The Voice of Ida B Wells

Well, Minden, here we are again.

So a candidate for Chief of Police says he will not terminate or demote employees. Those words may sound reassuring, but the citizens should be concerned with more than titles and promises. A person does not have to fire or demote someone to make a workplace so difficult, uncomfortable, or hostile that good employees decide leaving is their only option.

We have seen enough to know that leadership must be judged by actions—not campaign promises.

And what about the questions concerning family ties and relationships? Have they been fully addressed? If not, why not? Public officials and candidates for positions of public trust should not fear transparency. If there is nothing improper, then put the facts before the people and let the record speak for itself.

Then there is still the matter of the $25,000 check.

Where is the full explanation? Who authorized it? What documentation supports the transaction? These are not unreasonable questions when public money and public officials are involved.

Public records also raise another question concerning a person involved with payroll reportedly becoming engaged to an employee whose payroll she handles. If that information is accurate, citizens have every right to ask whether the arrangement creates an ethical conflict or requires disclosure or recusal. Asking the question is not an accusation—it is what accountability looks like.

And when questions arise about private meetings, workplace pressure, missing or erased camera footage, or records that citizens believe should exist, the answer should never be rumor or speculation. Preserve the records. Produce the records. Follow the law. Tell the truth.

If there was no wrongdoing, transparency will clear the air. If there was wrongdoing, transparency will expose it.

Mama Ida understood something that remains true today: silence protects systems far more often than it protects the people.

So Minden, when will we stand up?

Another four years should not mean another four years of unanswered questions, political photo opportunities, selective outrage, and business as usual. And please spare us the election-season pictures designed to convince Black citizens that somebody suddenly remembers we exist. Representation requires more than standing beside Black people for a photograph.

As for the brown shoes, the weight-loss gossip, and every other rumor floating around town—those things are distractions. The real issue is accountability.

Forget the gossip.

Show us the records.

Answer the questions.

Explain the $25,000.

Address the conflicts.

Preserve the footage.

And let the truth fall wherever it may.

Because public office belongs to the PUBLIC.

And as long as questions remain unanswered, somebody ought to keep asking them.