Vantage Point
Articles & Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels
Every year Black people look forward to the release of the National Urban League’s State of Black America Report to share insights into our progress towards achieving full freedom in this nation. The title of the 2025 Report was shocking, stunning, jolting, “State of Emergency: Democracy, Civil Rights and Progress Under Attack.” I believe this powerful report was accurate, timely and appropriately titled. Africans in America, Black people are caught up in one of the most dangerous periods in the history of the USA; a moment where, under the umbrella of the MAGA movement, the foundational documents that tenuously bind this imperfect union together are under vicious assault by racist, white supremacist and white nationalist forces.
The Declaration on Independence and Constitution are under assault. Democracy is in grave danger. It’s a popular belief in Black America that “when White folks get a cold, Black folks get pneumonia.” With Donald J. Trump, the undisputed leader of the cult-like MAGA movement in the White House, the danger to Black folks is on steroids.
With white nationalists like Stephen Miller serving as a Senior Advisor to Trump and key allies like Steve Bannon, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, the MAGA movement is hell bent on brutally turning back the clock on Black progress and erasing the legacy of the multigenerational Black Freedom Struggle from the history of the USA.
This is evident by the shocking revelation of recent events like the image depicting President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes on Trump’s page on the Federal Government website; the relentless attack on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or anything that smacks of Black; Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum decreeing that the Monument in the driveway of the home of civil rights martyr Medgar Evers will no longer be listed as an official historical marker and his recent announcement that there will no longer be free admission to national parks on Martin Luther King Holiday. Furthermore, the words racist or racism are banned as mischaracterization of American history! Trump is making it clear. His mission is to Make America White Again!
So, there is absolutely no question that there is a state of emergency in Black America. My concern is that it is a state of emergency without urgency. I do not in any way mean to suggest that our civil rights legacy organizations or multiplicity of other significant organizations, institutions, agencies and leaders in Black America are not taking the crisis seriously. They are, and each organization and leader is addressing the crisis in their own way, their own silo or circle. My urgent concern is that these individual, disjointed responses do not match the magnitude of the crisis, the state of emergency in Black America. I believe that what is required is an urgent, collective visible, public response by a united front of Black organizations and leaders to create the psychological momentum to spark a massive response by Black people to the danger to democracy and danger to Black America.
This is not a new sentiment on my part. In November of 2024 at a post-election National Forum at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC , I predicted that the election of Trump and the Republican capture of the House and Senate along with a conservative Supreme Court signaled a crisis of monumental proportions for Democracy and Black America. To overcome this danger to democracy and danger to Black America, I called for a cultural, political offensive and a coordinated collective response by leaders and organizations and outlined a series of bold actions calculated to motivate, mobilize and organize the masses of our people to confront and overcome the crisis.
Perhaps, the single most important proposal I suggested on this occasion was an Emergency Black Leadership Summit to be convened in Selma to devise a collective strategy and agenda for addressing and overcoming this monumental crisis, this state of emergency for Black America. The idea was for Black people, our people from all walks of life to see Black leadership coming together to grapple with the crisis and providing marching orders for the masses of our people. I suggested Selma because of its symbolic significance to Black America and the nation, particularly as it relates to “Bloody Sunday” and the bloody struggle that led to the currently endangered Voting Rights Act of 1965. And, especially in the wake of the 2024 election which was marked by voter suppression, confusion and the defection of a small number of Black voters that contributed to the election of Donald J. Trump and an authoritarian cabal armed with Project 2025. But the call fell on deaf ears.
In fact, given what Black Leadership knew was at stake, one could make a convincing case that an Emergency Summit should have been convened early in 2024 in preparation for one of the most crucial elections in the history of this nation. But now, under the leadership of President/CEO Marc Morial, the National Urban League’s State of Black America Report has warned us that there is a State of Emergency in Black America. I believe that if ever there was a time for an Emergency Summit, it’s now. Therefore, for whatever it’s worth, I am reissuing the call. The crisis demands bold, imaginative action.
