Now Is Not the Time for the Peanut Section: Why Heckling Trump Isn’t a Strategy
For generations, Black communities have lived with a simple, painful truth:
Whatever their stated missions, institutions like the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and now Homeland Security have often functioned not to protect us—but to manage us.
To monitor. To contain. To suppress.
From COINTELPRO to redlining.
From the war on drugs to mass incarceration.
From Fusion Center surveillance to the bloated web of domestic intelligence—
These weren’t just policies gone wrong.
They were deliberate acts.
And the scars they left weren’t just emotional.
They were political. Economic. Generational.
Many of those wounds still bleed.
⚖️ Now the Institutions Are Exposed
For the first time in decades, the most powerful arms of the state are being exposed—and publicly questioned:
The FBI is being challenged.
The DOJ is under scrutiny.
The CIA’s long shadow is coming to light.
Homeland Security’s overreach is finally on the table.
And yes—for all his chaos—Donald Trump is doing what few in power have dared:
He’s putting the security state on trial in front of the American people.
That shouldn’t provoke panic among Black leaders.
It should provoke strategy.
❗ Why Rush to Shield the Institutions That Targeted Us?
There’s a troubling reflex—especially in hyper-partisan times—to defend the machinery of state power simply because “the other side” is criticizing it.
But let’s not forget:
The Black experience with these institutions has a long history of being neither neutral nor fair.
These weren’t flukes or isolated excesses.
They were features of a system designed to guard power, not protect lives.
So now—when the mask slips—why defend the very machinery that once targeted us?
This moment isn’t about who’s attacking the system.
It’s about what the system has always done.
There’s a rare crack in the foundation. And now the walls are shaking.
We can rush to reinforce them—
Or step through the opening.
🤝 A Coalition Waiting to Happen
Veterans.
Rural workers.
First-time offenders.
Whistleblowers.
And yes—even some of those swept up in the prosecutions following January 6.
People who once believed the system worked for them...
Now know what it means to be:
Marked. Prosecuted. Forgotten.
Not all were violent. Not all broke laws.
But many were treated as if their individuality didn’t matter.
When the system protects itself, it stops making distinctions.
It makes examples.
You don’t have to agree with their cause.
You don’t have to endorse their beliefs.
Agreement isn’t the point. Recognition is.
Because if you’ve ever lived life on the sharp end of state power—
You recognize the pattern.
It’s not new.
It’s just wearing a different badge.
They even slapped it on a former president—while he was running for office.
If it can be turned on him—a billionaire, a media juggernaut, a former Commander-in-Chief—
Imagine what it’s done to the voiceless.
What it continues to do to the powerless.
To those too often forgotten.
That’s not a scandal.
That’s a signal.
📐 A Blueprint for Change
We don’t need nostalgia for order.
We need a plan for justice.
Start here:
✂️ End qualified immunity
🛡️ Roll back domestic surveillance
⚖️ Rebuild due process—for everyone
But let’s go further.
🛠️ What Black Leadership Can Do Now
📂 Declassify All Remaining COINTELPRO Files
Demand full transparency on how the U.S. government sabotaged civil rights movements and dissenting voices.
Work with anyone in power—including Trump—to help unearth the truth.
📜 Launch a Federal Truth Commission on State-Targeted Communities
Not just racial injustice—but the surveillance, criminalization, and suppression of people based on where they live, what they believe, or whom they dared to challenge.
This commission must have subpoena power and community oversight.
🗳️ Push for Automatic Expungement
And fundamentally rethink how we treat justice-involved individuals—from housing to employment to voting rights.
🤝 Build Cross-Racial, Cross-Class Coalitions
Among all who’ve been branded by the permanent mark of a felony conviction.
This isn’t about minimizing Black pain.
It’s about maximizing strategic impact.
⚠️ Don’t Miss the Moment
We don’t get many windows like this:
✔️ The public is paying attention.
✔️ Powerful institutions are exposed.
✔️ There’s daylight for change.
We shouldn’t waste it defending the illusion of order—
While justice remains optional.
Black leadership—especially those with the platform and proximity to power—has a responsibility right now:
Not to shield broken systems from criticism.
But to rebuild them in the image of what we’ve always fought for.
Dignity. Truth. Accountability. Freedom.
Justice was never prioritized in their blueprint.
It has to begin with ours—rooted in community, truth, and freedom.
🔓 Strategy Is Seeing the Crack as a Door
We’re not just here to react.
We’re here to remake.
Because when the walls shake—
Don’t rush to hold them up.
Walk in with a blueprint.
✍️ If this resonated, share it. Don’t let this moment pass without leaving a mark.