By Antonia Williams-Gary
Divided and conquered? “…the difficulty of connecting the authoritarian dots….” is how one analyst phrased the challenge keeping up with the Trump administration’s near-daily barrage of head-spinning antics designed to render us numb.
No one can adequately follow clear and reasonable explanations for the actions taken by Trump and his minions before another set of head-scratching headlines breaks across all media.
The latest? The nighttime extraction of Venezuelan president Maduro and his wife from their beds! Many thoughtful people accept that our aggression was about forced regime change and gaining an economic windfall from controlling the oil in that country.
Let us be clear: a revolution is being broadcast worldwide; in living color. You have been warned- repeatedly, unequivocably, and in Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s plain language.
A war has been declared. There is ongoing assault on our collected notions of fairness, on established democratic procedures, and on our general sense of feeling safe in our country.
Gone!
As I reviewed past year’s events, I realize how small the world is; we are brought together by headline stories on 24/7 breaking news. That continuous flow makes it feel like a crisis or disaster is looming everywhere- all at once.
What is the reality?
We know that in so much of the world there is strife, poverty, war, and other stressors which plague humanity, and where many of the markers of well-being in the USA and other western Countries are absent.
Why is that so? In large measure it is because of religious differences: most of the world population is Christian (28-31%), but that share is decreasing, according to the Pew Research Center; Islam is a close second and growing fast.
Our destroyer-in-chief has seized upon that bit of data as an excuse to bomb areas of Nigeria where a conflict is underway in which Christians, as well as other religions, have been victims of militants seeking power and control of territory: it is an age-old set of human greed for more- power, control, wealth.
There is increased speculation about the 2028 presidential election, and while the 2026 midterm elections have not been held yet, democrats have begun to lick their whetted lips in anticipation of victorious outcomes: especially since the unauthorized invasion of Venezuela and ongoing threats from Trump against Columbia, Cuba, Nigeria, Iran, Mexico and Greenland.
How the democrats will leverage that foreseeable success into 2028 is the subject of high expectations and enhanced ‘spin’ by the political pundits- across both parties. Some of the debated questions: Are the republicans really on the ropes? Is Trump a lame duck president? Is the president’s health going to sustain him through the upcoming elections/campaigns for his fellow party members? Can we support increasingly threatening actions against other nations?
These matters keep me awake at night, ushering in 2026 with elevated anxiety. My angst is increasing, yet I know I must not despair.
In the meantime, the populace is struggling with real grocery price hikes, handwringing over exponential increases of insurance premiums, and a general malaise has settled over all of us.
This sorry situation is not a natural condition for humans to endure over a sustained period and remain healthy- physically or emotionally. No, our natural state is to flee perceived danger and to nurture states of calm and well-being. It’s science!
We have endured years of stress under the Trump administration, including recovery from Trump 1.0, the bloodshed over the 2024 election (January 6th insurrection), and the past eleven months which have delivered a daily assault on our psyche, on our pocketbooks, and literally ongoing threats to our survival, e.g., the veiled threats of world war.
Is there enough energy left to resist?
What does any of these have to do with Blacks and our never-ending plight in America?
Dave Chappelle, modern-day provocateur and comic, released a new special on Netflix during which he tied up more than a century of American history (1910- present) to illustrate the status of Black folk in general, and Black men in particular. He pointedly described how The Mann Act was created to ensnare the audacious heavy-weight champion Jack Johnson in 1910, and which was also used to convict Sean P. Diddy Combs (fairly or not)- thus repeating what he implied as the “unstoppable” pursuit of Black men in the USA.
Chappelle ended his commentary with a clarion warning and a metaphor: that standing with Israel, i.e., siding with American foreign policy and our country’s treatment and attitude toward the oppressed, is not in our (Black folks’) interest. Chappelle’s commentary had a lot to unpack but I clearly heard the call: Black folk must remain vigilant, focused on our survival, and not give up hope.
We must all find ways to remain active citizens to what our blood, sweat, tears, and votes have wrought in America, so that one day (soon) we can claim 100% of this country- our country, of our own making in our own image: that of a true representative democracy.
We must stand united and unbowed.
I hope you continue to stand in full self-awareness as we enter a new year.
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