Culture – Page 9

Kamala or Bust?

July 2, 2019

by Left Women's Rights Advocate with 5 Comments Culture Featured Politics

California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D) is running for President of the United States. So are three other women. She is joining a field of candidates who will be nothing short of amazing. Women and men of color are declaring their candidacies and that in itself is historic. What’s also historic is 2020 will have more women candidates run than ever before. There are so many positives to celebrate, but Democrats are too busy tearing down their own candidates before any debates even start.

Specifically, there’s lots of debate around Kamala. She’s a historically black college or university (HBCU) graduate, born to immigrant parents, pledged a Panhellenic sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. and most notably the former top cop of California, having served as the State’s Attorney General.

We can now dismiss with the pleasantries because the not-Kamala-choir is ready to sing. Since she made her presidential announcement, which was literally 2 days ago on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, several articles have come out about her. Some are in support, but many are critical of her record as San Francisco Attorney General and her state role as Attorney General. Even more, there has been a ton of social media traffic about her race. And even more than the social media traffic is the HBCU stans and notably Howard University graduates and students who are vehemently defending her existence.

As a graduate of an HBCU, I understand the pride that comes with seeing one of our own run for any elected office, let alone running for president. And as a graduate of Howard University I also understand how my fellow alumnae might walk around with our heads held high and our egos on 10000. However, one thing the HBCU and Howard experience has taught me is to trust but verify. Measure twice and cut once.

As an ardent supporter of women running for office I am elated to see a woman of color run for president after the historic run of Shirley Chisholm. After Hillary Clinton’s historic run in 2016, I think there is an urgent need to have a woman president. Heck we need more women in elected office everywhere. And we definitely need more women of color. But again, it is important that we give Kamala the same critical assessment that we are giving all other candidates, Democrat, Independent and Republican. The blind loyalty and undying support of her candidacy can be exciting if you are going to support her without any consideration of another candidate. But to do so because she went to your school or pledged your sorority is questionable.

Over the last few weeks, several articles have come out about her time as a prosecutor. Some of her actions have been questioned in pieces like The New York Times opinion piece and the article written in The Intercept about her survival as a candidate in the age of the Black Lives Matter movement. These articles point out her stances on controversial cases that some would deem “on the wrong side” of convictions or her silence on stances she might have taken on issues related to criminal justice. But there are also pieces written that highlight many of her reforms and why she is favorited to get an endorsement by former President Barack Obama. Notwithstanding her professional experience, which she will have to explain, it would be prudent for all to carefully consider why you support her candidacy over collegiate and social group affiliations. Afterall, attending a ‘proclaimed’ elite university and joining a sorority has yet to prove anyone is ready to become the next president.

This article was originally published on 1 January 2019.

Is the Price of Priceless Lives Just 99 Cents?

June 24, 2019

by Mykel Greene with No Comment Culture Featured

Children are very observant. They can notice subtleties in the atmosphere. They can pick up on the emotions of others. But, they can also have a very blurry line between right and wrong when they are especially young, say, the age of four. ‘I like that Barbie. I want it. It’s mine.’ With a rationale this simple, who would’ve thought that it would have disastrous consequences?

In Phoenix, Arizona, Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper’s four-year-old daughter picked up a Barbie doll inside a dollar store, put it in her bag, and left with her aunt. No weapons. No threatening behavior. No extensive loss. Just a four-year-old who wanted a Barbie and took one unbeknownst to her parents and aunt.

The police were called, and the first responder was an overzealous and extremely aggressive White male officer, whose name is Christopher Meyer. Although there are more than a few bad apples in the police force as a whole, Harper believed that there were enough good apples to encourage her daughters to depend on the police in dangerous situations.

Then the two toddlers sat with their mother in the backseat as this officer is screaming and profaning left and right, a locked and loaded gun in his hands. This four-year-old, this one-year-old, sat there and observed the very reason why many Americans of color today cannot bring themselves to trust and depend on the police.

This young Black family was leaving the dollar store to drop the young children off at their babysitter’s apartment. Before the car was even in park, they had to fear for their lives because the officer was surely going to “f—ing put a cap in [their] f—ing head[s]!”

If you watch the videos on this, you’ll see that these young Black people were unarmed, non-threatening, but most of all, compliant. The Young Turks, a popular talk show and podcast, did a segment on this. They posited that the reason the officers handled this family the way they did is because they weren’t providing the invigorating response of ‘resisting arrest’, therefore they tried to provoke it as seen when the officer kicks Ames’ legs apart. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, thinks it could also be that they were talking to the family this way because they thought the family, or rather Black people, talked like that.

The only thing worse than these traumatic events is the aftermath. I say this because, in situations like Black bodies versus White badges, it is almost certain that these instances will be swept under the proverbial rug, buried under hollow apologies, like what the Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego had to say on the matter.

“It was completely inappropriate and clearly unprofessional. There is no situation in which this behavior is ever close to acceptable,” said Gallego and quoted by Eric Levenson, et al in an article on CNN.

