Not So Fast, Brotha' Jamal!

 

Ya' know, I'm really glad Brotha' Jamal got on board with the Target boycott but I never quite understood what made him think that it was his idea or that he was spokesman for the Black community on this matter.

The beauty of the Target boycott, that we as a community need to embrace, is that it was a grassroot effort launched by independent activists, reportedly in Minnesota. It spread like wildfire on social media. 

There was no church, no Pastor, no civil rights organization, none of that, in charge of the movement to boycott Target. At best, they were the Johnny Come Latelys, which is fine, but somehow Pastor Jamal, and maybe some others, took ownership of it. That was never the case. 

Earlier this week, Pastor Jamal Bryant announced that the protest against Target was over. The Johnnies' may speak for what is being described as the "Target Fast", that might be over. But no matter what the good pastor and others may say, the Target boycott ain't over. This was not a fast where shopping at Target was to be resumed. Target seems done in the Black community. I am not alone in my intention to never shop at Target ever again. Certainly Target isn't the only retailer or big business that doesn't value it's Black consumer. But Target is the one that got made the example. 

Target execs remain unapologetic and steadfast in their support of the trump agenda, having done nothing different when given opportunities to course correct. While under fire for abandoning DEI and Black vendors, they thought it appropriate to allow ICE to use their locations to stage their violent attacks on marginalized communities. Actions speak louder than words. We see you...

Speaking of words, has Target spoken on this deal reached with Brotha' Jamal or is he the sole mouthpiece and presumed "leader" on the details of this matter for the Black community? It is the people who have the last word...

Sorry Brotha' Jamal, we're not going back to Target. You can meet us at Costco...

~ Miss Higgi Says 

On This Day, Bloody Sunday

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday Selma 1965, one of many stains on America's history that she would like to erase.

 

I remember in school hearing about the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Of course, however, it wasn't portrayed as the total atrocity that it was.

In 1986 I drove across country for the first time, I've done it several more times since then. I was barely 26 and it was my first time going further south than Washington DC, which is a whole other story within itself. After I got over the shock of having to pump my own gas, cuz' Jersey Girls STILL don't pump (smile)! Seriously, self-service is technically against the law in NJ and we love it! Back to the story...

The deeper I drove into the south, the more nervous I became. Emphasis of overt racism in the south was used as a scapegoat to deflect from equally potent anti-Black racism in the north. The impact was the same...

I remember my visceral reaction of disbelief when during my drive I start seeing street signs indicating 50 miles between Selma and Montgomery. Instantly, I had visions of my people being kicked, stomped, spat upon, beaten with billy clubs, bitten by dogs, violently hosed, trampled, etc. It had never occurred to me that they were willing to risk 50 miles of pure hell for the right to vote. My anxiety of being in the south skyrocketed. I found myself somewhere between angry, sad, and quite frankly, a little scared.

I was driving alone with no shortage of stories in my head and a concerned Black  Mother back in Jersey anxiously awaiting my daily call to let her know my whereabouts and that I was safe in a hotel before dark. Only then, could she go to bed...

Since then I've taken several southern treks exploring my history. I travel solo and I've taken groups on tours, twice to Alabama where we make a point of crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, stopping midspan to honor our ancestors. I'm actually hosting that trip again in November. If you're interested, let me know.

As we say farewell this week to Reverend Jesse Jackson and Dr. Bernard Lafayette, two civil rights heroes from this era, let us be reminded of our resilience as a people and be proud of our history. Let us also be reminded that our elders and ancestors literally went through hell for the rights we tend to take for granted, specifically the right to vote. Did you vote last week? There are primaries happening this week, March 10th, are you registered and ready to vote? Take someone to the polls with you.

Take a moment today to refresh or familiarize yourself on Bloody Sunday. Here are a few key points as shared by the Smithsonian (NMAAHC):

👉🏾 On March 7, 1965, approximately 600 marchers, led by activists including John Lewis and Hosea Williams, aimed to march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights.

👉🏾 The march was violently confronted by law enforcement at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, resulting in brutal attacks on the peaceful demonstrators.

👉🏾 Following the violence, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed the nation, leading to increased support for civil rights legislation.

👉🏾 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was subsequently passed, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting and marking a significant victory for the civil rights movement.

✊🏾 We did that! Oh, yes we did...

~ Miss Higgi Says

Miss Higgi Said...

This was my response to the video of a white woman content creator from Texas pondering support or electability of Jasmine Crockett. It was posted on February 3, 2026.

