Read on Twitter
*checks the clock*
Okay, I think this counts as 72 hours.
Let the choppa spray.
WARNING: language is gonna be rough and harsh and terse today so be forewarned.
Okay, I think this counts as 72 hours.
Let the choppa spray.
WARNING: language is gonna be rough and harsh and terse today so be forewarned.
It's looking like Biden is going to take NV, GA, & PA, so first thing's first: Give Black, brown & Native people; give organizers from vulnerable communities their roses right the fuck now.
Keep that same "let's look into the minds of the lowly Trump supporter & Neo-Nazi" energy
Keep that same "let's look into the minds of the lowly Trump supporter & Neo-Nazi" energy
That same desire for understanding and analysis that amplified the dapper white supremacist? You keep that but turn it to those same vulnerable communities.
I better never see another "what about the white working class" think piece from y'all until you do.
I better never see another "what about the white working class" think piece from y'all until you do.
Which segues me to my next point: fuck the media.
You don't think we see you now? We don't see you bowing up?
Y'all like Smokey on Friday when Dee Boe leaves. Now that you don't need the access, all of a sudden you want to rock with the big L word: lies?
You don't think we see you now? We don't see you bowing up?
Y'all like Smokey on Friday when Dee Boe leaves. Now that you don't need the access, all of a sudden you want to rock with the big L word: lies?
We're seeing the word "LIES" in headlines again! Oh praise be.
They're cutting him off in the middle of his ramblings as he undermines the very institution(s) that got him elected! Glory hallelujah and FUCK YOU.
How dare you find the courage NOW to stand up?
They're cutting him off in the middle of his ramblings as he undermines the very institution(s) that got him elected! Glory hallelujah and FUCK YOU.
How dare you find the courage NOW to stand up?
We been knew the relationship between you and 45 was purely transactional but to see it so brazenly? To see the shift happen within DAYS as you start to write obituaries and post mortems for the administration.
Had you fulfilled your duties, we could've saved 200K+ lives.
Had you fulfilled your duties, we could've saved 200K+ lives.
And @jack. I'd say you embody the very notion of "stand for something or fall for anything" except you stand for something: money, access, and "the platform" uber alles.
I'd respect you more if you said you didn't care about vulnerable people on your app but...
I'd respect you more if you said you didn't care about vulnerable people on your app but...
you lack the courage and self-awareness to do even that.
I'd take open, blatant disregard for people's safety over milquetoast, mealy-mouthed lip service because at least then we'd know where you stand.
I'd take open, blatant disregard for people's safety over milquetoast, mealy-mouthed lip service because at least then we'd know where you stand.
But here you are. Year 4 of a 4 year presidency and NOW you're removing protections because you see the writing's on the wall and the American people did what you were too chicken-shit to do yourself: Hold him accountable.
Okay. Now that that's out of the way, analysis.
I am not a political scientist nor sociologist; I'm just a n***a with a Twitter account, a lot of time on his hand, and an affinity for research and reading shit so you can disregard what I say
I am not a political scientist nor sociologist; I'm just a n***a with a Twitter account, a lot of time on his hand, and an affinity for research and reading shit so you can disregard what I say
HOWEVER, I do work tirelessly to frame my POV with the words and works of historians and scholars; I try my best to provide sources and evidence and I choose my words as wisely as I can so...
... so I guess that's a second DISCLAIMER on this lengthy thread.
Anyway. Onward.
... so I guess that's a second DISCLAIMER on this lengthy thread.
Anyway. Onward.
The fact that Trump after 4 years of incompetence & buffoonery, 4 years of mean-spirited, unempathetic, childish rhetoric, 4 years of enabling the worst of the worst of this nation's very soul; a soul marred by the blatant disinterest to grapple with the darkness of the nation...
The fact that it was ever this close is a stark indictment of the ills plaguing this country.
Biden is not a panacea to this fact and I will guaran-damn-tee you the same people wearing 'grab this pussy' and 'fuck your feelings' shirts will melt into the background while...
