All Boots on the Bridge: State of Emergency Without Urgency in Black America (Dr. Ron Daniels)
From IBW
“All Boots on the Bridge”
State of Emergency Without Urgency in Black America
A Call to Action
Vantage Point
Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels
Every year Black people look forward to the release of the National Urban League’s State of Black America Report to share insights into our progress towards achieving full freedom in this nation. The title of the 2025 Report was shocking, stunning, jolting, “State of Emergency: Democracy, Civil Rights and Progress Under Attack.” I believe this powerful report was accurate, timely and appropriately titled. Africans in America, Black people are caught up in one of the most dangerous periods in the history of the USA; a moment where, under the umbrella of the MAGA movement, the foundational documents that tenuously bind this imperfect union together are under vicious assault by racist, white supremacist and white nationalist forces.
The Declaration on Independence and Constitution are under assault. Democracy is in grave danger. It’s a popular belief in Black America that “when White folks get a cold, Black folks get pneumonia.” With Donald J. Trump, the undisputed leader of the cult-like MAGA movement in the White House, the danger to Black folks is on steroids.
With white nationalists like Stephen Miller serving as a Senior Advisor to Trumpand key allies like Steve Bannon, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, the MAGA movement is hell bent on brutally turning back the clock on Black progress and erasing the legacy of the multigenerational Black Freedom Struggle from the history of the USA.
This is evident by the shocking revelation of recent events like the image depicting President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes on Trump’spage on the Federal Government website; the relentless attack on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or anything that smacks of Black; Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum decreeing that the Monument in the driveway of the home of civil rights martyr Medgar Evers will no longer be listed as an official historical marker and his recent announcement that there will no longer be free admission to national parks on Martin Luther King Holiday. Furthermore, the words racist or racism are banned as mischaracterization of American history! Trump is making it clear. His mission is to Make America White Again!
So, there is absolutely no question that there is a state of emergency in Black America. My concern is that it is a state of emergency without urgency. I do not in any way mean to suggest that our civil rights legacy organizations […]
