If this election proved nothing else, it demonstrated that when presented with a clear choice between presidential candidates and people are educated about what is at stake, African-Americans will vote in record numbers. Across the nation, we showed up and showed out.

However, in the justified euphoria over Black voter turnout, we must remember that there’s still plenty of work remaining. And rather than wait another four years to awaken from political slumber, we should start planning now for the 2006 off-year Congressional elections. That could be a test-run for making sure the tenant that occupies the White House in 2008 has our best interests at heart.

Let’s start by examining the numbers. There are almost 100 Congressional districts in the United States where African-Americans make up at least 20 percent of the voting-age population. With at least one-fifth of the vote – often enough to determine the outcome of an election – we should make sure these lawmakers are more responsive to our interests.

Within the next couple of weeks, the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA) will not only identify those Congresspersons, but disclose the grades they received on the latest NAACP Civil Rights Report Card. And once we disclose that information, we trust that you will know how to approach people in your district and state. If those lawmakers are not already supporting our issues, make them an offer they can’t refuse – demand that they immediately modify their behavior or we’ll permanently modify their political career.

Given our population, we should also be able to demand more loyalty from our Senators.

Blacks are more than 25 percent of the population in five states: Mississippi (36 percent), Louisiana (33 percent), South Carolina (30 percent), Georgia (29 percent) and Alabama (26 percent). African-Americans represent 21 percent of the population in North Carolina, 20 percent in Virginia, 19 percent in Delaware, 16 percent in both Tennessee and Arkansas, and 14 percent in Michigan.

Even with those numbers, Senators in most of those states felt emboldened enough to support the confirmation of George W. Bush’s Right-wing judges to the federal bench while ignoring our concerns about the nominees’ hostility toward civil rights. We can’t wait another four years to address this imbalance; we need to start the process now.

After we’ve dealt with the politicians, let’s deal with the Black ministers who blindly bought into George Bush’s faith-based initiatives but showed no faith in our ability to determine our political destiny. In their leap-of-faith to support “Dubya” – and that’s a very big leap – they failed to realize that his initiative was designed primarily to serve as a reward to Bush’s Right-wing religious base. Even if that were the deal, why trade in one’s integrity for a few crumbs?

When we were protesting segregation in my hometown, Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the early 1960s, I remember one Black minister asserting, “It’s not in my contract with Jesus to be taking part in these demonstrations.” At that very moment, I lost all respect for him. What did he mean when he said it wasn’t in his contract with Jesus to protest? Perhaps he was looking at the wrong contract. He should have consulted the Bible, where he would have found example after example of Jesus’ fulfilling his contract with God. Jesus did not turn his back on injustice. Jesus did not seek permission before correcting a wrong. And he certainly didn’t hide behind a pulpit to avoid dealing with the problems of his day.

When I see Black ministers allowing themselves to be sidetracked by tertiary issues concocted by Republicans or opening their church doors for drive-by political visits, I often think about that minister back in my hometown. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if his congregation had said it wasn’t in their contract with Jesus to follow a scared, weak-kneed, mis-guided pastor and therefore, they were switching their membership to another church?

The minister mentioned above has, if he is to be believed, has ascended above. Presumably, he took answers to some of my questions with him. But other ministers are still around. Maybe you should ask them some hard questions about making a choice between serving the needs of their community and serving the political needs of George W. Bush.

If they are confused, you might not want to remain a part of their confusion. Pray for them – from a distance and, as they say after reading the church announcements, govern yourself accordingly.