The Voice of Ida B Wells

Voice of Freedom

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  • The Two Butt Heads

    Hmmmm. Playing both sides. In January, they were joined at the hip—two peas in a pod. Now, by July, we are told that one of them is suddenly “not capable” of running his department. Which is it? Or is it that the true mayor sits elsewhere, whispering into his ear? I have my suspicions—but that is a matter for another day.

    Let us look at the facts before us. Mr. Peterson, a longtime resident of Minden, and yes—the “right” color—files a complaint. Suddenly, the Mayor and the Police Department are turned upside down. Was this truly the first complaint lodged against the police? Of course not. But it only took the right person, with the right face, to make City Hall listen. And just like that, the Mayor and the Police Chief stand at odds, and the people are left to wonder: what else will spill out from behind those locked doors?

    Now, out comes the $25,000. A check signed by the City Clerk alone. One signature. No oversight. And yet the law is clear: no single hand should hold such authority. Where is the reprimand? Where is the accountability? For I am certain, if this had been a Black employee, their punishment would have been swift and severe—they would already be at home, stripped of duty and reputation.

    This is not her first stain, not the first time her character has been called unworthy of the trust of the people. And yet she remains. Why? Because the Mayor is no stranger to these matters. With the ties between his wife, the City Clerk, and the Assistant City Clerk, there is no doubt he has full disclosure of all that transpires in City Hall. Add to this the cameras and the phone recordings—tools that place every whisper, every signature, every move within his reach. Do not be deceived.

    When two heads butt, as they now do, it is not the clash of righteousness against corruption—it is power straining to protect itself. The shame is not in the fight itself, but in the charade, the hypocrisy, the way justice is bent to serve friendship, color, and convenience.

    And the greater shame is this: while they spar for control, it is the people of Minden who bear the weight of their deceit.

  • Still Tabled Huh?

    How long will the people of Minden suffer deceit in silence? How long will the business of this city be handled as if it were the private purse and privilege of a chosen few?

    We are told that $25,000 was signed by both the Assistant City Clerk and the City Clerk—without the knowledge of the Mayor. That is the excuse offered to us. But let us not be fooled. This same Assistant City Clerk, now working in the role as Utilities Office Manager, holding both positions is something no honest auditor could overlook. It is a dangerous crossing of powers, a marriage of roles that should never be bound together, yet here it stands as fact.

    And the ties run deeper still. This “Manager” is the bosom friend of the Mayor’s wife. It is no coincidence, then, that when her husband passed away, the Mayor himself took to the public square to rally funds for her with a GoFundMe campaign. But months before, when another loyal city employee lost his wife, no such campaign was raised. His grief was worth less. His only consolation was to keep his job—though even that small mercy came under threat when Councilman Roy demanded his dismissal, confirmed by City Clerk Langford. 

    Here, citizens, we see plainly what favoritism looks like when dressed in official robes. We see whose pain is deemed worthy of compassion, and whose is dismissed. We see that friendship, not fairness, governs at City Hall.

    This is not governance; this is corruption. This is not leadership; this is betrayal.

    The people of Minden must open their eyes. You cannot sit silent while your trust is bartered away behind locked doors and whispered friendships. If you do not demand justice, then injustice will reign. If you do not demand truth, then lies will govern you.

    The question is no longer how long the topic will be tabled. The question is: how long will you, the people, remain at the table of silence?

  • Minden’s Disappearing Voices

    Citizens of Minden, do you not see what has become of your city? Once, the utilities office was filled with men and women who knew us, who lived as we lived, who carried the same burdens we carry. They were the kind of people you might pass in the grocery store, or clasp hands with on Sunday morning at church. They worked until retirement because they cared, because service to the people meant something.

    But those days are gone. In their place we now find an Assistant City Clerk working double duty as the Utilities Office Manager and City Clerk, surrounded by staff who cannot carry out the simplest of duties—unable even to take a payment or perform a transfer with competence. And I ask you, how many of our people remain in that office, or anywhere in City Hall? Look closely, and you will find the numbers shrinking.

    When it came time to choose, the citizens were persuaded to place their trust not in one who shared their struggles, but in one handpicked to serve the mayor’s design. Was it not clear when the mayor himself launched a GoFundMe for this very Assistant City Clerk years ago? His intentions were declared then, and they are fulfilled now.

    Councilman Roy proclaimed he would make City Hall “great” again. Yet we must ask: great for whom? For the struggling citizens who wait in line for fair service, or for those intent on restoring City Hall to a place where only certain faces are welcome?

    This is not progress—it is regression, a deliberate turning back of the clock to a time when the voices of our people were silenced and their labor disregarded. Minden, I put the question to you: will you remain silent as your City Hall is remade in the image of exclusion, or will you demand a government that looks like the people it claims to serve?

    The answer will determine whether Minden’s future is built on justice—or on the rubble of its discarded voices

  • Minden’s struggle against the Old Ghost of Racism

    It is the year 2025, and yet the City of Minden remains shackled by the same chains of racial discrimination that should have long been broken. One might expect that with the passing of time, justice and equality would finally take root. Instead, we find ourselves confronted with the same bitter truth: discrimination is alive and well, carried forth by those sworn to protect us and by those elected to lead us.

    The police force still harbors officers who do not deal fairly with Black citizens. Their actions betray the very badge they wear, sowing distrust in a community already weary from decades of mistreatment. Meanwhile, within the walls of City Hall, a different battle is waged—a quiet but deliberate campaign by the mayor to strip the building of its diversity, to make it “white again.”

    Ironically, the open feud between the mayor and the chief of police may prove a moment of opportunity. When the powers that be are at odds with one another, the people sometimes gain space to demand the justice long denied them. Perhaps in their discord lies the city’s only chance for peace.

    But we must be clear: peace cannot be built on silence, nor on the erasure of those who have suffered under the weight of inequality. It must be forged in truth, accountability, and the unwavering demand that those in power answer to the people—all of the people.

    Until then, Minden remains a city haunted, where progress is promised but prejudice persists.