I wrote:

I'm late to this party. It looks like this video was posted a month ago. But the argument continues. 

As we are living through the worst of incompetent white folks being put in the highest of positions, including president of the United States, still we question the ability, capability, electability, likeability, of a qualified and proven Black woman.

Meanwhile, we woke up yesterday to our children, yours and mine, being ordered to put their lives on the line in another senseless war that has nothing to do with us. Do we want change or not? When do we want it? I digress...

At some point we have to ask ourselves, do we believe that Jasmine is not going to win because she can't win or have we been so indoctrinated to believe that she can't win, that we've told ourselves, we can't vote for her? Not voting for her guarantees fulfillment of that prophecy.

I saw an older white woman on another video crying because she "wanted to vote for Jasmine but she wants to win" so she voted for James. What kind of sense does that make? WHO taught her to believe that?

Surely we will not see change if we don't vote for the change we want to see. If you want to maintain status quo, then keep listening to the very loud rhetoric tap dancing in your head, keep doing what you're doing and expecting something new, keep surrendering your control...

One thing that's for sure, of the two candidates the one the trump administration does not want to have to deal with is Jasmine Crockett. Upon command, your governor changed a whole voting district intending to remove and silence her. If she's not competent or electable, then why such extremes? Don't tell me, ask yourself...

Jasmine has proven that she is a force to be reckoned with and that she will not be silenced. James Talerico is not proven in that way. The Senate is a good ole' white boy system where he will fit right in. Since reconstruction there have only been 14 Black senators, 5 were Black Women. This is not by accident. #6 sure looks good on Attorney Crockett. She can handle it...

So again Texans if you want to see change, then be the change. Believe in yourself and stop believing the hype, stop promoting the untested rhetoric. Accept the challenge, roll up your sleeves, and vote for the candidate who's going to make a change not only for Texas but for the country. We're either genuinely concerned and committed to saving the soul of the country, or we're not. When we play passive politics, it says that we're not... 

White women, this is on you! You talk a good game and then you do something else. You claim you're oppressed and then you vote for your oppressor. Remember, you were his property first. He wants his property back. ALL of his property. 👀 We don't need you to say one thing publicly, vote another thing privately, and then show up after the fact tears streaking your face and pink hats on your head wondering why Black women aren't joining you... Do you really wonder? If you don’t like the song, change the lyrics! The song is yours to write. Write something different! Do something different. Start with believing in you! 

Black women voters have proven ourselves politically sound and astute. Our Sister Jasmine has proven herself to be a fearless fighter for all. So, what's the problem? Don't tell me, seriously engage in self-talk and ask yourself why you really have reservations about voting for the change you say you want to see...

#TeamJasmine for Texas, for the country!

Videos:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D15kXWxzW/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVJZvjBEZno/?igsh=MTF0YWNzZXp2bHp4NQ==

Black Women Will Always Be Too Loud...

Given a choice between Talarico and Crockett, I think it's clear who trump would rather have to deal with in Texas and it ain't the Black Woman, too loud, too unafraid, and who he knows will not look away at his villainy.  

The red party is cold, calculating, and never do they sleep when it comes to maintaining power and control. They  are devious and will stop at nothing. As the Dems take pride in going high, the republicans have no shame in going low. There is no bottom...

CBS, like other media sources, has been commandeered by maga operatives. Taking control of America media is but one tool intended to limit or end free speech as we know it in America. 

The "controversy" where CBS refused to air an interview with James Talarico on The Steve Colbert show, has given the candidate for Texas state senate a huge bump in visibility in his race against Jasmine Crockett. The interview ultimately aired on YouTube. 

The contrived "controversy" resulted in igniting more views, undoubtedly fueled by anti-maga/anti-trump sentiment, than Talarico could have ever imagined or realized had the interview aired on the network. Talarico could not have paid for better publicity. Cold calculation is real.

Early voting has begun in Texas. How will the calculation compute at the polls? 🤷🏾 We'll see...

While we know that trump hates Black women, I surmise that his hate of Black women is driven by his fear of Black women. He fears Black woman strength and her ability to influence. 

Three times, and counting, the Black woman has been right. Since trump came down that escalator in 2016, the one group that has held fast and not been bullied, bamboozled, or threatened to waver in a decision to not support him, is Black women. 

There was no physical convening of Black women to make this near-unanimous political decision. Black women just instinctively knew...

