The 44 Percent: 2021 in review, more Harry T. Moore & the Caribbean in 2022
Black history exists outside the realm of standard, celebratory firsts.
It’s about the journey. The resilience. And, most importantly, it’s about the lens through which this country’s progress can be measured.
With that in mind, 2021 was a year unlike any other. There were more breakthroughs than one can count — first Black woman (and woman of color) sworn into the vice presidency; first Black U.S. senator elected to represent Georgia; first Black American winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and acts of vulnerability that hopefully will change the perception of mental health in the Black community (thank you, Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka). Throw in the moments where tragedies were recognized — think Tulsa Massacre and Harry T. Moore in Brevard County — and the trials of 2020 appear to have had some meaning.
Then comes the realization that progress comes at a cost. While not quite Black history, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has forced America to face that there is a growing sentiment among a significant portion of white America that their country is disappearing. The insurrection, and subsequent inception of new voting laws and critical race theory bans, provide even more evidence of an ever-widening gap among Americans.
So after 2020 jostled many Americans out of their proverbial slumber of ignorance and 2021 showed the consequences of such actions, what’s next for 2022? I, for one, have no clue: if the 2020s have taught us anything, it’s that we should expect the unexpected. Still, in times of uncertainty, I find comfort in looking toward those who repeatedly choose optimism when the situation breeds pessimism.
One such person was DMX. For all his addiction battles, jail spells and other imperfections, DMX was a genuine optimist. The demons that plagued him as a teenager in Yonkers followed him to the heights of celebrity and ultimately caused his demise in April 2021. Still, DMX embraced his shortcomings and fought to be better while continuing to bear his soul — regardless of the good, bad or ugly — with the hopes that someone, somewhere could learn from his mistakes.
Put differently, DMX had faith that no one is above redemption, for he himself was a shining example. Similarly, I too believe in redemption. America — for all the divisiveness and growth shown in 2021 — can still be saved. For that reason, I feel it’s only right to leave you with a quote courtesy of Prophet Earl Simmons:
“To survive is to find meaning in the suffering.”
OUTSIDE THE 305
Florida can try to whitewash it, but the racism that killed Harry T. Moore isn’t mere history:
If you happened to miss Sunday, Dec. 16’s front page, you missed a banger. The collection of stories, authored by yours truly and featuring pictures from the incredible Carl Juste, detailed the life of Harry T. Moore, a man who was effectively the “Martin Luther King of Florida,” as well as the fight to uplift the legacies of he and his wife Harriette.
Our editorial board recently joined the chorus of voices calling for more recognition of the Moores, writing that the same racism that killed the couple 70 years ago “isn’t mere history.”
The assassination of the Moores was brutal and fueled by hatred. Perhaps even more brutal was the system of oppression they fought against. Immense progress has happened, and we can say with confidence that a killing like that would have been more fully investigated today. But we cannot pretend that what happened on Christmas night 1951 is mere history, that it has no impact on what happened to George Floyd, [Ahmaud] Arbery and too many other Americans whose names we will never learn.
Will Trump lead a coup in 2024?:
University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew paints a grim picture of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot when asked about its ramifications.
“January 6 wasn’t designed as a mass-casualty attack, but rather as a recruitment action” aimed at mobilizing the general population, she told me. “For radicalized Trump supporters … I think it was a protest event that became something bigger.”
That point, in a sense, underlines Barton Gellman’s newest piece in The Atlantic, which contends everything in the past 14 months — from Trump’s first, baseless claim of election fraud to the current pervasiveness of the “Big Lie” — has set the stage for potentially an even bigger insurrection in 2024. Of all the points Gellman makes, one stands above all: there exists a legitimate threat of violence during the 2024 election cycle. Citing the results of a June study, Robert A. Pate, the director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, discovered that approximately 8% of respondents “agreed that Biden was illegitimate and that violence was justified to restore Trump to the White House.” That equates to roughly 21 million American adults.
2022 will bring challenges to Caribbean nations facing social upheaval, COVID pandemic:
With 2022 right around the corner, a group of Herald reporters broke down the issues facing Caribbean countries in the new year. Below are a few challenges of note:
In Cuba, “widespread shortages of food and medicines, an unpopular currency reform, the mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis and increased government repression all led to demonstrations in 2021. ” Now, many expect “Cuban authorities to again use migration as a pressure release valve, setting up the conditions for a new Cuban exodus to the U.S.”
In Haiti, “2021 was a year of crises, from the shocking middle-of-the-night assassination of the president to a devastating earthquake to a migration crisis along the U.S. southern border and the kidnapping of American and Canadian missionaries east of Port-au-Prince.” The next year will find Haiti seeking to bounce back as it “continues to face a deteriorating environment of violent gang clashes, kidnapping and economic collapse.”
In 2022, “Caribbean nations will continue to fight for access to affordable financing to try to revive their economies, and will demand closer relations with the U.S., as the Biden administration tries to figure out how to impede China’s growing influence.”
After a year of tragedies, Haiti finally gets good news: UNESCO recognizes its freedom soup:
It’s almost 2022 and we, as Black people, should no longer expect institutions fueled by Eurocentrism to validate our art, food or experience. It’s a losing game; one that never leaves you satisfied. Still, after Haiti’s tumultuous 2021, it’s good to see something positive.
HIGH CULTURE
DMX, a forgotten Gospel album and Arizona:
The end of the year is always a time for reflection. During this time, I’ve been thinking about DMX a lot. Like, A LOT. So imagine my surprise when I logged onto Twitter the other day and saw a new Rolling Stone piece entitled “The Lost Gospel of DMX.”
Published Tuesday, the story details DMX’s time in Arizona during the late 2000s and how his demons haunted him even as he tried to escape to the desert. It’s really an amazing piece of writing that, when paired with the new documentary “DMX: Don’t Try to Understand,” gives the reader (and viewer) a window into a man who, in my view, was a generational prophet.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
