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John Marble Profile picture
@JHMarble
Jun 2, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
Can we talk about #ChocolateRain and how what America (me) treated as a meme in 2007 is actually a devastating call to wake up to the reality of systemic racism?

Oh, and it’s creator is an autisic black man from Minneapolis.
For the unfamiliar, #ChocolateRain was one of the first viral videos on YouTube. At the time, most were focused on its hypnotic music and the juxtaposition of a deep voice coming from its baby-faced creator/singer.

“Chocolate Rain” refers to how the impact of racism falls differently on some and not others:

Chocolate rain

No one wants to hear about it now

Chocolate rain

Wish real hard it goes away somehow

Chocolate rain

Makes the best of friends begin to fight
The song is now being rediscovered today after it was heard playing over police scanners in Minneapolis by Simone using it to protest police brutality.

And here is it’s creator talking about being autistic and of advocacy:

Relistening to #ChocolateRain, I suddenly realize how brilliant the simple musical composition is and how devastating the lyrics are.

If a pop singer sang this with an orchestra in a stadium, I guarantee you it would be considered one of the most important songs of the decade.
And doesn’t the arc of the song’s story say so much? When it came around in 2007, America cheered it but didn’t actually hear what was being said. Now, it’s coming back around to seemingly ask “Are you ready to hear it now?”
Also, here’s a link to the creator’s Instagram where he gives insight into the meaning behind each lyric.

instagram.com/tv/B4QaNOYFp4K…

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More from @JHMarble

John Marble Profile picture
May 9, 2021
Read 14 tweets
John Marble Profile picture
Dec 29, 2020
I’m happy to report the string of 4,736 radio ads I’ve heard in the #GASenate runoff has been broken!!

I’m sad to report the ad which did it was a “we can fix your broken kid” ad by #AutismSpeaks.

Give autistic people 1% of their bloated budget & watch the world change. 💯
I’m serious. Give autistic adults 1% of the budget of any big autism group and things would be SO MUCH BETTER for parents, kids, and us.

I’ve repeatedly said that to neurotypical people, but to quote Georgia native André 3000 “Y’all don’t want to hear me, you just wanna dance.”
It seems that every week I’m contacted by someone I know who has someone in their life who is a parent of a newly diagnosed autistic kid.

I spend SO MUCH TIME filling in the gaps that autism groups don’t fill-in because they EXCLUDE autistic people from their leadership...
Read 9 tweets
John Marble Profile picture
Sep 26, 2020
🧵 THREAD 🧵

Someone wrote that Judge Amy Coney Barrett would bring “heart” to ‘special needs’ if confirmed to the #SupremeCourt. After showing my respect for the person who wrote that, and understanding of where they were coming from, this was my response:
“Disabled people don’t need lawmakers or jurors to bring “heart” to ‘special needs’. That’s what has led to patronizing policy which has f%¥ked over the exercise of our equality and marginalized our full participation in society over-and-over-and-over again...
It’s one of the greatest things we organize and fight against and we will continue to fight against it until the law and policy makers recognize that we are just like everyone else...
Read 9 tweets
John Marble Profile picture
Sep 11, 2020
The whole #BobWoodward thing reminds me that our better politicians understand the press will try to ‘get’ them, and that’s a good, healthy thing for our democracy. They respect and welcome that.

—> It’s a BS check.

Bad politicians think the press is there to serve them. An image of President Trump...
*I should say it’s not as much that the press tries to “get” politicians, but that they don’t regard a politician’s messaging priorities when they are reporting stories. That’s an amazing thing, and when I was a press officer it drove me up the wall.

I hated it, but I loved it.
And the #BobWoodward tapes remind me of #LouChibarro of the @WashBlade. When I was a press officer, he was so masterful in asking a question, letting you answer, then NOT SAYING ANYTHING.

The subject felt compelled to fill the silence with more information.
👨‍🍳💋

Amazing.
Read 4 tweets
John Marble Profile picture
Sep 6, 2020
I’m an autistic person with #dyscalculia.

So, while I very much *feel* #SpoonTheory in my being, it all falls apart when trying to use it as a metaphor with others (or as an accommodation strategy for myself). I constantly miscount and lose them.

I’m a #Spoonie without spoons.
When speaking, or in meetings, I’m often asked by folks to explain spoon theory. I usually just turn to someone I trust and ask “Could you explain it?”

For myself, I’ve learned to just make myself stop, slow down, or turn down requests when needed — and to be ok with that.
I mean, I’m a huge supporter of spoon theory as a metaphor to explain things to others and as an accomodation peoole can use themselves. It just all gets tangled and anxiety-inducing for me.

I love to laugh at that, though. You kind of gotta.
Read 5 tweets
John Marble Profile picture
Sep 4, 2020
I often think on how research, medicine, and psychiatry approach and ‘treat’ autistic people today in the exact same manner they approached and ‘treated’ homosexuality until 1972.

Then, thanks to #LGBTQ advocates, homosexuality was suddenly ‘cured’ by @APAPsychiatric overnight.
Where are the endless research papers about the genetics and epigenetics of gay people?

Where are the warnings of “risk factors” for lesbians?

Where’s the pleading for “early intervention” for bisexuals?

What about environmental factors?!?!
We probably know less about gay people now than autistic people. But, we know enough not to funnel everything about LGBTQ people through a pathological frame.

All the questions we ask about autism are still there (and largely unanswered) for LGBTQ people.
Read 9 tweets

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