Miami-Dade, this is your opportunity to be heard. Join Superintendent Rafael A. Villalobos for a series of town hall meetings across District 24 to share your voice, ask questions, and help shape the future of our public schools.

I’m proud to announce $8,824,314 in grants for four of Florida’s HBCUs: Florida Memorial University, Florida A&M University, Bethune-Cookman College, and Edward Waters College. Our HBCUs have opened doors for generations of students and shaped leaders who changed this nation. They deserve the resources to keep opening those doors. I will always fight for their future.

Glaucoma can steal sight before symptoms appear. That’s why I introduced the Glaucoma Vision Act: to expand screenings, bring care to underserved communities, and invest in research. Early detection can protect a lifetime of vision.

It takes many hands and many hearts to make moments like these special. Thank you to everyone who showed up with purpose.

Last week’s CBCF Annual Legislative Conference is one I will carry with me forever. To every family who shared their story, every advocate who stood with us, and every person who worked behind the scenes to bring us together: thank you. You made it possible, and you reminded us why this work must continue.

To my 5000 Role Models, thank you for bringing your energy, your leadership, and your bright futures to last week’s CBCF Annual Legislative Conference. Seeing you stand together in Washington reminded me why I began this work. I am so proud of you, and I will always fight for every opportunity you deserve.

Nolan Wells’ name deserves to be remembered, and so does the courage of his parents, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley. I was honored to present them with a tribute entered into the Congressional Record, preserving their names and Nolan’s legacy in our nation’s history.

Standing with Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley Sr., I thanked them for the courage it takes to carry Nolan Wells’ name, memory and legacy forward. Their strength reminds us why this work must continue, and why we can never stop fighting for the lives and futures of our children.

I honored Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Nolan Wells, and King Carter by placing their names and their stories into the Congressional Record. I stood with their parents as we recognized the lives of their sons and the pain no parent should ever have to endure. Their names must mean more than remembrance. They must move us to action, strengthen our commitment to protecting Black boys, and demand a future where no parent has to stand where they stand today.

At the Day of Healing Prayer Breakfast, the 5000 Role Models handed out roses with a tenderness that spoke louder than words. I am proud of the care they showed each person they greeted. Their compassion is a form of leadership, and they showed it beautifully.

I want a world where a Black boy’s smile is an ordinary sight, where he can walk into a classroom, down his street and toward his future without fear. At our CBCF Annual Legislative Conference gathering, I saw that joy in the faces of the 5000 Role Models. It is precious, and it is ours to protect.

I was proud to bring together courageous families and committed advocates for a conversation rooted in truth and focused on solutions. The Role Models led us in prayer, reminding us who this work is for and what is at stake. The measure of this moment will be found in the laws we change, the resources we deliver and the lives we protect.

We spoke the names of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Nolan Wells and King Carter as a charge to act. I was honored to present their parents with tributes entered into the Congressional Record, forever preserving their sons’ legacies in our nation’s history. Our Black boys should not have to become martyrs before America recognizes their humanity. Through this Commission, we will turn remembrance into action and ensure their legacies are never forgotten.

Black men and boys are not problems to be solved. They are scholars, creators, fathers, leaders and the promise of generations still to come. This Commission exists to ensure that their futures are not determined by neglected schools, unequal systems or the limits others place upon them. We are building a nation that sees their greatness early, invests in it fully and protects it fiercely.

This was more than a panel. It was a promise. At the CBCF’s ALC, we cut the ribbon on the U.S. Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys and stood beside parents who transformed unbearable loss into an unbreakable demand for justice. Through this Commission, we are turning their courage into action and their call for justice into lasting change.

At our CBCF’s ALC panel and the official ribbon cutting for the U.S. Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, we honored the parents who transformed unimaginable grief into a national call for justice. Our Black boys deserve more than a nation that mourns them after they are gone. They deserve a nation determined to protect them while they are here.

From the halls of Howard University to the CBCF Annual Legislative Conference, the 5000 Role Models came to Washington with purpose, pride, and a message that cannot be ignored. This is more than a program. This is a movement. And we are just getting started.

From Duval County to Broward County, Miami-Dade County to Los Angeles, our 5000 Role Models are showing the nation what happens when we invest in our young men and give them the tools, guidance, and belief they deserve. We are!

Thank you, Leader Jeffries, for taking the time to stand with the 5000 Role Models and pour into the next generation.

Standing on the steps of the Capitol, the 5000 Role Models are seeing what is possible when opportunity meets preparation. They are leaving Washington knowing that their dreams are within reach and their future is theirs to shape.