So we’re starting off 2020 with less talks of joy and world peace, and with more talks of shenanigans from the supposed leader of the free-world.

This week in news, 45 decided to take out a beloved, high-ranking Iranian military general and now the world is in an absolute tizzy. Guys, like seriously, this was a few days into the New Year we haven’t even had time to get completely sober yet. I was just full of hope and happiness like five days ago, yet here we are– war, likely re-election of an Impeached flaming racist/faux Christian evangelist/high-key sexual predator, and growing international anxieties due to emboldened Iranian threats.

Of course you couldn’t watch the news or even get on social media without catching word. Three got-dog on days into 2020 Twitter was trending with bubbling discussions of world war, fears of Iranian retaliation on the US, and government conspiracy during re-elections.

I totally understand why folks justify Qasem Soleimani’s death and why others question its timing. What really sucks to me is that many people aren’t even thinking about the soldiers’ lives at risk or the lives of innocent people who are going to pay the cost for this fallout. Nooooo, we just get dumb memes about a non-existent military draft and endless Facebook arguments on who’s fault any of this is…because you know, Obama. :insert triggered af eye roll here:

Gays receiving their military draft letters in the mail when we go to war with Iran pic.twitter.com/pV0YBudMwY

— John Clyde (@johnclydenyc) January 3, 2020

All this to say I’m tired, I’m burned out y’all. Everyday, I feel like we’re drawing closer and closer to doom, and that’s mostly why I don’t write my opinions on this stuff anymore. The last three years have sucked to be an American (in the most first-world-problems kind of way). Politics have pretty much threatened our ways of life and incapacitated people’s brain cells, on top of the fact that the world is going to Hell in a hand basket (literally, see: Australia). I find myself watching cartoons and searching for animal videos frequently. I play with my dog a lot…all to avoid the stress of politics. Boooooyyyy and DON’T HAVE FRIENDS/FAMILY ON THE OPPOSING SIDE– they equally run up your blood pressure without you even opening a laptop or watching the news. So my mind rumbles on, my anxiety heightens, and I continue to wonder–when did we stop thinking for ourselves? Why is it so hard to see the truth or even, reality? And why must we argue about every-single–thing? You know what’s interesting…Other countries that don’t have as much liberal freedom of speech as we do, hit the streets. They rise up. They don’t have the luxury of arguing online, they actually–gasps–take…action.

More Action Less Talk

This year is more of a year-of-action for me. I’m in an organization that helps makes global change for people of color. And while I don’t know what I’m going to do about my political angst, I know I’ll keep paying attention. I just honestly don’t see the point of adding to the noise of media. There isn’t much you can do to change the mind of a narcissistic racist online, or your friendly neighborhood ignorant know-it-all. These people seem to be changed with time and personal experience. Then with the news…if we read more we can absolutely sort out the facts. News people (no disrespect) aren’t normally the the most reputable sources of truth. They report what’s given to them unless they seek a story out of their own interest. So knowing that– research the stories from a variety of resources, identify the consistencies/inconsistencies, and THEN pair that with your logic. It’s so agitating to hear people talk on this stuff who barely read or research beyond their favorite blog sites. Like girl…your fave Youtube star is not the end-all, be-all to political news. Lastly, politicians…why do we trust any of them??? They’re POLITICIANS and I refuse to be categorized like I’m in some sort of gang. Dems = Libs and Repubs = Conservatives…I don’t really have that much dedication to any of it and I’m def not repping any colors (hood kids get it). It’s honestly a matter of what poison you pick because they’ve all had to do and say things they’d probably never admit to in public. That’s why I never went into politics, it’s a real thing. Even our beloved leaders are not exempt of having skeletons in ye old closet. Yet, knowing this, we continue to argue, let people who have never experienced our lives lead us, and turn against each other in the wake of global turmoil.

I’m trying to figure out what to do with all of these feelings. What do you do? <3

-D.Wright

On this edition of #ThrowbackThursday, we have one of the biggest L’s of the year. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, news and social media has been flooded with stories about Roy Moore’s epic loss on last Tuesday night.

For you less informed folks – Roy Moore (GOP Judge/candidate and likely pedophile) went up against supposed good-guy-lawyer (I hardly ever believe those words in the same sentence) and Democratice candidate, Doug Jones, for the special Senate election.

For months there had been lots of finger-pointing and serious sexual assault accusations against Moore. It felt like victims were literally stepping forward every week and reports of his nefarious behavior was up for display on nearly every media outlet imaginable. Never one to disappoint or stray away from the most asinine and predictable behavior, the good ol’ boys of the GOP continued to sweep allegations under the rug and labeled them as a guise to destroy Christian ethnics and the nuclear family. If you could see my face right now. Moving on…One thing panty-robbing Roy did have going for him was the backing of the White House. He basically had an enthusiastic tangerine prince, a la #45, who spoke praises over his preferred candidate and (per the usual) never failed to take jabs at the media who were actually doing their jobs of reporting news on this creepy crawler and his opponent.

Side Note: I’m really trying hard not to make more jokes or pass too many judgements on this dude but let’s be clear, I think he’s touching on everybody in these streets and I think it’s terrible.

Reality Sunk In

All of the hype came to a crash when Roy received the results late that evening.

Photo courtesy of Chicago Tribune.

Clearly there was shock, disbelief, and a level of “distraughtness” that we hadn’t witnessed by this wasp nest since Obama’s last win.

Moore stood in front of a small audience and attempted to rally the troops by telling his audience “God is always in control.” Why yes He is Roy, yes He is #thankyouGodweneededthisone. Then he had the nerve to rattle off some badly rehearsed excepts from Psalms. It was a complete travesty and a train wreck you you can view here.

