My Vote Has Been Cast and Why I Voted the Way I Did

My wife and I voted via mail-in this week. We'd pondered it long and hard, studied the options both for us here in North Texas and other places, and decided that it was a safe option. There was much energy as I opened the big blue envelope, read the instructions, pulled out the ballot, filled in the bubbles, placed it in the yellow envelope, sealed it, signed it, and then put it in the mailbox for our mail person to pick up.

We have discussed things long and hard around my house. We have watched CNN and MSNBC and tried to watch FOX. We watch the evening news religiously and that includes a daily dose of Lester Holt before a deep dive into "Big Bang Theory." Then we wrap up the evening with a dose of Chris Cuomo at 8:00 pm. We obviously have our biases. 

We read the newspapers. I read from a variety of sources including my friends and my not-so-good friends. Sometimes my friends on the right will venture over onto my page with uninvited stuff. I generally read those and either response or delete them. I never venture onto other friends' pages without being invited to do so. Kind of like coming into someone's home without being invited. That's a story for another day. 

As an aside, sadly enough, it seems that some of my friends read very little outside of their political preferences. 

You and I are four years into the trump administration weary. It has come to be same song, umpteenth verse. Maybe a few new players, but the same messaging. I am weary of the vitriol and the conflict between people, family, and friends. I have a wide variety of friends, on the left, on the right, and somewhere betwixt and between. Some are hard core Trump followers. Some are hard core Biden followers. Some once were Republicans and now are not. 

Posts about Buddy the Boxer get the most hits, second to my wife and the grandchildren. 

So, what I have to say here will be of no surprise to those who know me and my background. I was once a Republican, card-carrying and all, and even a member of NRA eons ago, but once I became involved in civil rights and Black farmers, I could no longer in all good conscience follow that path. 

At another big picture level, I am voting Biden/Harris because they are pro-choice. I am not pro-abortion, but I am pro women, and hopefully their spouses and partners as well, making difficult decisions for themselves and their futures. Sadly enough, no one size fits all here. I am pro-life up and down the spectrum, from before birth to death at all points and that includes birth, programs for young families, and prisons.  The Republican party is focused more on being pro-birth. If you want fewer abortions, vote Democratic, because the stats are clear that fewer abortions occur during Democratic administrations because of a greater emphasis on health care, birth control, and support for young mothers. The stats are there, check them out. 

Therefore, I am not a single-issue voter like many of my friends. All issues are important, and lives of babies, mothers, and families are important, from the cradle to the grave. And, no, I am repulsed that some would call Democrats, "baby killers." That is just not anywhere close to reality. 

So, here I am by the grace of God, living another year. Here is why I voted for the Biden/Harris ticket. Here is the link to their policies if you wish to read further on his ideas for rural America. Here are his larger, more global plans. These personal reasons are in no particular order. 

1) I am ready to return to civility, a return to across the isle conversations in the House and in the Senate. Biden/Harris show the best way forward. Trump has shown that he despises all of those who not agree with him. 

2) Biden/Harris' campaign policies make a lot of sense while Trump's are non-existent or reworks of rhetoric from four years ago. Trump's platinum plan for Black Americans looks insulting to me, especially his notion of making Juneteenth a national holiday. 

3) Biden/Harris offer the most in terms of an economic recovery with promises for middle class as well as those on the poverty line. 

4) Biden/Harris promise tax increases for businesses and for those who make more than $400K, not for the average person like you and me. Trump's tax plan benefited the rich and the corporate structure, not people like you and me. 

5) Biden/Harris will fight to strengthen ACA while Trump wants to dismantle it. Watch very closely the Supreme Court hearings and rulings in a few weeks. Trump says he wants to ensure that those with pre-existing conditions are covered, but his weak executive order did nothing but amount to his name in bold writing on a piece of paper. 

6) Biden/Harris will work hard to return America to a place of respect in the world while Trump will continue to behave in such a way so as to bring derision and pity upon us. 

