2016 Is About To Happen Again

by with 2 Comments FeaturedPolitics

I heard over and over from highly educated, liberal professionals after the 2016 election that some mistake had happened. “The election was stolen.”  The electoral college had somehow disrupted our normal process (spoiler: it wasn’t any different)…  “The Trump campaign enlisted Russian government support.” And then afterward we all needed to read Hillbilly Elegy to understand how to kindly condescend to the plight of the misinformed blue-collar rust belt that had erred and turned away from Democrats and sided with President Trump. At the time I was moving back and forth between NYC colleagues who’d secured a seat at Hillary’s victory party in Manhattan and neighbors in new England who’d sold their home early to facilitate their quick nomination through the Senate to take their new place in the administration “with her.” They sat down on election night ready to watch the show, and they were shocked at the show they saw. They never saw it coming.  And it’s happening again… and again they don’t see it coming.

I think they saw a glimmer of it before the COVID-19 crisis locked them all in their homes? But since then, the tone has changed. They’re locked in their homes reading their favorite websites and the articles their phone algorithms say they’ll like- and all of those sources tell them that Donald Trump’s performance through COVID-19… all the polls being conducted… point to a president losing ground heading into election season.

Many in this group don’t understand the monster they’ve created in their media bubble. In 1980 (the year CNN was founded) there were 3 news networks. To be viable, network news needed both liberals and conservatives, and the news was 30 minutes 3 times a day stuck between Brady Bunch reruns and The Jeffersons. You couldn’t serve people what they wanted with the context they wanted- so you gave them straight, complete facts with a straight face and let them apply their own context.  Now media is fragmented to where a 3% market share is huge, and straight shooting is dead. Even the best journalists quit trying to challenge us. They serve us what we want by arranging and selecting facts and applying context to make stories what we wish to see in them, and our tech knows what media will excite us.  Most of what’s “mainstream media” is the slice that serves the prime consumer: 25-40 years old, professional, urban, liberal-leaning, with substantial discretionary income. So now if you’re an educated professional, working for a large company in a white-collar job… these days you log in from home, work on zoom, order from Amazon. It’s annoying, but life is working. And if you look at the media that targets you, the biggest problem out there right now are those that want to reopen too quickly.

If you’re a small business owner, a self-employed tradesman, a wage earner or any sort of gig worker (ie the people Biden needs to win back from the president to win this time), three months of this has been hell. If you had savings, it’s gone. You can’t work, your children are home with you complicating work even more. Stress is elevated; money is scarce, and even if the $600 a month in federal assistance works for now, the uncertainty of what’s to come is crushing. Even as the signs are there, the articles pushed back to the mainstream consumer talk about elevated levels in “black and brown communities” that need “understanding and voice.” That’s true – but what those also are are the communities of people that still need to head out in the world every day to work. They are still getting sick because they’re still out there, and having been out in it since the start, they’re not nearly as scared of the virus as they are of losing their livelihood. Further, having not been scared by the world they continue to toil in all day, they continue to visit their friends and family more, and quietly dismiss you when you try to shame them. They’re over it. And they’re turning on Democrats again, and on the rare occasions when they speak up, they’re again facing condescension (here’s looking at you, Governor Whitmer). Those aren’t all MAGAs out there; it’s also your blue-collar swings.

Also, polls now aren’t really polls. For years, exit polls have needed rebasing because Republicans are less likely to respond – a fact that was exacerbated in the 2016 election when Trump voters began to feel that announcing loudly that you expect to vote for Donald Trump could cause indignation from someone around them and began to not state (or misstate) their intentions. With tensions running high in 2016 the weight-adjusted polls turned out to be not weight adjusted enough. Tensions are higher now. Also, currently most polls being completed are online polls by your favorite news sources. You can’t walk down the street, get in someone’s space and get a good poll sample in-person anymore. With online being the only way that works, it turns out (as an example), that most people that respond to a Huffington Post poll are still voting for Biden (although less than you might expect).

