Aswad Walker interviewing someone at Discovery Green.
Aswad Walker (left) conducting an interview. Credit: Amari Walker.

For last yearโ€™s Defender Year in Review message, I ranted about worrying that Trump had a good chance to retake the White House. I then went on about MAGA-world banking on Black people being too apathetic, jaded, and/or ignorant (i.e. falling for the โ€œvoting doesnโ€™t matterโ€ line) to vote accordingly and save democracy.

I ended that message by sharing that my ranting came not from blindness to our greatness but because I see it so clearly. I believed then, as I still do now, that we possess what it takes to build the world we and our children want and need. And weโ€™re sho-nuff going to need to call upon that ability moving into 2025.

With our โ€œalliesโ€ giving us the deuces and Trump-world never meaning us any good, 2025 is the perfect definition of a FUBU year. Many of the traditional vehicles and agencies weโ€™ve come to depend on for support and backup will be gone, leaving us to fend for ourselves. But, hereโ€™s a secret. When weโ€™ve done that in our past, weโ€™ve thrived. So, for us to have a Happy New Year weโ€™ll once again need to be about that โ€œFor Us, By Usโ€ life.

I'm originally from Cincinnati. I'm a husband and father to six children. I'm an associate pastor for the Shrine of Black Madonna (Houston). I am a lecturer (adjunct professor) in the University of Houston...