💛 Hey Reader,

People have selective memories. And it seems we fling off more memories and our ability to recall what we’ve learned, like space dust on every trip around the Sun, never to be regained. When you consider humanity as a whole—wait. Let me rephrase that. When you look at Americans (I say Americans because they make up at least ninety-nine percent of the people I’ve interacted with during my lifetime, excluding the folks I’ve met in five trips abroad), our collective inability to learn from the past in order avoid the same mistakes in the future isn’t a random occurrence, it’s endemic to who we are, especially when it comes to racism and anti-Black sentiment.

More on that later.

A month into this year, my best friend passed away. Two months later, one of the nicest people I’ve ever known died of cancer. More than one friend has lost a parent within the last twelve months, and even as I write this article, I’m helping Jasmine, my family’s fourteen-year-old Dachshund-Yorkie mix, transition to the Rainbow Bridge. So, end-of-life themes and their meaning are at the front of my mind. 

With that said, I believe that what we perceive as the “end” of life’s events, be it an actual life, a career, a relationship, a year, the loss of a skill or ability, or what have you, isn’t the end. I find it helpful to consider these events, especially these annual markers, as more of a punctuation within the context of my own life. And, in some cases, history. 

These punctuations aren’t speed bumps to blithely roll over while speeding to the next destination. They call me to suss out the meaning or significance of a body of work or events that occurred during a given period.

In much the same way that commas signify a pause, a breather, or separation between portions of a sentence to aid in understanding, year-end recaps call for me to stop, catch my breath, and reconsider the events presented.

A couple of days ago, I watched ABC’s The Year: 2024 special, this year’s “best of” gathering of newsworthy events from politics, entertainment, sports, science, and sports. The special, hosted by Robin Roberts, was well-produced and captivating, but the final segment, “In Memoriam,” really hit me hard. You know, the listing of well-known personalities who have shuffled off their mortal coil during the past twelve months.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been blessed to become a man of “a certain age” (a spry sixty-three years), but surprisingly, I found myself intimately familiar with the work of just about all the people mentioned. With the likes of John Amos, Phil Donahue, Louis Gossett Jr., Judith Jameson, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Bob Newhart, Richard Simmons, Carl Weathers, and Nikki Giovanni (who for some reason didn’t make their list) recognized, recollections flooded my mind of when, where, and how their respective opera broadened my view of the world, as well as my past, present, and future in it.

When we look at 2024 through the lenses of racial equity, allyship, and inclusion, many would say America has dropped the ball.

I disagree.

America didn’t drop the ball. America was a no-show for the Democracy vs Fascism championship game and instead indulged in tailgate debauchery with racists, bigots, misogynists, white supremacists, and xenophobes, as evidenced by the results of the 2024 presidential election.

A large number of Americans essentially cosigned a renewed commitment to racism, hate, and xenophobia and to further roll back the gains that brought a little more liberty and justice to Black people via the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act (1965), and affirmative action. There’s a word for that specific type of behavior: it’s called redemption; just like after Reconstruction.

I won’t go into coming to grips with the soul-crushing reality that I actually know more than a few of the aforementioned signatories. Personally.

How does that George Santayana saying go? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Black Americans are accustomed to having our rights ignored, if not quashed. It’s one of the things this country does best. We’ve survived it for over 400 years. But the eager embrace of thinly veiled promises to take the union to its former glory days — which, by the way, were anything but glorious for women and especially People of Color — is disconcerting.

It’s as if these folks have no recollection of life in America between January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2021, and a naked disregard, if not a white-hot contempt, for Black Americans’ contributions and sacrifices for the United States.

GOP enablers have chosen to double down on the forty-fifth president’s penchant for dishonesty, double-dealing, and abject adoration of strongmen. At any other time in American history, these would be considered career-ending dealbreakers, but in 2024, they were rallying cries.

Black people have seen this movie before. We know how it ends. And we know we won’t be the only ones to suffer. Now that the ballots have been counted, all we can do is hope that the country enjoys—and survives—the administration of its choosing.

My outlook for 2025 isn’t all bad. People all around the country are still working to facilitate racial equity, allyship, and inclusion. Despite the book bans. Despite the faux outrage. Despite chicanery.

Even in the state of Florida, people are stemming the tide of racism.

In 2023, OHF Weekly brought you the tragic story of Groveland’s desecrated Black cemetery and their effort to reconstitute the burial ground. I’m happy to report that Groveland Fire Department Chief Kevin Carroll and the citizens of the City of Groveland, with a grant from the state, have successfully restored its historic Oak Tree Union Colored Cemetery of Taylorville. The re-dedication will take place on February 10, 2025. No doubt it will be a moving occasion.

Our Human Family has had the honor of partnering with the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida in creating a new anti-racism course for clergy serving in the diocese. The training, mandated by the national church and the diocese, will help priests and deacons realize that Jesus calls them to repentance of the sin of racism, redemption (not the Gates’ version) from the sin of racism, reconciliation with aggrieved brothers and sisters, and restoration. It’s a fantastic course, that is both accessible and challenging.

The hard truth in all this is that it would be easy to scream, “Forget it,” throw in the towel, and walk away. But that’s not who you are and it’s definitely not who I am. This fight is too important. Too many people have fought and died for us to give up now.

We have to stand up for what is right whenever we can, wherever we are. They’re relying one of the oldest tricks in the book: Divide and conquer. They use the lie that there’s such a thing as race against us as a wedge to achieve their goals. As long as they can get us to fight with one another, they’re free to do whatever they want with no resistance.

The sooner humanity comes to the realization that we are more alike than we are unalike, the better off we’ll all be. Stay the course, remember how far we’ve come, but keep your eyes on where we’re going.

Happy new year, beloveds. Stay woke.

Love one another.

Clay Rivers
OHF Weekly Editor-in-Chief