The people of Arizona, of the United States, don’t want to hear from an echo chamber that this is inexcusable, unacceptable, or whatever other “antiseptic” word, as Cedric L. Alexander, a writer from CNN, mentioned in his article. These half-hearted apologies tell the brutalized family and the rest of beautiful, colored America that nothing will be done.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams addressed this in a video, stating that she will personally spearhead this investigation of the department with the Professional Standards Bureau. For the officers in question, that just means desk duty. Desk duty is not a punishment. It isn’t even a slap on the wrist. It’s a ‘people are raging right now so let’s keep these officers safely employed until the people calm down enough for them to go back out on patrol.’

The family sustained not only physical injuries but also emotional trauma, especially those young children who observed it all but do not have yet the tools to comprehensively express their feelings. The one-year-old got her shoulder injured when the officer yanked her by her arm in an attempt to remove her from her mother.

To gain some sort of justice, the family is suing the city of Phoenix for $10 million dollars. I pray that justice is served. For me and maybe for you, justice looks like those two officers being fired, arrested, and imprisoned for aggravated assault, as well as counseling for the family.

The money is a bonus that can be used towards keeping the family on their feet as Ames recovers from his injuries that inhibit his ability to work. As seen in the videos, the officers are seen slinging him to the ground and the squad car, kicking his legs apart, and punching him unnecessarily in his back.

Something’s got to give. How many more incidents like this need to happen before change? Ames and his family were lucky to have survived because they, as well as the many bystanders, believed, that they would die right there on the spot for the sake of a 99 cent Barbie doll that the dollar store wasn’t even going to press charges for.

This family, and all the other families who’ve experienced this same brutality in Arizona and across the United States, demand more than an apology. I hope that at least in this case, this family receives more than a mere apology.

Similar Read: Why is Mental Health Ignored in Schools?

Joe Biden Doesn’t Deserve Your Vote

June 8, 2019

by The LCR Editor with One Comment Culture Featured Politics

Last week former Vice President and leading Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden flip-flopped on his support of the Hyde Amendment, the 1970’s legislation which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy results from incest or rape.

Abortion and related healthcare services can be costly; therefore, this amendment significantly affects poor women and women of color.

“The problem is, the Hyde Amendment affects poor women, women of color, Black women, Hispanic women. And women of color will elect the next president of the United States.” – Patti Solis Doyle, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton in 2008

Patti Doyle is right, yet Biden remained consistent in his support of the amendment. His opponents, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, lined up to criticize his stance and support for the bill. And before the end of the week, after initially doubling down in support of the bill, Biden reversed his stance and denounced his support.

“If I believe healthcare is a right as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s zip code.” – Joe Biden

Biden has a long documented history of defending this bill often citing his Catholic faith and that he doesn’t believe taxpayers who don’t believe in abortion should be forced to pay for them. So we should believe that he quickly realized this amendment disproportionately impacts poor women and women of color, many of whom are Democratic voters, amidst many of these Republican abortion bans sweeping the nation, and therefore he no longer supports it? A moral conundrum, maybe. Either way, after supporting a bill for 40+ years, it’s a stretch to believe he had a change of heart within 48-72 hours. Clearly, winning the Democratic nomination is more important, and that’s politics.

But this isn’t the first time he’s been on the wrong side of politics and history specifically in regard to women of color and disadvantaged communities… his troubling comments on desegregation and busing, his treatment of Anita Hill, and his role in the 1994 crime bill, just to name a few. Add the Hyde Amendment to that list.

The nostalgia of Biden serving as VP for the nation’s first Black President should take a back seat to many of his actions and legislative decisions over his political career, actions and decisions which have negatively impacted the Black community. Considering the Hyde Amendment negatively affects the same groups of people he depends on for votes, poor women and women of color, a Democrat supporting this bill for decades is inexcusable and not worthy of the highest office in the land.

WHEN THEY SEE US TERRORIZED

June 5, 2019

by Soulful Silverback with No Comment Culture Featured Race Relations

Silverback’s Note: There are no “When They See Us” spoilers ahead.

My mom and I were shopping at the Kings Plaza Shopping Center one afternoon after school. Kings Plaza is the largest indoor shopping center in the borough of Brooklyn and was often buzzing with traffic.

We were on the second level near the movie theatre, when seemingly out of nowhere, men in powder blue uniforms came flying from yards away. Now first they were walking, then started sprinting furiously. When they got closer, I could see the print on their badges: N.Y.P.D.

My mother firmly yanked me out the way, as I felt the blue wind of those men breezing by.

“Andy, look at me!” she said frantically. “Whenever you see police running like that after someone, you make sure you walk the other direction, ok? I don’t want them to hurt you.”

I’ll never forget that moment near the old movie theatre in the Kings Plaza. It was the first of many “talks” my mom would have with me about the police. But more importantly, it was also the first time I would associate the NYPD uniform with one emotion: fear.

Decades later my fair-skinned Hispanic mother would admit to me that growing up with her sisters and cousins in Puerto Rico that she had no idea how to raise dark-skinned boys.

