Since January 20th, the MLK National holiday, we have been forced to address the threats to civil and gender rights, federal jobs, and environmental and climate justice, and we have witnessed the snatching of people who are deported. Federal grants have been threatened, and some agencies, such as NIH and NSF, have been frozen. The Trump administration has effectively closed USAID and plans to do the same to the Department of Education without congressional approval. He has given many federal employees until Thursday, February 6th, to take a shaky buyout. He has threatened to cut the workforce in NOAA and NSF and has been witch-hunting many who appear to be doing work with DEI. Today, he effectively closed the EPA’s Environmental Justice Office. These impacts will manifest as injustices on communities of color; sooner rather than later.
Much of what is occurring has never been seen (except in Octavia Butler – Parable of the Sower), and many cases are pending in court to confront the power grab.
But let’s be clear that this is black history month – “present is past” and “past is present.” We are here because of our ancestors and we limit today’s mistakes through the lens of history.
Thank God and the ancestors that the living legacy of Civil Rights and Black History is alive today through the strong and ethical voice of Attorney Letitia James who has challenged Trump’s and DOGE’s authority more than once and she is on the job protecting all of us.
Two weeks ago, I gave a seminar to the Department of Meteorology on the Legacy of Dr. Warren M Washington. Check out my 30-minute Black History Month contribution to yall about Dr. Washington!!
Today, times are different because we have mobility and probably make more money than our ancestors, but we have more debt, more stress and our sense of community is scattered. If I asked you the question– who is our national black or brown leader– who would you say? I might also ask if we need a leader? Can’t the masses challenge this system? I think it can, but a sense of moral direction from a voice like Malcolm, Martin, Coretta Scott King, or Dr. Beverly Wright can sometimes help keep us aligned or focused on injustice.
Pioneers such as Warren and many others are celebrated because Dr. Carter G. Woodson created Black History Week, which is now Black History Month. It means that no matter the current threats, we lean on the wisdom, courage, and fighting spirit of our wise ancestors who made the way for us. It’s not just the famous people, but it’s your grandparents and great-grandparents who made history by making today possible through creativity, love, courage, fighting, and preserving against violence, hate, lack of opportunity, and even enslavement.
We must find the voice within to carry us–right now, and if that voice is scared…. reach out to an ancestral voice (Malcolm, your fearless grandmother, aunt, uncle, or great-great grandmother/father). Let them guide you in this perceived world of threats. We face intergenerational traumas of the past that live in our bodies, but we also have intergenerational strength from the past.
That is indeed what black history month is. Remember them and find your way back to your authentic power.
Even if we are afraid, we must protect the future, which will face an even more significant threat if we look away now. Please don’t. Fight on today– for the future and honor those who threw up their hands in the past.
In closing, Dr. Warren Washington helped nurture and manifest the beautyful ones in atmospheric sciences/meteorology (the house of life) that protect everyone from floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and all of the disasters now and throughout the Climate Crisis. May he and all of the ancestors help us to protect our communities.
Music by Lakecia Benjamin (in the tradition of John Coltrane)
Happy Black History Month!!! Fight on people– Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee.
Follow the words of Earth,Wind and Fire + Maysa
“People, be all you can – but now we need faith in our lives to understand”
Keep your head to the sky – the clouds will tell you why!