Friday, August 2, 2024

You Can Be Both

My cousins are bi-racial. Their mother was Japanese, and their father was Black. They were raised in Compton, California. When their father passed the family stepped in to help in raising them, as their mother was directly from Japan new to the country and had few relatives to turn to for help. Family being family, grandparents, aunts and uncles made sure they were aware of their Black roots and identity. At the same time my aunt made sure they knew of their Japanese heritage as well. I can remember visiting as a child from Northern California during the summer and how I couldn’t wait to eat at Aunt Teddy’s. At some point during the summer, she would always cook my favorite dish. Sukiyaki. She insisted I pronounce it correctly. I would also visit with Mama & Papa, their grandparents where I got the best down home Louisiana cooking in the world. As adults, my cousins traveled to Japan to meet their relatives there and spend time in the country of their mother’s birth. Did I mention they were raised in Compton? You can be both.

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California and raised in predominately Black West Berkeley. After her parents separated, she speaks of spending time with her Jamaican father and his family in Palo Alto where he was an Economics professor at Stanford University. She and her sister also traveled to Jamaica with him.  She wrote of how her mother, a cancer researcher who immigrated from India to pursue and complete her Ph.D., thought it was important that in a country that would see them as Black she and her sister grow into proud Black women. Her mother would regularly take the family to an African-American church where they sang in the children’s choir. At the same time, she introduced them to Hinduism and Indian cooking and the culture. Kamala Harris attended Howard University a HBCU and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Black Sorority. You can be both.

This nonsense of  Kamala Harris suddenly turning Black is ridiculous. Because she has done things publicly to embrace her Indian culture, the dumb ass Orange Clown convicted felon stated that he didn’t know she was Black until recently when she turned Black. I’d be interested to know how you turn Black or if anyone has experienced this phenom. This has led to a conversation in conservative and some Black spaces to question her ethnicity and they are now pushing the narrative that Kamala chooses to be Black or Indian when it’s convenient for her. This is common for those who can’t understand a person can identify as more than one race. It also shows a lack of intelligence and a very obvious tactic to turn Black voters against her with the assumption that she’s not really Black. This so-called controversy is just another Republican racist dog whistle. They may as well call her a half-breed. These are the same failed tactics they used against Obama. He’s not Black, his mother was White. He’s not a citizen, we demand to see his birth certificate. It’s all about the Demon Other strategies with these people.

Kamala Harris is a highly educated, extremely accomplished woman and this is some serious bullshit from the Bloaty Orange convicted rapist. It’s an attempt to distract from the issues facing the next President. Issues and problems for which he has zero solutions. Rather than discuss what his plans and policies will be for the country going forward, he instead creates a non-existent crisis, because he ain’t got shit to say. When did the Orange Stain become the authority on Black authenticity? He’s not and Black people should not give a damn about his opinion on the subject. By the way, don’t get me started on the one drop rule. For those who don’t know, this was a Jim Crow era definition which stated if you had one drop of Black blood in you, yo ass was Black. In spite of this and other racist assertions I want to be clear because I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but, you can be both. 

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Cautious Hope

We're screwed. This was my first thought when Biden dropped out of the Presidential race. I thought there was no way today's America would elect a woman and definitely not a Black woman as President. In contrast to the energy generated by Hilary Clinton's drive for President in 2016, today's political climate is openly and blatantly sexist and racist. Thank you, Don the Orange Con. The convicted felon has made it acceptable for racist and misogynists to be explicitly direct in their bigoted opposition by promoting White Fear. He has convinced them that all of their problems are because of diversity and the “colored people”.

But I gotta say in the past few days people have become motivated and energized and they're trying to prove me wrong. To date, Vice President Kamala Harris had raised over 100 million dollars in donations, including 81 million dollars in the first 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced his exit from the race. And the momentum appears to be growing.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the racist and sexist attacks to start. She’s been called the DEI Vice-President and accused of sleeping her way to the top. It’s clear they don’t have anything combative except passive aggressive bigotry and chauvinism. Her credentials are solid. Howard University grad, law degree from UC San Francisco, 7 years as District Attorney for the city of San Francisco, 6 years as Attorney General for the State of California, 4 years as U.S. Senator for California and 4 years as U.S. Vice-President. DEI hire? Give me a break.

So, at this point I’m hopeful but still cautious. I hope the enthusiastic momentum holds, but I’ve been alive in this country long enough to know how racists thrive and feed on a challenge. Like I said before, Cheetolini Trump has changed the country from the Obama era when White America gleefully participated in his quest for the presidency…well some of White America. Today the country is completely polarized and The MAGA cult has a firm grip on the political landscape. If not the entirety of the landscape, at least enough of it so that their voices are heard.

As a former prosecutor, I’m sure Kamala can handle herself as she has an excellent legal mind. The Orange Con won’t be the first convicted felon she has had to confront or in this case, debate. In fact, Jabba the Trump knows he will get pulverized in a debate and he’s already trying to switch the one scheduled for September from ABC to the more MAGA friendly Fox News. If she’s such an unqualified DEI hire, he should mop the floor with her, right? I’m sure he’ll find a reason to avoid it altogether.

Here's the thing. You either want a twice impeached convicted felon, a business fraud, a pathological liar, an uncaring narcissist or you don't. It really is that simple. I remain optimistic but I know reality. The reality is that it won’t be easy for Vice-President Harris to win. She won’t win by attempting to convince White Supremacists who don’t foresee the end of Democracy under the Orange Stain. Anyone who votes for the Reality Show con man is either an idiot a racist or both. Vice-President Harris should focus her campaign on energizing and continuing to motivate those who recognize where the country is headed and instead are determined to continue as a democratic republic.