Biden is not a panacea to this fact and I will guaran-damn-tee you the same people wearing 'grab this pussy' and 'fuck your feelings' shirts will melt into the background while...
reaping whatever benefits from a potential neo-liberal administration.
There will be no reckoning for them and no self reflection. Any shame will come merely because of discomfort and not self-reflection for propping up a wanna-be despot.
There will be no reckoning for them and no self reflection. Any shame will come merely because of discomfort and not self-reflection for propping up a wanna-be despot.
But again. It should never have been this close.
These past 4 years should have been a death knell to that party. The fact that these same people openly showed a disdain for their fellow Americans while working tirelessly to disenfranchise them illegitimatizes them as a party.
These past 4 years should have been a death knell to that party. The fact that these same people openly showed a disdain for their fellow Americans while working tirelessly to disenfranchise them illegitimatizes them as a party.
At least it should have.
But it didn't.
And you should blame and indict the incompetency from the Democratic party pursuing with reckless abandon a demographic that hasn't voted for them since the Civil Rights Act in the white working class...
But it didn't.
And you should blame and indict the incompetency from the Democratic party pursuing with reckless abandon a demographic that hasn't voted for them since the Civil Rights Act in the white working class...
... abandoning their base and coalition of vulnerable peoples ready to fight tooth and nail and crawl over the broken glass of gerrymandering and disenfranchisement and an open gutting of the VRA that the late Rep. Lewis fought for only to see dismantled just years ago...
You definitely should hold them accountable because, Jesus.
But, they're only part of the whole problem.
The other part will catch many of you in your feelings and I may lose a follower or a few but I don't care because we NEED to talk about it: white voters.
But, they're only part of the whole problem.
The other part will catch many of you in your feelings and I may lose a follower or a few but I don't care because we NEED to talk about it: white voters.
Despite all of the jingoistic, uber-patriotic bluster about the call of democracy, whenever there is a crisis of the very democracy touted as a bastion and boon of western society, white voters (and white people, by and large) have led the charge to ensure that crisis blooms.
If you think that's harsh then let's put it another way:
The benefits, successes & strength of democracy in this nation has been the burden to bear for communities most taxed by the ailments of society while those most advantaged BY society levy those taxes.
The benefits, successes & strength of democracy in this nation has been the burden to bear for communities most taxed by the ailments of society while those most advantaged BY society levy those taxes.
I could bog down this thread with a retelling of how there's a linear beat from Emancipation to Reconstruction to Jim Crow to Civil Rights to Mass Incarceration (all things I've spoken about before) but this'll be easier:
Each and every attempt to make good on the promises of equality and democracy in this country has been met by a backlash.
From violence all the way to the ballot box and it shows because this race shouldn't have been this close.
From violence all the way to the ballot box and it shows because this race shouldn't have been this close.
To have a party that makes plain their desire to ensure voices are not equal; to limit the influence of the other, not as a bug, but a feature of said party's existence and to have them overwhelmingly voted for means two things:
- It is not a disqualifying feature of this party
- The party's stated goal is of your particular interest and should be pursued.
There's no in between; there is no ignorance because they do not, at any point and time, work to obfuscate their aims. https://www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12774066/voter-id-laws-racist
- The party's stated goal is of your particular interest and should be pursued.
There's no in between; there is no ignorance because they do not, at any point and time, work to obfuscate their aims. https://www.vox.com/2016/9/2/12774066/voter-id-laws-racist
It's not just the ballot box; it's not just propping up a party whose only stated goal is 'everything's fine the way it is... as long as 'those people' stay in line'.
White people actually LIKE progressive ideals because, guess what, that's been the country's baseline for years.
White people actually LIKE progressive ideals because, guess what, that's been the country's baseline for years.
No, for real. The US has a storied history of taking care of its citizenry from the Homestead act to welfare to the GI Bill, etc., etc., etc.
And it's been great!
