Overview: San Bernardino Congressman Pete Aguilar hosted a roundtable discussion at New Hope Family Life Center to address the growing concerns of the Black community over the Trump Administration’s flurry of Federal Executives orders. Aguilar outlined a three-tiered approach Democrats are using to push back against the Trump agenda, including the passage of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), leveraging the courts, and engaging the community. The discussion also covered a range of topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Title I funding, and the importance of immigrants knowing their rights. Aguilar encouraged attendees to get involved and play a role in pushing back against the Trump agenda by making calls to their legislative representatives regardless of party.
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The community room at New Hope Family Life Center on Highland Avenue in San Bernardino, was standing room only on the afternoon of Friday, February 22. Members of the Black community gathered in large numbers for a roundtable discussion with Congressional representative Pete Aguilar over national issues currently threatening the Black community.
Aguilar, who represents the 33rd Congressional District and also serves as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, met with members of the community to hear and discuss growing concerns over the Trump Administration’s flurry of Federal Executives Orders and their potential impacts.
The event, hosted by the Black American Political Association of California (BAPAC), the San Bernardino NAACP 1062, and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Inland Empire Chapter, was facilitated by Black Voice News Publishers Emeritus, Cheryl and Hardy Brown.
In addition to local constituents, the meeting was well attended by a broad coalition of community leaders including ministers from local churches, nonprofit organizations and local businesses.
Topics discussed during the event included several hot topics causing consternation and concern among Black residents regarding everything from anticipated budget cuts and the potential impact they may have on everything from employment to criminal justice; from healthcare to education; and from housing to all aspects of social services and beyond.
In response to the overarching concerns the community was anxious to learn what actions the Democratic Party is taking to push back against Trump and the Republican party’s attempts to aggressively reduce social and other services.
In response, Aguilar laid out a three tiered approach the Democratic Party is pursuing to push back against the Trump agenda that begins with the need for Congress to pass the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA). This legislation, though approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in July 2022, is yet to make it through Congress to become law.
Aguilar stressed how this legislation, along with the introduction of other legislation in support of it, is one way to stop Musk ‘s invasion of our privacy and protect our personal data as it relates to him having total access to our private digital information without legal authorization.
ADPPA was the first piece of legislation designed to establish a comprehensive and meaningful framework to regulate the use, collection and sharing of personal data.
The second line of defense against questionable actions taken by the Trump administration as described by Aguilar, is to leverage the courts.
“The courts already have 54 lawsuits pending against the administration. [They are] spread over eight federal districts across the country,” he explained before going on to admit, “If he [Trump] doesn’t abide by court decisions,” it could lead to a constitutional crisis.
According to professor of law and constitutional law expert, Jesica Silbey, of Boston University, “When people elected to uphold the rule of law and to follow the Constitution, openly defy the plain meaning of laws, then yes, we’re in a constitutional crisis.”
As the Democratic Party pursues the first two actions, Aguilar stressed the importance of the next strategy as essential to a successful push back against the Trump agenda. “The third line of attack,” he highlighted, “is our community.” To dramatize the importance of community action he highlighted a pointed to a relevant quote by Abraham Lincoln who once stressed how public sentiment is everything. “With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.”
According to Lincoln, whoever successfully molds public sentiment has a greater impact than someone who “enact statutes or pronounces judicial decisions.”
Other items of discussion centered around a broad range of topics important to the Black community that are currently under siege by theTrump administration. This includes everything from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and Title I funding to the importance of immigrants knowing their rights, to tariffs and Trump’s plans to establish a faith-based entity as part of his White House.
Aguilar encouraged those in attendance to get involved and play a role in pushing back against the Trump agenda by making calls to their legislative representatives regardless of party.