‘Scary times': Ben Crump and Rep. Jasmine Crockett speak to Miami Gardens residents

Miami Herald

3 days ago

Attorney Ben Crump and Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas had a message for South Floridians.
Before a crowd of about 500 people at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Miami Gardens, both leaders urged the crowd to stay focused on local politics, build community and to stay engaged.
Crockett and Crump spoke as part of the People's Meetup Townhall on Saturday, hosted by Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, a gathering that brought together Black leaders from across the country and Florida with the hope that this meetup leads to more. Crockett, a rising star in the Democratic party, is known for being an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. Ben Crump, who is often referred to as 'Black America's Attorney General,' is widely known for representing families who lost loved ones to police brutality.
'We are in a moment in this country where we all need some reteaching in how to get back out there and fight,' Jones said. ' I think the people are sick of politicking, and I think the people are sick of politics.'
The meetup comes at a time when the Democratic party is still reeling from the 2024 election and trying to regroup after losing ground in several key demographics, including Black men. Black voters overwhelmingly vote Democratic, but in 2024, Trump made surprising gains in that group of voters.
President Trump was rarely mentioned but was still ever-present at the Meetup. Since his inauguration he has unleashed a fire hose of policies targeting diversity, equity and incIusion, education, immigration and federal workers that have all affected the Black community.
In the state of Florida, Black communities have been dealing with laws limiting the way Black history can be taught — even finding different ways to teach history— and Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign against DEI, which is much of the reason the panelists stressed the importance of being engaged in local politics.
The event, moderated by former state Sen. Dwight Bullard and journalist Janey Tate, also featured comments from local elected politicians including Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who implored the audience to be involved in making change. 'History is going to be written, not just by the people in the front seats here, but the people from this building,' Gilbert said.
Crockett and Crump emphasized that Black history needed to be taught at home and the dangers of ignorance. 'The enemies of equality will not win this war for justice and equality as long as we make sure that our children are more intelligent than those who seek to oppress them,' Crump said.
Without referring to him by name, Crockett repeatedly criticized the Trump administration's policies and noted that 'someone' prefers people who are uneducated and wants to attempt to ensure future generations have less access to education.
Crockett said education isn't just about knowing history, it's also about understanding policies and how they affect communities, referring to Trump's tariffs. 'There were people that were hurting, and they just wanted to believe there has to be something better, because the economy had not fully recovered from the global pandemic, but now we are starting to understand these global supply chains,' she said.
'We cannot be so limited to where our education is only in our city or our county or our state or our country,' she continued. 'We have to become educated, worldly citizens. That is when we can make the best decisions for us and future generations.'
And as national policies ripple through local communities Crockett said constituents should lean on their local elected officials. 'Yes, you may be in Florida, and lord knows we need to pray for y'all, but the bright spots are your local officials,' she said.
Crockett also said people have to have faith in the courts, as she painted a bleak picture of what she's seeing in congress: 'The Republicans have decided that they are going to abdicate their duties,' she said. 'So, they are not protecting the people's house, which is where I work. They are not protecting the Senate. They are not protecting their own constituency, but one area that has not fallen at this point has been our courts.'
Both she and Crump noted that youth also need to be engaged in local and national politics, with Crump reminding the audience that young people led and played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights Movement, adding that he's proud of Crockett's courageousness to speak out even when it's unpopular and despite the criticism she's faced.
'I really do understand it's some very scary times out here, and they attack you for speaking up,' Crump said. 'Fear is contagious…but just like fear is contagious, courage is contagious, and if you stand up for yourself first, there's a second person to stand up, then a third person to stand up, then a fourth person, then a community will stand up, then a city will stand up, then a state will stand up, then a whole nation of our people will stand up. But it just takes us first to stand up on faith and courage like our ancestors did.'
Crockett urged attendees to reach those that are feeling disenfranchised. And, she said, that starts by speaking with people you typically wouldn't talk to: 'We've got to start to reconnect with one another and see the humanity in one another.'
Crump, whose rise came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, said Black people should also seek to be unapologetic in their existence. 'They are unapologetic in their White supremacist beliefs,' he said. 'So just like they are unapologetic, we gotta be unapologetic in defense of Black life, Black liberty and Black humanity.'