In 2016, 96% of Black Women voters voted against him. In 2020, Black women stayed the course and overwhelmingly voted against trump again in the 90 percentile range. 2024 was no exception, 92% of Black women voters voted against donald trump. Try as he may, Black women cannot be swayed. 

Congresswoman Crockett is a Black woman... 

Ms. Crockett is so effective at showing up to represent her district with the fearlessness and tenacity expected of a Black woman, that the governor, encouraged by trump, decided on extreme measures to silence her. He redistricted Congresswoman Crockett's district such that her home was deliberately excluded from the district she serves, severely diluting her power. Call it fear... 

Not to be deterred, the Congresswoman decided to run for Senate. Oh, yes she did! 

If ever there was a good ole' boys club, it's the US Senate. Historically, since reconstruction when there were two, from 1870 to 1967 there has only been 14 Black senators. Denial of access to this exclusive club is not by accident. 

In that time, since 1972, there have only been five Black women in the senate. Trust me, they do not want to have to deal with Ms. Crockett in the halls of their exclusive club. Her already loud voice would be even louder in the Senate. The good ole' boys don't want that.

Again, those still fighting the civil war will stop at nothing to win and maintain control of a land founded and tilled by others, stolen to be forever governed by their rule. Silencing a Black woman is par for the course and, as quiet as it is not kept, appeals to many well beyond the halls of Congress and its vast network of "good" boys. 

So, if you live in Texas, or if you know folks who live in Texas, you know what you've got to do. In the spirit of civil rights victories behind us, Don't Let Nobody Turn You Round'. All souls to the polls!

Stand strong, determined to win in Texas, and in all other states. Show up on election day fully intending to be fearless and loud with your vote. Enter that booth and Vote like a Black woman! You can do it! Oh, yes you can...

Fix it y'all!

Go Jasmine!!!

Another Soldier Gone...

 

I remember meeting Jesse Jackson on the campaign trail in 1984. It was pre cell phone so of course I don't have any pictures to prove it. We weren't wired like that yet. LOL! 

He was running for president, campaigning somewhere in Atlantic County, New Jersey. I remember being excited to drive the 45 minutes or so to see him. Of course, we supported him. He was going to be our first Black president. We believed that if anybody could do it, Jesse Jackson could do it.

It didn't hurt his candidacy that he was very easy on the eyes. Jesse Jackson was a very handsome Black man and who didn't love his fro'? We saw you and we heard you Reverend Jackson. ✊🏾

Reverend Jackson ran again in 1988. I remember wearing the campaign sweatshirt to my 10-year high school class reunion. Unlike now, we never discussed politics when we were in school. That was left to our parents I suppose. I remember getting a grown up wake up call at that reunion. I did not reunite with the kids I grew up with and was so excited to see. The pushback was real. Was it the sweatshirt? 🤷🏾

My sweatshirt screamed who I was politically. It was clear that the kids I had grown up with were mostly not Democrats and probably didn't support Jesse Jackson's candidacy. Ironically, it was the same many years later when we had another reunion during President Obama's campaign. The 10 year reunion, however, was indication to my younger self, that our lives had taken very different paths. We were not the same kids from Clayton High School oblivious to politics or leaving politics to our parents. We were adults now, some were parents themselves. Politics did matter and whether we had discussed or realized it as children or not, politics had shaped our lives and who we had become.

Reverend Jackson had charm, he had wit, he had grace, he was smart, he had worldwide appeal and presence. He became known for his slogans. He was the first politician on the national scene to preach a message of hope. He told us to raise our fist, lift our head, and be proud as we echoed in call and response his inspiring chant of, "I am somebody". We believed him. His chant was reinforced by James Brown telling us to be Black and Proud. And, proud somebodies we were. There was cause to hope for change. We we were witnessing it.

Reverend Jackson, and his Push for a Rainbow Coalition, will be forever remembered as a soldier in the Army for Civil Rights in America and beyond. His efforts and his influence were global. The world revered him, as did we. He did his part and certainly, he made us proud.

In commemoration of him, I think, I will pull out that old sweatshirt from the 1988 campaign and wear it today in his honor. May he rest in eternal peace.

Thank you Rev. Jackson.

🙏🏿

A Pedophile, Is A Pedophile

 

I remember some time ago hearing the term "minor attracted person". It was being pushed as an alte..rnative to use of the word pedophile to describe adults sexually attracted to children. My reaction then, is the same as it is now, WTF? 

