Editorial: Black People Are Tired, But Still Here
Why you're not seeing as many African-Americans in the streets
(this is an editorial from our Producer, Norris Howard)
“Freedom”, in its rawest form, has been a recent development for my people. I’m one generation removed from being a full-fledged citizen of America. My family has roots in this nation going back almost 300 years. But, my grandparents could not vote as in their hometowns. My mother sat in “colored only” sections at the movies when she visited her grandparents in Georgia. Hell, in just my lifetime, we’ve had to legislate the very hair that grows out of my head. No other people go through these experiences in America, and hopefully no one ever will again. But time and time again, with each new social movement, Black people are asked to be the moral compass of America. This time around, many of us are simply saying, “No.”
The first sort of organized protest or rally I ever remember was “Million Man March” given in D.C. given by Louis Farrakhan in 1995. For most of my life after, protests and social movements were generally lead by young Black and Brown people. College kids ready to improve the world. Now, in 2025, I’m seeing less of us. The Hands Off and No Kings protests were predominantly white attended in Detroit and I’m seeing the same nation wide. And in talking to other Black folks around the US, It’s because we didn’t see the strides our parents did. We spoke up the loudest yet we were the most ignored.
I understand that level of dread. In the early 2010’s during the height of Black Lives Matter movements, we saw no real police reform in America. Black people are central to the advancement of LGBTQ+ movements and yet Black trans women are among the most murdered cohorts in the nation. We helped to elect the first Black president, and yet the racial wealth gap grew wider. We looked in our past and saw Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells would fight for women’s suffrage and yet would never live to see full voting rights for Black people. Constantly we saw our leaders assassinated, our churches bombed or riddled with bullets, our pain handwaved away as a byproduct of the American Experiment. Even this day, Juneteenth, is a reminder of the delayed liberation of slaves in Galveston, TX. Even if “Freedom” comes, it will come late for us.
This is the heart of Black disillusionment. We voted in lockstep with Kamala Harris and were denied. We fought to keep Affirmative Action and were denied. We are even fighting to keep our own history taught in our schools and are being denied. It’s soul-crushing to fight everything on all fronts at all times. And thus, some of us have resolved to rest. But rest will not save us, for “Freedom” is new to us and we can’t wield it with the same apathy that was used against us. It would be the opposite of what our community was built on.
I personally resolve to involve myself more. Push myself to share more about the truth of this nation, and how to improve it. To stare in the face of authoritarianism and not shirk, but be strengthened. Because there is no horror that America has not already put my people through. But I do ask, that you understand. We have toiled in this nation like few ever have…and we’ll continue to do so. Because it’s the right thing to do.
Want to join in the conversation? Feel free to join our Facebook group where you can have a say, Michiganders Against Project 2025 and DOGE.
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I, for one, don't blame anyone for wanting to see more engagement from your white neighbors. I do what I can but I'm nowhere near where I should be in terms of doing the heavy lifting. I'm sorry. I'll try to do better, for you and all of us, in the future. <3 Thank you for your continued efforts!