Rev. Dr. Haynes III calls for real solutions to transform America

Pastor, educator and social activist Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III had delegates on their feet in a standing ovation as he opened the final session of the AFT convention with an inspirational message: "Join Team Unhinged!"

AFT President Randi Weingarten introduced Haynes, highlighting his long history of activism to address racial, social and economic injustice, and to foster unity. Haynes, who pastors Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2022 Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Lifetime Achievement Leadership Award in Community Service.

Weingarten called Haynes "a guiding light," comparing his emphasis on the power of community action to create a better world with the work of the labor movement. She said, "In this era marked by division and discord, Rev. Dr. Haynes … represents the kind of leadership that is sorely needed-compassionate yet uncompromising, visionary yet practical, and deeply committed to the betterment of all people."

Haynes said the AFT's convention theme "Real Solutions for a Better Life" is crucial amid right-wing political gaslighting. "They're 'playing in our face,'" he observed, by waging war on public education and attacking workers' rights, civil rights and voting rights while trying to convince the public otherwise.

But recent right-wing attacks labeling Weingarten as "unhinged" have been unintentionally accurate. Unhinged means "disturbed," Haynes said, and that's what AFT members are: disturbed by injustice and the economic exploitation of working people that have too long characterized America. He powerfully exhorted delegates to fight for the bottom-up solutions that can "reconstruct this nation into one of liberty and justice for all."

Citing Thurgood Marshall's advice that his students "do what's right and let the law catch up," Haynes urged delegates to do the same. "We've got the power to transform this nation," he said, as delegates again rose to their feet. "And that's what we're going to do in 2024 and beyond."

[Lesley Gonzalez/photo by Pamela Wolfe]