It is Time for Your Conscience to Interfere

November 13, 2024

President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20050
 
Vice President Kamala Harris
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20050

The outcome of the election was certainly not what any of us expected. Just maybe your staff will recognize our names as we have written you on numerous occasions. We have sent a host of letters to you individually or collectively on 14 occasions, White House staff on 8 occasions, Secretary Vilsack on 12 occasions, and congressionals on multiple occasions as well. Our issues and concerns have been consistent and ignored.

However, given the time you have left in your administration, there are some important issues that we would like to discuss with you before the next Trump administration takes over. Perhaps you know of these matters because South Georgia went to the Republicans partially because of Black farmers.

In a lead-up to the election we had provocative conversations with Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Jill Stein. Our issues were important enough that they agreed to be interviewed by us on “Justice for Black Farmers” and “Seeking Truth and Justice,” the Marti Oakley Podcast Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio.

As we have written to you recently on August 21, 2024 and on October 24, 2024, there is a large number of items that are extremely important to us. These matters cut across very important areas in your administration: Black farmers primarily across the South and rural America. We are not convinced that your offices clearly understand the pain and suffering that has taken place on the farms and in the communities where Black farmers and their families reside.

We have long supported the Democratic party as it has been historically more supportive of our efforts than has the Republican party and we have still been punished. We can point to the Bill Clinton administration as the time when we experienced the most support and got things done.

It is time for your conscience to interfere. As we have said to your administration many times that “Tom Vilsack runs USDA like a plantation”……giving millions of tax payer dollars to those who agree with him and leaving the county committee system in place that has been known for decades to be the death knell for struggling Black farmers. The county committee system is a major indicator of this administration’s complicity in the demise of Black farmers and so many others. We have seen how Vilsack used his equity commission and its member organizations to justify leaving in place the county committee system process.

We warned you of the failed Vilsack political agenda using the race card. You were told by others that the continuation of Vilsack’s failed political agenda was not working and it played out in real time in Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere in the Southern region during the 2024 election cycle.

The “go along to get along” strategy was thought to have been working until election day 2024. Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Princeton University professor has clearly stated that using race/identity politics and more to control has failed on so many levels for our nation to see. Yes, it failed on election day 2024.

In view of the Republicans again taking the White House and not knowing what the administration change will mean to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), we are taking our cues from Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., professor at Princeton when he states, “This is us,” and Donald Trump, “he is the manifestation of the ugliness within us.”

Some may think we are too demanding given the fact that your administration is soon to conclude; however, we are reminded of Dr. King’s letter from the Birmingham jail when he said that for Black people, wait means never. The critique that the white ministers had of him was that he was moving too fast, that he needed to slow down, to do things incrementally. His quote, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” From 1910 to 1997, Black farmers have lost approximately $326B from the loss of land and potential income. In 1920, 950,000 Black farmers operated farms. In 1910, Black farmers owned over 19,000,000 acres of land. Now, there are approximately 30,136 Black-owned farms of approximately 3,245,991 acres. There is immense pain that comes from the loss of their land and the generational wealth that will not go to their children and grandchildren. Yes, a few Black farmers received funds under the “distressed borrower” clause of the Inflation Reduction Act and some received funds under the discrimination section of the IRA, but we believe that is too little given their pain and suffering.

Time is growing short. We feel the burden of the clock ticking. Therefore, we would like to meet with you to discuss three large matters:  1) Black land loss and the USDA; 2) pain and suffering of Black farmers and their families; and 3) fixing the systemic institutional racism at USDA and the need there for new leadership, systemic change, transparency, accountability, and justice.

Both the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Justice for Black Farmers Group would like to meet with you and other Black farmers and their advocates as did President Bill Clinton in the White House. He was effective in developing a plan with not only the problems but with implementing the solutions.

We weep on each occasion when we read the names of the Black farmers who have died early in the fight against racism within the halls of USDA as they poured body, mind, and spirit into saving their land and livelihood. Countless women and men have died all too early because racism with it weight and burden is all too heavy to bear. And so the words to the Bob Dylan classic, “Blowin’ in the Wind,” ring all too true, especially the question, “How many deaths will it take ‘til we know that too many people have died?” The answer comes, “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

We are the voice of the voiceless. Too many people have died.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,

---S---

Lawrence Lucas
President Emeritus, USDA Coalition for Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064681597169
www.blackmeninAmerica.com
LawrLCL@aol.com
856-910-2399

 ---S---

Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
Representative, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees
Representative, Justice for Black Farmers Group
www.letjusticering.blogspot.com
Psychologist
Waymon.hinson@gmail.com
903-271-4654

 

Jesus, Lord, Come This Way

          ,

       

Jesus,  

            Surely you see this mess

            That we are in

            And know the stress

            And its roots in sin,

Is that so?

