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The Beans Don’t Lie, But Aaron Bean Does

EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is courtesy of our friends at United Nassau Florida. Aaron Bean is a sitting US Conggressman representing Florida District 4, which includes parts nof Nassau and Duval counties, inclduing the neighborhoods of Riverside, Avondale, and Murray Hill.

This video isn’t something we want to subject you to, but it’s eye-opening. Sometimes you have to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth for the impact to sink in. We apologize for the unpleasant content, but we believe it’s important.

Congressman Bean loves to talk about “protecting police dogs.”  He praises his K-9 Protection Act as if it were the height of compassion, yet says nothing about the people brutalized by the same agencies those dogs serve. While ICE and Border Patrol have slammed unarmed civilians to the pavement and terrorized families, Bean’s outrage begins and ends with the animals.

We value every life, human and canine, but compassion that ignores human suffering isn’t compassion at all.

Behind that grin lies something darker a steady stream of lies, hypocrisy, and cruelty wrapped in charm.

The man who claims to “stand with working families” voted for a so-called “Clean Continuing Resolution”, a bill that would have allowed subsidies to expire for the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) and block Medicaid extensions.

Had that bill passed in the Senate, Marketplace healthcare premiums would have skyrocketed, and health coverage would have been stripped from millions of Americans, leaving families across Florida facing impossible medical bills or no care at all.

He calls it “fiscal responsibility”

We call it what it is: an attack on the health and dignity of the people he’s sworn to represent.

When Bean talks about compassion, he means “damage control.”

He wrote letters asking utility companies to show “mercy” to federal workers, the same workers losing paychecks because he voted for a budget bill that slashed ACA subsidies, fueling the shutdown standoff in the Senate.

He calls it “compassion”

We call it what it is: Theater.

He grins beside dialysis patients and seniors in nursing homes while voting for the Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, legislation that threatens or eliminates the very programs those people rely on.

He calls it “fiscal discipline.”

We call it: Cruelty disguised as compassion.

Aaron Bean doesn’t stand with working families. He stands in front of them, for the photo op.

Bean is now proudly promoting his “LEO K-9 Protection Act,” calling police dogs “precious animals” who deserve “safe haven.”

But where is his compassion for people?

For the migrants and protesters slammed to the ground by ICE officers, for the people thrown into ravines and detention cages, for the workers who are unable to feed their families because of his votes.

He weeps for wounded dogs while ignoring human beings brutalized by the same agencies he glorifies.

Bean cries for K-9s while turning his head away from people

We call it: Selective empathy, the cruelty of moral convenience.

Now, he’s trying to sell the lie of a “Senate-led shutdown.”

Here’s the truth:

  • The shutdown began in the House, when MAGA Republicans refused to pass bipartisan funding that the Senate had already approved.
  • He claims Democrats “voted to keep the government closed.”
  • What he doesn’t say is that those bills were loaded with MAGA poison pills, deep cuts to healthcare, disaster relief, and environmental protections.

He created the crisis and now blames others for the pain.

It’s the oldest political trick in the book: “cause the fire, then pose with the hose.”

Bean’s job isn’t governing, it’s performing.

He loves ribbon cuttings and happy talk about “Florida sunshine.” Meanwhile, Florida families face rising prices, shrinking safety nets, and lost paychecks.

When the lights go off and the cameras turn away, his compassion disappears right along with them.

Aaron Bean doesn’t understand the No Kings movement because he doesn’t understand democracy.

He calls peaceful citizens “unruly.”

He praises power and mocks dissent.

And he serves a movement that would rather rule than represent.

Let’s Rally!
Join Us For the “Beans For Beans” Protest
because Bean Doesn’t Give A Hill of Beans About His Constituents
Beans for Bean is part protest, part food drive, all heart.

Let’s support local families: Bring a food donation (try to choose low salt, low sugar) and/or hygiene products. Don’t forget a can of Beans!

We will peacefully stand up with our signs and our voices against the cruelty of shutdown politics.

When Bean fails the people he was elected to support, community will step in.

If Bean won’t feed the people, we will!

Let’s show what real compassion looks like.

Sign up via Mobilize: Click Here

 Date: November 8, 2025

 Time: 12noon – 1:30pm

 Location: 501 Centre Street – In front of Beans office

Bring: Food donation, Signs, courage, and your voice.

Message: Bean Doesn’t Give a Hill of Beans About His Constituents

Sign Ideas

•       Spillin’ the beans on Bean!

