As some of you may have heard, Van Jones, (and probably others) have had a very emotional reaction to the election results that we saw last night.  There is question about what the next 4 years will mean for Black Americans under a Trump administration. 

 

I can Fully empathize with where Van Jones is coming from.  I remember in 2000 following the election night results very closely.  I was appoplectic when Florida was taken out of the win column for Al Gore.  When it was projected that Bush would become president i didn't sleep for three days.  I didn't cry but on many levels i was emtionally drained maybe even broken. 

 

I was so mad that i vowed to do everything in my power and organize on a grassroots level to make sure that Bush would be soundly defeated over the next 4 years.  I took time and researched all of his policies and listened to every speech that he made. 

 

4 years later i pulled the lever in my first presidential contest in support of his re-election. 

 

If you are a person of color who feels anxious or uncertain this morning I am not making the guarantee that just wait in four years you'll be heading the line at a Trump Rally singing sweet home Alabama.   I am challenging you to give his presidency the chance that I Gave G. W. by accident.  Listen to the things that he says, not what people SAY he said.  Watch the things that he does and not the things people say he did or will do. 

 

I am certain that there will be things that you disagree with some very strongly.  What I will guarantee you is that if you are open and give him a chance you will see that his motivation is about increasing opportunity not stifling it.  Keeping Criminals out of our country, not people who look a certain way.  Making sure that every American has a chance at safety and prosperity. 

 

This is a candidate who made the most impassioned appeal to black America in decades of republican politics, including the new deal for black America/the inner cities.  Florida will probably come down to his victory among Cuban Americans.  If you are feeling uneasy or uncertain I challenge you to let it play out and make your own judgement once he starts to govern...  I know how you feel, it's the same way I felt, I hope you see the things that I found out.

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