Cry Loud: Invited or Intruded
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." John 10:1
A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day a verse from Luke 14:12, and it made me think about the problem with immigration in America. In that passage, Jesus speaks about who we invite and why. And that’s what struck me: it is one thing to be invited into a place, but another thing entirely to invade it.
When people come to this nation without invitation, they often drain resources in hopes of making their own lives better. And somehow, we are told we should not have a problem with this. We are told that because we were once enslaved people, we’re supposed to accept it. It’s as if our history is being used to shame us into silence.
At times, it feels like a threat. If we do not conform, we could find ourselves in a similar place of struggle again. That frustration extends beyond immigration. We see it now in the government shutdown too.
There is this idea that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be tied to the shutdown fight, and that if Congress does not agree to expand it, everything must come to a halt. And somehow, we, the descendants of American slaves, become the face of that fight. When SNAP benefits get cut off, when healthcare hangs in the balance, it is our communities that feel it first.
We’re told we must stand with one political side over another. We’re told we should automatically support the shutdown until Republicans give in. But that’s not true. It’s not that simple. Democrats argue that expansion is necessary so people can keep their healthcare, and I understand that. Everyone deserves decent, affordable care. But the reality is, someone always has to pay.
So I started looking closely at this ACA situation. Here’s what I found. The proposed expansion, about $350 billion, would bring total healthcare spending to nearly $800 billion. And in many ways, this expansion seems designed to compensate for the strain that illegal immigration has placed on healthcare systems, especially in sanctuary cities.
There’s truth in that. People come into this country without being invited, and in doing so, they often put additional pressure on already struggling communities. Yet somehow, we’re the ones expected to feel guilty or heartless if we question it. We’re supposed to have endless compassion, even when our own communities are still fighting for basic equality, affordable healthcare, and safety.
Listening to the Native Land Podcast this week honestly heightened my frustration. They spoke as if people like me don’t understand politics. They spoke as if anyone who questions Democratic policies must be uninformed or manipulated by Republicans. That’s insulting because I do my research. This is a podcast hosted by high-minded, supposed elites who sit back on their moral thrones, tossing negative critiques at the Black community as if they are beyond reproach. Many of them have faced their own scandals, yet they continue to act as though they are the moral compass of Black America. They speak as if we are all facing the wall and unaware of reality.
Recently, Joe Budden called out this very behavior after Mark Lamont Hill appeared on Budden’s famous podcast and got into an intellectual argument with one of his co-hosts. Following that exchange, Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, Andrew Gillum, and their newly added host Bakari Sellers took to the defense of Mark Lamont Hill, forming what sounded like an elite panel. They criticized Joe Budden’s show, labeling it “anti-intellectual” and claiming it lacked “intellectual perspectives.” What they failed to recognize is that ordinary Black Americans, those outside the academic bubble, often understand the issues more clearly because we live them every day.
Another left-leaning podcast broke down how immigration actually works. The host explained that there are four main legal ways to enter the United States:
Through the visa lottery
By being sponsored by a family member
Through employment sponsorship
By seeking asylum through an embassy or border process
But someone suggested there should be a fifth way, a path for people to come here specifically as low-wage or essential workers to do farm work, cleaning, or service jobs. To me, that sounds like modern-day classism because what it really does is create a permanent underclass. These are people who can work but never rise above a certain level, are paid little, protected less, and used for labor others refuse to do.
Today, it is a well-known fact that many undocumented immigrants work under the table for low wages. They are paid just enough to survive but never enough to advance. Most do not receive healthcare or benefits, yet they still depend on public systems like emergency rooms, food assistance, and SNAP to care for their families. What has formed as a result is an invisible class, people trapped between survival and exploitation, existing in the shadows of a nation they were never invited into.
There are many Democratic politicians who are taking what is happening in our government and misapplying it to slavery in America. Every time you listen to a Democrat speak, they have in their mouth the word “slave” as if it were the last bullet in a loaded gun. But I don’t see this as something that mirrors what happened to Black Americans. It’s completely different. The people who come here illegally were not brought here in chains. They come by choice, often without invitation, crossing the border in search of a better life, even if it means draining resources and taking jobs from individuals born in this country. They may work for low wages, but they still get paid. Many also receive access to food assistance, healthcare for their children, and other social benefits.
Our ancestors had none of that. They weren’t compensated. They were forced into generations of unpaid labor that built this nation’s wealth, and to this day, their descendants have never been fully repaid or restored. That’s why it’s so frustrating when politicians or media voices use the slave narrative to justify compassion or policy toward those who come here illegally. It’s not the same struggle. It’s not the same story.