•      Cool beans? Not this one!

•    Bad beans make the whole pot stink!

•       Warning may contain hot air and Beans – with his picture

•       No more Has-Beans in Congress

•       Bean there, done that. We need change!

•       Spillin’ the beans on Bean!

•       Cool beans? Not this one!

•       Bad beans make the whole pot stink!

•       No hill of Beans can hide the truth

•       Beans for Bean – not for us

•       Protect democracy – not deceit

•       Beans compassion stops at the kennel door

•       Lies, Spin, and Photo Ops is Not Leadership

•       Healthcare Isn’t a Talking Point, Bean – It’s a lifeline

•       Shame on Bean: Voting against Working Families

•       Bean’s smiles can’t cover his cruel votes!

•       End the Cruelty, End the Shutdown – Fire the Liars!

•       Bean’s Compassion Ends Where the Cameras Stop Rolling

•       Bean Voted to Cut Medicaid – Then Took a Picture with Seniors

•       Stop Blaming Democrats for the Shutdown you Caused

•       K-9s Deserve Love. So Do People, Congressman

•       If Bean Won’t Feed the People, We Will!

•       Feed the People. Heal the Nation. Hold Bean Accountable

•       Love Thy Neighbor > Lie to Thy Voter
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What Comes After Protesting

–by Katie Chorbak

I think it’s time we have a real, serious conversation about what happens after protesting–about what comes next. Too often, people say things like, “Oh, you’re just throwing a block party,” or “These protests don’t do anything.” But that misses the point entirely.

Protests do matter. They are a form of recruitment. They are how people first recognize that there’s a problem and realize they’re not alone. Mass demonstrations create safety in numbers, which helps those with anxiety or fear for their safety show up. Once they do, they meet organizations that share their values, and that’s how involvement begins. Coalitions form locally, statewide, regionally, and nationally among all kinds of groups, including veterans.

After Protesting: Building Power That Lasts

After protesting, the next steps are mass demonstrations, boycotts, and strikes. But here’s the thing: we can’t realistically boycott or strike unless we have a way to support people through it. We can’t call for economic disruption if we don’t have alternative material sources for the goods and services we are boycotting.

If we ever reach the point of a general strike, we will have to be self-sustaining, feeding ourselves, housing ourselves, and supporting one another. Every major movement throughout history that truly worked and sustained itself had one thing in common: a foundation of community defense and mutual support. That’s food for thought.

Learning from History

Every strong movement in history has had its dual sides, a Martin and a Malcolm. Anyone who ignores that isn’t recognizing history for what it really is. You need both. The larger movement depends on both nonviolence and defense. We don’t perpetrate violence; we defend against it.

Some people think community defense means violence or anarchy, but it’s not that at all. It’s about building resilience, taking care of one another, and being ready when systems fail. It’s going back to how early America once functioned, when people bartered, helped one another, and survived together.

What Community Defense Really Means

Community defense isn’t aggression; it’s preparation. It’s making sure your community can stand together when it matters most. It means that if your neighbor is taken, you know who to call. It means helping them get a lawyer, checking on the elderly down the road to make sure they have groceries and companionship. That’s community defense.

And here’s something that confuses me: we say “ACAB” all day, but we haven’t built viable alternatives for community safety. We call out the system’s failures, but we’re not prepared to take over those responsibilities ourselves. Radical mutual aid means that if the system fails, we can still feed, clothe, and protect our own.

Building Local Resilience

Take where I live, Florida. Disaster preparedness here isn’t great. If a massive hurricane hits and the federal government fails us, it’s on us to pick up the pieces, rebuild, and make sure no one is left hungry, cold, or without shelter. That’s community defense in action, creating local systems that can handle those crises at the neighborhood level and then scale outward.

You start small, your block, your area, your town. Like in Jacksonville: Mandarin, Riverside, the Beaches. Each of those communities connects to the next, and together they can respond to larger problems. If a hurricane hits, we figure out which side of town was hit hardest, and we move. We allocate resources and get people what they need. That’s organized community resilience.

Facing Reality

Too many people still believe the midterms or the next election will fix things. I wish that were true, but even if elections happen, and who says they will, they won’t change the trajectory we’re on. The Constitution promises elections, freedom of the press, accountability, yet the Department of Defense removed the entire press corps and prohibited military members from talking to Congress. That’s a violation of U.S. law.

