Friday, August 21, 2020

Friday Updates on Late August 2020.

  

As we near the fall of 2020, massive changes has arisen in America. 2020 is a year unlike another year in human history. We have seen a global pandemic ruining millions of lives. We have seen an increase of political polarization that hasn't been seen in decades. Racial tensions have grown, and protesters of all colors have  stood up for the human dignity of black lives (after the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other innocent black human beings). Workers like teachers, car developers, and other essential workers have called for fair wages, benefits, compensation pay, and just plain economic justice. The Trump administration continues with their lies, manipulation of people, and overt advocacy of injustice against human beings. Steve Bannon was recently arrested for wire fraud and money laundering over his border wall plan. Trump has been impeached for soliciting a foreign power to boost his reelection. Flynn pleaded guilty for lying under oath twice. So, many people in the Trump team are either convicted criminals, filled with scandals, or believe in reactionary views on issues (these people include Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, George Papadapolous, Roget Stone, etc.). Trump is one of the worst Presidents in American history. Donald Trump said that he could postpone the election, he threatened to send the police to polling stations, he tried to sabotage the Post Office in order to suppress the vote, he sent secret federal agents into cities (like Portland), and these are some of the recent bad actions that he has done. This election of 2020 is the most important election of our lifetimes. Our voting rights are constantly under threat. The Supreme Court back in 2013 gutted Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and voter suppression policies have closed 1,688 polling places. The average American wage had barely increased in 4 decades. The richest 0.1% has increased their wealth massively. Elon Musk hypocritically complains about struggling Americans getting government assistance, but is silent on him accepting $4.9 billion in government subsidies. Socialism for the rich and ruthless, cutthroat capitalism for the poor plus working class is the unfair reality of modern society. People should be registered to vote and vote without fear. We have to work harder to not only defend democracy and allow people to vote. We have to push for a real, bold progressive agenda. A progressive agenda will help every American not just the one percent or the oligarchy. Not to mention that we should advocate for universal health care. The DNC platform rejecting a Medicare for all plan is highly disappointing. People have every right to demand Biden to be more progressive. It is purely reasonable for student loan debt to be cancelled, workers to be given economic justice, and for society to experience real social change. With these facts alone, we should vote Donald Trump out of office. We have to get rid of authoritarian, anti-democratic policies in the world. 

 

There was the recent debate among DL Hughley and the Trump activist Angela Stanton (who is running for Congress). They met at an airport. Both people had their words. Security came to end further tensions. Stanton accused Hughley of being a coward after Stanton confronted Hughley saying that all Black Trump supporter are basically sellouts. Hughley said that he was eating breakfast, had a debate with Stanton, and security intervened. Later, Hughley showed mugshots of her and disrespected her in dealing with makeup. Both of them are wrong for completely different reasons. First, Angela Stanton is wrong for being a black Trump supporter period. Trump is clear to call black women low IQ, dogs, and mean. Trump is known to want the death penalty for the innocent Central Park Five, but Stanton respects Trump. That doesn't make sense. Trump had disrespected low income people as trying to invade the suburbs which is a lie. Trump eliminated a housing rights regulation. Stanton says that she wants to protect the babies, but Trump allowed babies to be locked in cages (and Trump eliminated EPA environmental regulations that will put more babies in risk of illnesses). Another way to help the babies is by creating universal health care, environmental protections, investments in education, and elimination of police brutality. DL Hughley is right to disagree with Stanton's political views. Yet, Hughley is wrong in disrespecting the woman (no one should disrespect a woman's physical appearance) in the guise of dissent. Her criminal past is her past. You judge a person by their total life not by one incident in their life. Also, some of the greatest heroes of history have gone to prison from Dr. King, Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson, and Malcolm X.  Hughley has been caught for years saying problematic comments. We can agree to disagree with people without using reactionary rhetoric. 

The common myth is that since Joe Biden isn't perfect, then we shouldn't vote. I heard this lie all of the time from far right reactionaries to Hoteps. We shouldn't take the bait. Everybody knows that Biden isn't perfect. Yet, Biden and Trump are not the same person. Trump supports Confederate statues, Biden doesn't. Trump wants to harm the postal service in restricting the vote. Biden doesn't advocate this. Even Trump has entertained the racist lie that Kamala Harris is not an  American citizen. Biden doesn't believe in that. Trump came out in public to call black women Congresswomen, black political leaders, and black journalists low IQ, mean, ignorant, and other invectives. Biden hasn't done this. Trump is clear to restrict the power of the Justice Department, cut policies from housing rights protections, and refuse to denounce the Confederate flag. Biden is the opposite of those policies. Some people, who claim to be progressive, desire to sit out this election. This is a wrong policy, because elections deal with school funding, the postal service, our roads, our census, our health care, our economy, and other parts of our society. Therefore, we should vote. Voting matters. If we want to see real change, then voting Trump out of office is very important.

Yesterday was the Birthday of Brother Al Roker, and he is 64 years old. He is a famous weather forecaster, journalist, TV personality, actor, and author. He was born in Queens, NYC. His cousins are Roxie Roker, Lenny Kravitz, and Zoe Kravitz. His mother is of Jamaican descent, and his father is of Bahamian descent. He graduated from Xavier High School in Manhattan. He earned a B.A. in communications in 1976 from State University of New York at Oswego.  He was a weather forecaster at Syracuse, NY and in other places like Washington, D.C. He has been on the Today Show on NBC for years. His wife is fellow journalist Deborah Roberts from ABC.  Al Roker has 3 children. Roker is known for his charity work all of the time. He has been on movies like Madagascar, Robots, etc. including TV shows like 30 Rock and The Proud Family. He wrote many books about family and other matters. Al Roker is a blessed man. I wish Brother Al Roker more blessings. 

 

We know about the real Ella Baker, but many folks don't know. Ella Baker was a woman of the South. She was a black woman who used honesty, courageousness, and activism to eliminate not only Jim Crow apartheid. She wanted poverty to be gone too. She knew sharecropping and saw first hand of the economic exploitation of black workers in the Deep South. When she was young, she accepted the usage of communal, community power in building up the grassroots members of the overall black freedom movement. That is why Baker believed in humility and many socialistic principles of the redistribution of society's wealth from the rich capitalists to the poor and working class. He was a friend to the activist George Schuyler during the 1930's. Baker worked with the YNCL and used cooperatives to economically help the oppressed. Many black scholars like W.E.B. DuBois wanted black cooperatives as a means to make socialism more thoroughly inits existence. Ella Baker was one of the Mothers of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement. She mentored SNCC, Kwame Ture, Julian Bond, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Dee. In 1974, at a Puerto Rican solidarity rally, Ella Baker said the following words, "You and I cannot be free in America or anywhere else where there is capitalism and imperialism." Enough said. Ella Baker was always a revolutionary black woman. The real shame is that the 2020 Democratic National Convention allowed Michael Bloomberg to speak, but not Ihan Omar or Ayanna Pressley or Rashida Tlaib. He had more time than Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Trump should be voted out off office on November 2020, but we should have legitimate critiques of any politician. 


 

By Timothy

 


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