Travel Advisory

 Way back in May of this year, the NAACP issued a travel warning for African-Americans traveling to Florida.

This past weekend, three black people were gunned down in Jacksonville. That's in Florida. The motive for the shooting was hate. A twenty-one year old murdered three random people because they were black. Back in May, Florida's "governor" called the NAACP's warning "a stunt." This stunt was predicated on Florida's "governor" and his "aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools."

At that time, this was not a safety advisory. It was a matter of standing up against the systematic elimination of diversity and equality. The "governor" and his policies have worked to diminish and marginalize through such acts as rejecting students' access to AP African-American Studies and banning hundreds of books from school libraries. Those books that were considered by Florida's "governor" and his minions to be "harmful." Harmful in that they were written by people of color. LGBTQ+ people. People who were not in the carefully manicured white visage of Florida's "governor." 

That was back in May. 

And while Florida's "governor" continues to wish that he could be president of the United States after his party's presumptive nominee is locked up, that dream is crumbling around his ears. Turning his attention back to the mess that he left to go on the campaign trail, Florida's governor went to a vigil in Jacksonville, memorializing the victims of the hate crime that occurred in that city the day before. 

He was not welcomed. 

Did I mention that among his other Critical Of Race policies that he had also recently loosened Florida's gun laws. No permit or waiting period required. If you have murder on your mind and can get the money over the counter, you get a gun. 

And if you are prone to decorating those guns with swastikas, as the killer in Jacksonville was, you've got a friend in Florida's "governor."

Stay safe. Stay out of Florida.