from corporations and billionaires to the poor. 

Only two candidates placed Barnes among the top two (with Crowley), and two others were most impressed with Roys. 

Given the responses, I spent a few minutes with Hong and Crowley, asking each what they would do about education in general, and North Division, the lowest ranked school in the state, in particular. 

Hong said she would seek to replace the state school funding formula to provide additional resources for struggling schools like North. 

“I want to make sure all kids have access to quality education,” she explained. 

Hong also noted that, while she opposes school choice, she would not seek to sunset it until the system can provide an equitable education to all Milwaukee children. 

(Which I interpreted to mean in another century or so.) 

Crowley, who stood out for his repeated emphasis on central city concerns, said he would also address the school funding formula, offering additional funding for failing schools. Equally important for North, he provides wrap-around services and prioritizes reading programs. 

North, he noted, is victimized by a feeder system in which many of its students are several years behind in reading as freshmen, a problem that follows them throughout their tenure. 

Crowley also noted that North is a microcosm of a district that has underserved minorities and the poor for decades. 

There is much a governor can do to help close the achievement gap, which would be among his priorities. 

He would start by ensuring Milwaukee gets its fair share of state revenue funding. 

I wished more of the audience had an opportunity to eavesdrop on my interviews (I also planned to interview Barnes, but he got lost in the crowd). 

I was most impressed that so many people filled the auditorium. Ironically, there were probably more filled seats than during the school year. North Division was built for 1,500 students, but has fewer than 400. 

That’s a sad point raised by members of Call to Action, a group proposing that North be converted to an instrumentality charter, providing a true opportunity for community input. 

Members of the organization, consisting of North Division alumni, filled the front row of the auditorium, holding signs calling for systematic change at the school. 

If wishful thinking translates into systemic change, the forum would have offered a springboard for a better Wisconsin and closed the wealth and educational gaps for Black children. 

Instead, with the exception of Crowley, none of the candidates provided much of a track record to suggest where they will take the state. 

I may be wrong to doubt the next governor can impact the status quo. But based on the results of hundreds of prior debates, I’d bet a dollar against a dime that none of them can turn water into wine. Hotep. 

 

It was truly gratifying to see so many Black fathers heading tables at our favorite Sunday brunch restaurant on Milwaukee’s far northwest side. 

We had a 30-minute wait, and while sitting in our SUV parked directly in front of the establishment, saw dozens of couples and scores of children escorting their ‘fathers’ into the restaurant. 

The restaurant is normally full of churchgoers during the ‘brunch’ hours, but Sunday was an exception, with families and wives taking their favorite father out to eat. 

(I could tell the women were treating their husbands (fathers) to brunch, because they paid for the meal.) 

As my wife noticed that many of the women were dressed inappropriately (obvious g-strings, or panty outlines), I focused on the fact that her observation might have implied the brothers were in store for ‘dessert’ when they got home. 

In another world (in an alternate universe), seeing so many fathers honored on Father’s Day may seem like a normal occurrence, but that’s not the case in the Black community anymore. 

Even in zip code 53209, once considered ‘Blackfish Bay’ and the gateway to middle-class Black Milwaukee, in far too many cases, the celebratory card today might read, ‘Happy Father’s Day, Mom.’ 

Sadly, over 70% of Black families today are headed by a woman, a majority of whom are poor and struggling without the physical or financial support from the ‘baby daddy’—a term many naïve sisters believe is a statement of ownership, but is in actuality, an offensive term by most measures. 

Our children need full-time fathers, not part-time ‘sperm donors’ or sexual exploiters. 

And sisters need to consider the long-term struggles that come from dropping loads with two or three men, the overwhelming majority of whom are male ‘THOTs’, ‘doggy-dog dogs,’ or ‘man-children’ who think with a ‘small head.’ 

The dilemma of the disappearing Black nuclear family (with or without marriage) is worthy of a comprehensive study by the Medical College of Wisconsin, researchers from HBCU’s, or maybe the MTEA (since its members will pay the price). 

The study would focus on the harm caused by absentee fathers and how it manifests in poverty rates, school performance, and the prison population. 

I’ve seen it too often; children with mental health problems because some sperm donor ignores their child’s plea for direction, support, and love. 