To reiterate, it is not as if leaders and organizations have not been responding and taking various actions to address the crisis: Our Legacy Eight Civil Rights organizations meet regularly to discuss strategy and plan actions; The National Action Network led a March on Wall Street and has focused on selectively picketing the offices of corporations that have retreated on DEI; The National Urban League established a DEI Roundtable focused on educating and persuading corporations that DEI is correct in principle and good for business; The NAACP formed a Black Consumer Advisory to monitor corporate behavior as it relates to DEI. The goal is to encourage Black consumers to withdraw patronage from companies that have reneged on DEI and share information on those companies that are still committed.
Rainbow/PUSH convened a People’s Convention to adopt a policy agenda and has used its Saturday Broadcast Rallies to consistently expose the reactionary polices and actions of Trump; The Transformative Justice Coalition continues to sound the alarm regarding the multiplicity of voter suppression schemes; The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL’s) is in emergency mode organizing on the ground in Black communities utilizing strategies for mutual aid to mobilize Black people to resist fascism; Black Lives Matter Grassroots is intensifying its opposition to police violence and militarism in the U.S. and abroad through education, demonstrations and protests.
The Live Free Network is mobilizing its chapters and allies with boots on the ground and mutual aid strategies to challenge white Christian nationalism, resist ICE raids and mobilize hundreds of thousands of Black voters to turn-out for the critical 2026 Mid-Term Elections. The Congressional Black Caucus continues to issue powerful statements calling out and condemning outrageous and unconscionable acts by the Trump administration. And there is much, much more.
The volume of work cited above to address the crisis is largely disconnected but nonetheless powerful and significant. Unfortunately, most of this good work is not only disjointed, but the masses of Black people are also not aware of it. I believe that what this moment demands is an overarching collective series of bold actions that penetrate right down to where “the goats can get it” as Joe Madison used to say, bold actions like the March on Washington, Million Man and Million Women’s Marches, Rev. Jesse Jackson’s electrifying campaigns for President and Harold Washington’s brilliant first Campaign for Mayor of Chicago.
These milestone events have one thing in common: they sparked awareness, interest and excitement across all sectors in Black America; the kind of excitement that is transferable to protests, demonstrations, boycotts, voting, whatever is needed to advance and defend the collective interests and aspirations of our people. This is exactly what is urgently needed in this dangerous moment in history.
While there are numerous important events and initiatives being advanced as noted above, few have approximated the essential criteria for collective mass actions like the historic ones cited above. In that regard, it is important to cite two initiatives which have shown that potential: The State of the People Initiative and the boycott of Target.
The State of the People Initiative was conceived by Angela Rye, Esq., former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus and other notable leaders and influencers. They convened an impressive table of more than 100 leaders who were representative of virtually every sector of Black America. The goal was to plan and devise a strategy for a series of bold gatherings and events to educate and galvanize Black people to defeat MAGAISM beginning with the critical 2026 mid-term elections. A State of the People Tour to selected cities was the cornerstone of the plan. The Tour enjoyed some success but failed to garner the media support it deserved.
Nonetheless a seed was planted and can still be tapped as part of a renewed, collective national initiative to address the state of emergency in Black America. Indeed, the table that was assembled can serve as a model for an emergency Black Leadership Summit. In fact, it reminds me of the 100 plus leaders and influencers that Marc Morial and Rev. Al Sharpton convened for at least two strategy sessions at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC a few years ago. The point is we have the resources and skills to convene a representative body of Black Leaders and influencers for the express purpose of combating the crisis. It’s a matter of will.
Nothing in recent history has captured the attention of Black folks and inspired collective action right down to the grassroots more than the boycott of Target for reneging on its commitment to DEI. Irrespective of the debate over who conceived the idea of launching an economic sanctions campaign against Target, Rev. Jamal Bryant has emerged as the recognized public face, the people’s choice, for the collective resistance to a corporation that the masses of Black people feel has betrayed their interests.
