Congressman Johnson Headlines UN Atlanta Chapter Black History Month Event: Celebrating Resilience and Empowerment: The Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) on Capitol Hill

Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) delivered the following remarks at the UN Atlanta Chapter Black History Month Event: Celebrating Resilience and Empowerment: The Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) on Capitol Hill on Feb. 24, 2025

Good afternoon, everyone — I’m Congressman Hank Johnson, and I proudly represent Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District. It is my honor to be with you all today.
We're here to recognize and celebrate the resilience of people of African descent, and the empowerment, which inures to our benefit from the advent of the 'Second International Decade for People of African Descent', which we seek to have in place to cover the next 10 years.

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the Atlanta Chapter of the United Nations Association, to Howard University, to the Black Professionals in International Affairs, and to all the distinguished leaders, scholars, and advocates joining us today. Your work in advancing racial equity and human rights is invaluable, and I am proud to stand alongside you in this mission.

Today, we are not only celebrating the past, but we are also resolved to build a better and brighter future, as we navigate through this period of extreme chaos, turmoil, crisis and confusion. We have no place for hopelessness and despair.

At this very moment, Donald Trump and his co-president Elon Musk are waging war on our system of governance, attempting to replace American democracy with a MAGA dictatorship. To accomplish this objective, they are trying to demolish the very institutions that support the rule of law, freedom and liberty, and those institutions that protect our national and global security, our health, our environment, our livelihoods, and our futures. As I speak, they are ripping apart federal agencies, firing thousands of public servants, and gutting the programs that provide life-saving support to Black communities—both here and across the globe.

For decades, U.S. foreign assistance has helped support fragile democracies and vulnerable communities in countries across the world—helping to foster peace, promoting education and public health, and seeking to curb drug and human trafficking, and violence, while empowering marginalized groups. These good works are being halted by the racist, reckless and calculated acts of the Trump Musk regime. These deliberate efforts to abolish foreign assistance are foolhardy self-defeating, and dangerous to national and global health, prosperity, and security.

The $2 billion in aid to Latin American and Caribbean countries—supporting programs that fight drug trafficking, strengthen justice systems, and assist migrants—is now in serious jeopardy. USAID, a critical lifeline for civil society organizations fighting for human rights and economic opportunity across the world, has been gutted. Millions of Haitians and Venezuelans are being abandoned as temporary protective status has been revoked—sending our neighbors, friends and co-workers back to a violent and destabilized countries. This direct assault on human rights is racist, it’s cruel, it’s disgraceful, and it reeks of moral failure. Forcing young people into joining violent gangs, while putting women and girls at risk of extreme violence and exploitation, is wrong. We can and should do better. This is not making America safe; it is making our country and the entire world more dangerous.

That is why this Second Decade for People of African Descent is so critical. The first decade laid the foundation, shining a global spotlight on racial injustice while pushing for real policy change. The second decade will be a fight for our future, and indeed, the future for freedom of all people across the globe.

It will be a fight to ensure that resilience is no longer just a survival mechanism, but a launchpad for empowerment. It will be a fight to protect global Black communities from exploitation, displacement, and systemic violence. That is why I will be reintroducing the resolution to support the second United Nations-designated International Decade for People of African Descent (2025 – 2034) and calling for national and international actions to combat racism and foster inclusion.

History will not judge us by what we say today — it will judge us by what we do today and tomorrow. And I promise you this: we will not go quietly. We will rise, we will organize, and we will win.

Thank you all for being here today and I leave you with advice from my mentor, dear friend, and former colleague-the late Congressman John Lewis, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

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