I won’t go into all the stats about the outcome of far too many children brought up in single-parent households where the ‘baby daddy’ is AWOL, or worse. 

You need but look at what students comprise the discipline problems in our local schools, or gang membership, or the perpetuation of the Culture of Poverty. 

It’s worse for children whose siblings have different fathers; playing the dozens in those circumstances takes on a more personal meaning. 

Obviously, I’m painting with a broad brush. But that is not the intent. There are plenty of good ‘daddies’ out there, whether married (the optimum situation), or as an outsider. 

Remember, Barack Obama was raised by a single mother, as was Jesse Jackson, and, locally, Howard Fuller, who epitomizes greatness and is the penultimate Black Milwaukee leader. 

But far too many fall in the category of sperm donors, uncaring, parental neophytes who contribute nothing more than a pair of tennis shoes and false promises. 

I was one of several local activists who paved the way for the fatherhood initiative, an excellent program that addresses my concerns and helps resolve child support payments. 

But the program’s reach is far from adequate to address the cultural tsunami that has all but destroyed our (nuclear) family paradigm. 

I’m trying hard not to generalize, but far too many children of ‘Neckbones’ are victims of a cultural cancer that is eating away at the fabric of our community; a paradigm where marriage is on the endangered species list. 

That’s why it was so gratifying to see fathers with sons and daughters at the restaurant on Sunday (many, not by coincidence, having left church). 

One brother in particular caught my eye as he was proudly wearing a t-shirt thatread, “Black Fathers Matter.”On the back of the shirt was aBlack Power Fist. 

The t-shirt spoke volumes tome, succinctly revealing thesolution to the problem undermining our quest for empowerment and growth.—Hotep.

I wish coordinators of the Juneteenth celebration could borrow the ‘Freedom Train’ on exhibit at Washington, D.C.’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and position it to be the gateway entrance of Milwaukee’s ‘Jubilee’ celebration at King Drive and Center Street. 

If you’ve never had the opportunity to visit the museum, it’s a life-changing experience. It traces our sojourn from Africa—the Motherland and cradle of civilization— through the atrocities of slavery, to the lie of Reconstruction and ultimately the civil rights movement. 

The train represents a time tunnel of sorts, displaying historical artifacts and signposts. 

Juneteenth is represented at the museum, but not as we perceive it. 

As such, I would have every Juneteenth visitor walk—observantly—through the train, learning about our true history (vs. ‘His-story’), culminating with our current struggle to tear down Milwaukee’s wall of apartheid. 

Few of us know of our blood link to the earliest civilization known to mankind; that we were the first people—God’s chosen. 

Our ancestors invented math, science, and medicine. They worshiped the one true God (monotheism) while Europeans were discovering the benefits of cooking meat and worshiping the sun, rocks, and animals. 

Some say early Africans traveled to America centuries before the Vikings, another page of history lost, stolen, or strayed. 

Africa was home to the first college known to mankind; thus, the t-shirt I wear while typing this column is appropriate and true: ‘they didn’t take ‘slaves’ out of Africa, but instead scientists, architects, astronomers, teachers, and doctors. 

I saw a YouTube video of an African cleric who recently proclaimed that the loving God (Nyame) of our African culture was replaced by missionaries and murderers with a ‘Christian God’ who permitted slavery, thus allowing Europeans to put us into bondage. 

Take that for what it’s worth…but with an open mind. 

American slavery was the worst institution known to mankind. It separated families, allowed for the rape of our queen mothers, and the murder of African men who defied their bigotry. 

Think about it, 41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were slave owners, true racist hypocrites. 

That too must be taught in the train, as was the period after the Civil War, when the promise of equality was put to the test, and ultimately turned out to be a lie. 

An important note scribbled on the walls of the museum is that Juneteenth, representing the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, in 1865,, was not the end of slavery, as most have been taught, but rather merely a step in a righteous direction. 

In truth, President Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Executive Order 95,’ issued in 1863, would probably not have withstood U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny. That’s one of the reasons Lincoln—who did not believe Black former slaves should have the right to vote or intermarry—rushed to enact the 13th Amendment. 

The truth is, slavery in America was officially ended by the 13th Amendment on January 1, 1865. And as such, it should actually be our Jubilee (freedom) Day. 

