It seems like we have a new divide. And I understand why. I also understand that we cannot return to practices that lead to cyclical repeats of systemic injustice.
To that end we need a few friendly reminders: 1. Twitter is not lobbying or voter registration or the voting booth.
2. Money talks and bs walks. 3. Diversify your activism portfolio--collective legal action is important, local activism, commit to shaping your local politics now....now...now...and your state legislatures, judicial appointments and executive branches.
4. Get people who are passionate but civically apathetic to get registered. We have too many people who can vote and do not. 5. Felons who have served their time and pay taxes should be voting. (Don't get in my ass...im going for what will get mass appeal.) 6. Organize and act.
7. Be the change you want means organize and create solutions that can be duplicated and modified and spread. Once positive progressive change occurs it's difficult to ignore it or diminish the power of its appeal.
8. Follow the people who were successful this past year&a half. 9. Listen to people who you at least half agree w/...stick to your values but use your head&challenge people to become more aware of how others live&why we need a change. Don't give up on one to one activism.
10. Don't compromise, communicate. No we don't want people in prison treated in inhumane ways
..like in Alabama right now...higher education should not be a burden, Healthcare is a right, policing needs to be reformed until nobody ever faces what George or Breonna faced...and
We still have to work the system&work outside of it&be patient when necessary and plan b when patience isn't saving lives. We can have all 4 years then maybe even 12 or more but we have work to do&accountability is key. But so is clarity, respect, good citizenship&civic literacy.
I'm done for now. This is not the time to fracture and retreat. Nor is it the time to unify with those who have shown their ass or will never be allies #MoscowMitchMcTraitor...be logical, deliberate, tactical and efficient. Act. Fight. Be slick. Be decisive, be aware. Be wise.
For 4 years I've had a picture of Barack Obama&Drumpf...u know the one...made to look like Barack is giving him the finger...that has been my lock screen.
Giving it up on Wed.
It's time to celebrate, not fear. Its time to give up the old and release.
Be free, you earned this.
The day of Jubilee is coming. A Pharoah who knew not Yosef, a copycat Haman, is on his way out.
Do not despair
Do not let your fears and worries overcome your passion to fight w/ your joy.
This is not the time to gloat but to have absolute glee in a new day.
Don't let them win.
Our greatest weapon is our hearts.
The love is the point.
Deny them their chaos.
Deny them their blasphemy.
Deny them their gotchas and guffaws
The love is the point.
Celebrate your kinfolk
Love up on your diverse neighbors
Post pictures of you safely celebrating
Our survival
Hi Twitter I can't sleep again. I need to ramble and rumble myself into passive aggressively sleeping.
The past 12 years haven't been easy for many but for those of us who are Jews of African descent in America it has been a trial by ordeal.
When Obama was president I remember when 1 of my students expressed a sense of fear of him. Their parents compared him to Hitler, wary of his passionate speeches &ability to arouse the masses. I immediately balked but knew where there was this sentiment there were others.
I lost a friend in Eva when she called him a Muslim born in Kenya. She also splashed a kid in the face with water...a lot...and I was like that's not cool but I also realized that would be my ass if I did that.
The more details that come out about the #CapitolRiots the more the news is sheepishly leaking just how racially tinged the whole matter was and most remarkable with a smattering of dedicated accomplices of color in a sea of angry white males.
Like the Black officer being chased..."this is OUR America" they chanted at him....
Or "we defended you during Black Lives Matter, why don't you have our backs"
Problematic yes, but I grew up watching him....and only a year older than me...
F
.....k
Damn. Somebody check on Lisa....
If you're wondering why I care...Dustin Diamond played a sitcom nerd. I was a real life nerd. Outsider. Sitcom nerds meant at least on tv we would survive. Kids in my day needed that.
And no I was not cool with the heckling and ear biting and the gross video...but damn do things like this make you feel old...and vulnerable and mortal and small.
There were over 493 lynchings in Jason's home state of Texas. To say that people facing "violent mobs" is the most un-American thing ever....is to erase part of our origin story and by erasure deny and by denial bear false witness. Nobody in these images ever faced justice.
These mobs&organizations like the KKK &many others often aided&abetted by some of the law of the time represented millions of domestic terrorists who fought to pass on a generational fear of voting, owning a business, being educated or loving a human of another color.
These savages laughed while a naked man was burned alive as he swung from a tree. Where are their souls, Jason? Better yet where are the souls of their descendants as we speak? Where is their submission to a G-d who commanded not to murder?