So if you still think everything will go back to normal, I’m glad you have hope. But I’m preparing for the worst, and I hope my preparation turns out to be unnecessary. That’s not paranoia. That’s realism. It’s experience. It’s being a veteran and having been trained to survive.

Values and Call to Action

I was taught from a young age that we take care of our own. If you know me, you know that loyalty means a lot to me, not blind loyalty, but loyalty rooted in values. The Army values — loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage — are how I try to live. I fall short, because I’m human, but I keep trying.

So no, I’m not an alarmist. I’m a realist. And even if we never need these systems, at least they’ll exist if we do. That’s the point.

Right now, we’re underprepared as veterans, as neighbors, and as communities. It’s time to organize, prepare, and move forward. It’s time to build the networks and systems that can protect and sustain us when the institutions we’ve relied on fail.

Because the truth is simple: no one is coming to save us. We keep us safe.

And One Last Thing

Given the new executive order about the “ideology of anti-fascism” and “American values,” I’m sure this post, and probably a few others, have put me on a watchlist. And that’s fine.

I’m not anti-American. I love this country. And that’s exactly why I’m getting prepared to rebuild it after it falls.

———-
Katie Chorbak is the President of 50501 Veterans, a Jacksonville native, Bishop Kenny graduate and a retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (74 D). A fifth-generation combat veteran, she now works in the construction industry, with projects including Ribault High School. For over a decade, she has led veteran advocacy efforts, helping drive a 2021 federal policy change protecting sexual assault survivors in the military. Katie has received multiple awards for her work, most proudly being named a Woman Veteran Trailblazer by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Why I’m Leaving The Country I Love (Again)

This post is shared with permission courtesy of a member of Unified Nassau County, the Indivisible chapter for that region. The author is a Venezuelan friend of that member, and he and his family leaving the U.S. after decades of calling it home. They are not leaving because they’ve given up on democracy, but because they recognize the signs of its unraveling.

As we rally, protest, and organize here at home, it’s essential to listen to those who have witnessed what happens when authoritarianism takes hold. They remind us what’s at stake, and why we must act now to protect the rights, freedoms, and democratic values too many take for granted.

His words are a gift. May we receive them with open eyes and renewed resolve.

Why I’m Leaving the Country I Love (Again)

By J.R.

In 1997, I left Venezuela.

I didn’t want to. It was the country that gave me everything. My family, my childhood, my first opportunities, but I could see what was coming. Hugo Chávez had just risen from obscurity, tapping into the anger of ordinary people with big promises and even bigger ambition.

He said he would save the country. Deep down, I feared he would destroy it.

Now, almost three decades later, I’m preparing to leave another country I love deeply: the United States. I never imagined I would have to do this again.

But I see the same signs.

The same tactics.

The same descent.

And I’ve learned that once a democracy starts down this path, turning back becomes harder with each step.

⚠️ It All Starts with a Charismatic Populist

In Venezuela, Chávez was magnetic. He knew how to speak to the masses, especially to those who felt forgotten and excluded. He attacked the elites, blamed the press, and promised to restore dignity to “real Venezuelans.” The fact that he had no prior experience in democratic governance was spun as a strength, not a weakness.

Donald Trump used a similar playbook. His rise in 2016 wasn’t just about politics, it was about grievance, disruption, and a willingness to break every rule if it meant owning his enemies. To millions, he was a savior. To others, a warning.

I had seen this story before. But many in the U.S. had not.

⸻

 Step 1: Co-opt the Courts

In 2004, Chávez expanded Venezuela’s Supreme Court from 20 to 32 seats and filled the new posts with loyalists. From then on, the judiciary stopped being a check on power and became a weapon of it. Every law, every executive order, every move, rubber-stamped.

Trump didn’t expand the U.S. Supreme Court, but he fundamentally reshaped it, and more importantly, he’s now openly supporting plans to purge the federal government and bring supposedly independent institutions (DOJ, FBI, civil service) under direct political control in a potential second term

 Step 2: Discredit and Silence the Press

Chávez labeled independent journalists as “traitors” and “liars,” then used legal tools to shut them down. By 2010, most major Venezuelan media outlets had been either shuttered or taken over. In their place, state-run propaganda channels pumped out a nonstop stream of loyalist messaging.

Trump hasn’t closed any media outlets—yet—but his relentless attacks and lawsuits against the press have eroded public trust to dangerous levels. When a leader tells his followers that only he speaks the truth, that’s not politics. That’s a cult.