7) Biden/Harris' civil rights policies for Black farmers, though weak at best, is much, much more substantive than that of Trump. Trump's policies have led to more bankruptcies than ever while only the large, white, corporate farms are getting subsidies all of which make up 40% of farm income, per a recent investigative report. While Trump says nothing about Black farmers, Biden's policies include an examination of the inequities in farm loans and all when comparing minority farmers versus white farmers. As I have said several times, the Coalition with which I work has encouraged Biden/Harris to adopt the Warren Plan. They have not as of yet, but we will keep pushing because it is the best plan out there. 

8) Biden/Harris will address historically egregious lending policies that marginalized people of color such that generational wealth when comparing white families to Black families shows an incredible disparity. 

9) Biden/Harris will make inroads and innovations into rural America in terms of jobs and infrastructure such as internet, roads, and other matters. 

10) Biden/Harris will maintain Medicaid and Medicare and programs that strengthen families. They will also push for Medicare for all with two major options. 

11) The Biden/Harris ticket will support economically the historically underfunded HBCUs. It's about time. 

12) Biden will undo all of the executive orders that are harmful to people and to the environment. 

13) Biden will get us back into the Paris Accord and return to the table in sanctioning Iran and its nuclear weapons buildup. 

14). Biden will return to the table of negotiations with our allies and begin to repair the damage done by four years of Trump policies and behaviors. 

15) Biden will call out Putin and put an end to bounties on the heads of our troops. 

16) Biden/Harris will get the runaway spending under control.

17) Biden/Harris will nominate key leaders for the myriad of positions that are still unfilled by the trump administration. 

18) Biden/Harris will have an administration and cabinet that looks more like America rather than primarily white men. 

19) Both Biden and Harris are people of faith and have known to be so for quite some time, not just of late. He is a practicing Roman Catholic and she is a Baptist. Numerous Roman Catholics and Evangelicals support Biden/Harris. 

20) Biden/Harris believe in science and will follow best practices as spelled out by the scientists in overcoming the coronavirus. They have followed best practices from the beginning of the outbreak despite being taunted for doing so by trump. They will respect NIH, CDC, and HHS. They will return us to membership in WHO. One report I read said that they will reinstitute the pandemic response team that trump disbanded. 

21) Harris responded well in her debate with Pence. She will make a formidable VP in her own right. Her career as an AG for California and as a Senator give her immense experience, especially given the committees that she currently serves on. Much more could be written just about her. 

There are likely more that I'll add later, but for now, here I stand. 

LETTER TO THE BIDEN/HARRIS CAMPAIGN

 LETTER TO THE BIDEN/HARRIS CAMPAIGN

September 16, 2020

Subject: Discovery of Significant Information

Only days after we released our “Open Letter to Vice President Joe Biden,” September 6, 2020, we received a copy of the letter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law dated January 9, 2009. We were shocked that this letter affirms the legitimacy of the work that we have been trying to accomplish with the Biden/Harris campaign for months.

 This letter clearly highlights a legacy of discriminatory actions by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). These include areas of farm loans and benefit programs along with “outright displays of bias against minorities and minorities and women, especially in the county-level offices of USDA.” Given this legacy within the USDA and its challenges, the committee made four recommendations: “(1) a moratorium on foreclosures against minority and women farmers with pending complaints, (2) a requirement that county office interactions with farmers be documented; (3) a mandate to generate better data on socially disadvantaged farmers: and (4) establishment of a minority farmer advisory committee,” all of which were spelled out in the 2008 farm bill. If the administrations had followed the edicts of the farm bill, many of the problems of USDA civil rights would have been resolved.

The author of the letter concludes, “It is appalling that any American today should still face the kind of entrenched discrimination at the hands of a Federal government agency that minorities and women face when dealing with the USDA.” The author predicts that “unless the foreclosure moratorium is implemented immediately, more of these farmers will lose their farms.”

The problem is we have too many sitting in a room planning the destruction of other peoples’ lives instead of improving them. Where was the rush to fix the problems addressed in this letter....by the Vilsack administration?