Jesus,

            You left some lofty place

            That is far beyond my eyes

            To come into this troubled space

            As we head downhill to our own demise,

Is that so?

Jesus,

            You cast your lot with us                                

            You pitched your tent here

            What do you make of all this fuss

            And the people who die year after year

For decades centuries?

Jesus,

            From your other worldly view

            Surely you see Black people lynched

            Dead on arrival at the hospital

            Because a cop’s knee his neck pinched

And drained his life before our eyes?

Jesus,

            Our people are enraged                                             

            Our people are mourning

            As this war is waged

            With plenty of warning.

What about that pain and suffering?

Jesus,

            You walked and traversed

             Lots of miles beneath the sun            

             People saw you and cursed

             At you and the stories you spun

To what ultimate good?

Jesus,

            People who look like me

            Carry guns and offer threats

            Hanging that effigy from that tree

            When said and done, any regrets

By those folks?

Jesus,

            That young man dead

            Hunted like a deer or rabbit

            By men racism inbred

            Hatred their deadly habit.

Is it so?

Jesus,

            If you were to come again                                                    

            And live amongst us once more

            Could we say thank you and amen

            Or would you close the door

Are we too beyond hope?

Jesus,

            You saved her from the religious

            You kept her from dying

            From rocks and the prestigious

            Pompous cruel lots of folks crying.

Do you see the connections?

Jesus,

            You talked to her by the well

            You told the truth about her life

            Racism simply aside fell

            She was not somebody’s wife.

And you forgave her sins?

Jesus,

            You who faced the angry mobs

            Your human body did hang from the tree

            Can you hear our painful sobs

            Do you feel our frequent pleas

For respite from the pain?

Jesus,

            And that gives me hope

            For a brighter day and time

            When no longer is a rope

            A gun a knee the answer until then I’m

Going to pray grieve and shout

Help my corner of the world turn itself around

And know racism and what it’s about

Is just another deadly ungodly sound

That neither you nor I nor them can bear.

Jesus,

            We want to hear

            And live not in fear

            Shedding another one more one more tear

            While on this planet rear

Our children.

Jesus,

            Save us we plead

            We have made the world a mess

            Our hateful selfish harmful evil deed

            Racism our greatest sin we do confess.

Jesus, 

            And one more thing before I go

            It's surely something you already know

            This land of ours is about to decide

            That one person might heal our divide

But I'm not so sure. 

Jesus, 

            Some have seemingly sold their souls

            To the white guy with his talk and curses real loud

            While she speaks words of joy and points up ahead

            She prays, sings, and laughs as we hold on by a thread.

Jesus, 

            And so it is done, and tears fill our eyes.

            America has made her choice.

            Character no longer matters to those who have a voice

            And the crooked guy takes the prize with all his lies. 

So I linger in deferred hope for this land. 

           

Jesus,

            Please forgive

            Please forgive

            Please forgive

            Please forgive

           

Voting for the Common Good

 "I think that a vote is a kind of prayer for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and for our children. And our prayers are stronger when we pray together,” says Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock. 

A vote is a sacred obligation. When I stood in the voting booth, I paused and pondered what voting was all about. It is one of the best things about democracy, and it is one of the worst things about democracy. We all get to vote, and we vote our prejudices. All public servants are not created equal. 

Recently, I asked my friends who are Republicans and my friends who are Democrats to share with me how their faith shapes how they vote. Zero Republican friends shared anything. Several Democratic friends shared how faith and voting align. It actually makes sense that I’d have few takers. Despite my commitment to keeping names out, or other identifiers, and they could use my professional email address, it made sense that few would. I am convinced that most of us do not take the time nor energy to deconstruct how faith and voting connect. That would take a lot of energy. I am likely not seen as a trustworthy source by those on the right. All someone has to do is skim my Facebook page and where I stand on parties and all becomes pretty clear, and surely that troubles some and delights others. Frequently, someone who is clearly on the right will wade into discourse on my page and dependent upon how sensical their comments are, I may challenge them, ask some questions, or whatever, or my friends will roll up their sleeves. I wouldn’t want to take on some of my friends as they are pretty smart and nuanced in this political world.

Essentially, my democratic friends who answered my question about faith and voting indicated that their faith is at the core of who they are and that they always measure the externals with what their faith says. Some spoke of Jesus and what He did and what He wants believers to do now, not in terms of a party, but in terms of what is right and what is wrong.

My friends who are Republicans who did not venture to reflect upon how their faith influences their decisions in voting left their ideas on their web pages. Trump is God-appointed. He is not a moral human but his decisions ripple forward for decades. Elect him and we’ll have a solid, conservative Supreme Court and other courts across the land. Ignore his history of racism, sexism, xenophobia, his bankruptcies, his criminal convictions including the sexual assault of Ms. Carroll, because he is God’s chosen one like Cyrus, King of Persia. January 6 was not that big of a deal. Those patriots who were arrested, jailed, and charged with crimes, were all set up by the Department of Justice doing the Democrats’ bidding. Their candidate’s crude jokes, coarse language, poor communication skills, word salad, uninformed at various issues such as tariffs, and other things just don’t matter.

