COMMENTARY
Jimmy Lee Tillman, II

Who will speak on behalf of Black America in a time of great distress? Who will speak to power on behalf of the forgotten class? The Black American. We give the most and get the least.
We are the forgotten class because the laws that were specifically created for our assimilation have gotten diluted or weakened. The 14th amendment, that mentions African-Americans, was for determining citizenship by birth or naturalization, the 15th amendment that prohibits denying the right to vote based on race, color or previous servitude, and The Voting Rights Act of 1965. When these laws were written the color and race being discussed was the Black American. These amendments and laws were brought forth because of the advocating from former slaves who dared to speak for their people, ordinary citizens, and on few occasions an elected official.

Rev. Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truth are two who went directly to the White House to speak with President Lincoln on behalf of slaves who had no voice or leadership. This was at a time when it dangerous for such persons to move or speak freely.

Throughout our history in this nation men and women have always gone to the seat of power to address the needs of the masses. This has been the only way we have made advances in America. Mary McCloud Bethune worked President Roosevelt and Ed Brookes, the 1st Black senator since Reconstruction, worked with President Nixon to bring forth the Brooke Amendment which limited the tenants' out-of-pocket rent expenditure to 25 percent of their income.

So who are our Rev. Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truth? Let us remember that they were not politicians but former slaves who wanted their people free. Why is it that now when we have more Blacks that are politicians than any time in American history, at the local, state, and federal levels, whether Republican or Democrat, that would do more damage by NOT speaking to President Donald J. Trump on behalf of our community, than any White politician in the Jim Crow era?