Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson speaks to police and youth attending a 5000 Role Models conference at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Nov. 1, 2022. (Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald/TNS

By Rep. Frederica S. Wilson

History has a way of disappearing if no one is willing to tell it.

Too often, we celebrate milestones without remembering the struggle that made them possible. We inherit rights without understanding who fought for them. We walk through doors without knowing who had to break them open. That is why I believe every generation has a responsibility to remember, because when history fades, so does our appreciation for what it took to change it.

This is not an endorsement of any candidate. It is a civics lesson. It is a history lesson. Before you cast your ballot, know the story of District 20.

District 20 is more than a congressional district. It is a civil rights victory.

Its story begins with Josiah Thomas Walls, the first Black Congressman from the State of Florida. His election during Reconstruction represented one of the nation’s earliest promises that democracy could become broader, fairer, and more representative. For a brief moment, Black Floridians saw themselves reflected in the halls of Congress.

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That promise did not last.

Across the South, white supremacist violence sought to erase the gains of Reconstruction. Terror replaced hope. Intimidation replaced participation. Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan worked to drive Black Americans from public life and dismantle the political power they had only just begun to build. Josiah Walls was forced from Congress on April 19, 1876, and with his departure, Florida entered one of the darkest chapters in its democratic history.

For the next 117 years, Florida did not elect another Black Member of Congress.

That is longer than any lifetime. Entire generations were born, raised, and buried without ever seeing Black representation from Florida in the United States Congress. Families taught their children to keep believing even when history gave them every reason to lose hope. Black people died. Black blood was shed. Black skulls were cracked beneath the blows of nightsticks. In the rivers of Florida, the water became an unmarked grave for Black Americans whose only demand was the right to vote, to be fairly represented, and to have their voices heard. Churches became organizing centers. Neighborhoods became movements. Ordinary citizens are still carrying, to this day, extraordinary burdens because they refused to accept that this was permanent.

The story of District 20 is, in many ways, the story of America itself. It is a story of extraordinary progress born from extraordinary sacrifice. It is also a reminder that progress has never followed a straight line. Every advance has been met by resistance. Every victory has required vigilance.

Then, in 1993, history turned.

Corrine Brown, Carrie Meek, and Alcee Hastings were elected to Congress, ending a silence that had lasted 117 years. Their elections did more than fill three seats. They restored a voice that had been absent from Florida’s congressional delegation for more than a century. They reminded the nation that the arc bends towards justice.

Congressman Alcee Hastings would go on to represent what is now Congressional District 20 for many years, carrying forward that legacy of service and advocacy.

District 20 is the legacy of those who refused to be erased.

It is a seat paid for by generations of Black sacrifice.

It exists because countless Black people challenged barriers that once seemed impossible to overcome. Black people organized when organizing carried real risks. Black people marched when marching invited retaliation. Black people voted when others worked tirelessly to deny them that right. Black people understood that democracy is strongest when every community has an opportunity to be represented and every citizen has a voice.

White nationalists marched through our nation’s capital carrying Confederate flags on the Fourth of July just to remind us that Black people cannot be comfortable. Even after more than 400 years of slavery, we still have to continue the fight. The fight for our freedom did not end. It simply became our generation’s responsibility.

That is why the history of District 20 matters.

If Black lives matter, then the history of Black representation matters too.

Representation is not merely symbolic. It shapes conversations and brings lived experiences into the rooms where decisions are made. A representative cannot erase history, but a representative can ensure that history is remembered.

The story of District 20 is also the story of America’s promise and its failures. It reminds us how difficult it has been to expand democracy and how much determination it has taken to make our institutions more representative of the people they serve. It teaches us that progress is not inevitable. It is built, protected, and renewed by each generation.

That is why history deserves our attention.

As the highest-ranking Black elected official in the State of Florida, I have a responsibility to tell you the truth. I know what our ancestors endured to earn a voice in these halls of power, and I know how quickly that voice can be taken away. I know what it costs to lose representation because our history has already lived through that pain.

That is why I am imploring you to vote like your future depends on it, because it does.

We deserve a seat at every table where decisions about our lives, our children, our communities, and our future are made. That seat was not given to us. It was earned through generations of Black sacrifice.