My dad, an immigrant from the small island of Grenada, didn’t have a much better idea on how to raise first-generation American Black men either.

My parents were still very much rooted in their West Indian cultural ways and lived somewhat outside of the tense race relations that dictate American society. And yet, they

instilled a healthy fear of the NYPD into me from a young age.

Why?

I was born in the County of Kings in January of 1986. New York City in the late 1980s was no walk in the park. Nevertheless, the city had its bright spots: The New York Football Giants and the New York Mets both won titles that year in their respective sports. The American economy, lead by a booming Wall Street, was thriving. However, a dark cloud hung over the city with the NYPD reporting almost 2,000 murder cases and over 5,400 rape cases in 86’.

These murder and rape cases would continue to soar well into the early to mid-1990s due to a myriad of failures at the State and Federal levels.

Mom and I would often sit down in the living room after I finished my homework to watch the evening news together. I couldn’t wait for the sports newscast so I could watch the highlights and see the scores.

Sometimes, the local evening news was filled with dreadful news story after the other. My mom would often change the channel in disgust of the seemingly endless horrific news cycle. I’d have to beg her to change the channel back to the newscast so I could see how much the Knicks lost by.

The seeds of these dreadful news stories were subconsciously planted into my brain and would later blossom into full-blown terror. At that age, I didn’t know what crime was but I could see that the men in the powder blue uniforms were taking people away in handcuffs or covering dead bodies with white sheets.

Later that year, teenage boys Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise were on trial for the alleged attempted murder and rape of a female jogger in Central Park.

This notorious trial is the focus of award-winning director Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed mini-series, When They See Us.

The four-part mini-series — which is currently streaming on Netflix — does an outstanding job of humanizing the individual backstories of the five young men whose lives were forever changed by the events that took place in Central Park that evening.

In my twenties, I had become enthralled by the details of the case. The more I read, the more I was pulled into the case. I could see myself in those five young Black and Hispanic boys from underserved communities.

I read Sarah Burns book The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding, the accompanying 2-hour documentary by the same name, and anything else I could digest about the case.

I could understand the mistakes that their parents made. I could empathize with the gripping terror that those boys felt while being coerced into a confession. I could understand that women all around the city wanted justice for the brutal rape of the jogger that night.

I began watching When They See Us, less interested in the details of the story and more interested in how DuVernay would bring the story to life.

I pressed play on Netflix and laid down on the couch, honestly more focused on my Instagram feed than I was the television screen. I know how this tragic tale ends, after all.

Almost five hours later, as the final credits on the fourth episode scrolled across my television screen around 2 a.m., I found myself feeling an overwhelming sense of terror. I was no longer laying down and I was seated straight up just sitting there in silence. Sheer. Abject. Terror.

If I’m being transparent, I wanted to curl my 250-pound frame into a ball and cry.

The books and documentaries that I had previously consumed didn’t include the raw emotion that the mini-series evoked through the actors portrayal of the boys that became known as the Central Park 5. Specifically, the terror-inducing scenes of Korey Wise’s (masterfully portrayed by actor Jharrel Jerome) experience in the New York State penitentiary system. The fear that I’ve walked around with since I was seven years old had come to life in the form of a motion picture. The terror was in my living room.

Two white police officers jumped out. They reached for guns. Pointed them right in our direction. I’ll never forget the sight of the barrel. Or the sounds. The piercing anger behind the commands these adult men were shouting.

I was frozen.

Andy, look at me!

All I could hear was my mother.

You walk the other direction, ok?

But I couldn’t just walk away — not with the morbid abyss of a gun staring me in the face like an open-ended question: Is this when I die like the folks on the news?

The officers put their guns back into their holsters. They lined us up to be frisked on the sidewalk in broad daylight for passersby to see. Following their commands, we spread our legs and put our hands behind our head.

I don’t know if you’ve been frisked by the police before but a grown man checking my balls while my hands were behind my head was not something that I was used to as a teenager.

After frisking us, the officers offered no explanation of why they stopped us and got back in their car and drove off.

At this time, I was now the eldest brother to three younger siblings. I had pride in the fact that they looked up to me and I was a good student-athlete that spent most of my free time in church. My parents raised me to be a good kid.

I immediately went home to tell my mom about my experience coming home from practice. I felt emasculated and embarrassed to have had this experience in such a public way but this was life as a Black boy passing through a predominantly white neighborhood in Brooklyn. But I just accepted that as reality. It’s as if I had been programmed to passively allow my dignity and Constitutional rights to be violated.

We had become accustomed to seeing white officers engage with adult Black men in this manner in our own communities so we didn’t collectively think much of the interaction with the NYPD that afternoon.

You know, to this day, I’ve never called on the NYPD? Never in my 33 years of life have I picked up the phone to call the police.

Not even once.

Not because of the lack of need for law enforcement. No, I’ve been in situations where I probably could’ve used some assistance. But there I have been too many times where I’ve seen police officers rush to the scene of a crime and leave an innocent Black body lying dead on the floor.

