Just a note about our panel discussion on the 26th. We had an absolutely fabulous meeting, though our number was small. Panelists Reverend Nophlin and Dr. Eric Sayer were also there and lit a fire under the group. It's good to know that fire still exists in these turbulent times. "Keep holding on. It'll be all over in the morning."
In regards to Donald Trump and his effect on Black people in upper east Tennessee, when we took it down to grassroots level, the methods of Trump and the Republicans in Tennessee and Upper East Tennessee were clearly exposed. Our group had a fantastic time getting riled up… the video of the Black Lives Matter March in Rogersville a few years ago set the tone for the meeting… Those Rogersville people called the marchers names that would make a sailor blush.
After the viewing, what resulted was one of the best roundtable discussions I’ve ever had in my life and I have been to hundreds of them.
Bottom line is, there IS a way to lesson Donald Trump‘s impact on the black community, OUR Black community. In our small group, we listened to each other, every opinion counted and through the ideas, we reasoned out a way to do it that is so simple, we were kind of surprised when we came to the conclusion.. it’s a wonder nobody has thought of it before and expanded on it. I was driving back home down I-81 in Greene County running things over in my mind and before I realized it, I was driving faster than the speed limit!
We did miss our two educators on the panel, Dr. Carter and Dr. Nunnally... we determined that we are going to need their helpful advice to keep us focused on the prize, which is keeping Donald Trump from erasing our history. Again, there is a simple way to stop that, but we cannot do it on our own. We need soldiers and they are out there right now. We have also determined that a group of the faithful needs another, much larger meeting with a lot more people impacted by Trump‘s trivialities. This time, the meeting involves free food because we realize that is what draws people out.
We know that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a People to start a revolution and we can do that in our own little way. Tops of the list is why some Black people wasted their vote in November on Donald Trump. Are we still that gullible?
Talk to any of the folks in our group... the mood was electric, the examples of how Trump can hurt us were emotional, and the drive to stop it, dynamic. We need your ideas and your discussion and nobody needs to know that you attended the meeting. We look with a wary eye at everybody else hollering and screaming at the Republicans at their "town hall meetings" and that’s OK.. if it makes them feel good to yell and scream, more power to them, but what does that accomplish other than making them feel good? It makes the TV news the next morning, but nothing happens after that. Trump's Republicans just laugh and continue ripping off Black people. We need to galvanize in our own way and get through to OUR people in OUR way. Again, there is a simple way to do that that we are overlooking right now.
When we do this meeting again, we need to see a lot more Black people there ready to represent.
Quit looking for a reason NOT to do something, and look for a reason TO DO something.
----Calvin
