February brings Black History Month, and we will see a lot of pictures of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and so many other black civil rights icons from the Florida Democratic Party. This is the month the black community will get a lot of verbal love from the FDP.
I will be side-eyeing that mess heavily, and so should you. One month out of the year, the shortest month I might add, the black community gets attention from the FDP.
The only other time our community gets any attention is during election time, and then it's only when candidates want to run through our churches.
The candidates contact our elected officials to see which ones can escort them to church.
In the last 6 years, when was the last time anyone spotted Bill Nelson in the black community?
Has Bill Nelson ever spent any time doing anything in our community?
Does he have any type of connection with us?
I'll go ahead and answer that question for you: No he does not. Bill Nelson has absolutely no connection with the black community whatsoever.
Now that he is up for reelection, however, I'm sure he will find some black elected official to escort him to some black church or some black event to try to get those votes he now needs.
Let's be clear.
When it was reported that Hillary Clinton lost the white working class northern florida Democratic voters, the FDP decided to break its back to show those voters they mattered and that they were going to be a priority.
When it was reported that the black voter turnout was 12.5 percent, no one said a word. No program was rolled out. No incentive grants were offered.
Nothing.
As usual, the FDP doesn't give a rat's crack about the black vote because they are so sure black people will never do anything other than vote Democratic.
Black History
Black History includes the Clintons and the time they decided to chase the white vote to the detriment of the black vote in the same manner.
Do not forget. It's what gave you the 1994 Crime Bill. It's what gave you that Sista Soulja moment. It's what gave you Hillary Clinton's super predator comment.
Please read Michelle Alexander's "New Jim Crow."
It amazes me that florida Democrats want the help and support of black Democrats, but offer none when it comes to black issues.
Where are the articles about black issues?
Not only are there none, folks are clutching their pearls that I DARE speak up for my community. I guess I'm supposed to be quiet and let them continue to take advantage of the black vote. Let's face it, Democrats use black people. Period.
Where is the help for Desmond Meade and his ballot initiative for restoration of felons' rights? I don't recall seeing any articles written in any of the liberal blogs regarding that. I was happy to see the recent article saying that Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon is making restoration of felons' rights and the ballot initiative a priority.
All I see is an uproar about me writing for the conservative SSN. Give me a break. Barney Bishop, a Democrat, writes in Sunshine State News, and no one says a word. Is it because he is a white male Democrat? The black female Democrat is the only one who has to stay in her lane. I guess I wasn't given permission to wander off the plantation.
I talk about engaging the black community during times other than election time. Do Democrats actually do that?
Like it or not, Rick Scott actually does.
Look at his schedule. It's public. See how many times he has visited Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County. I wonder how many other communities he visits. This one is more than Nelson!
If you want to know how he doubled his percentage of the black vote from 6 percent to 12 percent from 2010 to 2014, that's how.
He is visiting the black communities outside of election time. He is discussing jobs.
Does Bill Nelson even know where the black communities are?
I have received a lot of email that has made me hopeful my community is starting to realize there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. People, Democrats, are reading my column in SSN. I'm glad. It's reaching the black community. I'm hoping the readership continues to grow. They need to know it's OK to question the BS going on in the party. They don't have to blindly give their vote away.
(Former) Sen. Bill Nelson is going to be in for a big surprise in 2018.
The black community is tired of being taken for granted, and that is going to show when Bill Nelson loses.
The black community has to stop rewarding bad behavior, and the treatment we receive from the Democratic Party is nothing short of bad behavior.
Our votes are our power, and we must stop giving our power away to people who have not earned it.
Make them earn it!
Leslie Wimes is founder and president of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @womenonthemove1
