17 Days to Convince a Nation...
The United States will elect a new President or re-elect Donald Trump 17 days from today, Tuesday, November 3rd.
I put this video in my Instagram stories yesterday-but think it deserves a permanent post and analysis. I have been encouraged to share my blog more publicly lately (thanks Jasmyn Wright <3 #PushThrough). I will start doing so with this post here (in my linktr.ee/JESSICA0114-where you can find some links to other writing I have done, this year+) & on all social media platforms. Beyond politics, it covers subjects like social justice, mental health: relationships & generational trauma, education (K-12 + Higher Education), health, & travel.
There are so many connections between this local 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina election from the video and 2020's political election.
Sometimes parties use propaganda to achieve their goals/manipulation.
In this 1898 election, they slandered Black leadership, any whites who supported and worked with them (Populists teaming up with Republicans), and even Black men-in regards to the trope of white women "abuse/rape." Their intent was to anger, inspire, and incite white men to violently act as KKK/vigilantes for "their" community and females.
People who spoke out, or published (with their businesses and printing press) to inform/educate citizens regarding truth, politics, and regarding Black social justice were run out of town or they murdered them in a massacre: see Alexander (Alex) Manly/The Daily Record.
The Populists who had teamed up with the Republicans (in Wilmington, NC) seems like today's Progressives teaming up with Democrats. Bernie Sanders (consistent Progressive) is spoke up for Joe Biden (Democrat) in the 2020 Presidential election in the video below:
The man mentioned at the end of the original (1898 Wilmington, NC) video I shared- Charles Brantley Aycock was a lawyer and a teacher + the 50th governor of North Carolina (until 1912). Aycock was then "known" only through propaganda controlled/published history books (1933) as "...one of the best friends that colored people had." This is very similar to what Trump now says, "What I've done for African Americans...no President has been able to do anything like that...[with the exception of Lincoln]" (politifact). Historians, & more importantly, most Black American citizens certainly disagree with Trump's sentiments.
After the Wilmington, NC white supremacists (200 armed, white men in city hall) ran out or murdered Black leaders, or those who supported them, an overtly white supremacist took over as mayor, Alfred Moore Waddell. This new mayor Waddell had once said, "We will never surrender to a ragged raffle of Negroes, even if we have to choke the Cape Fear River with carcasses" (Miseducating Americans).
This last paragraph should instantly make you make connections to the white militia-like men who recently were found to be attempting to plot/kidnap the female, Governor of Michigan -since they did/do not agree with her social distancing and lock-down policies to keep her state's citizens safe during the ongoing 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. By the way, Shaun King's "The Breakdown" podcast Episode 336 coverage regarding America's refusal to call white men terrorists for doing acts like this vs. targeting BIPOC & their entire families if they even protest peacefully was apt. Our "President" Donald Trump constantly encourages this type of behavior by chiding leaders this year (like the governor of Michigan) who did not agree with his suggestions to reopen more quickly for economics of humanity. Trump refused to instate "martial law" during the pandemic and lead the states' leaders in cases like these. This is because it was convenient for him-politically, so he can later feign responsibility and blame everything on someone else. Meanwhile in other countries this is how they handled the pandemic: Italy, China, India, Norway, to name a few. Although very different, other countries usually took more seriously than the U.S., besides Brazil. Brazil's President also contracted Covid-19.
However, when state leaders allow protests for racial justice from police brutality/systemic racism, #BlackLivesMatter, Trump continually calls out those leaders and chides them for "allowing" their "anarchists," "looters," "rioters" to be a form of "domestic terror." Trump even continues to threaten to "defund" states (he seems to think he has that power) if they don't stop protestors. He also threatened to defund schools if they did not open during the pandemic for fall 2020 & if they taught 1619 Curriculum. I really hope Americans and the globe don't forget any of these statements later.
Real historians and those who know how to use critical thinking skills to connect patterns of psychological propaganda and manipulation 🧠 can attest that politicians and "leaders" like "President" Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Marsha Blackburn (and the sordid list goes on and on) are false prophets to a seemingly easily controlled base. They often attempt to stoke fear, with morals regarding religion.
However, if you still believe Donald Trump is making or will "continue" to make America great...please ask yourself-great for who? I really want all my friends, family, or acquaintances to reflect upon that question. I am not attempting to be condescending. I am genuinely asking.
Will he make America continue to be great for white, rich, America? Yes.
