By Carina Chacon
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
Donald Trump and his corrupt Department of Justice are coming after Black women, and New York Attorney General Tish James is his latest target. This follows an all-too-familiar pattern. Earlier this year, Trump attempted to baselessly fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the legal battle is ongoing—a court has allowed her to retain her position, for now). Over 300,000 Black women have lost their jobs since Trump took office.
Make no mistake: Donald Trump is targeting Black women at an extraordinarily disproportionate rate. And with the Supreme Court potentially ready to overturn the Voting Rights Act and birthright citizenship—key tenets in the Constitution to protect our fundamental rights—one thing is abundantly clear: Trump is intent on taking us back in time and offering Americans a revisionist history rooted in lies and deception.
But we know our history—Black history; women’s history; American history.
In the aftermath of Tish’s ridiculous indictment, I rallied alongside the sisterhood of Black leadership in our city. Our message was simple and united: if Donald Trump wants to come after Tish James, he’ll have to get through the rest of us first.
Here in New York City, I follow the legacy of Constance Baker Motley, the first woman, and first Black woman, to serve as Manhattan’s borough president, who fought for the revitalization of Harlem. And of Brooklyn’s own Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to serve in Congress and run for President of the United States, who created the national food supplement program we know today as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). And of Tish James, the first woman state Attorney General, and first Black woman to hold statewide office, who has fiercely defended New Yorkers against Donald Trump and the NRA, and whose former Council seat I currently hold.
Like the women before her, Tish has and will continue to face countless barriers—from societal and legal to political retribution—yet she is surviving, thriving, and delivering for the people of New York.
That legacy reminds me why we keep fighting. Black women have always held the Democratic Party on our shoulders; and despite everything this country has done to us, we’ve always fought for a better country for everyone. Our collective loyalty to the movement, our commitment to uplifting the voices of those who are most marginalized, and our charge to making the world better for the next generation—that’s what makes our communities powerful.
New York City must continue to lift up Black leadership in all branches of government—local, state, and national. It’s the only way to continue fighting against oppression that is now blatantly in the highest levels of our federal government. Voting and electing more Black leaders must be a priority of the Democratic Party.
We’ve been through challenging times before, and we’re still here. I know that Black people will continue showing up, fighting, and building – even when times get tough. We do this work knowing that if not us, someone else, somewhere down the line, will eventually achieve our goals.
That vision and persistence—that’s where our power truly lies. And right now, we need to flex that power.
Black women have always been resilient. We’ve always stood up. And we’ve always fought back. We’ll be ok.
