US Rep. Al Green Has Always Been A Gangsta

Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty

By now you’ve seen the video of the lone, defiant, Black man holding his walking stick in the direction of President Trump during his joint session of Congress address. It’s a powerful image shared around social media showing Texas Rep. Al Green standing up for all who are set to be victims of cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

It was a moment that defined the long-winded speech of lies a glitch in the Republican matrix in which someone from the Democratic party actually stood and said something. Before the 77-year-old congressman was escorted out of the Capitol, he took a moment to turn his attention to the Republican side of the aisle to mutter “Shame on you.”

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And just like that, Green was gone, but the moment became the talk of the presidential address to Congress. Because Al Green believes, like most of us who voted for anything other than a fascist regime, that this presidency is a sham and deserves the same respect one would give a scammer. 

And here’s the thing: Al Green has been a gangsta. If you were to look up “truth to power” it would be a photo of Al Green. And honestly, the Democratic party should be embarrassed. Green is in the twilight of his career and shouldn’t have to stand with a cane to yell at the president; another younger Democrat could’ve done that, but some didn’t show up and others were busy posting dance challenges and social media videos. 

Green has advocated for civil rights for most of his life. He attended Florida A&M University, Howard University, and Tuskegee Institute, and despite not receiving degrees from these institutions, he would go on to earn a Juris Doctor from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 1973. 

He joined Congress in 2004 and was re-elected some 10 times. His focus has always been on ways to help poor minorities. Green is a part of the old regime that includes names such as Reps. Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lee who don’t consider the job a celebrity status and believe in grassroots efforts to help those who need it most. 

Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty

What happened Tuesday wasn’t Green grandstanding; it was a moment of frustration for a lifelong advocate for people who will be directly affected by Trump’s policies. Truthfully, it’s what all Democrats should have been doing, as the people are tired of watching Trump and his cronies run roughshod over America while elected officials continue to sit this one out.  

For Green, he’s the voice for the voiceless. He always has been. In 2012 he was arrested in Washington, D.C., outside of the Sudanese embassy during a protest against the civil war and unrest in Sudan. In 2021, he found himself back in jail after protesting the voting rights bill. 

He’s not only been openly vocal about Trump’s corruption while in the White House, but he introduced “the first articles of impeachment against him in 2017 and threatened to do it again when the president suggested a U.S. takeover of Gaza last month,” CBS News reports. 

He is the embodiment of John Lewis’ “good trouble” and a welcomed disruption to the oligarchy in office who has made clear that he has no intention of appealing to anyone across the aisle. So the question remains, why was a 77-year-old freedom fighter the only one willing to make sure his voice was heard when everyone else just sat right there? 

Because they are elected officials, but only one of them is a gangsta. 

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