All hands on deck!

All hands on deck!

By Congressman Alcee L. Hastings

      When a ship is in trouble, the alarm sounds for all hands (personnel) to hurry to their posts and stand alert for orders.

     Measure South Florida’s African Americans by any socio, psycho, religious, eco, health, and/or political standard and you will see us at the bottom. The harsh truth is that there are too many causes to enumerate, too much damage to assess, and enough blame to go around.

     We are in deep crises mode.  The alarm has sounded loudly for decades.  We can save our ship, but, it will take a holistic, total effort. And, friends, it cannot be done by any one faction, it cannot be done by us being divided, it cannot be done by selfishness.

     Call it shared sacrifice, or call it what you will or may, the fact is that we all have a responsibility to do all we can.

     Ask yourself what have I done to help our community?  Can I do more?  What can I do to make our community ship whole?  Who, where, when and how can I enlist and work with others to make things better?

     For the immediate future I call on us to concentrate on the Nov. 6, 2012 election.

     The following are a few of the things we can do:

     1. Structure the most powerful voter turnout that has ever occurred in Broward County.

     2. The heads of every organization in our community should get busy enlisting their members to assist in educating their members and our community on the relevant issues on the ballot.

     3. African American ministers should magnify their efforts to inform their congregations the importance of this election. And collectively, inter-denominationally organize and strategize for a major voting push.

     4. My colleagues, Black Elected Officials, have major responsibilities.  The people have entrusted us with their trust and confidence.

     We owe our constituents our livelihoods and careers.  We must demonstrate that their belief in us is not misplaced, that we can work together, put aside petty differences and show the way forward.

     Let’s put into operation, “Operation Big Vote.” That will require raising and contributing money.  I will be contacting many of you to help us go FORWARD with the effort.  Meetings are needed to be held, and action must follow.

     We can do this! We must do this! Please help.

     To help, contact the political offices of any of the Black Elected Officials.  Specifically, Commissioner Dale Holness, Senator Chris Smith, Representative Perry Thurston, Mayor Eric Jones, Dr. Dorsey Miller, and me.

     We are committed to have our largest turnout ever. We need you!!