Toledo NAACP Chapter Creates ‘Trump Watch’

By DAVID MURRAY

TCC WEB EDITOR

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025, TOLEDO, OHIO—The Toledo Chapter of the NAACP, at its general membership meeting last night, announced it was creating a ‘Trump Watch’ to keep a local tally of the damage the Trump Administration is doing to the Toledo community, especially to local Black people and people of color.

Darlene Sweeney-Newbern, Toledo chapter president, told the more than 20 people in attendance, “The struggle is real, and the struggle is getting worse. If you are woke you understand we are under fire.” Her opening remarks were greeted with applause and declarations of support. “I’m going to start something, I’m going to call it ‘Trump Watch.’ ”

Ms. Sweeney-Newbern was just getting started. “They are eliminating everything for black people and people of color. He (Trump) doesn’t believe black people or people of color contribute anything to America. He thinks people of color have done nothing for America. He believes all their contributions are because of DEI,” she said, her voice rising. “We’re going to protest. We’re not going to stand for this.”

But as with any great orator she then quieted her voice, bringing the audience down with her. “But we’re used to this. This has been part of our lives forever,” she reminded the audience. “Since the day we were born.”

Several audience members then described recent Trump administration attacks on the poor, people of color, and the institutions that serve the people of America—education, health care, libraries, food-assistance programs.

Ms. Sweeney-Newbern, who is also president of the Toledo Community Coalition, said one of the most troubling behaviors of President Trump was his believe that he is above the law, citing several federal court rulings against his policies that he has refused to accept, or has ignored.

LeSean Shaw, NAACP member and chief operating officer of Actual Reality Technologies, which is creating a new website for the Toledo NAACP chapter, told the meeting, “We need to be proactive, not reactive. He’s doing things to change the Constitution, which people don’t want. Even people who don’t care about minorities, they care about their Constitution.”

Chapter President Sweeney-Newbern also reported to the membership on two other issues NAACP leadership has been dealing with. She said she had met with officials at the Toledo Police Department to question them about recent complaints that police officers have been requesting driver’s social security numbers during routine traffic stops. She said police officials told her that was standard operating procedure, but admitted that if drivers had a driver’s license or state ID card, providing social security numbers to officers was not required by state or federal law.

Ms. Sweeney-Newbern also reported that she and others had met with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur to express their displeasure that she, along with seven other congressional Democrats, had voted with the Republican majority to censure Congressman Al Green, a black member of Congress, for interrupting President Trump during his March 4 address to a joint session of Congress. The vote to censure Congressman Green, a Democrat from Texas, was held on March 6. The vote tally was 224 to 198 with 2 abstentions.

Ms. Sweeney-Newbern said Ms. Kaptur told her she voted for the censure resolution because she believes the rules of decorum in Congress must be maintained. “She’s unapologetic,” the NAACP president said of Congresswoman Kaptur. “She never has said she is sorry. She did point out that she’s received a 100 per cent ranking on the NAACP score card for civil rights.”

Contact David Murray at davidmmurray1954@gmail.com