20 BOCNEWS.com JUNE 2018 You’re Vote Matters Now More Than Ever If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physi- cal needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. (James 2:16-17). In August of 2016, Donald Trump asked African- Americans, "What do you have to lose?" by voting for him. A year and a half into Trump's presidency, we've got a pretty good idea of what we're losing. We're losing our lives and our safety: Under Trump, racial violence and hate crimes are on the rise. Half of all race-based attacks in America are committed against Black’s. We're losing our education system: Trump and Betsy DeVos have proposed massive cuts to public schools. We're losing our health care: Trump and the Republicans in Congress are starting to roll back Obamacare, ripping health insurance away from us. And in a trend that goes mostly unnoticed -- Trump is rolling back environmental protections that impact the quality of the air, we breathe and the water we drink which impact African-Americans more; because we are more likely to live in communi- ties that are near industrial facilities that emit noise, odor, and chemical emissions. That's the bad news. The good news is that we have the power to change things for the better. But it's going to take all of us standing together and vot- ing together to make it happen. We don't have to look too far back in history to see what's possible. In 2008, Blacks came out to vote in droves to elect President Obama and a Democratic Congress. And thanks to Democrats, the number of African- Americans without health care dropped by 38 percent; the unemployment rate for African- Americans went from 16.8 per- cent to 7.9 percent; high school graduation among African- Americans hit an all-time high, while incarceration rates for African-Americans hit an all- time low; and the government made a historic investment in Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and finan- cial aid. As President Obama said, "When we put our shoulders to the wheel of history, it moves." Now we’re not naive. We know that change doesn't come as easily or as quickly as it should to communities of color, even under Democratic leadership. And we know that voting won't solve every problem in our lives. But we do have real evidence that voting Democratic helps to improve the lives of African-Americans across our state and country. Right now Democrats have a real agenda to improve the lives of African-Americans across Colorado and across the country. Democrats are running a plat- form of: ■ ■ More funding for our schools ■ ■ Turning back the tide of racism and discrimina- tion ■ ■ Ensuring every American has quality, affordable health care ■ ■ Reforming our broken criminal justice system ■ ■ Raising wages and creating opportunity for hard- working people ■ ■ Creating more affordable housing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." He is correct. But the arc doesn't bend on its own. We have to bend the arc. We are the ones who must put our shoulder against the wheel of history. We must have faith with action, because “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”. We must work together, struggle together and vote together for a better life for our community and our families. On June 26th, 2018 the Democratic Party prima- ry elections will be held to select the party's candidates for Colorado's 2018 elections, including all seven of the state's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and state legislative elections. The June 26th primaries will be a mail in election. Ballots will be mailed on June 4th, 2018. It is critical that we do our homework to learn which candidate will best represent our interest in office. It doesn't matter whether you are talk- ing entertainment, sports, or politics, we won't get respect, or true change, until we’ve gained a degree of representation in the hearts and minds of Colorado legislators. One way to obtain the respect and change, we deserve is by voting the right people into power. Vote on or before June 26, 2018 by 7:00pm. To register to vote visit govotecolorado.com. To view a sample ballot for Arapahoe County visit https:// www.arapahoevotes.com/on-ballot. For more infor- mation on the African American Initiative of the Colorado Democrats visit aaicd.org. By Maya Wheeler Maya Wheeler The Myth of Black Politics Of the many myths that Donald Trump is destroying, perhaps the biggest myth is the notion that Democrats are somehow, “Better for Black people”. That narrative ran its course with Hillary as a half cen- tury of Democrat “concern” for Black Americans, only every four years, came tumbling down with the election of Donald Trump. Let’s be clear; Trump would not be in office but for mil- lions of disaffected Democrats, includ- ing many Black Americans, who have grown tired of being taken for granted. 10 million Obama voters turned their back on Hillary’s empty rhetoric and spotty advocacy. Trump asked black and other minor- ities, “Are you better off?” The answer, after eight years of a [half] Black President at the helm was a resound- ing “NO!” And look what’s happened? Because of Donald Trump more Black Americans and Hispanics are employed in America than at any other time since Reconstruction. Black American families have more money in their pay- checks due to Trump’s tax cuts and millions of Black Americans are find- ing better paying jobs as Trump rolls back thousands of anti-business regu- lations that was choking America’s industries and choking off job growth. As Ronald Reagan once noted, “A rising tide raises ALL boats!” Black Americans are discovering that a booming, unleashed economy benefits ALL Americans regardless of ethnicity. And the man has only been in office for 18 months! Black Americans have had 50+ years of Democrat pandering and little to show for it beyond generational welfare dependency and the label “vic- tim” scrawled across our backs as Democrats continue the pathetic nar- rative that the only way a Black citizen moves ahead and succeeds in America is with Government help! Donald Trump has put that lie to rest—maybe forever, as Black Americans are beginning to see that the only limitations they suffer are those thrust upon them by a Democrat Party more interested in pandering to gain power, than to create jobs and a thriving economy that benefits ALL Americans. POLITICS Trump and the Republicans in Congress are starting to roll back Obamacare, ripping health insurance away from us. POLITICS Pastor Nathan O'Neal By Nathan L O'Neal, PHD, CFI, CAC is not to whom it may concern. A Message is to one person. So, from 2006 I don’t care if only one per- son says Pastor I got it. I know I’m a messenge You see, if you are a preacher that you preach sermons, you want everybody to jump up and yell and scream but their life may not change. But if you are a messenger, you see the mailman doesn’t go to everybody and say this is yours and you look at the name and it’s not your name. You will tell the per- son that that’s not me. So, in a message every time I’ve preached since 2006 some people may say I don’t get anything. I’m not sent to you. Maybe today my message is not for you, but I am a messenger. See, God started to send messages to the church. Are you hearing me? There was a time when the word that God was sending to the church was heal- ing. And it was what the Holy Spirit was largely passing to the church. It was referred to in those days as faith healing movement. During this move- ment a lot of healing Evangelists rose up and the Holy Spirit confirmed his word through them, through signs and wonders. In fact, this started with Apostle Peter, the word healing movement was the first one. Because how would they believe if there was no miracles, signs and wonders? So, you would see Peter going into the temple and he would see a man that was lame, and he would say get up and he would get up and that confirms the word of God... RIGHTEOUS ... from page 10 to be continued in the July edition of the Body of Christ News