It's time to lock our arms and stand strong for Black rights. Let Mandela guide us

Miami Herald

21-02-2025

'No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.' — Nelson Mandela
The words of the late Nelson Mandela seem to be more relevant today than they when he spoke them. That is because in this month when we celebrate love, and the history of Black Americans, the love of one's neighbor seems to be off the table. This is because fear has taken the place of love in America.
I almost hate to watch the news or read the paper these days. People are losing their jobs. So, families fear the future — will they be homeless, living out of their cars, or on the streets? Will they be able to feed their children? Clothe them and educate them? Simply put, will they be able to make ends meet at all?
There is the fear of dismantling Social Security, so the elderly, who paid their share each payday, with the hope they would have some kind of security in their golden years, now fear that it can all end with the swipe of a pen. They worry about how they will survive if this happens.
Then, there is the fear that the strides we have made toward equality for all of America's people will abruptly end as laws like the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a landmark civil rights law that outlawed discriminatory voting practices and gave the federal government power to oversee voter registration, was effectively gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
You ask, what does love have to do with voting rights? Everything! It's called loving your neighbor as yourself. It's called being concerned about the well-being of others and knowing that we are all in this together.
When love goes out the window, fear comes in to take its place. And fear can cause utter chaos in our country. Already I see signs of it creeping in.
As one who has lived through the post-slavery Jim Crow era and the segregation that it brought, the Civil Rights era and the hope that it brought, I was always amazed at how the battle of segregation and Jim Crow was fought and won, mainly by showing love and concern for each other.
People of all races and cultures joined in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans (and women, too). Some of them even died for the cause of freedom. If that isn't love, then I don't know what love is.
The spirit of all Americans — especially Black Americans — seems to be depressed. And, for good reason, too. Since the pandemic, we've seen many of our books banned. (When I learned that one of the books banned in Florida was the story of Ruby Bridges, who integrated an elementary school in New Orleans when she was only 6, I knew we were in trouble.). Already, much of our history has been snatched away.
But we Blacks know what to do. If our teachers are no longer allowed to teach our children and other children our history (and it could very well happen at any time), the burden falls on us. We must tell our children their history. We must tell it with pride and love, thereby passing it on to those who sit at our feet.
I want to remind anyone who is low in spirit because of the way things are going these days, to take a look back at how far we've come and how we got from there to here. We simply stood strong together. We tried to make our country better. We loved out loud by locking arms and saying, through our actions, that we wouldn't take it anymore.
And so, with arms locked and feet shod with the shoes of freedom, we took to the streets, unafraid. We marched peacefully, prayerfully, purposefully. We knew the task ahead would be hard. There would be fire hoses and spitting dogs and police nightsticks to contend with.
But we marched on, out of love of self and for our fellow human beings. We marched on to Freedomland.
As I write this, it seems like that was so many years ago, and I would never again, in my lifetime, have to go through or witness such a time again. But, my friends, history sometimes really does repeat itself.
Because of the state of America today and the fear of what is to come, we have come full circle. There are rumors of new peaceful protests and boycotts, the tools that helped to bring about freedom for Blacks in the America we love.
But those early protests were not non-violent. Many of the protesters still have the scars to remind them of those days. Others carried the scars with them to their graves.
When I hear of future protests, I think, haven't we been there and done that? We have. We protested proudly, out of love for our fellow human beings and to make our country live up to what it says in the Constitution – that all men are created equal.
And if peaceful protests and boycotts can help us to back on the right track of moving forward, I say let's get rid of the depression that is hovering over us. If it comes to peacefully protesting, let us lock arms once again and do it together.
Let's honor Nelson Mandela's memory and let it be a lesson in love.