So I’ll pass on the phone call, thanks.

Maybe I’ve never called because I remember listening to my family talk about the time when the police beat my dad so badly that he had to be hospitalized in the 80s. Apparently, he got too “mouthy” with the officers.

Maybe I’ve never called because of the time when a team of officers unlawfully entered my parents’ home. Apparently, the music was too loud.

Maybe I’ve never called because I read the news articles about Amadou Diallo (99’), Sean Bell (06’), Ramarley Graham (12’), Kimani Gray (13’), or Eric Garner (14’). Apparently, they were all too dark-skinned, too male.

Maybe I’ve never called the police because my mother taught me how to stay safe.

I don’t want them to hurt you….

This is the terror I walk around with every day. The moment I walk out of my apartment, the checklist rolling through my head is the same: Phone, wallet, keys…terror.

It’s something I can’t seem to shake. I don’t feel safe in my own body.

In 2014, the City of New York settled with the Central Park 5 for $41 million dollars, which is about $1 million dollars for every year they collectively sat behind bars for a crime they clearly did not commit.

However, for every Antron, Kevin, Yusef, Raymond, and Korey, there are thousands of kids from underserved communities that were or are currently sitting in NYC jail cells for crimes they did not commit.

I could have been one of those kids in the park. I was lucky. I mean, what if the Central Park 5 was actually the Marine Park 5?

One sunny afternoon a few years ago, I was standing in the street dressed in a tailored gray suit trying to hail a yellow cab. I had just led a business meeting with my boss, when Korey Wise walked by us.

I immediately recognized him in the crowd and stopped talking to my boss as I locked eyes with Korey.

We exchanged “the nod” of Black recognition and as I turned my gaze back to my boss, he asked, “What was that about? You know that guy?”

“Yeah, there but for the grace of God, go I,” I replied.

There but for the grace of God, go I…

A POC Undefined

June 3, 2019

by Mykel Greene with 6 Comments Culture Featured Gen Z

I am exoticized, and my olive skin, my big brown eyes, and black hair that falls in loose curls are the culprits. I am quick to be labeled as anything that will make everyone else comfortable: Latina, Indian, Asian, and etc. I am objectified with “Hey light skin” and “Hey Mami,” and the contours of my body are to blame. “I want to get to know you,” they will say. However, they only want to get to know this body that is the physical embodiment of the unknown. I am just a rare commodity.

People tend to not look beyond my appearance because it is too mysterious. It is truly baffling because you cannot tell ‘what’ I am by just looking at me. Get-to-know-you questions always begin with, “What are you mixed with?” My answer is never satisfactory, and therefore, people will argue with me about how I identify. At the end of the day, it is no one’s business but mine what my genetic makeup is unless I choose to make it their business.

I am a multiracial woman, but more often than not I am not accepted as such. I can distinctly remember in high school, this guy pestered me about what I am. After a while, I stopped dodging the question and gave him an answer. He kept telling me that I wasn’t that. He kept telling me that I was Indian and that I should stop lying and saying that I’m Black. It is funny to me that people already have an answer to their question, yet they still waste their breath on asking me anyway. It is as if verification is needed for them to feel the way they do about me, to think what they want about me.

I am too Black to be White, too White to be Black, and not enough Native American to claim my heritage. Growing up was difficult because there were racial cliques. My being multiracial made me the outsider to all of them. I ‘didn’t understand’ the struggles of thick, coarse hair management. I was ‘privileged’ for my lighter complexion, but was still overlooked to favor my White counterparts. I knew nothing about the reserves and the fight to keep those sacred grounds sacred, to defend against industrialization. I wanted to belong to something so much that I denounced everything that wasn’t Black and made that my new identity, but that only made matters worse. It gave way to incidents much like the one with the guy from high school.

All of my experiences bred a level of self-loathing for being different. I have never wanted anything more than to be able to not stand out wherever I go. I wanted to be able to just go about life without being questioned in most conversations about my race. Now, being a young adult, I’m learning to love the melanin in my skin that allows me to be pale like butterscotch in the winter and dark as cognac in the summer. I’m learning to appreciate each curve of my body and not try to diminish myself every time I step foot out of the house. That is doing myself a disservice.

I am a Person of Color, and never will I ever again be ashamed of being more than just one color.

Similar Read: I’m Tired of “Wokeness”

This article was originally published on 12 February 2019.

The Alabama Human Life Protection Act

May 25, 2019

by Katie Garrison with No Comment Culture Featured Politics

The Alabama Human Life Protection Act, a controversial bill that criminalizes abortion and attempted abortion, was enacted on May 15th, 2019. This act categorizes abortion as homicide and a Class A felony while attempted abortion is now considered a Class C felony. Section 2 letter I, compare the casualties of the Holocaust, the Soviet Regime, and the Rwandan genocide to the estimated “50 million babies… aborted in the United States since Roe v. Wade passed in 1973.” The legislation also defines an unborn child, child, or person as “a human being, specifically including an unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.” It also defines a woman as “a female human being, whether or not she has reached the age of maturity”, (House Bill 314, section 3). One of the most problematic aspects of the bill includes the lack of exception for abortions in the case of impregnation through rape or incest. The passing of the law has resulted in backlash along with praise from those who agree with the legislation.