But the amendment ending physical slavery did not end racism or bigotry. Nor did Reconstruction, which was undermined by politics and politicians, including Lincoln’s successor, President Andrew Johnson. 

Not surprisingly, the cancer of racism is still prevalent in America today. And while covert in many cases, it has been reinvigorated with Donald Trumpster’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement. 

Thus, racist roaches, emboldened by ‘Donald Ceasar,’ are again spreading the germ warfare of racism and white supremacy (or should that be ‘narcissism’) throughout the country, including Milwaukee, which during my youth was the country’s most segregated city (a status it maintains to this day). 

The last car of the train celebrants should walk through might contain references to a Milwaukee most youth would find inconceivable. It would detail a city where, only a few years ago, Black citizens were not allowed to own property behind the gates of the ‘ghetto.’ 

The ‘Brewtown’ I grew up in maintained invisible barriers that blocked people of color from venturing beyond Keefe Avenue, or to eat at certain restaurants or attend the better schools, designated for ‘whites only.’ 

Eventually forced by the Federal Courts to desegregate in 1976, the Milwaukee school board nonetheless maintained a system of apartheid, which resulted in the widest racial academic achievement gap in the country. A status sadly maintained to this day, as illuminated by a WalletHub report released earlier this week. 

Not by coincidence, when we reciprocated by developing our own ‘schools, business and entertainment districts along the old 3rd (now King Drive) and Walnut Streets, the city government responded with bulldozers to destroy our achievements. 

Family members of my era viewed the police as an occupying army, harassing and intimidating Black Milwaukeeans with orders to ‘keep the darkies’ in their place, as ordered by the racist chief of police, Harold Breier (the ‘Bull Connor’ of the North). 

Our late 20th-century history included several police murders of Black men, including Earnest Lacy, an innocent young brother who was killed by a White police officer in a fashion almost identical to the execution of George Floyd. 

Police relations have improved over the years, yet brothers still cringe when a squad car is in their rearview mirror. 

Today, Milwaukee is devoid of its two Black banks, Black-owned grocery stores, and its only Black new-car dealership. 

To ensure our reservation status, the last few years have seen the departure of major department stores, grocery stores, and pharmacies from our community. We are once again living in a concrete desert. 

Not surprisingly, and despite the oversight of Black politicians, we host the largest poverty rate in the country and the widest wealth gap. 

Yeah, we should all be forced to take an educational journey through the ‘freedom’ train, to understand our history and better appreciate what Juneteenth represents, or does not. 

I love Juneteenth because it brings the family together, but it represents more than a party, and without the knowledge of our sojourn, it’s nothing but a gala. 

With an appreciation for our history, we would recognize that we’re still on a journey toward freedom and equality. 

Let’s board that train… 

Hotep.

Dear Brother Kwaku: 

Congratulations on your 50th anniversary as an uncompromising voice for our community. 

I represent a small group of brothers who meet occasionally to fraternize and discuss issues, although we don’t call ourselves leaders or even advocates. 

We simply come together to play spades or gamble and have fun, and as I said in a letter to you 20 years ago. 

As brothers—family members—when we’re not joking around, we discuss serious issues. Two weeks ago, you were the main topic when one brother revealed that 2026 marks your half-century as a vocal leader, journalist, and columnist. 

We made note of your transition from an educator and historian to an advocate and tree-shaker. 

We mentioned your evolution from Michael to Mikel, and later Kwaku Osei. 

Your evolution, like the revolution, never stops! 

I’m not representing the group, but merely making note of our group conversation Saturday, because it is both interesting and worthy, given your anniversary and status as the only Black columnist and most tenured, I was told, Black journalist in the state; maybe the country. 

It was interesting that those of us who engaged you in conversation over the years, or simply observed you (as we do other sub-chiefs), have witnessed an obvious transition —evolution — even though there has been a recognizable philosophical consistency: the newspaper editor and columnist, the television personality, and the radio pundit. 

We kinda’ compared notes, and I was left with the impression that we were talking about three totally different people, when in fact, you are kinda like the Temptations, same harmony but different transitional music to keep up with the times. 