 Step 3: Undermine the Electoral System

Chávez learned to manipulate democracy from the inside. He used elections as tools to legitimize his rule, while stacking electoral institutions, disqualifying opposition candidates, and changing the constitution to eliminate term limits in 2009.

Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 defeat, his efforts to overturn results in swing states, and his ongoing embrace of election deniers in key roles aren’t just “controversial.” They’re part of the same pattern. Authoritarians don’t eliminate elections. They learn how to control them.

 Step 4: Corruption Behind the Curtain

One of the great myths of Chávez was that he was “for the people.” In reality, while the country descended into poverty, his inner circle got fantastically rich.

Many had no real experience, just loyalty. Oil contracts, state construction deals, and import licenses flowed to friends, cousins, and political allies. They bought condos in Miami, sent their kids to Europe, and stashed fortunes offshore. By the time the public caught on, it was too late.

Trump’s wealth and cronyism were always in plain sight. From using the presidency to promote his own properties, to rewarding donors with ambassadorships, to leveraging political power for business favors. The swamp didn’t get drained. It got deeper.

 Step 5: Control the Narrative Through Education

One of Chávez’s most lasting legacies was his quiet takeover of Venezuela’s education system. He rewrote the national curriculum to promote socialist ideology, glorify the Bolivarian revolution, and erase dissenting views from history books.

Critical thinking was replaced by political loyalty.  In the U.S., we’re seeing state-level fights over what can be taught in classrooms. Who gets included in history, which books are banned, which perspectives are allowed. When politicians dictate the truth, education becomes indoctrination.

 It’s No Coincidence That Support Came from the Uninformed

In Venezuela, Chávez’s strongest support came from the poor and undereducated, the people most vulnerable to messaging that promised dignity, revenge, and salvation. He gave them symbolic power while dismantling the institutions that could actually improve their lives.

Trump has built a base that similarly distrusts experts, facts, institutions, and even science, not because they are ignorant, but because they’ve been taught that knowledge itself is a weapon of the elite. That’s how you create a population that will follow one man anywhere.

 This Isn’t Easy. But It’s Necessary.

I love the United States. This country welcomed me when I had to leave my own. It gave me shelter, opportunity, and freedom. It gave me hope.

But now, I feel the same dread I felt in 1997. The same hollowing-out of democratic norms. The same drumbeat of blind loyalty over law. The same willingness to destroy institutions to protect one man.

And once again, I know I need to leave.

Not because I want to.

Because I must.

Because I’ve seen how this ends, and I don’t want to be standing in the rubble, saying again, “We didn’t think it could happen here.”

 This isn’t about left vs. right. It’s about democracy vs. decay.

If you’ve lived through this kind of political collapse, whether in Venezuela, Hungary, Turkey, or elsewhere. We need to talk to each other, to remember what we’ve seen, and to warn those who haven’t.

Our memories might be the most important defense democracy has left.

A Final Word:

This story isn’t only a warning, it’s also a gift. Because we still have a choice.

We can still act. We can organize, speak out, vote, protest, protect one another, and build a future that lives up to the promise we’ve too often left unfinished.

Let’s honor his story by refusing to give up on our own.

Let’s meet this moment with courage, clarity, and hope.

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Who is Alan?

This is meant to serve as a little introduction to someone who hopes to become a meaningful contributor to the goals of Indivisible.

I was asked why I want to be involved with Indivisible Jax Riverside? The answers are both simple and complex.

  • I listened to an interview of Leah & Ezra and liked what I heard.
  • I attended the “No Kings” day rally in Jacksonville and found that my attendance there reignited a dream that was born with the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

I have occasionally attended City Council meetings and sometimes delivered questions or opinions about policies, also attended a few local Democratic Party meetings, voted, etc..

My dream started with the concept from Star Trek of the “Federation of Planets.” Ever since that thought was presented to me I have hoped humanity would someday occupy planet Earth as a common group of humanity with shared values of tolerance, understanding, peace, peaceful dialogue, mutual benefit and respect. I have never liked conflict and find our current divisive political environment disturbing, sad, and far more nightmare than dream. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution represent, for me, two founding documents of our Country, Democracy, and a shared dream. Our Democracy is often described as an “experiment.” I am not ready to give up on that experiment or the dreams upon which that experiment was founded.