That narrative, the idea that because our ancestors endured slavery, we should automatically empathize with everyone else’s hardship, is manipulative. It erases what truly happened to us and turns our pain into a political tool. And that, to me, is the real betrayal.
Which brings me to the problem with the ACA expansion. Democrats are now seeking nearly $800 billion for the Affordable Care Act and are holding up the government over it, blaming Republicans for the shutdown. But the truth is, they know exactly what card they’re playing.
Democrats on my timeline are saying, “Now is not the time to play the blame game.” I beg to differ. There is responsibility to be had, and it does not belong to the loudest voice screaming and pointing fingers. It should be made clear that Democrats have voted no to funding a continuing resolution that would allow SNAP and WIC benefits to continue during this shutdown.
The reason this funding is being held up is because Democrats are unified in saying no. They have decided it is better to play a political card, to extend the Affordable Care Act, because they know this moment may not come again. In doing so, they have placed the lives of the poor in their hands, then turned around and pointed the finger elsewhere. It’s like setting fire to your neighbor’s house and blaming them for breaking the windows to escape.
What’s worse, Black leadership isn’t even leading this charge, yet our vote makes up one of the largest portions of the Democratic voting bloc. We have people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both receive significant donations from healthcare executives, pushing to reward the healthcare industry with another $350 billion. In doing so, they hold poor Americans hostage by tying SNAP benefits and essential programs to whether or not Congress passes their healthcare bill.
When it comes to reparations, Bernie Sanders has made it clear he does not believe Black Americans should receive them. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has shunned the idea entirely. Yet both of them frequently speak about “Black and Brown” people as if they represent our struggles. To be clear, Brown people is often used to align other nationalities with the experience of ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery), even though those groups haven’t faced what we faced.
When AOC spoke at Mamdani’s mayoral event, she invoked the slave narrative as though she were speaking for us. But she’s not. Neither she nor Bernie, Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Cory Booker, or any other leading Democrat has fought for reparations or direct justice for descendants of slaves. Their focus has been on policies that benefit others such as healthcare for all, housing for all, and immigration reform for those who came here without invitation. And somehow, we’re expected to quietly support this agenda as if it aligns with our history, legacy, and needs.
We’re told these agendas are progress. But the reality is, our communities are still being left behind. Our needs are overshadowed by others with louder advocates and more political leverage.
And now, we have Al Sharpton, who has been a thorn in the side of the African-American community for decades, yet continues to perform as if he is our spokesperson. He has endorsed Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist running for Mayor of New York City, who promises everything from free buses to universal childcare, rent freezes, and grocery subsidies. Sharpton allowed Mamdani to step onto one of his faux gospel platforms and preach these promises to the Black community with a preacher-like tone. It was absolutely disgusting and unbelievable. It was another performance meant to pacify us while pretending to advocate for us.
And that’s the problem. If we don’t fight for ourselves, others will continue to rise up and use our story and our pain to fight for themselves. We will keep seeing the same fakes, the same pretenders who act as if they carry the Black voice in their pockets while using it to push agendas that don’t serve us.
Sometimes I think maybe I should stay silent, cross my arms over my chest, and watch things play out. But then I hear the laughter of my grandchildren. I see their faces as they come home from school, their minds growing sharper, their spirits brighter, their dreams still wide open. And I realize I cannot stay quiet.
I have to speak. I have to write. I have to cry loud, so that when they grow up, they’ll have truth to stand on. They will have something real to align with in a world that is closing in on us all.
Silence has never saved us. Our ancestors built this nation with their hands and their hope, and their voices still echo through us. We owe it to them and to our children to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. We owe it to the future to stand firm, to question what’s being done in our name, and to refuse to let our story be rewritten for someone else’s purpose.
As I think back to that scripture in Luke 14:12, I’m reminded again that there is a difference between being invited and being an intruder. We, the descendants of those who were forced to build this nation, were brought here in chains. Our culture was stripped away, and our freedom, the very will to leave this land, was stolen. Yet we became the foundation on which this nation stands. And now, somehow, we are being pushed to the margins, told to stay quiet while others who have no roots here, no legacy, and no history of sacrifice are handed the microphone.
If we don’t speak up now, our story will be erased piece by piece until the truth of who we are and what we’ve endured is buried under a flood of new narratives.
So I write. I speak. I cry loud, because our children deserve to know that their inheritance is not silence but strength. And as long as there’s breath in me, I will not let our story be stolen or forgotten.
