Closing arguments on FAMU President-select Marva Johnson

Get the Point!

While praying and meditating earlier this morning, two things were placed heavily on my heart regarding the FAMU BOT's presidential selection of Attorney Marva Johnson:

1. "Republican" and "MAGA" are not always one and the same...

2. If Johnson is confirmed, whether to "obstruct" or "uplift" is a decision that each FAMU Rattler and supporter must decide for themselves.

As to prong (1), what makes one "MAGA" is simple, did/do you support President Donald Trump and by extension, his Project 2025 agenda? If the answer is "yes," you are MAGA, full stop!

There are plenty of prominent Republicans through the years like the Bush family, the Cheney family (Dick and Liz), the late Sen. John McCain, former Rep. Adam Kitzinger, former RNC Chair Michael Steele, and countless others of lesser renown who have opposed all or a significant portion of Trump's agenda. They aren't hard to find: just go back through Trump's social media posts and if you see him roasting a Republican, it's because they are "Never-Trumpers" who he deems "Republicans in Name Only."

Meaning, each Republican has had a choice to fall in line behind Trump—or not! FAMU's president-select is certainly in line, as she was a certified elector for Trump in 2020 and when asked by prominent FAMU alum Will Packer last week whether she believed that the '20 election was stolen, the entire basis for the shameful and deadly January 6th MAGA Riots, she refused to answer directly and later demurred, saying that the courts had decided for Biden, but that "her opinion on the matter doesn't matter." No ma'am, it does, and your non-answer was THE answer and the reason why you have been labeled "MAGA Marva."

As to prong (2), with a nod to the Bard from Stratford-upon-Avon, "To obstruct, or not obstruct, that is the question?" Personally, I will never take any course that would harm FAMU economically and I will continue to support through tithes and talent the faculty, staff, and students who are working hard to continue its rich legacy. But I surely understand the sentiments of many of my fellow Rattlers who are calling for targeted boycotts of football games and charitable giving and believe they have a right to vent and implement such acts of civil disobedience as their hearts deem necessary!

And to this point I will add a reminder to those Rattlers who are chastising other Rattlers for considering targeted financial boycotts and suggesting that such boycotts show a lack of love for FAMU, remember that when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, the late Rush Limbaugh said something along the lines of "I hope that he fails" and over the next eight years, first with the Tea Party, which morphed into MAGA, those who opposed Obama due to policies or personhood (read-Black) did everything in their powers to obstruct his agenda and once out of office, erase some of his signature legislation, like the Affordable Care Act. They are STILL working to dismantle Obamacare through attacks on Medicaid and Medicare up to this very moment, as well as erasing Black history and legal protections against Black civil and voting rights!

And to answer the ignorant critics who say, "Hobbs, you always make things about race," well, to add a non-race specific point, Project 2025 is designed to radically restructure education by infusing conservative dogma into the academy, removing public taxpayer funds from public institutions, and ultimately by limiting higher education for the masses to provide uneducated serfs for all of these alleged factories and coal mines that Trump promises to bring back to America. I will discuss this last point in depth at another time—stay tuned...

So, lest we forget that the "They" (MAGAs) are the same folks that Madame President-select Johnson has CHOSEN to be in political league with, thus, my belief that any and all legal/political forms of civil disobedience to her presidential administration must remain on the table! This, instead of rolling over and saying "let's come together in unity and give her our full support." Indeed, you will never see the trees rallying behind the men/women wielding the axe!

And if Johnson is ultimately confirmed after all political and legal challenges to her rigged selection process are exhausted, then we must remain the watchers on the wall demanding full accountability regarding her efforts towards improving university infrastructure, how she responds to a student body and alumni base that are hostile to her presence, and most critically, a full accounting of all of this so-called money her BOT supporters just swear that she will raise from her corporate contacts—which is still highly suspect when considering that MAGA considers HBCUs to be "DEI," and most corporations are scaling back their DEI giving efforts and recruitment to "bend the knee" to Lord Trump’s anti-DEI whims.

Last, we must always remember that FAMU survived Jim Crow because of the commitment of its leaders, students, and alumni to remain engaged and when necessary, enraged, but razor-like focused on protecting the school from those willing to do harm! The spirits of those leaders like George W. Gore, Benjamin L. Perry, Walter L. Smith, and Frederick S. Humphries are with us at this very moment as we march forward in battle for Mother FAMU!