I've been thinking a lot about #BlackLivesMatter and everything going on right now. I've felt hurt and powerless, wanting to do something about this injustice, but feeling like nothing I do will be enough.
But that's DUMB. It's like saying "my vote won't swing an election."
2/?
One of the things that keeps us from doing the little things that we NEED to do to effect change is that self-defeating philosophy: "I can't change it myself, therefore it can't be changed."
But changes are never brought about by single people. There may be leaders, but
3/?
individual voices joined together as one are what creates real change. And we can't join our voices together if we don't speak up as individuals.
So I'm going to do something. This week, any money earned by my Twitch channel is going directly to #CampaignZero and #8CantWait
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Thread on why people are acting so shocked about Trump not condemning white supremacy:
At this point, most people already know his leanings on race. His supporters are divided between people who love that he's a white supremacist, and people who can't be bothered to care. 1/?
Racism and white supremacy are still very prevalent in America, which should surprise nobody, since there are people still in government now that were also in government at a time when racism was literally the law. 2/?
HOWEVER, over time public opinion has shifted, and racism became something that is - at least publicly - considered untenable. We're all taught that it's wrong. Blatant acts of racism are punished. You can't just come out and publicly say you hate Black people without issue. 3/?
Campaign Zero is an organization that is pushing for greater police accountability and reduced police violence, using data-driven and statistically-proven methods. #8CantWait is a series of common-sense reforms that have been proven to reduce police violence AND crime rates.
5/?
What I raise this week won't make a huge difference. But this is something small I can do. I may only ever be able to do small things, but if I keep doing the small things and combine those with the small things from others, we can make a REAL difference. It's not about
6/?
being an individual hero - none of us are going to SOLVE the problem of police violence and institutional racism by ourselves. But that doesn't mean we can stay silent and inactive. Doing something small in support is FAR better than staying silent and complicit.
This thread is excellent, because white privilege is a power most of us didn't ask for, and it's not something we want others to NOT have. And that sucks.
But we DO have privilege. And we need to recognize that so that we can use it where we can to promote fairness and justice.
I've spent most of this weekend trying to come to grips with my powerlessness, my combination of empathy for the black community, and my understanding that I can never TRULY empathize fully, because I will never live the existential terror that is being black in America.
And I want to be careful to avoid the "white savior" archetype here - white people standing in solidarity are not the heroes here. The heroes are those who find the strength to still march peacefully as they live through this hell day after day.
On day one, Trump was in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution by not divesting himself from his private businesses, and continuing to use public office to profit privately.
He was impeachable on Inauguration Day because he was breaking the law then, as well.
The whole "they've been trying to impeach him since day one" line has been one of the most frustrating GOP tactics in this process.
Yeah, of course they've been floating impeachment - Trump has not stopped breaking the law for even ONE SECOND while in office!
Trump has been in violation of the Constitution from his first day. But his illegal actions have gone from uncomfortable to brazen to literally directly harmful to American security.
The corruption just finally got bad enough where even Congress couldn't ignore it anymore.
I hate everything about what's happening with the Supreme Court right now.
A thread.
(1) 2016 made the appointment process of Supreme Court Justices a sham, and everybody knows it. Those who argue are either lying through their teeth, or being intellectually dishonest with themselves.
But the worst thing about the Merrick Garland fiasco is PRECEDENT.
(2) I don't really care all that much about Merrick Garland. I don't claim to know his background. And I've accepted that presidents will appoint SC justices with political intent. That's all fine. The court has swings around the political spectrum all the time.