What about the poor, Appalachian, rural white families. Will America be great for them? What do you/they truly have in common with Donald Trump, or senators who get pensions or healthcare essentially for life after very few years?
Religious whites who feel strong about your faith-would you like to sit beside a man or his followers who agree discussions of how he likes to "Grab 'em [women] by the pussy" is "locker room" normal talk? Don't forget his policies that have hurt women's rights. Even if lewd talk does not offend you personally, what makes you not care about other women having the right to make health choices regarding their own bodies? It goes far beyond abortion rights-which is what conservative, white males want you to believe. Women (just white-other BIPOC did not get it until 40+ years) did not even have voting rights until 100 years ago-this year: August 18, 1920: 19th Amendment. Again with the religious thinking, look at this verse: Matthew 7 :NIV. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." There are women who are passionately supporting Trump though. Why? Very Stepford Wife/Handmaid's Tale-esque if you ask me.
Also, you might want to do yourself a favor and google Candace Owens to be fully informed regarding the other side. Her propaganda is dangerous! FYI, she got married on Trump's winery in 2019.
America is not great for my K-12 former students who many of their neighborhoods were destroyed by a 🌪 (tornado) this year. Their community (North Nashville) had to step in because Black and brown lives and communities don't get as much attention locally or nationally.
America is not great for my Black college students or Black co-workers who are having to watch daily injustices take place to their community (police brutality) and systemic racism being denied during globally televised Vice/Presidential debates all whilst having to go to college, work with a mask upon their faces in the name of "professionalism." What is professional about how America's leaders are conducting themselves right now?
America is not great for my brown students, who when Trump was "elected" by the electoral college cried the next day coming off the buses/ car rider line since they feared their families would be instantly deported/ a wall built. They had also heard this during his campaign (when referring to his defense of a wall/ anti-immigration): "They're sending people that have a lot of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
America is not great for students and families of the Ojibwe reservation (and other indigenous tribes). I applied to and interviewed for a school that serves their tribe in 2019-20 (Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig). Their ancestors were brutalized by white supremacy in America #stolenland; their lands are still not respected #pipelines ! The students themselves had to protest for reasonable schools. They had one building that was a dilapidated metal shack. Wind blew in-frigidly for years. When I got off a plane in November 2019 and it was -13, it was miserable. Imagine going to school in those temperatures amidst all the other problems plaguing indigenous people. They finally got a new school-but they fought for it themselves! They are struggling with wi-fi, hot-spots, and even getting their normal educations during the pandemic. The buses used to pick them up sometimes with a 2.5-3 hour round trip ride, just to get to school daily. Indigenous tribes were often criticized during the pandemic for trying to close roads to keep their culture/ people safe from full extinction. Governors attempted to force them to open roads-which could have & did kill some of their already vulnerable people.
America is not great for my LGBTQIA+ friends and students who were barely even addressed at the debates. They matter too. Who they love is on the ballot; if they will be protected after coming out regarding their careers is on the ballot; if they can still be out and serve our country is on the ballot. Black trans women are some of the most targeted humans in America-still.
America is not great for science under "President" Trump. I cannot believe I have to write that. Republicans question if climate change is real. Facts. They always state others are promoting "fake news." Science cannot be more to the point (NASA). Masks, social distancing, and staying at home to promote health and safety for vulnerable populations should have never been denied during 2020, election or not. One candidate did not wear masks consistently and questioned or mocked anyone who did. Which candidate contracted the virus? Did he really, or was it even a ploy politically to make him look like a "winner" or "hero?" He has called himself a "war-time President" before.
America can be great for all, but it has not been, & it will not be great with Donald Trump for another 4 years, creating divisiveness. I will be the first to say, I was not for Joe Biden, at all; I was die-hard Bernie Sanders. I still #FeeltheBern !
However, Joe Biden's ideals, empathy, family, and willingness to apologize, admit past wrongs, and move forward to change and make America Better, fighting for the "soul of this nation" with Kamala Harris has given me hope!
It is not too late to change your mind, if you have not voted. If nothing else, please consider voting for John Lewis & Ruth Bader Ginsburg's memory. Even if you did not believe in their values and caring for all citizens, they cared about all of us in America. They literally both wrote essays (John Lewis-read here by Morgan Freeman) or made statements on their death beds (R.B.G.) worried about the future of this country.
#PleaseVote2020
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