Background: I am a Mechanical Engineer and a recent review of the math told me that I took 18 years from when I first entered my university to finally obtaining my degree from that same university. My engineering interests were thermodynamics, heat transfer, numerical simulations, etc.. I later received an MBA from a second university. The MBA was great for organizational behavior. I have decided that management theories tend to go through fads or fazes of popularity. While attending school whenever I got tired of being poor I would go out and get a job. Those jobs seemed to have the primary impact of teaching me why I was going to school. The summer spent as a welder’s helper being one of the most effective in this regard. I also learned that galvanized steel can’t be welded without grinding off the galvanizing, and galvanizing gives off noxious fumes that make a person sick to the stomach, and worse. I eventually worked nights in industrial maintenance and attended my University classes during the day. My primary interests turned out to be software in support of manufacturing, and the integration of that software with business systems. My working career afforded me opportunities to work in many countries: the United States, Canada, China, France, Romania, and with people from even more countries including Mexico and Brazil.

Personal interests: Travel via motorcycle, motor home. Flying; owning and operating my own Cessna. Experiencing other cultures. Small Businesses; owning and operating. Reading: historical fiction, philosophy, nature, etc.. There is more, so maybe I am just the small child that never grew up.

Life Mottos: Don’t give up, work for your dreams, learn all you can from life and the people you meet, seek first to understand. You will know you have arrived when you are able to find joy in the joy of others.

My intent: To share ideas and news from current events, a bit of opinion, and hopefully get some feedback from readers.

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Duval GOP attacks Library Board Nominee.

We have work to do between now and May 27th when the entire Jacksonville City Council will vote on the nomination of Elizabeth Andersen to the Public Library Board of Trustees.  This is a non-paid position, and the Mayor has nominated a highly qualified, highly capable person to sit on this board. Elizabeth Andersen is a former School Board Member, a former high school English teacher, a Mental health Counselor, and currently serves as the CEO of OneJax.  She is a true servant leader, concerned with the betterment of our city.  Now the Grand Old Party has turned its attention to ousting this nominee.

When The Party comes before The People we know we are in deep trouble.  A highly qualified woman is willing to volunteer her time and energy in service to our community and the State GOP is forcing our local elected officials to ignore their constituents and community needs, all to further the GOP.  The GOP is fearful of Andersen because she has integrity and will stand up to the governmental control and overreach as The Party continues to ban books and censor information.

The Rules Committee voted 5 – 3 to reject the nomination.  Next, the full City Council  will vote.  I am profoundly sad.  And I am scared, really scared for our county. The State GOP leaders put pressure on Duval Republican who then pressure council members,  and  many GOP members tow The Party line.  The Party uses Mom’s For Liberty, an extremist group knows for its book bans, and extremists tactics to negatively attack Andersen on any front they can.  They make ungrounded accusations of racism and pedophilia.  They accuse her of usurping parental rights.  Parental rights is the Trojan Horse they hide in to mandate book bans and censorship.  Ironically, these actions actually put the government in charge of what information is and isn’t available to families.

Close to a dozen citizens showed up on a Monday at 2 pm to voice support for Ms. Anderson, some of these members of Indivisible Jax Riverside.  Even former Florida State Senator Audrey Gibson spoke on behalf of Ms Andersen.  IJR’s own council member Jimmy Peluso, although not on the committee, spoke strongly in support of Andersen as did council members Matt Carlucci and Rahman Johnson. The Committee was presented with over 400 signatures on a petition to approve the nomination of Ms.  Anderson. 

Unfortunately, 5 of the 8 elected officials were not interested in representing their constituents, or serving their communities. Howland, Freeman, Gay, Miller and White voted against this highly qualified candidate. They serve only The Party.   And The Party is only concerned about its own power. As Project 2025 eliminates more of our freedoms and attempts to replace our democracy with an authoritarian theocracy we have to be concerned with why the GOP is wanting compliant Republicans on library boards.

Call your council member and  at all at large Council members encouraging them to vote YES on the nomination of Elizabeth Anderson as a COJ Public Library Board of Trustees.   Contact member information  here: https://www.jacksonville.gov/city-council/city-council-members

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On April 5th, We Rise Up!

They’re dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we’ll just watch. On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!  (Click on image for Mobilize information on Jacksonville location.)

This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way.

They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam. They’re handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich.

If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save. (https://handsoff2025.com/about)

This action is grounded in a commitment to non-violent action.  De-escalate any potential confrontations and act lawfully.  Now is the time to stand up for our country.  As Cory Booker said in his 25 hour filibuster on the senate floor this week, “The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.”  See you on Saturday, either in Jacksonville, or one of the nearly dozen events happening in Florida. (~n.muse)

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Messaging in an Era of Dog Whistles

How do we make ourselves heard in an era of dog whistles?  How do we get our message out when the GOP have turned truth and facts upside down?

