Representative Nicole Collier and the Fight for Freedom

Last week, Nicole Collier, Democrat from Texas, became a political hostage of her own state. Her refusal, alongside other Democrats, to accept voter suppression disguised as gerrymandering triggered a stunning response: she was required to sign a “permission slip,” as if she were a schoolchild, authorizing the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide her with a police escort.

Let’s be clear this was not an escort of protection, but an escort of surveillance and control. What’s next arrest? Quite possibly. If she dares to leave the chamber or her office without that escort, the threat of arrest looms.

This act lands somewhere between The Handmaid’s Tale and the forced escort of enslaved people off one plantation to serve another master. The message is the same: how dare the property run away? How dare the one marked for subjugation claim self-ownership, freedom, and dignity?

And this is not just Texas. It is a warning shot for every state where Black and Brown votes are crucial in upcoming elections. It reveals how far the executive branch of government is willing to go to enforce forced participation in an unjust process.

Representative Collier’s response is deeply Motherist rooted in community, grounded in agency, and unafraid to confront crooked structures without seeking their permission. She embodies a tradition of Black women who use their voices not only for themselves but for the survival and flourishing of their people.

Her actions echo the legacies of Pauli Murray, Rosa Parks, and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti women whose refusal to move, whose strategic acts of defiance, sparked community transformation. Like them, Representative Collier is declaring: I shall not be moved.

But let’s not romanticize the struggle. This is exhausting work. Black women have carried the burden of protest, leadership, and truth-telling for generations. And as I reflect, I feel the urgency our “coffee break” is over. The fight demands our energy once again.

So, sisters and all who claim justice as their cause—let this be a call to action.

• Stand with Nicole Collier.

• Name voter suppression for what it is: an assault on democracy.

• Refuse forced participation in unjust systems.

• Remember that her fight is our fight.

As we sip our coffee, let us remember: freedom is never given it must be claimed. And so it is.