At a time when President Trump and many Republicans are working to undo decades of hard-fought progress, we need a fighter in Congress who understands the lived experiences of Black communities, who knows the history that brought us here, who recognizes what is at stake, and who will never hesitate to defend our right to be heard, represented, and included wherever decisions about our future are made.

So, I am asking you to do more than vote.

I am asking you to honor those who never lived to see this moment because freedom has always demanded participation.

That future is now in your hands.

Every generation must choose whether it will preserve it or surrender it.

When you enter that voting booth, remember that you are carrying the hopes and voices of those who were denied one.

You are carrying the prayers of those who never stopped believing that America could live up to its promise.

Do not leave that legacy behind.

Because District 20 is more than a seat in the United States Congress, it is the seat that Black history built.

Now it is our responsibility to make sure history never has to build it again.

Courtesy of the Westside Gazette

Based on reporting by Jacksonville Free Press.

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It was like a “Tale of Two Cities”: The best of times and the Worst of Times.

It was the best of times for the hundreds of immigrants that were sworn in as U.S. naturalized citizens across this great land. Their swearing in was a manifestation of the provisions of the 14th Amendment creating citizenship status for persons not born in this country; a provision of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution just as important as citizenship by birth. This is the provision that President Trump tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify, the Birthright Citizenship case which the Court rejected.

While many recited the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence words stating that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….” Many among us are being denied those very rights today as evidenced by armed troops on the streets of our cities and Federal agents killing and imprisoning immigrants, citizens and anyone who appears to be out of step with this administration.

The celebrations, parades and millions of dollars spent on fireworks left many of us to remember to question those events with the immortal words of Federick Douglas when he raised his rhetorical question during the 1852 76th anniversary celebration of America’s independence; “WHAT TO THE NEGRO (BLACK PEOPLE) IS YOUR FOURTH OF JULY….? TODAY ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FOUR YEARS LATER, the question is

still all too real. For those of us concerned about the police state and kingship that Donald Trump would establish, let us take heart in the fact that today we have tools that Douglas did not have. In addition to the Constitution with its 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the only thing we lack to make change is the will to get involved and do so. Let’s start right where we live. Let’s start with the issue of making sure that each of us can vote, register and prepare to do so. Let’s take another look at how we are spending the few dollars we have. Let’s take another look at who we can help as a part of our collective and prepare to use our numbers like never before in all that we do. Let’s create our own fireworks that will last all year long with our involvement and collective agreement to help ourselves before we expect others to do so, and in all this, let’s make a lasting reality out of the change that Frederick Douglas envisioned.

Based on reporting by Milwaukee Community Journal.

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By any measure, economic mobility is about more than money.

The ability to buy a home, start a business, attend college, access healthcare, vote, and advocate for one’s interests all shape whether families can build wealth and pass opportunity to future generations.

That reality is why many economists and civil rights scholars argue that the policies emerging from President Donald Trump’s second administration have major implications for Black economic mobility.

Some supporters contend that Trump’s emphasis on deregulation, lower taxes, and merit-based policies could create broader economic growth. Critics argue that cuts to diversity initiatives, civil-rights protections, and social programs disproportionately harm Black communities that already face historic barriers to wealth accumulation.

The truth may ultimately be found somewhere between those competing narratives.

Economic mobility: Income and more

According to Federal Reserve data, the median wealth of Black families remains a fraction of that of white families. Black homeownership rates also continue to trail national averages, while Black entrepreneurs remain more likely to be denied financing and less likely to receive venture capital investment.

“Where you start in America still matters too much,” noted economist William Darity Jr., whose research has focused extensively on racial wealth disparities.

As corporations scaled back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and government agencies faced sweeping cuts, Black women were among the hardest hit. Between spring and late 2025, more than 300,000 Black women either lost jobs, left the workforce, or were pushed out of employment, according to labor data and economic reports tracking the crisis.

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Unemployment among Black women climbed from 5.4% to as high as 7.3% by the end of the year — one of the steepest increases of any demographic group. These numbers have an outsized impact on Black communities because nearly 80% of Black mothers in America are primary, sole, or co-breadwinners for their families, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

And what has gone almost unnoticed is that between November 2025 and February 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 567,000 Black men lost their jobs across all sectors.

As a result, policy changes affecting employment, housing, education, healthcare, business development, and voting rights can have significant economic consequences.

