Dana Black: People with wealth, power sidestep fight for democracy

I remember studying World War II in school and thinking, “How could people allow those horrific events to happen to people?” I no longer question, because I am witnessing it in real time.

Wealthy people in powerful decision-making positions will help the rapid collapse of our democracy for money. Plain and simple. Black women sharecroppers living in Mississippi in the 1960s and 1970s did more to protect our democracy than have some of the wealthiest humans living in our country. These people are so ready to lay down for this administration. Every time they do, another piece of our democracy falls.

In 2025, nine major U.S. law firms, under pressure from the president’s executive orders limiting access to federal contracts and security clearances, have entered into agreements with the administration to provide $940 million in pro bono legal service. The administration threatened sanctions against these law firms, because they represented clients or causes he considered adverse to his interests.

Don’t these white-shoe law firms have some of the best lawyers ever produced? Why didn’t they use all of that legalese stored in their brains to fight? The fear of losing money—that’s why. We are a nation of laws, but the practitioners of the law didn’t use the law to protect themselves. So what are we non-lawyers supposed to do when they come for us?

This administration is forcing Indiana lawmakers into mid-decade redistricting. A poll indicates 52% of Hoosiers oppose it, but Gov. Mike Braun says he’s willing to move forward with a special session to redraw the congressional lines. Instead of listening to people who actually pay his salary, he is abdicating his position as the state’s CEO by giving in to the president’s intimidation tactics.

Gov. Braun shared on Fort Wayne’s WOWO radio station, “If we try to drag our feet as a state on it, probably, we’ll have consequences of not working with the Trump administration as tightly as we should.” Braun and the other Indiana Republicans have been warned, but they are too subservient to the president to resist. What good is having the most powerful positions in the state if you can’t fight for us?

Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened action against ABC if it didn’t remove Jimmy Kimmel from late-night television for making controversial remarks. Sinclair Media and Nexstar Media said they wouldn’t air the show on their affiliates—citing concerns from local communities. Then Walt Disney Co., the parent company of ABC, reversed its decision to suspend Kimmel. Now Kimmel is back on air, even via Sinclair and Nexstar stations.

The mouse just demonstrated how you fight back. This is how you stand up to intimidation. They used their power to remind folks what it looks like to defend democracy and to stand up for what is right. They fought like a Black woman sharecropper from Mississippi.

When are the rest of these wealthy people going to realize they have the power to stop the rapid descent into authoritarianism? They have everything needed to be on the front lines helping those of us who don’t have their wealth and power. America allowed them to ascend to where they are; now it is time for them to give back to her.•

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Black is former deputy chairwoman for engagement for the Indiana Democratic Party
and a former candidate for the Indiana House. Send comments to [email protected].

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