Not only is this bill incredibly heinous for its lack of empathy but for its lack of inclusion. HB 314 denies any person that is able to get pregnant the choice to terminate that pregnancy, but specifically protects women or “female” people from criminal charges if the mother’s life is at risk. While it is possible for any person of any gender to receive an abortion, this rhetoric does not allow the same protections for trans and non-binary folk, only cis-gender women. Ericka Hart, a queer Black femme, activist, and an accomplished teacher of sex education discusses the dangers that go beyond the bill itself. She states, “One day, people are sharing about abortion being a “women’s issue” – intentionally leaving out trans people and the next day, they are sharing about the death of Black trans women. If the only time you talk about trans existence is when we are gone, you aren’t helping”. Ericka’s studies and work focus on the systemic and historical events that allow for White supremacist, sexist, transphobic and homophobic bills to pass.

This bill will have a significant impact on poor minorities specifically when Black maternal death is a profound and prevalent issue, and currently at an all-time high. There is little to no access to contraception and proper sex education for the impoverished. While the wealthy and middle class can afford birth control, condoms and emergency contraceptives these products are not accessible to people without sufficient income or insurance. When rhetoric like “pro-life” is used it demonizes people who get abortions by implying that they are anti-life or pro-murder. The use of this language creates stigma for people who have already had abortions as well as those in need of an abortion. This stigma leads to shame and isolation which can end in lethal circumstances. To take away the right to a sterile and proper abortion puts countless lives at risk and puts immense financial stress on families. Prioritizing a life that has not yet begun over a life that has current meaningful existence and relationships is hypocritical. The right using the term “pro-life” is a manipulation tactic born out of the desperate need to maintain power and control.

The abortion ban in Alabama brings attention to a lot of systemic issues that plague many government bodies and society as a whole. It is important for the public to be educated correctly on whom these bills affect the most. Unfortunately, the attention tends to gravitate towards the most privileged and powerful leading to the silencing and erasure of marginalized voices. This ban will have negative effects on many and in some cases lead to life-threatening or lethal circumstances. In times like this, it is vital to prioritize those who face immediate danger in the rise of this ban. Audre Lorde, a Black, lesbian, poet, and educator stated, “The master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house.” This quote remains relevant and impactful in the present. It can help to explain how powerful structures have maintained control and are able to pass an oppressive and dangerous bill like HB 314. If radical and revolutionary means are not taken society cannot progress and the marginalized will continue to suffer at the expense of our collective silence.

Ericka Hart: Twitter, Instagram

Legal Attack on Women’s Right to Choose (How Did We Get Here?)

May 21, 2019

by Left Women's Rights Advocate with 3 Comments Culture Featured Politics

There is a calculated attack happening across this country. It’s an attack on women and their bodies. In the past month, we have seen state legislative bodies in Missouri, Ohio, and Georgia pass restrictive abortion laws. Last week we saw the Alabama Senate pass a ban and the Governor, Kay Ivey, signed it into law. Georgia’s Governor, Brian Kemp, also signed a controversial abortion bill, the heartbeat bill, into law. But the bill signed by Ivy in Alabama is currently the most restrictive in the country. The bill signed by Ivy bans abortions — with the exception of when the life of the mother is in jeopardy — in all circumstances. Stop and read that sentence again. If a woman is raped or a victim of incest, according to the Alabama law, she must carry it to full term.

This is extreme to say the least. This bill along with the others passed in Georgia, Ohio, and Missouri all seem to be aimed at one thing, getting their legal challenges heard at the Supreme Court. If legal challenges get to that level then Pandora’s box is open for the Roe v. Wade debate. Ohio passed a fetal heartbeat bill, which would ban a woman from having an abortion once a heartbeat is detected. Some state legislative bodies are even calling it a 6-week ban, a time when some women may not even know they are pregnant. Georgia’s Governor Kemp signed something similar. In Tennessee, the legislative house passed a 6-week heartbeat bill, but it was defeated in the state Senate and sent to summer study, but is likely to be reintroduced next legislative season.