Texas Southern University (TSU) Professor Michael O. Adams argues that the current U.S. “war economy” isn’t helping matters.

“We need more reinvestment into domestic kinds of issues,” said Adams. “I’m looking at healthcare, education, and economic development… the war economy takes away from those efforts.”

According to Fortune Magazine, the engagement—dubbed Operation Epic Fury—is producing a “war economy” that is costing U.S. taxpayers over $1 billion a day.

Housing: The foundation of wealth

Homeownership remains the primary source of wealth for most American families.

One area of concern among housing advocates is the Trump administration’s opposition to race-conscious housing and reparative programs. The administration recently challenged a housing-reparations initiative in Evanston, Illinois, arguing that race-based housing assistance violates civil-rights laws. Supporters of the program say such initiatives are designed to address generations of housing discrimination.

Critics worry that similar challenges could limit future efforts to narrow the racial homeownership gap.

At the same time, supporters of the administration argue that reducing regulations and increasing housing supply could help all buyers regardless of race.

Whether those broader market benefits outweigh the loss of targeted programs remains a subject of debate among housing economists.

Black businesses face new questions

Black-owned businesses generated record growth following the pandemic, yet many still rely heavily on government contracts, supplier-diversity programs, and technical-assistance initiatives.

One of Trump’s most consequential actions has been a series of executive orders that have ended or restricted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements in federal agencies and federal contracting. The administration argues these measures restore “merit-based opportunity” and equal treatment under the law.

However, many Black business advocates see potential economic risks.

The administration revoked Executive Order 11246, a civil rights-era policy that required federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity.

Reuters reported that minority contractors have already expressed concerns that changes to disadvantaged-business programs could reduce opportunities for Black-owned firms competing for infrastructure and government projects. Some contractors reported revenue losses, delays, and layoffs connected to certification changes.

For cities like Houston, where minority-owned firms play a major role in public contracting, the long-term effects could be substantial.

And with so many taxpayer dollars still directed towards the war in Iran, Houston’s roughly 200,000 Black businesses are on the front lines when it comes to being negatively impacted. Higher freight and energy costs, for instance, are wreaking havoc on already thin margins.

“I’m not sure people realize the tight margins small businesses operate within,” said Judson Robinson, president and CEO of the Houston Area Urban League. “When the price of oil needlessly skyrockets, the burden on Black people increases exponentially… it erases profit margins and can put you out of business.”

Education and workforce development

Higher education remains one of the strongest predictors of lifetime earnings.

The Trump administration has highlighted additional investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as evidence of its commitment to expanding opportunity. The White House has promoted increased support for HBCUs and workforce development initiatives as part of its Black History Month agenda.

However, in September of last year, the Department of Education (ED) announced it would pull the plug on approximately $350 million in discretionary funds for institutions that enroll a high percentage of minority students, including HBCUs

Additionally, many education advocates argue that the broader anti-DEI campaign may reduce programs designed to recruit, retain, and support underrepresented students on college campuses.

The administration contends such programs often violate principles of equal treatment. Opponents argue they address documented disparities in access and outcomes.

Healthcare and economic security

Economic mobility is difficult without good health.

Healthcare cuts or reductions in public benefits often affect Black households disproportionately because Black Americans are more likely to rely on Medicaid and other public-health programs.

Policy analysts warn that reductions in healthcare access can produce long-term economic consequences, including higher medical debt, lower workforce participation, and reduced family wealth.

For many families, healthcare costs can be the difference between building savings and falling deeper into financial insecurity.

Voting rights and political power

Economic mobility is also connected to political power.

Voting determines who controls budgets, education funding, housing policy, infrastructure spending, and economic-development initiatives.

Civil-rights advocates have expressed concern that efforts to weaken federal oversight of voting protections could reduce political influence in Black communities. While supporters argue that election-integrity measures strengthen confidence in elections, critics contend that some policies not only create additional barriers to participation but also actively create a reality of voter suppression.

The economic implications are significant because communities with less political representation often have less influence over public investment decisions.

Bottom line

For Black America, economic mobility has never depended solely on individual effort. It has also depended on public policy. Federal and state policies moving forward may determine whether Black families can narrow longstanding wealth gaps—or whether those gaps become even harder to close.

Based on reporting by Houston Defender.

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