‘Michael’ was observant, quoting Black leaders of the past, particularly Malcolm, Du Bois, and Marcus, contrasting philosophies and their historical relevance. 

‘Mikel’ was more militant, advocating from a Pan-African point of view, coining the phrase, the ‘Negrocracy.’ 

In addition to your leadership and advocacy on behalf of our family, you made us aware that the path to empowerment is often blocked by the liberal establishment, special interests like the Democratic Party, and the Negrocracy, which you explained were leaders and organizations under the thumb of special interests. 

Having followed your career, I recognize the overlap, during your transition (or evolution) from the early days as Michael, to Mikel, and following your graduation from the Rites of Passage with me, Kwaku Osei. But, as I told the brothers, your central philosophy has remained the same, only the delivery is different. 

The Mikel Holt we watched (or in some cases critiqued on television, Charlie Sykes show, the African-centric representation on Black radio from WAWA to The Truth, and the Black Nationalistic columns I was first introduced to by my parents) was the same person. 

Black people tuned in on Sunday morning to watch ‘Sunday Insight” cognizant that you would represent us well. 

We proudly sat back, knowing you wouldn’t cave in or contradict what the conservatives or white liberals (‘missionaries’ you called them when appropriate) on the panel would dish out. 

We gave you props for standing up for Black people, countering the onslaught of attacks, and turning the tables when they attempted to stereotype or generalize. 

Interestingly, as much as you tried to deny it, your television persona can best be described as classic Black Nationalism, even if that required you to take Black people to task for our self-destructive behavior. 

While you frequently questioned Black leadership and ventured outside the box on politics, you explained that we must form an independent agenda. 

As you frequently explained to the dismay of the status quo, ‘the Democrats and Republicans are different wings on the same bird, and neither will do for Black people what we can do for ourselves.’ 

Most Black viewers expected you to take the positions you do, although we’re forced to support Democrats and Black politicians, even though we know deep inside some have betrayed our trust and fueled the negative stereotypes. 

I’m an avid radio listener, and while I always find your positions compelling and your insights unique when you’re on the airwaves, you seem to take joy in lambasting the Negrocracy and demanding accountability. 

Yours, I assume, is rooted in a frustration with the status quo, the inability and unwillingness to put our interests before their own, or some special interests. 

Here, too, we applaud you for raising questions, demanding accountability, and keeping us abreast of what happens behind the scenes. 

As a result, I readily understand why several Black politicians are seemingly on a mission to stab you in the back (I won’t publicly mention names; we did that Saturday night). 

We respect you for being the official ‘tree shaker,’ the conscience of our family. You ask the questions others are afraid to ask, particularly those related to accountability, a responsibility we talk about but rarely bring to the table. 

We’re in a sad state politically. Our community is imploding, and few, other than you, are willing to force us to look into the mirror. 

Your unique persona is well known to those of us who have followed your career. 

I have an early column that addresses your Black nationalistic philosophy. An article you wrote last fall repeated almost verbatim some of the same principles. 

No one can say you’re not consistent. 

At first glance, I thought it reflected a lack of growth. But upon reflection and analysis, it spoke of a value system, an African-centric culture that is time-tested. 

Had we not moved from that platform, we would probably be in control of our community today. 

At some point, we forgot what the last five letters of ‘community’ spell out. 

I was thinking of that, along with the Africentric values you continue to espouse, as I made note that you consistently wear an African necklace or clothing. It represents who and what you are. 

Peace be upon you, brother. Allah has given us three different sides of you for three different media. 

Each provides us with a different aspect that is much needed as we continue to seek empowerment. 

I pray that Allah grants you grace to continue your growth and to provide us with your voice. 

—Brother Muhammad

 

A cancer research organization had to revise a grant proposal because it contained the word ‘diversity.’ 

Thousands of corporations dropped any mention of diversity and inclusion, and fired or reassigned officers with a ‘d’, ‘e’, or ‘I’ in their title. 

Veteran Administration staff were essentially told they had to kiss the ring of President Donnie Trump or face losing their jobs. 

The butt-kissing was part of a year-long divestment in government job reviews after the President signed an executive order banning anything thought to be an advantage—equalization of Black hiring practices. 

Even though those minuscule offerings fell far short of equalizing the playing field, they offended White sensibilities and threatened the racist status quo. 

