By Marie Brown
On Monday, January 20th, The United States of America celebrated Martin Luther King Day. President Donald J. Trump was also inaugurated as the 47th President. Trump said during his speech, that he was very appreciative of the historic Black and Hispanic votes and that he would not forget them. Ironically later, he signed approximately 200 executive orders including abolishing diversity initiatives in the Federal Government. Time will tell how this will impact our people.
The City of Monroe celebrated Dr. King’s birthday last week, As part of the program. several awards were given to individuals for their services to Monroe. As we know, Dr. King was a great American who sacrificed his life from an assassin’s bullet because he advocated equal rights for all.
And now after 46 years, we are experiencing some negative changes—-however, there is so much our City of Monroe is lacking. We can’t afford to allow the mayor to rewrite our history. The prestigious awards were given to all white males, leaving many questioning the inclusion of Black leaders. I have resided in Monroe all my life and have worked in the community and never collaborated with these men on the concern of Black issues! The Trailblazer Award is the highest honor we can give to an individual, However, Mayor Oliver Ellis could not find one Black American Monroe citizen, deserving of this Award! This is more than I can endure! This moment serves as a call to action for Monroe citizens to reconnect with the heart of their community! It is Time for Black people to wake up and get their heads out of the sand. Let us focus on how to get back to caring about our community!
We have to seriously deal with all crime in our city, particularly violent crime. The shot-spotter app was previously introduced to our citizens by the previous administration. As a result, all shots fired in many areas of Monroe are detected by this app. Those of us who are citizens have been virtually left in the dark because of a lack of transparency. The murder rate is unacceptable.
Our citizens should be made aware of the violent crime issues such that we can be a part of the solution. This falls squarely in the laps of the city’s administration and the city council as leaders and our diverse community.
Law enforcement is part of the solution but not all. We need more preventive and rehabilitation programs that the citizens of Monroe can participate in. Every person in our city is important and should be a part of working with city officials to eradicate this horrible issue. The tall grass and abandoned houses in several neighborhoods in Monroe are not only horrible to see but also attractive havens for crime activities. As a community, we need to do our part in working to address this. We must have our on plan of action in connecting our community.
After all…. Love where you Live and Live where you Love!!!