But... only when it includes white people*.
(and I'll get to that asterisk in a moment)
And it's been great!
But... only when it includes white people*.
(and I'll get to that asterisk in a moment)
You see, white people, as a whole in this country, want what's best for them. "Voting against their interest" only exists if what's best for them includes what's best for other communities.
I bring up the labor and suffragette movements a lot when it comes to this.
I bring up the labor and suffragette movements a lot when it comes to this.
How a multi-racial coalition of this country's most vulnerable fighting for rights turned lily-white the very moment those rights are about to be secured:
How the suffragette movement betrayed Black (and other women of color) - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/suffrage-movement-racism-black-women.html
How the suffragette movement betrayed Black (and other women of color) - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/opinion/sunday/suffrage-movement-racism-black-women.html
How the labor unions, despite having a multi-ethnic coalition, betrayed Black and other workers of color - https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/herbert-hill/labor-unions-and-the-negrothe-record-of-discrimination/
In fact, whenever there's a progressive movement or program identified and marketed to white voters, as a whole, they're likely to pursue it wholeheartedly.
But again, only if... https://www.salon.com/2018/08/01/white-americans-support-welfare-programs-but-only-for-themselves-says-new-research/
But again, only if... https://www.salon.com/2018/08/01/white-americans-support-welfare-programs-but-only-for-themselves-says-new-research/
... only if... https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/06/08/616684259/why-more-white-americans-are-opposing-government-welfare-programs
And this has always been the case. The reason why we can't have nice things is because, primarily, "other people" will also have those nice things.
And it's not always a white/Black thing. It's a white/non-white thing until "the other" can attain whiteness.
And it's not always a white/Black thing. It's a white/non-white thing until "the other" can attain whiteness.
That asterisk I put up earlier? I defer to the likes of @michaelharriot and his thread here: https://twitter.com/michaelharriot/status/1324169215998386181
So... what happens next? What happens after we had an administration that laid bare the very raw agenda of a conservative movement pushing back against the brownification of the nation, against progressive policy (if it includes "those people"), and against a de-centering of...
white people's grievances as the most and only legitimate commentary of this country?
What now that "we" rejected that after 4 years and (by and large) "unenthusiastically" picked up a Biden/Harris administration?
What now that "we" rejected that after 4 years and (by and large) "unenthusiastically" picked up a Biden/Harris administration?
(I say "unenthusiastically" because there's a lot of nuance and analysis to be had about vulnerable communities and their relationships and grievances and enthusiasm vis a vis the upcoming administration that, hey, should be taking place over the next 4 years)
For one? Someone needs to disabuse Democrats and centrists and liberals of the notion that they don't need to strengthen their base. That means voting protections across the board; easing access to the polling place for Black and brown and Native and disabled bodies.
Pursue those organizers that have put more effort into propping you up as a party, Democrats, than you did in protecting, aiding, and supporting them.
They're the ones who put in the work to make this happen. To forget them is asinine.
They're the ones who put in the work to make this happen. To forget them is asinine.
Another? Push those progressive programs and movements. They're not unpopular.
Progressive measures have passed in areas that still voted R. Use that shit.
Progressive measures have passed in areas that still voted R. Use that shit.
America. You are NOT off the hook.
These last 4 years took HELLA years from people. It radicalized folks that would otherwise not be in the political sphere because you refused to help and protect them. Protect us.
These last 4 years took HELLA years from people. It radicalized folks that would otherwise not be in the political sphere because you refused to help and protect them. Protect us.
You turned people who would much rather be focusing on their families, careers, hobbies, and interests into activists working to save the very soul of a nation whose soul does not and has never deserved to be saved.
These communities saved you from the brink of destruction that would not come at the hands of a fascist movement (because this country has always BEEN fascist) but from the righteous fire that would inevitably burn this bitch down the farther into the abyss we fell.
And it would have been well deserved. The US, as a concept, has never deserved salvation but it just might have received it.
So take heed.
So take heed.