And once again, there’s a candidate who isn’t exactly rising to the occasion.  Biden has emerged twice since being named the presumed party nominee- once for a late and horribly jumbled explanation of Tara Reade’s accusations, and another botched interview with Charlamagne Tha God – both of which were designed and curated by campaign aides to be well-choreographed softballs and neither of which won him a voter he hadn’t had already. Conversely, if either interview had any effect at all, it decreased voter excitement which (according to Charlamagne Tha God himself) is likely to depress voter roles. Trump raised $212MM this quarter – a clip he’s been maintaining steadily since he started his re-election fund the day of his swearing in.  Biden raised only $60MM in hard money in April – despite his new status as the Democrats’ ordained winner. The president has a motivated base, is organized, and has a turnout plan that was tested in dry runs during the early primaries (and generated unprecedented primary turnouts for an incumbent presidential primary). Sitting in his basement without a formal role in the government, Biden needs to create viral moments that will excite women, minorities and wage earners, and so far his performance seems likely to depress turnouts for all three.

And it’s happening again. This time… just don’t be so surprised.

Similar Read: Mainstream Media or “Fake News”?

The Constitution?

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

[New Contributor]

The Constitution is a term that’s used regularly in the political world and in right-wing circles. But it’s constantly misused like the term love, which is used every single day. There are many levels of love. It can go anywhere from love for your favorite sports team, love for a family member, and of course, the love of your life (at the time lol). But again, the term love is used all day, every day.  And similar to the adjective “the,” there’s often not much meaning behind it.

Similar to “love” and “the,” the term Constitution is used improperly or rather without true meaning. We live in a time where many want to bring up their Constitutional right, whether they are left, right, or somewhere in the political middle. We often hear “It is my Constitutional right…,” “I am protecting my Constitutional right,” or, “They want to take away our Constitutional right…” and so forth.

The issue is many who are yelling protection of their Constitutional right do not even know what the Constitution says. They are clueless about how many Amendments are in the Constitution and what they actually state.

There are 27 Amendments in the Constitution. Some remember popular Amendments, such as #1 Free Speech, #2 Right to Bear Arms, or #5 Remain Silent. But as mentioned there are 27 Amendments, and I can guarantee you judges, police officers, and government officials constantly use many of them as justification for their actions despite not actually following the law.

Let’s deal with the Second Amendment for today. Many gun activists believe that the Second Amendment is their only God-given right and the most important. They also believe that this Amendment justifies having 18-20 guns to protect themselves including military-like weapons. This may be true, but this is not the law of the Amendment nor is it the purpose of its creation.

Because these activists have chosen not to use the Amendment properly, they have subsequently created a Stand-Your-Ground Law. Stand Your Ground Law states that you have the right to use your gun to stand your ground when you feel your life is threatened. But these activists are using their guns any way they want because they believe the Second Amendment and Stand Your Ground Laws give them that right and justify their actions. Once again something that is not accurate. And what we’ve discovered is “Stand-Your-Ground” really means Whites can stand their ground and Blacks & minorities have no ground to stand on. Blacks can’t say, “I am standing my ground because I fear for my life.” Blacks cannot walk up and down the street waving a gun or have a large gun strapped across their chest and walk in a Burger King, gas station or Walmart without police or authorities being called. That phone call on that Black individual most likely will end in an arrest or murder by the police or civilians. 

If we’re being honest, Stand-Your-Ground Law is another made-up law that allows White Americans to make civil arrests or take the lives of innocent people, mainly African-Americans. If it was really about protecting everyone then the law would also give African-American their fair protection and rights to STAND THEIR GROUND as well.

But the reality is it’s not for Blacks. They still believe how dare a Black man own a gun because that is NOT American so they must be up to some type of crime.  How dare a Black man go golfing, take a jog, sit in first-class on a plane, or be in the park with friends. 

But people used The Constitution as their American Bible to hide behind their hatred and evil speeches. Believing that The Constitution is their legal right to do whatever they want as long as they say my Constitutional rights.  It’s the same ones that say, “Get over slavery it was a long time ago.”

But Blacks and minorities have Constitutional rights. It is their right to speak up, defend, and protect themselves and their families. It is their right to not be killed, shot at, or threatened. It is their right to vote, worship, love whom they deem fit, and it is their right to stand their ground and demand justice in our judicial system. The sad truth… justice is not blind, it can see real good. She sees color, skin tone, race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and income status. Justice is not blind and justice is not fair. So when will we make The Constitution something that protects and serves all Americans? Because it’s just not for White people.

