The pressure is on! While the streets of New Orleans buzzed with celebration during Essence Fest, poet and cultural critic Lynae Vanee took to Instagram with a stark message: “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
In a thought-provoking video posted to her popular social commentary series Parking Lot Pimpin’, Vanee denounced President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” signed into law on July 4.
She sharply criticize its devastating implications for healthcare, immigration enforcement, and civil rights in America.
The post, bluntly captioned “That’s it and that’s all,” outlines what Vanee describes as the bill’s sweeping and regressive impact.
Backed by recent legislative developments, the measure passed through Congress in late June despite brief opposition from a small group of Republicans. It was ultimately signed on Independence Day—what Vanee calls a symbolic rebuke of even America’s most “racist forefathers.”
“$930 billion in cuts to Medicaid. $200 billion in cuts to SNAP. Seventeen million Americans are at risk of losing their healthcare by 2034,” she stated. “And now it’s much easier for you to get a silencer in a country where gun violence is an increasingly volatile public health issue.”
A Warning to All Americans
Vanee pushed back against the notion that only immigrants or low-income Americans should be concerned, pointing out how private healthcare costs will rise as uninsured individuals flood emergency services:
“Uninsured people go to the doctor all the time for emergency care… So that means your premium will get higher.”
More than a personal rant, her remarks were aimed squarely at what she sees as systemic consequences for those who support or remain indifferent to discriminatory policy.
She lambasted far-right voters who, in her words, “hated Mexicans and trans folks so bad that [they] lost [their] own healthcare in the process.”
ICE Expansion and Authoritarian Fears
Vanee expressed deep concern over the bill’s expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which she says will soon become the largest law enforcement agency in the country.
She invoked the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment to underscore the psychological and social dangers of consolidating unchecked power into government-backed police forces.
“You want to give these glorified security guards with Gestapo-like motivation more money and perceived power after Haitian immigrants just lost their temporary protected status?”she quizzed.
She cited recent clashes in Brooklyn where ICE agents allegedly attempted to apprehend Haitian immigrants and were physically pushed back by local communities—highlighting growing tension and calls for resistance.
Call for a General Strike
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Vanee’s message is her outright call for a general strike, advocating for mutual aid networks and civic disruption as the next step in fighting oppressive policy.
She pointed out the importance of local action, referencing Black-led labor movements in Atlanta (1880s) and New Orleans (1892) as blueprints for modern resistance.
“Now is quite literally the time to be bucking the system… Stop playing by the rules, protect yourselves and prepare yourselves,”she added.
She applauded moves by Chicago’s mayor, who allegedly began arresting ICE agents, and challenged healthcare professionals to continue providing care regardless of federal pressure.
The Broader Backdrop: Project 2025?
While not named directly in her video, the legislation echoes elements of Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint for reshaping the federal government under Trump’s potential second term.
That initiative includes reducing federal oversight, slashing entitlement programs, and elevating state and local enforcement—developments that civil rights leaders and progressive lawmakers have flagged as potentially authoritarian.
Final Note: A Call to Organize
Vanee concluded her post by urging communities to rebuild social justice structures, including the historically powerful arms of the Black church, and to support platforms like State of the People, which facilitate grassroots organizing.
“It only takes 3.5%. And we already got those numbers based on who’s going to lose Medicaid,” she said, referencing political science research suggesting that only a small portion of the population is needed to catalyze societal change.
Vanee’s video reflects growing unrest among progressives, particularly Black women voters, who played a critical role in the 2020 and 2024 elections.
