WHO’S DRIVING NOW?
Between the Headlines | January 31, 2026
Many Black people today are choosing to take the back seat in this high-speed chase toward the American Presidency. We’ve collectively decided to let others take the driver’s seat on this one.
Not because we don’t care. But because we’re tired of being the only ones who do.
The ICE raids aren’t happening in a vacuum. They’re unfolding in a country where the majority watched, voted, or shrugged. Families are being separated. People are dying. Federal agents in masks are pulling neighbors from their homes, and much of America has decided this is acceptable—or at least, not worth disrupting their day over.
And once again, the quiet expectation settles on Black communities: Will you speak up? Will you organize? Will you save us from ourselves?
Here’s the thing—we’ve been here before. We showed up for abolition when it wasn’t our freedom alone at stake. We marched for labor rights that would benefit everyone. We’ve consistently been the moral compass of a nation that refuses to find true north on its own. And every single time, we’ve paid for it in blood, exhaustion, and dreams deferred.
So the question isn’t whether Black people can help right now. It’s whether we should—and what it costs us every time we’re expected to carry America’s conscience while our own communities are still fighting for breath.
Maybe the real question is this: Where is everyone else?

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