In fact, Whites have been successful in 99.9% of ‘civil rights’ claims in which they alleged they were ‘discriminated’ against, including a couple of Milwaukee cases, the last of which was the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which threatened a lawsuit. 

Yeah, forget all of that B.S. about a brown/black alliance. When push came to shove, Hispanics chose ‘White Latino.’ 

‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.’ In layman’s terms, DEI is, or was, a form of affirmative action. Republicans like Richard Nixon and Democrats like Joe Biden (talk about unique bedfellows) embraced affirmative action, even though the former would have fought for the Confederacy had the southern exodus been facilitated 100 years later. 

Ironically, it was a Democrat, Bill (I love the darkies and play the sax) Clinton, who took the teeth out of the program. Clinton changed the key wording from quotas to goals. 

For Milwaukee, for example, that meant a policy in which a stated number of police and fire department hirings was replaced with ‘goals’, which essentially meant ‘we will try,’ instead of ‘we will’… 

King Trump’s policy on DEI—Executive Order 14151 ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences, essentially banned anything that would equalize the playing field. 

His order resulted in corporations abandoning programs that contained the words equal, diversity, inclusion and Black, with a small or capital ‘b.’ 

It brings to mind a scenario when I was a member of the Miller Park (Brewers) stadium board. 

The three brothers with direct input in stadium policies put together a ‘scheme’ in which we sought to negotiate a deal with a foreign company that did not meet the qualifications for a multimillion-dollar contract because they did not meet the MBE ‘set-aside’ requirement. 

The company sought a waiver. 

We proposed a solution in which I would vote affirmatively for the waiver if the company agreed to contract with a ‘Black’ company for an annual maintenance contract worth millions annually. 

It sounded good on the surface, but secondsafter my proposal was made—which mentionedthe term ‘Black business’—echoed through theconference room, an earthquake shook the stadium, hell was hit by an ice storm, and WILL, the anti-Black and brown legal institute that fights affirmative action at every turn, was put on high alert. 

The proposal was tabled, and I was sent to theprincipal’s (lawyer’s) office, where I was told ourMBE program—the toughest in the state—would not withstand court scrutiny, based on prior court rulings. 

Rules were bent with Governor TommyThompson’s support of state Senator SpenceCoggs’ legislation, and no one was hurt in the process. As it turned out, the stadium’s MBE program was the most successful in the country. 

As long as you didn’t mention the word ‘Black.’ The disadvantaged might fly. And women’s or veterans’ businesses were permissible. 

But Black…as the saying goes, get back. 

That was years ago, and things have not gotten better. 

The adjective/noun Black has morphed into a dozen different references to people of color as America has moved further and further to the right—which is wrong. 

Have we come to the end of the road?’ Not if the end is the beginning. Hopefully, the next president will support restoring economic sanity and reinvest in equity and equality. 

Hotep.

I’ve been undertaking a research project in which I rank U.S. presidents’ policies that enhanced Black causes/civil rights. 

In short, presidents who may not have necessarily been ‘friends’ of the Black community, but whose policies took bricks out of the walls of apartheid. 

Through Saturday, when I participated in my monthly barber shop ‘nappy headed leadership conference’ at Sid’s on Hopkins, Barack Obama surprisingly ranked third, or fourth depending on how you fit the Affordable Care Act within my stated paradigm. 

As I undertook my research, I quickly found that it is far easier to flip the script and rank the worse of the worse, than to subjectively rank those presidents who helped eliminate the barriers to justice and equal rights. 

Among the worse—most bigoted— was Andrew Jackson (who many Native Americans view as a son of Satan), James Polk, or more recently—20th century— Woodrow Wilson, ‘Tricky Dick’ (Richad Nixon), and Ronald Reagan. 

But while there may have been debate over who came in second, easily topping the list is Donald Trump, aka ‘King T,’ ‘Emperor Don,’ and Tarzan, with a small ‘t!’ 

It’s not sociocultural rhetoric to accuse the Trumpster with not only being a bigot (vs. racist), but of setting back civil rights 112 years, nine months and 12 days, according to my outdated calculator. 

Trump, who has done more to undermine civil rights than any of his racist/bigoted predecessors, has authenticated my contention that there is a difference between racism and bigotry. 