We trumpet our values and we put them first in every conversation.  We believe in freedom, fairness, safety, working together, helping one another.  So do many voters but they don’t know we do. We must repeat what we value over and over.

We call out the bullies, but we bury their business in the middle of our messages, so their nonsense loses its power. We are explicit about who the bullies are–greedy corporations, radical right politicians.  We name them– DeSantis, Cord Byrd and more. We describe what they are doing and why they are doing it as briefly as we can.

Most importantly we save the best for the last.  We end our message by celebrating what we have already accomplished together. We explain who is included in our “together”, “everyone” and “all”. Then we shout, shout, shout what our future will be when we work together and vote together. Hope motivates.

We avoid responding to the Republican message. We avoid saying “You are wrong.”  We never, never repeat their words or argue with their ideas.  That just makes their message stronger.

Republicans are talking values and devaluing facts. But many of their values are not values we share. We must stress what we value and repeat ad nauseum.

Values and vision are remembered in the voting booth.  Facts and policies are not.

 

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Jacksonville Protests for Police Accountability and Racial Justice

“No one is free until we are all free.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
Thousands of neighbors and friends filled the little neighborhood park in the San Marco area of Jax to demand systemic change and to call for justice for George Floyd and all victims of police violence. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-3-2020.
Thousands marched through the San Marco area just south of downtown to call for police accountability and racial justice. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-3-2020.
A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“Latinos for Black Lives.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“Silence is violence.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“Black lives matter.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“Black lives matter.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
March organizers were well prepared and were joined by a large team of peacekeepers, medics, and legal observers. A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“No justice, no peace.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
”Release all JSO body cam footage.” Currently, footage is held by JSO for years before release. A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
We have a lot of work to do in the months and years ahead. This will be one of the key actions that each of us can and must take. A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
This is what democracy and diversity looks like. A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Jail. Jacksonville, Florida, 5-30-2020.
“Stop killing black people. Enough is enough.” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Courthouse. Jacksonville, Florida, 6-6-2020.
“Stop killing us!” A scene from the protest for social justice and police accountability at the Duval County Jail. Jacksonville, Florida, 5-30-2020.

Thousands of our neighbors and friends have been turning out daily to peacefully call for police accountability and racial justice after the killing of George Floyd. These have been the largest, most diverse civil rights marches in Jax history. In the most recent of the daily protests on June 6, over 8000 came out, with crowds stretching for over a mile in the streets surrounding the Duval County Courthouse.

 

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Courage

Two men in this impeachment debacle demonstrated the integrity that is so lost in today’s politics: Doug Jones and Mitt Romney.  Doug Jones, an Alabama Democratic Senator, won his seat by a hairsbreadth in a very red state.  Mitt Romney, an unquestioned conservative, braved his party’s wrath. Romney and Jones both knew what they were risking but they stood up and said no to this president.

Romney is the first politician in U.S. history to cross party lines to vote to remove a president of his own party. As you weep at the failure of the Senate, rejoice at the strength of character of these two men. Bask in these acts of courage which have always been at a premium in politics.

Our own act of courage is to stay focused on the distant prize. We must understand that the ultimate prize is not even winning an election. It is instead touching the democratic ideals that we have yet to capture since our founding as a nation.

Our ideals are certainly the shining city on a hill, but our history belies any claim to exceptionalism. It is this era that should waken us to that understanding. Each time we refer to history, we see the cruel distance we were from the ideal. Such  historical disabuse in itself can be a comfort. We survived before, we can survive now.

Our hope must be that we will come out of this era better than  we fell into it. We understand now that voting is not enough to advance our Democracy. Each of us must look into ourselves and determine how much we can stretch ourselves to save not only our Democracy but a very sick planet. Finding our courage is an exciting though scary journey.

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Lights for Liberty Jax

The Jax community turned out to fill the Avondale UMC at the Jax Lights for Liberty vigil, one of hundreds of events held around the US and the world. Over two hundred neighbors and friends joined in the call for justice and the closure of detention camps like the one in Homestead, Florida—this despite heavy rains in Jax and a resulting last-minute change in venue. Some speakers shared their experiences with asylum seekers hoping for fair and humane treatment, while others bore witness to the abuses taking place in the camps themselves.