The epstein files reveal to us why and by whom the term was created. At this point, the appropriate question is, who is not in the epstein files? With the trickle down release of even highly redacted files, we are learning that calls to normalize the perversion of sexually assaulting children come from very high places from people deeply rooted in our society. The cover up is real.

The level of collaboration required for cover up of this proportion is epic. It seems clear that the interest and protection of very rich, largely white, "men", far outweigh the interests and protection of children. The practice of abusing children seems an open secret known and supported by many that extends far beyond the borders of America, globally and historically. 

The history of Black folks in America teaches us that Mothers of enslaved daughters dreaded their baby girl coming into womanhood understanding that "the talk" she would inevitably have to have with her daughter would be to prepare her for being raped by the male who owned their family, or his designee. This adult male demanded that he take the virginity of a young Black girl before any Black man she might later need his permission to marry.

Sally Hemings was but a child of 14 who ultimately bore six children for the president of the United States. Still, white writers and historians, if they acknowledge this travesty at all, will describe the rape of this child by thomas jefferson as an "affair". In current reporting on the epstein victims, I constantly hear them referenced as young women. They, too, were girls (and boys), not women. Words matter... 

There continues, in this country, to be an obsession with child brides and ongoing manipulation of the age of majority. Incredibly, 34 states still permit children under 18 to legally marry, some without parental or legal consent. 

Try as you may, there is no normalization of sexual depravity, certainly not with minors. Children cannot give consent. Proponents of the term, "minor attracted person" argue it's intent to give space for treatment of such adults who have not acted upon said desire. There is, however, no space in the universe providing allowance for redefining or renaming adults who sexually abuse children. Make them own their perversion. Call them by their name. They are PEDOPHILES! They are PREDATORS! They prey upon the most innocent, vulnerable, trusting, and precious, of us, our children who must be protected at all costs.

Sometimes the predator is your father, your brother, your husband, your religious leader, your scout leader, your boss or corporate leader, your teacher, your elected official. Sometimes the predator is a woman. Always the victim is our children, innocent girls and boys. 

Currently happenings in our nation beg for examination of ourselves as a people. As a society, we must ask ourselves, what is the morality of a society that fails to protect it's children? What kind of society tolerates, tries to rationalize, protect, ignore, explain away, redefine or rename abuse of it's children by adults, sexually or otherwise, seemingly with impunity?

Miss Higgi Says, a pedophile is a pedophile. Call them by their name...

Here is an excerpt from the article referenced below:

Why “minor-attracted”?

The term “minor-attracted person” emerged a few years ago as an alternative to “pedophile.” In the eyes of the world, the term pedophile means someone who has abused children. At that time, there were many people who realized that they felt sexually attracted to children. But it was a feeling that they never asked for and never wanted to act upon. They felt that they needed another term to describe themselves in a way that would show them as people who wanted to get help so that they would not hurt anyone. An important goal in our field is to prevent harm by supporting people who want to change their behavior before it leads to victimization. When it comes to preventing the sexual abuse of children, Safer Society believes in using the kind of language that encourages those at risk to get the help they need to prevent offending.

What Should We Know About the Term “Minor-Attracted Person”? Click here for access to the article. 

Black History Month 100 Years Strong!

100 years ago, February 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson was compelled to launch an annual celebration of the often overlooked, unknown, or deliberately dismissed achievements and contributions of Black Americans to the US and beyond. He was intent that Black Americans, as well as others, know the truth of who we are, our accomplishments, and our contributions to the world. 

100 years later, in 2026, the attacks on erasing Black achievement are relentless and targeted. Books are being banned. Historical data is being discounted, distorted, or discarded. Artifacts are being removed from Museums. All in vain. Black Americans are America's history. She cannot replace or erase us or our history. We live in a global society. Books, photos, movies, griots, and documents know no boundaries, geographic or otherwise. Our response is to preserve and protect our personal historical artifacts and memories and to passionately tell our story. We must be deliberate and diligent in passing our history to future generations.

What began as Black History Week in February 1926, over the years, has expanded into Black History Month. The Black community is now adamant that our history, America's history, be observed 365 days of every year! 

The theme for Black History Month 2026 is A Century of Black History Commemorations. The evolution of honoring the impact of Black history on the modern world will be explored in terms of how the culture and contributions of people of African descent have transformed not only the world, but also the status and presence of Black people globally. 

Thank you Dr. Woodson. Your vision lives on...

Happy Black History Month! 

✊🏾❤️🖤💚✊🏾

#BlackHistory365