When one of our daughters can come to me and say, “Poppa D, you know we’re not supposed to shop at Target,” I know the campaign has struck a nerve and awaken a spirit of resistance in our people that can and must be harnessed to address and overcome the state of emergency in Black America. That’s what I’m talking about when I speak about the urgent need for a cultural political offensive!
Some might suggest that the massive “No Kings Rallies” meet the criteria I have outlined for addressing the crisis in Black America. My response is that the No Kings Rallies have been incredibly successful and are a major vehicle for confronting the danger to democracy in this country. However, history has demonstrated time and time again the critical need for Black people to define our interests, speak for ourselves and decide the terms and conditions of alignment with significant movements led by others.
Under the current circumstances, I firmly believe Black people should be at the center and the forefront of the struggle for resistance and transformation precisely because “when White folks get a cold, Black folks get pneumonia.” As the Gary Black Political Agenda stated more than a half century ago: “…It is our people who are most hurt and ravaged by the current systems of society.” I believe the rejected stones can and must be the cornerstone for a new society!
As I pen this piece, it is less than a month from the commemoration of the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma. Given the assault on voting rights as epitomized by the judicial dismantling of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the Supreme Court and the critical midterm elections which are just months away, I am surprised that there is no national call for leaders to convene in Selma to devise a national strategy to address the state of emergency in Black America.
Be that as it may, it’s not too late to call for a Preliminary Strategy Meeting of leaders who are planning to journey to Selma or are willing to clear their schedules to come to Selma to develop an urgent call for an inclusive National Black Leadership Summit. The purpose for the Summit is to build a united front which would strive to achieve consensus on an overarching theme, a broad Black Agenda and strategy to motivate Black voters to march on ballot boxes in record numbers to rescue Black America and the nation from the infection of the racist, white supremacist and white nationalist, cult-like MAGA movement and its megalomaniacal leader.
Perhaps, at a moment of grave danger like this, it is our faith leaders who might lead the way as has been the case in virtually every major crisis Africans in America have faced in our multi-generational “stride toward freedom.” So, I have reached out to Pastor Michael McBride, Director of the Live Free Initiative and Co-Founder of Black Church Pac to consider inviting clergy and lay leaders to gather in Selma during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. Pastor Mike is a respected, trusted, visionary faith leader who has demonstrated an ability to mobilize faith leaders across denominations to address various crises and to support critical initiatives.
There is an understandable sensitivity about stepping on egos or surfacing grievances among leaders that could undermine the effort. To which I say, if there was ever a time to check our egos or set grievances aside, it’s now. We face an unprecedented danger to democracy and danger to Black America; a State of Emergency which demands urgency. Our ancestors deserve nothing less!
Buy-in and support of the organizers of the Bloody Sunday Commemoration is essential for the Preliminary Strategy Session to be successful. I am pleased that Faya Rose Toure Esq., whose family are the founders and keepers of the flame for the Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, are solidly onboard and committed. Faya Rose is also an exceptional teacher, mentor and amazing artist/cultural worker.
As fate would have it, she has composed a powerful Rap Song for this year’s Jubilee entitled “All Boots on the Bridge.” It is essentially an all-hands-on deck message to the “Rainbow,” the “beloved community,” to stand united in opposition to the retrograde agenda of Trump and MAGAISM. It is a superb call to action, an anthem, a battle cry for a united front which is appropriate for the occasion and perhaps for the movement ahead.
Finally, I am aware that I am not in the top tier of Black leaders and influencers in Black America, some of whom I know and respect. But the mantra of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), my legacy endeavor is: “Cultivating a Culture of Collaboration to Heal and Empower Black Families Communities and Nations.” I have built a reputation for convening and facilitating gatherings of leaders and organizations across the spectrum in Black America to promote collaborative projects and initiatives. So, I pray that this call to action from an ancient one, an OG in the winter of my life’s work will evoke a positive response.
All Roads Lead to Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday and for a Preliminary Strategy Session to address the State of Emergency in Black America. All Boots on the Bridge. Keep Hope Alive!