It would be convenient to rant about the way men are legislating over women’s bodies and giving them no chance to discuss or fight back against that legislation. Instead, I want to challenge you to relive a brief rundown of events that have gotten us to 2019 and the heartbeat bills. The breakdown is below:

2008-2009: America elects the first Black president, Barack Obama.
Early 2010: SCOTUS rules in ‘Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC)’ that political spending is a form of free speech that’s protected under the First Amendment. The controversial 5-4 decision effectively opened the door for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to support their chosen political candidates. Hate that your politicians are bought and sold by corporations? Blame this.
Late 2010: Ahead of the midterms, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vows to make President Obama a “one-term president” and Republicans declare a nationwide takeover of state legislatures. This begins the slow but steady Republican calculation to take over.
2010 Midterms: Thanks to the Citizens United case, Republicans flood the airwaves with political advertising to influence down-ballot elections. Republicans pick up 675 state legislative seats; swept several governorships, including Tennessee; and Republican control increased from 14 states to 26 state legislatures. They also take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, winning 58 seats.
2011: Now that Republicans effectively have the states on lock, states begin to enact strict voter ID laws, including Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and TN.
2012: President Obama is re-elected. All is well with the world because we now have the Affordable Care Act (aka: Obamacare) and our president is still Black.
2013: The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) guts the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the ‘Shelby County v. Holder’ case. As in, Shelby County, Alabama versus Attorney General Eric Holder. As in, the (same) Voting Rights Act championed by Civil Rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King and Congressman John Lewis. The ruling basically said, nope racism doesn’t exist anymore so Southern states no longer need permission (i.e. “preclearance”) from the federal government to change their voting laws. The decision allowed 846 jurisdictions to close, move or change the availability of local polling places (mostly in predominantly African American counties) without federal oversight. There were also cuts to early voting and purges of voter rolls. Virtually all restrictions on voting after the ruling were by Republicans.
2014: Things begin to take a turn for the worst. Republicans continue their congressional takeover during the 2014 midterms. Republicans gained control of U.S. Senate and picked up more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Early 2016: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies. His death begins the conversation about who will replace him and President Obama is granted option to choose. Obama chooses Merrick Garland, but both the Republican senators and Democratic senators have to vote on his nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocks the nomination, claiming it’s too close to a presidential election so the next president should pick.
Late 2016: Donald Trump is elected president. Now Republicans are in control of the legislative branch and executive branch. Time to take over the judicial branch.
2017: Trump has his eye on the SCOTUS pick left vacant by Obama.
By nominating conservative judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. (Remember, elections have consequences, and in 2014, just 36.4% of eligible voters nationwide turned out in 2014 – the lowest since World War II—and Republicans gained control of the Senate, who confirms all federal judges.)
Fast forward to 2018 and by now, 34 states have some form of voter ID laws. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announces his retirement. Trump nominates Brett Kavanagh as his replacement. Senate confirms Kavanaugh in October, shortly before the midterms, solidifying the bench as a reliably conservative 5-4 majority.

It’s now 2019 and Republicans control the state legislature in 31 states. That is over half the country. Congress is divided – Democrats took back the House in 2018, but Republicans still control the Senate, Presidency, and Supreme Court.

What we are seeing play out today is a deliberate playbook, run by American Legislative Executive Council, also known as ALEC. This is the conservative right-wing organization that essentially creates all the bills and runs them through state legislative, congressional and Senate bodies across this country. They can’t do it unless our elected officials agree to push their proposed legislation. It’s interesting to note that ALEC will pay for members of Congress to attend some of their meetings where they discuss policy and legislation. Elected officials then go back to their respective seats and run their (ALEC) bills. Ultimately, the bills introduced by legislative branches across the country are so egregious and blatantly unconstitutional in an attempt to move the battle to friendly territory – the courts. And we see this happening with the abortion bills across the South. And in case you want even more examples let’s take another look at some recent history and see how there is calculation about the process of moving controversial legislation to the court system.

As soon as Trump became president he introduced the Muslim travel ban. A few judges across the country struck it down because they believed it was unconstitutional. It is now an active open court battle, but the dangerous part is Trump has already had two successful appointees to the Supreme Court and has been placing members on the Circuit Courts as well. This is important to note because states can fight these laws and challenge them, but if they end up in a court where a judge has been appointed by Trump or has a conservative view of the law then these abortion laws could be upheld along with other extreme laws coming out of Republican-led legislatures.

Trump has called for the separation of migrant families at the border. Again, this is something that judges are challenging and it’s heading to legal proceedings within the judicial system. The Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, and her team are challenging public education with school vouchers. Legal proceedings will take place. Again, this will be headed to the courts. Voter registration is also under attack in states like Tennessee pushing the envelope and criminalizing the civic act. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing and guess where this will end up, in court. And let’s not forget about the 2020 census. The President is trying hard to remove some provisions on how Americans are counted, which will affect funding for states. There are lots of unknowns about the upcoming census, but one thing that will likely take place – a court battle.

When we talk about the calculated attack on women and their bodies, we have to look at how long this has been in play. The attack on abortion laws are systematically set up to eventually end up in the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade. We should be upset about abortion bans. Louisiana has a case before the Supreme Court and we should all pay close attention to its outcome. It’s a law that would force doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where an abortion is performed, a structure that those opposed to the law insist violates the “undue burden” notion. In 2016 the state of Texas had a similar bill struck down in court.

We will begin to see court cases pop up about abortion bans because as soon as they are signed, they will immediately be appealed. It will be up to state judges, first, to decide their fate and with the stacking of conservative judges across the country we can only hope women’s right to choose is just as important to them as forcing a woman to carry an unwanted baby that the government doesn’t want to financially support once it gets here.

