“When the dark clouds gather on the horizon, when thunder and lightning fill the sky…..”
By Noni Haynes
Marva Johnson’s introduction to Florida A&M University constituencies was an experience that would have driven most presidential candidates from the process. However, the other three in contention were not met with the hostility and disdain that Johnson underwent. The credentialed, affable FAMU COO, Donald Palm, Ph.D., was the overwhelming favorite of the students, alumni, faculty, and the community. Thirteen of 15 selection committee members voted for Palm. However, despite the selection committee vote and the FAMUly support, 8 of the 12 Board of Trustees members voted for Johnson. Many FAMUans felt the fix was in with who they called “The Hateful 8” trustees. Thus, Johnson’s eerily calm demeanor throughout the grueling public interviews was with complete confidence in the outcome.
Marva Johnson’s accession to the presidency of the nation’s number one public Historically Black University is courtesy of a strategy dating back to slavery. Using Blacks to subjugate their own people on behalf of the oppressor is part of an old scheme. Today, it is complete capitulation to MAGA. So now Black MAGA has emerged, hard at work dismantling a vital higher education icon, threatening the institution irreparably. The unique educational culture of FAMU has produced tens of thousands of success stories and is foundational in launching careers and a good quality of life. But it is in jeopardy.
Attorney Johnson is trying hard to quell fears by engaging in behind-the-scenes negotiations, offering job security, protecting programs from takeover, and assurances that she is not “a Trojan Horse.” It all rings hollow. She is tied to the people who have harmed Black Floridians for over a decade.
Johnson was chair of the Florida Education Commission in 2014. She continued to serve on the infamous board that launched Critical Race Theory, which led to the undoing of Black history in the curriculum of Florida public schools. Beyond daunting, it reveals the plan to close the education gateway that will always be our path to success and survival.
The week following FAMU’s presidential selection process, Bethune-Cookman University completed the identical presidential exercise, with three board members who also serve on FAMU’s board. Tunjarnika Coleman-Ferrell is expected to be the hand-picked choice on May 26 or 27.
This conspiracy is real. As a flagship institution, FAMU risks losing its landmark research programs, including the Schools of the Environment, Journalism, and Architecture. The College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences has already lost over $16 million in research dollars because of DOGE. The Nursing and Allied Health Schools could become appendages to Florida State’s fledgling Medical School.
But the legendary Marching 100, the epitome of Black culture, is MAGA’s definition of WOKE. It, too, could be in line of sight. But alumni and students are emboldened to fight. Now, Rattlers are quick to recite the Rattler charge made famous by former FAMU President Frederick Humphries: “When the dark clouds gather on the horizon, when thunder and lightning fill the sky, when fate is but a glint in the eye of a fallen Rattler and hopes are lost friends,…… Rattlers will STRIKE, and STRIKE and STRIKE again!”
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