Political Gangs

I learned something that night. Honestly, I think I knew it already but found it to be more apparent than ever before. Americans are legit in political gangs. I mean come on, it’s like the Crips & Bloods on steroids and ruining everyone’s lives.

I knew we were doomed when I watched that video floating around showing die hard Republicans hell-bent on ignoring actual facts to vote their affiliation. And yes I’m absolutely sure there are some lunatic “libtards,” as they’re lovingly referred to, out here but I mean right now we’re clearly having some issues with conservative voters and their overbearing/under-applied beliefs. So…I’m literally looking at this video like whoa. These people are real life in a gang and don’t even know it.

Photo courtesy of ThyBlackMan.com

This blindly loyal bunch seemed all too familiar to the very thugs most of their pedigree generally try to distance themselves from. In this video, one person goes as far to say that even if the allegations were true, they didn’t want to lose a seat in the Senate. Double blink. What? Y’all already know I think this is not only problematic but just flat out disturbing. What kind of troubled human beings think it’s ok to exchange policies for humanity? Seriously, this gets a big ole WTEFF.

So note to self and to you good people…Don’t be in a political gang – it’s divisive and stupid. Right is right and wrong is wrong. If people are doing wrong, that doesn’t mean support them in their wrongdoings. That means hold them accountable. There are some folks I’ve admired my whole life that are being accused of terrible crimes against women, and guess what…they should be held accountable. I’m not going to give them a pass because they’re a part of groups I align with or because it’s inconvenient for me and doesn’t fit the narrative I’d like to continue to tell about their greatness. NO. They need to be held accountable no matter my personal feelings for them.

That’s called having balance. Try it.

Black Votes Matter

There was something else that we learned that fateful Tuesday night. Black Votes Matter.

Now if you’re conservative and reading this, please try to see past your bitterness and disdain for a group (#BlackLivesMatter) you hardly know anything about to understand my point. Black people are tired and want progress, too. White conservatives are not the only group in America that want to make serious changes, minority voters should not be discredited or disenfranchised. Black Alabamians did not seem to align with anything the GOP was selling and the polls pretty much reflected the divide. People at the top with some good common sense should probably start asking questions like “why is that” to honestly seek real answers around the division between party and race. Obviously those out of touch with the African American community had no clue this one was coming but word on the street was Jones campaigned pretty hard in African American communities and spoke to their growing concerns.

Jones’ win literally came down to race and based off this wild Tuesday night, these 2018 midterms are going to be something to see. I’m just glad Alabama got it right, even if a small minority tipped the scale. <3

-D.Wright

Happy 4th of July good people! I’m grateful for freedoms I get to experience in this country but will never forget the difficult past of my people… This is the complexity of being a minority in America and specifically (in my case) Black in America. There are some things we will always have different perspectives on but that’s the beauty of cultural experience. We’ll always have something to share and exchange with those willing to listen. Today I celebrate the future of freedom. <3

-D.Wright

Photo courtesy of CNBC.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, comedian Kathy Griffin did the unthinkable for a good chuckle this week. That blurred out head you see there, and what’s been described as a piece of “art,” was actually made in the likeness of our current Commander in Covfefe…45 aka Donald Trump. Hear me now. I am NOT a fan of him, I think he’s a classless, chauvinist-bigot that got lucky a majority of his followers felt alienated enough to vote for him. I think he’s a terrible person, a decent business man and possibly the worst President in American history. However, I felt like this desperate attempt for a laugh was ridiculous and definitely inhumane.

Understand, I could care less about what 45 feels about it. I could care less about what his followers, his allies, or even what the White House feels about it. No one seemed to care when Obama was in office and had monkey emails being circulated by the very people he was supposed to lead and life-sized dolls of him being lynched in the streets. People on the Right weren’t even really taking a public stance of condemnation against that “repugnant” behavior but what I care about folks is our humanity. Have we lost it? Have we really gotten so numb and disconnected to where it’s now ok to pretend-kill real people in real life?

Photo courtesy of National Review.

I know it’s pretty hard to believe I could care about this person’s well-being but I do. What Kathy Griffin did was wrong and it was gross! So gross, it’s not even aesthetically sound enough to put up on this blog. I didn’t even get it! I don’t want to get it! And unless you’re in a movie playing Buffalo Bill or trying to win an Oscar, stuff like this is just disturbing. Shoot, even if you’re acting it’s still disturbing! But seriously, 45 is a human…Not a Voodoo doll. I want him out of office, not dead or with a bloody replica of his head in someone’s hands.

And let’s be honest, what she did was the type of behavior we expected from his extreme supporters. To agree with her, or to laugh with her is blatant hypocrisy on a human level even if we felt Obama wasn’t as horrid or as worthy of being knocked off.

Photo courtesy of The Odyssey Online.

But like I said…I don’t like him. He’s still the guy that could care less about the environment, poverty, civil issues, our lives, education, diplomacy, respect and all the other basic principles a solid leader should show concern for. And even though he might make those terrible faces and wear that thing on his head, he’s still a dude. He’s a human being with a body filled with life, maybe not a soul but life nonetheless. I just don’t feel right supporting someone mocking the loss of life because the person is hated or not liked. That’s also strange. It’s not normal. We can’t make extreme, violent behavior normal. She thought we were going to laugh and think it was normal. It’s not.

I’d maybe understand if we were applauding the take down of a violent terrorist group’s leader or folks we’re physically at war with. And the crazy thing is we don’t even really celebrate that! We basically say “got em” and keep it moving.

So here it is folks, don’t go all Huck on us, and fantasize about the thought of someone being lynched, tortured, or beheaded. Check your tendencies and your spirit.

Again Kathy, girl…why?

-D.Wright