(Racism, in my lexicon, is someone who feels superior and/or hates people of another ethnicity—mostly out of jealousy. A bigot is someone with the power to legislate their hatred.) 

In today’s twisted society, verbalization of someone’s ‘stupidity’ is not necessarily a sign of racism. A white teenager who recites gangsta rap whose lyrics include the contentious word nigger (n-word) isn’t a member of the White People’s Socialist Party or KKK. 

But, it’s beyond rhetoric, for example, to post caricatures of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, or refer to Haiti and African nations—the Motherland and ground zero for life and civilization—as ‘sh.thole’ countries. 

And in terms of DT the DJ’s (square dance only) racist rhetoric, his BS was just the tip of the black iceberg. 

He took his racism to the realm of bigotry on his first day in office when he outlawed DEI/affirmative action and fired any sister with rhythm or a weave. 

Swinging from vine to vine, he used his microphone to announce the dismissal of dozens of Black officials who refused to kiss his ring, and or (stinky) backside. 

Among them was Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education; Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Carla Hayden, Congressional librarian. To display his attempt at being gender neutral, he also dismissed General Charles Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

And it’s not a coincidence that Trump’s war on Affirmative Action—DEI–resulted in a quarter of Black people with the ability to legislate or hire and fire, being axed and told, as the Ray Charles song lamented, to “hit the road, Jack(lyn).” 

Before the vape smoke cleared, the orange American Ceasar, who vowed to take America back to the good ole days of segregation, racial profiling and open hostility toward ‘hue-mans,’ also rescinded laws that prohibited segregation and racial profiling in hiring, telling HUD officials to ignore redlining. 

The prez (who has the lowest approval ratings of any president in U.S. history) spearheaded assaults on fair housing, curtailed Department ofJustice investigations of discrimination, and rescinded Obama’s executive orders that provided full citizenship to gays and transgender people. 

Simultaneously, ‘the Dandy Don,’ pardoned the new wave confederate army volunteers (traitors) who terrorized the Congress on January 6,2021 instituted steep cuts in health care that directly impacts people ofcolor and opened up a new branch within the FBI whose agents weretasked to find and arrest any American who possessed a photo of a certain naked first lady. .. 

Before we could exhale, or spit out our neckbone gristle, Trump closedthe Social Security Administration’s office on Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity. In his broken English, that means we are not only discriminated against during our youth, but in our last days. 

Those dastardly deeds were in addition to cutting research grants targeting cancer, sickle cell and hypertension, each of which we—andme—are disproportionately impacted. 

So, in essence, the new Ceasar makes us sick, and then cuts fundingfor programs that could cure us of our ailments. 

If a civil rights policy had Obama’s, Joe Biden’s or even LyndonJohnson’s name on it, Trump sought to have it rescinded. 

Among the policies to fall under that category was a LBJ executiveorder that rooted out discrimination on federal contracting; Biden policies that advanced diversity and inclusion (actually Trump banned allDEI) and Obama policies that equalized the playing fields for Americanswith alternative sexual preferences or gender identification. 

The irony of this dilemma we find ourselves in is that America votedthis orange, cotton candy quaffed Napoleon into office. He has turnedour lives and the world upside down and inside out. Every day he comes up with some new audacity, some mindless myopic policy that matcheshis idiotic lies, which as of last week, totaled 30,573. 

You can question his motives—make America a ‘grape again’—or his saneness. But we’re only in the first quarter of his second term. And to give you an idea of what to expect in the next three years, consider thisdictator/king/tyrant led a national prayer (spelled ‘p-r-e-y’) last Sunday.He then issued a post card in which he posed as Jesus. Yes, the manwho stood outside St. John’s Church while dictating governors to callout the national guard to quell protests over the murder (public lynching)of George Floyd, now likens himself to the Messiah. 

That was bad enough, but what was a more serious affront to Christianity was during his first term, the president of the United States washolding, and supposedly reading from a bible…held upside down!!! 

Fortunately, Moses wasn’t around to see this affront. 

All I can say is we had better buy up all of the W-D 40 lubrication oil,before they loosen up the gates for the new plantations. 

To which I pray: Lord/Jehovah/Nyame help us. 

Hotep.