A Message To President-elect Biden

 To President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris...

I'm going to get straight to the point. Your election victory was a historic one for a number of reasons. A victory that doesn't happen without Black people. 

More people voted for your ticket than for any other ticket in American history. Black people did that. Your ticket won GA, a state no one would've predicted you'd win and one Barack Obama failed to win twice. Black people did that. Your victory in PA was critical to you winning the election. Black people did that.

Your victory is the result of hard work and effort by Black women and men in the trenches. Sisters, brothers, and kinfolk who had the foresight to realize that four more years of Trump would've been disastrous.

Mr. Biden. Mrs. Harris. YOU OWE US. You owe us big. You have an obligation to address the pressing needs of our community and to do so in a substantive fashion. Without us you have no power. 

Make good on your promises. Ignore the needs of our community at your own loss. Black people are not going to simply accept lip service this time. We are going to press. We are going to be vocal. We are going to lean on you. Should you ignore us you WILL lose your power and your party will crumble.

Do what you must during this lame duck period. Because come January 2021 it's time to go to work. And we're not taking any shorts this time. The streets are watching...

The Sport of Politics

 The biggest problem is that Americans have become obsessed with the "sport" of politics. Politicians are elevated to celebrity levels and are either demonized or deified. This is how an amoral degenerate reality TV show host with no history in public service came to occupy the highest office in the land. Critical thinking on a political level has become a lost art and has given way to memes that lack nuance and focus. 

I'm long past the point of telling people who they should vote for. I will only say that Black people who vote should be conscious of two things: 1. There are no saviors in politics. When you vote you are mitigating damage to our community. 2. Substantive change doesn't start with government. It doesn't come from government. Government is historically last to the party. It comes from grassroots work. Voting is just one small piece of a very large puzzle. 

All that said, it should be clear to everyone that four more years of Trump could prove catastrophic. Unemployment is above 10%. 210K people have died from COVID 19. White supremacists have become emboldened and aggressive. The economy is on the precipice of collapse. It is in everyone's best interests that Trump be removed.

For many years we've heard the hyperbole of how "This is the most important election"  etc, etc. That said imagine if four years ago I said to you that two hundred thousand people will be dead from a deadly virus. That fifty million people will have filed for unemployment. That movie theaters and restaurants would be closed and those that  opened would be struggling to stay in business. That healthcare would again be a central issue during a global pandemic.  That sports leagues would be playing in bubbles. Would you have believed me?

Now imagine what type of fruit four more years of Trump's incompetence will bear. You are correct that America doesn't run on one man. Imagine the types of people he empowers and what they will continue to do.

As a Black man in America my struggle has been all but ordained. I am not naive enough to believe Biden or any elderly white man will save us. That said, there are levels to this shit. Those who believe it cannot and will not get worse under Trump are dangerously naive IMO. 

Imagine That

Imagine someone holding open rallies with no mask requirements and no social distancing requirements in the midst of a global pandemic. Imagine them standing on a podium and playing down the severity of a virus that killed two hundred thousand people in seven months. 

Imagine them politicizing the virus and using it as a weapon against their political opponents. Imagine them openly and boldly contradicting scientists, doctors, epidemiologists, and virologists in order to protect their image. 

Now imagine them actually contracting the virus after all their obstinance. Now imagine that person is the president. 

It's not even about left or right or conservatism or progressivism or democrats or republicans or any of that shit at this point. Donald Trump is an imbecilic, egomaniacal, incompetent nightmare who is unfit to run a mall kiosk. FThe man couldn't lead rats to a garbage can.

It's almost unfathomable to me even one person is still following him. Almost...

Softball

 Donald Trump was thrown a very slow under hand softball. The kind you throw to small children who are first learning to hit. He was handed a bat a mile wide and given an eternity to swing. It was a pitch virtually impossible for him to miss. All he had to do was look at Chris Wallace and condemn white supremacy.

He couldn't do it. 

He couldn't because white nationalists and white supremacists are his most ardent and fervent supporters. He couldn't do it because that's his base. He couldn't and wouldn't do it because he relates to them as much as they relate to him. Instead of condemnation he sent a message that was so well received by white supremacists they publicly celebrated online. 

The discussion on who and what Trump is ended a long time ago. It can't get any clearer than this. It's time to stop playing in people's faces.

