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Three key focuses for 2025

This means creating more entry points for individuals to plug in and feel empowered. We will continue to explore accessible and engaging ways for our community to take part in civic life—building on the success of tools like social media, YouTube forums, and in-person outreach.

Membership: To truly reflect the communities we serve, we need more voices, more perspectives, more diversity. We must be committed to welcoming members across generations and backgrounds, creating an inclusive environment that honors our history while inviting fresh energy and ideas. Diversity is not just a buzzword for us; it is our reality, our strength.

Collaboration: We believe in breaking down silos. Collaboration means working across committees, bridging generations, and engaging neighborhoods. We will continue to strengthen committee coordination and form deeper partnerships within our community. Our League should be recognized as a network of purpose, fueled by the passion and dedication of its members.

This non-election year offers us a valuable opportunity to reflect, regroup, and reimagine how we can best serve our community. We feel incredibly grateful to join a team that is forward-thinking, purpose-driven, and rooted in action.

Still, I remember small glimmers of humanity. Some of the women shared what little they had. We built quiet friendships, bonded by fear and survival. One woman I met was from the very same neighborhood in Haiti where my family lived. We found a sense of familiarity in each other that reminded me I wasn’t completely alone.

I eventually appeared in front of a judge who, thanks to the efforts of my attorney, granted me release on my own recognizance. But that decision was contested even as it was made. My attorney argued I was a community volunteer, an upstanding resident. The judge agreed — and my attorney ensured his decision would not be appealed.

But even in freedom, there was a fight. After my release on Jan. 12, 2005, I was still in a kind of prison. I had to report to the ICE office on 79th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. The line would snake around the block, often blocking nearby storefronts. Appointments were scheduled for 7:30 a.m., but you had to line up much earlier or risk being penalized. Fear and control lingered.

Marie Ange never even had that chance.

Her story is not just hers — it is a reflection of a broken system. It is a reminder of the countless men and women who continue to suffer in detention centers, denied the basic rights to medical care, due process and dignity. Marie Ange’s death highlights a dire need for reform in these facilities, where those seeking refuge or a better life are treated with neglect and cruelty. And it is a call for justice that we must answer.

Sharing Marie Ange’s story isn’t just about keeping her memory alive. It’s about the hope that we can change the future for others who are still being treated as invisible. This could have been me. It could have been any of us. Let’s make sure it’s never anyone else again.

Here’s how you can help:

-- Sign the petition for justice and accountability in Marie Ange’s case.

-- Contact local and state lawmakers, urging them to investigate the conditions in detention centers and demand improvements.

-- Support organizations that fight for immigrant rights and work toward systemic reform.

Together, we can ensure that no one else suffers the way Marie Ange did. Demand accountability for those who failed her, and work to ensure that this never happens again.

Rev. M. Theolene “Theo” Johnson is a disabled combat veteran, intercultural liaison consultant and member of Florida Rising, the largest community-organizing, nonpartisan nonprofit in Florida.