By Renaud D. Brown, M.M.
That great hope spurred the “greatest demonstration in the history of the United States” in 1963 when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation with the urgency of now. This was a time before LGBT equality and the fight for women’s rights, though the movement has been as long as civil rights. A time before the fight for Social Security and Medicare for All, a social net out of the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. Long before the threat of a nuclear war.

Nearly fifty-five years after that, urgency has deepened. The urgency of now has not been more poignant than ever. Somehow, we lost our way. The Nixon eight-year administration ended in scandal and the war in Vietnam disheartened Americans. Reagan’s eight-year administration deepened the War on Drugs and escalated the federal debt. Briefly, fiscal control was valued under the Clinton eight-years, with nearly doubled deficits between Reagan and G. H. W. Bush, Clinton and Bush Jr., and Bush Jr. and Barack Obama. Now, we are at over $20 trillion and when we rid 45 and this administration of their positions we‘ll say OMG to the debt!

In 2015 the SCOTUS ruled Marriage Equality for All. But transgender rights are not applicable in many states and LGBT protections. As I read about Justice Clarence Thomas’ bizarre treatment of women during his time at the EEOC and until 1991 when Anita Hill testified against his confirmation hearing, he got away with it. Seems to be the conservative thing with white men in power, though some liberals recently resigned from the Congress due to misconduct involving women. Not to mention the issue of abortions. The future of the ACA could be fixed in a single-payer, Medicare for All system that guarantees 100% healthcare. Big Pharma must be negotiated. This Administration has failed to enhance healthcare multiple times.

Hard to believe what a year in this Trump administration has become, November 8, 2016’s, horrific amounts of Red across the television screen brought yet another great demonstration of our time. This November, 2017, Black women and Indivisible groups and grassroots organizations moved voters to elect Blue candidates in Red states like North Carolina and Virginia, and racist Alabama, yet Roy Moore, in Trump-like fashion, cannot accept defeat and among allegations of predatory past actions is seeking legal action. I believe that the Democrat party will see the greatest change in politics it has seen in at least three decades!

In just a year, an investigation by Robert Mueller led to indict Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and a George Papadopoulos plea deal and daily headlines that involve much disarray.

We must win races in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and all across the South in 2018. Many unknown candidates are taking positions, and this is a historical time in our political future. LGBT candidates are diversifying politics. Women are shaping politics. Our Congress’ 70-year-old and octogenarian members ought to sit down with the grandkids and great-grands. King’s dream is now and let us live out Lincoln’s hope and truly be emancipated, all Americans; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.