The Simple Reminders

 *I needed a day to gather my thoughts. Had I said what I wanted to say in the moment...

So just so I understand...

Discharging your weapon into another apartment amounts to wanton endangerment. Discharging your weapon and killing an innocent Black woman in her sleep is standard operating procedure. 

Seen.

I'm not surprised. It's not as if I needed another reminder of how this country views Black life. I'm angry though. It fortifies my position and belief that at the end of the day we must look after, provide for, and defend each other. We have no real allies that we can depend on and too many of us have become grifters who have sold their souls to become gatekeepers. 

So I remind my kinfolk to stay vigilant. Protect yourselves and your loved ones. Do what you must. Take pragmatic and clinical steps to ensure your health, wealth, and safety.

I don't believe in permanent allies. I don't even believe in permanent interests. I believe in my people. That which I do I do for me and mine. That's the long and short of it. These injustices are just simple reminders of the horrible naked truth of our existence. 

"He's No Hero"

I'm really trying to figure out what people are trying to say or attempting to accomplish when they talk about how not all Black people who are shot or violated by police are heroes. It's especially puzzling when they start citing their criminal records.

Do you all see how fucking ridiculous you look when you do this? Let me just clear a couple of things up. When we protest the unjust murder of a sister or brother we are not doing it to deify an individual. We are doing it to remind the rest of you that no one deserves to be unjustly murdered by agents of the state who are supposed to exist to serve and protect.

You see despite what some of you "law and order" types may think police are not judges, juries, and executioners. A DUI from 3 years ago isn't a death sentence.  A prior marijuana charge doesn't justify being shot to death.

Stop doing that shit please. If you love law and order as much as you pretend to then please remember that our civil and constitutional rights are inalienable. We protest and mourn our fallen because we know that could be any one of us. Regardless of our history. Whether or not they were "angels" is immaterial

Dick Gregory Was Right

Dick Gregory was right. You cannot reform a cop.

How do you reform someone who shoots and kills a child playing in a playground? How you do you reform someone who beats a homeless man to death as he screams? How do you reform someone who shoots a little girl sleeping on her couch and blames her elderly grandmother? How do you reform someone who feeds a homeless person feces?

You can't. No amount of sensitivity training is going to fix that. You're not fixing that with community outreach programs. You can't appeal to the morality of someone who would do such things. You can't train someone not to hate. That's not reality and despite what people say we all know it.

You don't reform police. You give them something to lose. You force them to make a choice. Do you hate Black people more than you love your freedom? Do you hate Black people more than you love feeding your family? Do you hate Black people more than you love losing your livelihood and the things closest to you?

Without something to lose racist and corrupt officers have zero incentive to modify their behaviors. Take away qualified immunity. Require officers to be insured. Prosecute corrupt police and send them to prison. Give them something to lose.

That's the only way you'll see change

To Whom It May Concern...

To Whom It May Concern, 

I do not write this in a threatening or intimidating fashion. This isn't tough talk or aggressive posturing or any of that. It is simply a point of fact. 

Black people are watching. Closely. We are aware and we are tired. Please believe that those of us who are concerned about the current climate are preparing. We will have no intentions of being victims and we have no intentions of revisiting days gone that some of you consider to be great. 

I think I speak for many of my kinfolk when I say we will respect everyone. But let me be clear: We will take care of the homefront. We will protect ourselves and our families. We will not suffer dehumanization or disrespect. At all. 

I say this with no anger, malice, or hatred. Black people will do what we must. We always have. We always will. Please make a note of it.

I'm Tired...

I'm tired of it.

Literally all we want is for police to stop shooting and killing unarmed and innocent Black people. That's it. That's literally all we asked for. For agents of the state to stop shooting and murdering unarmed Black civilians. 

Instead we get an unarmed brother shot in the back seven times. We get a sister shot dead in her home as she slept. We get a sister shot dead through a window as police crept through her yard. We get a child shot dead sleeping on the couch. We get a child shot dead playing in the playground. 

On top of that we get gaslighted and told that the shooting and/or killing of our unarmed kinfolk was justified. We watch as these murderers go unpunished. We are expected to accept it as we grieve the loss of our loved ones. 

And you wonder why there is civil unrest. You wonder why people are in the streets.  You wonder why there is protest. You wonder why buildings are on fire. It's because people are tired. 

Enough is enough