As much as I am troubled by his record of wrongs which runs pretty long and deep, I am also disturbed that Vice President Harris does not get any credit for her religious upbringing, her church membership, that she reads her Bible, and that she is praying woman. By all accounts, she seems to be a good person, even a godly person, even though her economic plan could be more nuanced and her foreign policy is questioned. I like her. I like her a lot. I think she would make a wonderful president. Yes, Kamala Harris would, in my opinion. And she has a wealth of public experience.

If our teenagers are listening, they’ve certainly learned a lot. Trump has taught them to mock the disabled, never apologize, never admit to being wrong, science is to be doubted, empathy is for losers, be fearful of other races that are not white, cheating is ok, bullying is fine, stealing from charities is fine, reading is a waste of time, attacking dead people, especially the military, is fine, distorting the truth is normal, projecting blame upon others, and take credit even when it doesn’t belong to you. Name calling and insulting are privileges of the powerful. America is a “garbage can of the world.” Immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” They eat pets. President Biden is a “stupid fool.” Immigrants are criminals, commit crimes beyond belief, and are low-lifes. All of this despite compelling evidence from multiple research sources that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes, by far, than American citizens already living here.

And, they are defensive of and for J. D. Vance, the Vice-Presidential candidate. They seem to  ignore, or refuse to scrutinize his frequent flip flopping or his obvious miscalls on several political matters such as his critique of Harris giving money to Black farmers to the neglect of white farmers, which is grossly untrue if you follow my pages or those of Stucki and Rosenberg. I wrote to Mr. Vance a while back and called him out. He needs to get informed on the farmer issue.

Beneath the surface, I think Republicans are angry that their candidate was not in office the last four years, that the election was stolen, that any court case of whatever that went against him was a set-up, that he is not as bad as people think, and, besides, we are not selecting a man to serve as an elder in our churches. Perhaps anger would categorize many of us if our candidate was not elected president, and perhaps it’s unfair to point out this phenomenon as unique to Republicans in this day and age.

Democrats who gave me their opinions say they vote their conscience. By their report, their consciences are shaped by the Man from Nazareth. Republicans are in some ways like their candidate in that he makes transactional decisions. If you do this for me, I’ll do that for you. I read and hear things like, he’ll give us conservative courts so we’ll vote for him regardless of his values. He’s given us an America free by and large of abortions, so that’s a good thing, even though more women are dying or have nearly died from physicians’ fear of losing their licenses.

A long time ago, I determined to vote for the candidate who would most likely benefit “my people.” I’ve been asked multiple times, “Who are your people?” I reply, “My people are Black, brown, poor, marginalized, LGBTQ, Black farmers, people who fall between the cracks of society.” They are all around us, on the left, on the right. All we have to do is look for them.

That sounds curiously like Jesus in Luke 4 as He quotes some of Isaiah 61. Read that section as He’s just come back from the wilderness and temptations and all, and He offers His first public sermon in the synagogue. Read what He says and reflect upon what He lays out as His “mission statements” for his ministry on the earth. I think they sound more like one party than the other.

Recently I had an opportunity to listen in on a Zoom call of a large denomination as three key leaders discussed voting and issues. This sort of thing is not mentioned in the pulpits of my denomination other than “go vote to help us become a Christian nation again.” And I rebel at that notion. Instead, this denomination has a clearly thought out set of principles for voting.

“Vote of the Common Good,” they said and their document reads. The “gospel imperative to love our neighbors, to do justice, and to care for the vulnerable” are literal quotes and lined out for us to read. Do our votes help to make society better?

Taking care of creation is another “common good” imperative. Stopping pollution, ensuring clean water and air, and being good stewards of our natural resources are all key. Protecting the environment and caring for people wounded by environmental degradation is critical.

Economic sustainability is another illustration of the “common good,” ensuring that all workers have a “living wage,” reducing the wealth gap, and investing in education are other principles.

“All are sacred” is another manifestation of “common good,” protection of civil rights for everyone, “freedom of speech, religion, movement, due process and fair treatment under the law” are illustrations of this principle. Voting rights, systemic racism, and humanitarian policies here and around the world are listed.

“Affordable health care and safe living conditions for all” are other illustrations of the “common good.” Affordable healthcare, access to mental health services, strong food systems, affordable housing, reasonable gun safety laws, and prevention of violence are notable facets of this principle.

While it is not the focus of this blogpost to tell anyone how to vote, it is evident that in this particular day and age that one candidate probably does a better job at these things than others.

Prayerfully and mindfully vote and then cast your vote out of the principles by which you live your life with God as your witness.