“I Prayed For Freedom For Twenty Years, But Received No Answer Until I Prayed With My Legs.”

~ Frederick Douglass

Feb 14, 2025

February is Black History Month, and it is under attack. Pete Hegseth, the newly installed Secretary of Defense cancelled all ‘cultural awareness months’ at the Pentagon. Let’s just say this is a canary in the coal mine moment of what is yet to come from this administration. This action sets precedent. Our republican governor and white Christian nationalist lieutenant governor are watching this administration’s every move and are mimicking their policies. On his second day as governor, Mike Braun banned all “DEI” initiatives in state government agencies.

The title quote is from Frederick Douglass, the famous orator and abolitionist. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818. He lived in New England after escaping bondage and became an ‘influencer’ in the abolitionist movement. He even participated in the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls. His friendship with Susan B. Anthony was complicated! That is another story for a later time.

Frederick Douglass has deep Indiana Roots!

Did you Know:

In 1843, just a few years after escaping slavery, Frederick Douglass visited Pendleton, Indiana as a speaker and participant in the “One Hundred Conventions” campaign. This was a campaign to spread the abolitionist message throughout the Midwest where there was strong opposition to the movement. During his visit, he and other abolitionists were attacked by an angry mob. Douglass was severely injured, his hand broken and never fully healed. In 1880, thirty-seven years later at the age of 62, he returned to Indiana, this time to Noblesville, just a bit up the road from Pendleton. He delivered a significant speech that was well received! No angry mobs this time. Douglass reflected on his earlier visit and talked about the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the post reconstruction era. He noted that significant progress had been made in the fight for civil rights, but warned that although slavery had been abolished, true equality had yet to be achieved.

The 15^th Amendment had been passed since his first visit to Indiana, granting the Black man their right to vote. Douglass’s women friends from Seneca Falls didn’t get that same right until 1920. The arc of the moral universe bent very slowly.

Why It Matters:

Here we are today. Civil rights, equal rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, are all under attack. History is being re-written and science is being demonized. Our nation is bending towards injustice and tyranny. We are going backwards. Past as Prologue indeed!

It is clear that we are experiencing a non-military rolling coup. It has only been three weeks since the Inauguration, and there has been a firehose of attacks on our administrative agencies and democratic institutions. DOGE, the shadow pseudo governmental agency being run by a group of unelected teenage goons now have our universities in their sights. The attempted freeze on NIH funds will devastate our colleges and universities and our state economy—all by design. Elon Musk, J.D. Vance and the newly confirmed cabinet secretaries believe that colleges and universities are cesspools of ‘wokeness’ and must be eliminated. Trump is just their puppet.

We must understand the coup we are experiencing is fueled by white Christian nationalism ideology and fervor. It is racist and patriarchal in its power structure—white men rule their families, organizations, communities and government. Thus, DEI is an anathema to their beliefs, wokeness is a sin, Jezebels and witches (strong, independent women) are evil.

Most Americans did not vote for this coup. Many Trump voters didn’t know they were voting for a coup. Reckless elections have consequences.

What We Can Do:

Firstly, we must ‘pray with our legs’, no matter our faith tradition or how we understand prayer. Folks are getting up off the mat and finding their legs! We have crashed the phone lines in Congress. Simultaneous statehouse protests happened across all 50 states. Protests and demonstrations of all stripes are happening and the Democratic party is beginning to act like an opposition party. Lawsuits are being filed across the country. These actions are making a difference.

We can’t get lost in the firehose of crazy. We must discipline ourselves not to be outraged at every outrageous action, while acting each day in strategic, targeted ways. We will not allow them to steal our joy!

Here are a few tools for staying informed and ways to take action:

The People's Union—is organizing a nationwide boycott/economic black out on February 28^th. No shopping, no online orders, NO AMAZON, no gas…if we must shop on that day, only buy essentials from local shops. Don’t use debit or credit cards!
For a comprehensive guide of actions you can do see HeadsupNews by Dan Froomkin and Chop Wood Carry Water 2/13 by Jessica Craven
Continue to use 5 Calls to help you make strategic calls to legislators—quick and easy and less than five minutes a day
Third Act is for those 60 years of age and older with a lot left to give to this fight for democracy!
Connect with other civic groups resisting the coup, especially Indivisible. There are five local groups in Indiana: (The five Indivisible groups are organizing ongoing visits and peaceful protests at Senator Bank’s and Senator Young’s offices. These visits need to continue into the spring, it isn’t a ‘once and done’ process. Connect with a group near you for more information.)
Representative André Carson will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, February 19th at 6:00 p.m. You can register for the event here and submit questions here. We need a unified opposition party in Congress to protect the Constitution and rule of law.
Call Representative Frank Mrvan’s office 202-225-2461/ 219-795-1844 and request an in-person town hall. Same message as above.
Corinne Straight is an amazing Instagram influencer sharing tons of information about Indiana politics! Follow her on social media!
MADVoters has a great bill tracker for the Indiana Legislature. It’s important to know the bills that are being considered and the impact they will have on our people. Stay informed of what is happening. There will be lots of work to do in response to the egregious bills that are being passed this session.
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We were made for this moment. As Mary Oliver said in this excerpt from her poem, A Dream of Trees:

Meanwhile, I bend my heart toward lamentation
where, as the times implore our true involvement,
The blades of every crisis point the way.
I would it were not so, but so it is.
Whoever made music of a mild day?

Faithfully and resolutely yours,

The H4D Team