On March 20, 2025, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. To some, this may sound like just another policy move. But for Black America, it is a clear signal that we are entering a new era — one that demands vigilance, unity, and self-determination.
I’ve said from the beginning of Trump’s reelection campaign: Pharaoh is going to let Black people go. What we are seeing is not just a shift in politics, but a spiritual shift. The government is pulling back, and whether we’re ready or not, we are being pushed to stop looking outward for rescue and start looking inward for leadership. These next four years are not about waiting for Washington to save us. They are about us taking full ownership of our future — especially when it comes to the education of our children.
Trump claims he will preserve key federal programs like Pell Grants, Title I funding, and resources for children with disabilities and special needs. These are not minor line items in a federal budget — they are lifelines for millions of students, especially in Black communities. But under Trump’s plan, these programs won’t be overseen by the Department of Education anymore. They’ll be redistributed to other agencies, without clear accountability or guarantees of enforcement.
What Trump did not mention is just as important as what he did. Nowhere in his remarks did he address the Department’s Office for Civil Rights — the office responsible for investigating racial discrimination in schools. Without that oversight, there is no one to protect Black students from unequal discipline, biased testing, or being tracked away from opportunity. The elimination of this department doesn’t just reduce bureaucracy. It removes protections that took generations to put in place.
Trump argues that removing the federal role in education will empower states and local communities to make decisions more suited to their specific needs. For those who support the move, this decentralization is seen as a benefit — a way to remove layers of bureaucracy and give more control back to parents, local leaders, and school boards. Some believe that trimming federal oversight could streamline education systems and allow states to innovate more freely. Others see potential financial savings from eliminating a large federal agency, freeing up funds to be used elsewhere. There are even those who argue that this is a return to constitutional principles — that education was never meant to be controlled by Washington in the first place.
But even with those points acknowledged, the question remains: who will this newfound freedom benefit — and who will it leave behind?
Even more concerning is Trump’s call to return all educational control to the states. In practice, that means your child’s future will now be decided by local politicians, school boards, superintendents, and curriculum committees. And if we’re not involved in those decisions, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves when our children are left behind.
We can no longer afford to be spectators. We must get involved — actively and consistently. That means showing up for local, county, and state elections. It means knowing who sits on our school boards, who we hire as superintendents, who we allow in our classrooms as teachers, and what values they bring with them. It means demanding a curriculum that doesn’t just check boxes, but one that empowers our young men and women — a curriculum that teaches them who they are, where they come from, and what they are capable of.
Education cannot just be about passing standardized tests. It has to be about liberation, identity, and strength. Our schools should be launching pads for greatness, not pipelines to nowhere or our prisons. And if the federal government is stepping back, we must step forward — boldly, unapologetically, and together.
This is a moment for deep reflection and decisive action. Trump may be proud of signing away federal control, but what matters now is what we sign our names to: petitions, ballots, community plans, and collective strategies to take control of our children’s future.
Pharaoh is letting us go — but where we go from here is up to us.
Let us not miss this moment