(Colin Kaepernick) What’s Next?

May 20, 2019

by Independent Texan Male with No Comment Culture Featured Sports

One of the last songs Tupac Shakur recorded is a little known track entitled What’s Next, in which he questions things in his past and how they’ve impacted others. To no particular entity or without any particular purpose, Pac repeatedly asks, “What’s Next?” In summary, Pac questions the purpose of his past and what is to come in the future.

It’s been exactly two months since Colin Kaepernick settled his collision lawsuit against the National Football League. Prior to the settlement, since the Fall of 2016, Colin Kaepernick and his silent protest of kneeling during the national anthem was a constant topic amongst both sports and general news outlets. Despite not being in the league for the past two seasons, both kneeling during the anthem by other players and the conversation around the awareness of the protest remained strong up until the settlement.

Then… nothing.

We haven’t heard from Colin Kaepernick. We also haven’t heard from Eric Reid, his most vocal and visible NFL player supporter. We haven’t heard anything on news outlets. And this upcoming season, I can bet dollars to doughnuts no one will kneel during the anthem.

So what’s next?

Like Tupac questioned the purpose of his past and what was to come in the future, we, the supporters of the anthem protest wonder what’s next with player activism. A tactic that, despite backlash, has been a successful tool in beginning the conversations and actions needed to address gross the injustices taking place in this nation.

I’m sure NBA players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and countless others will continue to speak on social issues. But what about the NFL?

The main goal of the kneeling protest was to bring awareness to the injustices within law enforcement and the criminal justice system as a whole against Black people in America.

Mission accomplished.

The protest might have only entrenched the main sides of this issue (pro-police vs Black Lives Matter); however; many in the middle listened and some like Patriots owner Robert Kraft even made steps towards supporting criminal justice reform.

There probably won’t be any more anthem protests, but there’s still a lot of room for the NFL to make an impact and create social change. We, the supporters, just need to know what’s next.

We Care So Much, That You Have No Rights

May 19, 2019

by Independent Asian Inquisitor with No Comment Culture Featured Politics

A point of view from a frustrated man who’s questioning other men’s point of view.

I just finished reading an article written by a fellow contributor to The LCR, Cynthia Swiss: Alabama Abortion Is Taking Women Back To The Dark Ages. After reading the article, I had to take a moment and gather my thoughts and emotions because I agreed with every point Cynthia had made in her article. Having had the pleasure and honor of being raised and guided by powerful, empowering, no-nonsense women all my life, taking a moment to fully understand the consequences of the abortion ban and how so many other states in the MidWest are following suit gave me pause.

It’s a surreal moment when you take a step back and look in realizing that there are so many women out there and young girls now that will have to live in more fear than before. Not only is their God-given right to maintain, manage and decide what to do with their bodies being stripped away before our very eyes, but now even rape and incest seem to lose their severity in consequences.

Why? because the only person that seems to indeed pay for it will be women, regardless of the situation, unless her life is in danger. Really? That’s the best we can do? That’s how we show our intelligence, respect, appreciation, and understanding of women in America? By telling them, they have NO choice but to carry pregnancies to term, because we care about life?

LOL, wait… that’s the reason? Really? WE CARE ABOUT LIFE? Oh man, we are unique, aren’t we? I mean, this is Gold. WE CARE ABOUT LIFE… We care so much about life that we bomb indiscriminately hospitals, schools, and population-centric areas that are FILLED with children to protect our “interests.”

We care so much about life, that the moment the child is born, we stop caring. Because the goal is to bring more life on this planet right, strictly? I mean, who cares if the mother can raise the child, emotionally, financially, or mentally. WE CARE ABOUT LIFE. THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS!

I mean, we care so much that we lock up immigrant children in detention camps and facilities where they are abused and RAPED! Because We care.

We care so much about life, that if a woman is raped or is a victim of incest, her ability to be supported, emotionally and mentally to recover as well as be given justice for such a heinous act is not essential. Because the “life” she is carrying IS meaningful, so her ability to have a say on her body or to have support from the government, or the law is irrelevant.

Look, I hold no influence on you, the reader, or anyone else except myself. Moreover, as a man, the craziest thing about this issue is that I have complete control over what is done or how it is done to my body in every conceivable way! However, the opposite sex is having all their liberties and rights questioned and taken away.

We do not have the right to control what a woman does, or does not do with her body. Why it is taking us close to 5,000+ years to understand that and accept? That is probably one of the many reasons why my frustration with the human race grows a little more with every passing year. Especially when such draconian measures are taken to control, dictate, and humiliate those that our race biologically, emotionally, mentally, and physically cannot do without – Women.

ALABAMA ABORTION BAN IS TAKING WOMEN BACK TO THE DARK AGES

May 18, 2019

by Cynthia, Swiss with 3 Comments Culture Featured Politics

As the news of the Alabama abortion ban reached my ears, I got shivers down my entire body. A body that I own, that I cherish–most days at least–, a body I now realize that some men think doesn’t actually belong to me.

