Norris R. McDonald | US elections: The Caribbean diaspora must rally behind Angie Nixon!

“I don’t like to see people struggling the way I struggled.”

– Angie Nixon

The upcoming 2026 US Senate special election in Florida is not just an American political contest; it is a critical battleground for the survival, dignity, and sovereignty of the Caribbean diaspora and Black American people.

This must be seen as a broad Pan-African struggle in which those in the diaspora can take a firm stand against years of racism and economic injustice.

Democratic State Representative Angie Nixon has now emerged as a forceful political leader and US Senate candidate. If she helps to flip the US Senate, it would go a long way toward making life better for poor people and the middle class.

For the hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans, Haitians, and other Caribbean Americans who call Florida home, the stakes are very high.

JD VANCE’S RACIST ATTACK ON NIXON

My friends, let us not think that those desperately clinging to power do not also recognise this. The desperation and visceral fear gripping MAGA Republicans, if that is what remains of them, were recently exposed on the campaign trail. Vice President JD Vance launched a vicious racist attack against Angie Nixon.

There he was, telling a black lawmaker whose family came across on the Anglo-Saxon slave ships to “get the hell out” of America.

Here we have an entitled White American trying to belittle a strong black woman.

This xenophobic and racist rant is a calculated tactic designed to distract American voters from what the writer sees as the systemic failures of the Trump regime.

This includes the disastrous war on Iran, which led to the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route, and the exclusion of Venezuelan oil and gas from global markets following the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Nixon countered Vance brilliantly. She pointed out that people like Vice President JD Vance “are enjoying their comfort in buildings built by her slave ancestors”.

TRUMP’S ICE DEPORTATIONS HURT CARIBBEAN FAMILIES

The stakes are very high, my friends. The Caribbean diaspora, like many other immigrant communities, has borne the brunt of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement borders on lawlessness, with immigrants being hunted down, shackled, and imprisoned without due process of law or basic human rights.

Florida’s infamous Alligator Alley was one of the many places where several Jamaicans were sent before deportation.

The cruel termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for our Haitian brothers and sisters is a blatant attempt to fracture the historic bond of Pan-African and Caribbean solidarity.

Even domestic agricultural sectors and rural white farmers are facing financial ruin as crops rot in the fields. Immigrant labour enriched America, and it has taken Trump’s policies to remind many of his supporters of this important fact.

Caribbean governments that are supporting what the writer considers the United States’ inhumane policy of forced deportation must stop seeking to curry favour with Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the stakes of this election ripple far beyond the borders of Broward, Orange, and Miami-Dade counties; they strike at the economic heart of the islands.

Again, Donald Trump’s wars and tariffs have driven US diesel prices to record levels. This has sharply impacted the cost of groceries, utilities, and basic necessities, and is contributing to voter anger, as reflected in strong early voting turnout.

TRUMP’S ‘BIG UGLY BILL’ DESTROYED HEALTHCARE

Angie Nixon’s opponent is incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody. She has been part of an administration under whose rule Florida has fallen to 41st place nationally in healthcare affordability and overall quality of life.

Moody helped Trump pass his ‘Big Ugly Bill’, which stripped $911 billion from the budget. She supported a budget that funded foreign wars and tax cuts for billionaires while hurting millions of vulnerable people who lost access to vital healthcare programmes.

The human cost has been staggering. More than 1,100 counties across the United States have lost maternity hospitals and clinics. In many communities, black pregnant and nursing mothers must travel long distances to receive basic maternity care.

In Florida alone, 13 counties reportedly lack maternity clinics. This is part of what the writer describes as a broader for-profit healthcare system controlled by billionaires that has expanded under Trump.

In contrast, Angie Nixon offers a ‘Medicare for All’ platform that treats healthcare as a fundamental human right. In outlining her healthcare plan, she has argued that private premiums, deductibles, and co-pays should be eliminated. Let mega-corporations and billionaires finally pay their fair share of taxes and contribute more equitably to America.

PAN-AFRICAN SOLIDARITY: A CALL TO ACTION

My dear friends, this special election represents an opportunity to elect Angie Nixon, who could be a strong voice on issues that matter to our people. Her Afro-Caribbean coalition is drawing support from the more than 300,000 Jamaicans and 530,000 Haitians living in Florida.

Angie Nixon has also been endorsed by progressive leaders and major labour unions.

A decisive victory for Nixon could flip control of the US Senate and weaken the right-wing deportation machine.

Angie Nixon’s Senate campaign connects with the rebellious spirit of our people. By challenging the dominance of the billionaire class and its Republican enablers, she has shown herself to be a force for positive change in American society, especially in the area of affordable healthcare.

This is what our people need: a strong black voice seeking justice for the downtrodden.

This Florida Senate special election, therefore, gives voters a chance to pay back Trump and his MAGA Republicans for what the writer views as their callous indifference to human lives.

The Caribbean-American community must rally behind Angie Nixon.

Our community must work hard to help make her a Florida senator who is willing to fight to uplift our people.

We must organise, mobilise, and march to the polls in support of her candidacy.

The struggle continues. The destiny of the Caribbean-American community is tied to Angie Nixon’s victory.

Norris R. McDonald is an author, economic journalist, and political analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and miaminorris@yahoo.com.