We absolutely agree with the Lawyers’ Committee addressing key strategies for changing the systemic racial and gender inequality at the USDA. History tells us that their appeal landed on deaf ears. President after president, congress after congress, secretary after secretary, and lastly, election after election, civil rights at USDA remains dysfunctional. Our demands for justice at USDA are further justified as a result of this letter.

We appealed to the Biden/Harris Campaign to adopt the civil rights fixes in the Warren and Sanders plans. However, after many months of meetings this recommendation was not taken seriously. To add salt to the wound, you stated that our request to address Black farmer issues was unconstitutional.

The Biden/Harris Campaign shows an unwillingness to address issues that could change the course of USDA. Warren and Sanders listened to Black farmers, urban farmers, and their advocates and produced comprehensive strategies that would fix USDA civil rights once and for all. They seemed to have understood the gravity of the injustices done to Black farmers. They understood the need for systemic changes at USDA…. not putting a band-aid on a cancer.

We want the Biden/Harris Campaign to implement the recommendations per the Lawyers’ Committee as well as the Warren and Sanders Plans.

That said:

·         What actions will you be taking regarding this newly surfaced letter from the Lawyers Committee?

·         What is the relevance/connection in USDA 2009 and today’s USDA’s civil rights?

·         What impact, if any, does the Lawyers Committee letter have on your “plan” for fixing systemic discrimination at USDA?

This widespread racism and sexism have become a social justice issue which cannot be side-stepped with your sudden silence. Is your silence the punishment for speaking the truth regarding USDA civil rights?

This is our appeal for justice, dignity, and respect. This is for the living and for those who died waiting for justice from USDA.

Black Lives Matter,

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus

USDA Coalition of Minority Employees

www.agcoalition.org

Justice for Black Farmers

justice4bf@gmail.com

856-910-2399

CC: Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

        Others

Interviewing Legends, How Does One Do That?

Today was another one of those days that defies description. We cannot meet in the Community Center because the A/C would be too loud, so we move to the local community's library.  There we are greeted by the head librarian who shows us a conference room to the back of the building that will be remote and quiet.

Shoun sets up his recording equipment.  I discuss details and legalities with the interviewees, and then we are ready to begin.

How does one interview family? How does one interview legends? How does one interview people who both family and legends? That was my task for today. I just want to do well.

This is personal and uniquely so.  Some farmers I met briefly 25 or so years ago.  Some I have just met.  While the bonds of attachment form quickly when centered around things that matter, this interview is different.  Across the table sits a brother and a sister whom we have known for 14 years.  We have traveled the road together, celebrated with food, discussed things that matter deeply, and have learned to love each other despite our different backgrounds, races, and all manner of other things.

She asked me if I was part Black. I was taken aback. No one has ever asked me about that. She then said something about how much passion I bring to these issues.  My response was, "I think my soul is brown." We chuckled and moved on.

It was another memorable interview.  There are all memorable. This one was memorable.

We discussed family history, legacies, leadership in the community, and how a farm could educate them and their siblings.  We discussed how in different ways each of them was a national figure.

We could have lingered for hours.  The thing that brought us together was painful.  The USDA not once, not twice, but three times had agreements to settle the injustices done to their parents.  Not once, not twice, but three times, the USDA finagled their way out of the agreements.  This family has withstood enormous pressures to hold on to their land.  Insurmountable odds have been placed in their way, yet they still own the land.  They still live on the land.

They and their parents have spent well over 100,000 hours fighting for their cause.  They have spent untold amounts of their money in attempting to find justice for their parents who died prematurely in the cause.

As the evening shadows began to creep, we sat on their property, taking pictures, filming, and
conversing about things that matter. We flicked the mosquitoes off. We'll fight them later. They are growing older.  We are growing older. We'll not be here forever.

We wanted to linger. And then linger some more.  Again, the ground was sacred. We talked of dying and entombment and where.

Then it was time to go. We departed like friends with hugs and words of affection.

Yes, today I interviewed legends who are family. Family who are legends.

Moments not soon forgotten.