Back in the Middle Ages, men were actually convinced women, dripping blood once a month, were the incarnation of Satan, orgasms were a devilish force men were warned not to release and the uterus was held responsible for every strange ailment women seemed to be so prone to displaying, such as… sadness. You would think people in 2019 know better. You would be mistaken then.

By denying women the right to own their bodies and to decide whether or not they feel ready to bring a child into this world, these men bring us back to these dark ages of ignorance and cruel patriarchy. By excluding rape and incest as valid reasons to deny women, and unfortunately sometimes girls, the right to overcome nature and make a rational decision, these men show how little they know about women, abortion and health. By implementing the heartbeat rule, they demonstrate their lack of awareness of basic biology. Unless you’ve been trying for a baby and are taking pregnancy tests regularly, or have a very regular cycle, 6 weeks is often the moment the pregnancy is discovered. I was 8 weeks pregnant when my gynecologist told me there was no heartbeat. After enduring a very traumatic surgical procedure to clear my uterus, as I was crying my heart out my (male) therapist told me, “You haven’t lost a baby. You’ve lost a fetus.” So it’s fine to rationalize when nature takes its course, but not when a woman takes control of her body? I never went back to this therapist. To this day, it remains one of the most unacceptable things I’ve been told because when you deeply want a baby, or when you get pregnant and feel ready to be a mother, the baby is not only in your belly, but also in your head, in your dreams, in your future.

On the other hand, when the pregnancy is not wanted or can’t be carried out willingly, it turns into a nightmare or a haunting dilemma. What should be taken into account is the potential wreckage of two lives, maybe more, compared to the benefits of constraining a woman to give birth. By refusing to acknowledge most women seeking abortions, especially in searing-poor areas and countries, are victims, and will probably struggle to come to terms with what they had to do, these men confirm that they, in fact, are not men: they are self-entitled idiots with bigotry-caked brains. Sadly, one of them was elected president of the United States, and rallied his peers, swarming over progress like maggots over an open wound. By refusing to accept that men are responsible for their own bodies as well perpetuates a supremacy based on one thing, and one thing only: the medieval fear of women.

Whether a rapist needs a knife, a gun or his hands around a woman’s neck to gain access to her genitals, whether an uncle or a family friend need threats and promises to convince a little girl not to tell anyone that they share a very special secret, whether a husband or boyfriend refuses the use of contraception or press for one more child, whether any religious leader or authority pretends that birth control is against His law, they are all committing the same act of violence against the very beings on whose existence our survival depends. Contraception does not always work, doctors are sometimes wrong, timing may not be adequate, and these are only a tiny portion of the reasons that may lead a woman to end a pregnancy. And you can take my word that any woman who had to undergo this is somehow scarred. Even if she knows there was nothing else she could do. The pro-life argument has to be about the woman in the first place, and empowering girls, giving them the assurance they can choose what is best for them, providing easy and safe access to contraception, ensuring both boys and girls get adequate sex-ed and the right talks on consent, mutual respect and dignity is the only way abortion numbers will fall. Criminalizing abortions will result in tragic deaths, suicides or illegal abortions. Angel makers will operate in backrooms at the cost of human lives, again.

Actress Alyssa Milano suggested a sex strike. What if tomorrow women decided to go on reproductive strike? What if the access to a woman’s reproductive organs were denied indefinitely? What if women decided to force vasectomy on all men by passing a bill stating that males don’t know what they’re doing with themselves and need to be put under strict control, without exception? Or what if we decided to offer these men the Godly mission of caring for all those abandoned children waiting for parents in orphanages? After all, that would solve so many problems, all at once. I have never, ever, heard of a place where men abide by women’s decisions regarding their sexuality. I wish such a place didn’t exist, to be honest. Because the only person who is allowed to make decisions regarding their body and organic functions is the person who lives in that body. Women need to stick together and fight back against this retrograde oppression. And if there’s one thing that is even more unbelievable than a bunch of male politicians imposing such a senseless decision in order to “protect life”, it is women sharing their point of view.

At some point in my life, I had to make the hardest decision of all. I did get an abortion. My doctor had told me there was no way I would ever get pregnant without strong medication. I had already had a miscarriage, so after years of infertility, it felt as if nature was playing the cruelest trick on me. With a future father who chickened out of the picture as fast and sneakily as he could, a family who was appalled at the situation and studies to complete, my choice was the rational one. I was not going to make so many people, including an innocent child, suffer. I still think about it when I look at my beautiful sons, who wouldn’t have been born if I hadn’t made this heartbreaking decision back then. Nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists, counsellors… they were all sorry for me and knew how lonely and desperate I was. A few years later, I sought advice and group therapy helped a lot to appease my grief and guilt. I’m glad and proud to say that in Switzerland, there are measures to protect women who seek such procedures, which are performed in hospitals or private clinics (abortion clinics don’t exist) and paid for by health insurance, and no one is hurling abuse at women entering these facilities to make them suffer through their “walk of shame.” If there were, I’d take my sons and my students there to teach them about dignity, freedom and solidarity.