Democrat Minorities Deserve Better, When Will the Party Learn?

by with No Comment FeaturedPolitics

Last year, we saw a record number of Democrats declare their candidacy to be the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. There was really no unity early on for what was going to be a long and grueling fight to become the 2020 nominee to face off against Donald J. Trump, our nations 45th President. 

A total of 28 candidates threw their hats in the ring. Yes, you read that right, 28! Of that 28, 22 were male and 6 were women. Of those 22 males, 5 identified as a minority (3 Black male candidates: Corey Booker – Senator from New Jersey, Deval Patrick – former governor of Massachusetts, and Wayne Messaum – former Mayor of Miramar, Florida; 1 Asian candidate: Andrew Yang – Entrepreneur, and 1 Hispanic candidate: Julian Castro – Congressman from Texas.). Of the 6 women, only 1 identified as a minority: Senator Kamala Harris from California. 

Today, only 1 minority top candidate remains, Andrew Yang. He is popular among millennial males and seems to care more about the next generations (millennials and xennials) more than any of his peers still in the race. There are 11 top candidates left, of whom 7 are White males with 3 are White females. Does anyone see a problem here? When you have a country that has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world of a single group of people (Hispanic men and women) growing at a rate of 60 million people in 2018 (Pew Research Center, 2019), you really must wonder if the Democratic candidates see what everyone else sees. Are they representative of the people?

Just a few weeks ago, Julian Castro, the only Hispanic candidate in the race dropped out and immediately put his support behind Elizabeth Warren. A noble effort maybe to position himself as her running mate should she be nominated or some other notable position in her cabinet should she win, time will tell why he decided to go this route.

Here we go again with another group of people vying for the highest office in the land that doesn’t look like the majority they represent. The mere fact that they still use the state of Iowa as the first voting poll to see what the rest of the country is going to do is outdated as well. At some point, the Democratic party needs to wake up and see that the methods that they’ve always used just aren’t cutting it anymore. With an impeachment going on, a man in office that could really care less about the pageantry that is the Presidency of the United States of America, and his supporters that hang on his every move (including Republican congressmen), you have to wonder what if anything the Democrats can do to regain control and push this country back in the direction of fair and balanced.

It is not too late to do any of that, but the old bait and switch routine of saying they care about minorities and then not supporting minority representation in the party is not only wrong but has to stop. The people who are tired of the wool being pulled over their eyes need to make up their mind and hold the candidates accountable.

The late Fannie Lou Hamer said it best, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” 

Similar Read: The Demise of Kamala Harris, the Good, the Bad, and What’s Next

Should Canada Accept Trudeau’s Apology?

by with 3 Comments CultureFeaturedInternational

Blackface, brownface, any face other than your own is wildly offensive. Maybe we can take solace in the fact that nobody is doing it today (at least we hope not), and every time it comes up it’s an old photo or from someone’s high school yearbook. But, when you consider the photo or yearbook is fairly recent (2001 recent), and not from the early 1900s, you still have to pause. Most of these images appear to be at parties where, of course, none of the Black or Brown people being portrayed are present.

The most recent brownfacer is Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who decided to do it at a party at a private school… where he was teaching. Yeah. At the time, Trudeau was 29-years-old, not necessarily the high school kid in the Deep South who claimed not to know better. Similar to all who get exposed in this act, he followed the textbook response, whether genuine or not he immediately apologized. He also just began his re-election campaign which makes the timing of such news awful.

If you’re a person of color in Canada, if you’ve supported Trudeau in the past, do you continue to support him? Victims of racism, usually minorities with Black or Brown skin, have grown weary of Black and Brownface, as well as monkeys and other animals and caricatures used to mock them. Images often from the 21st century. Excusing such behavior, especially from adults like Trudeau, is unacceptable.

Will Trudeau be forced to pay a debt to society, will he be forced to reconcile his past other than a quick apology? Probably not, and therein lies the problem. Rarely are politicians or those in positions of power made to make amends for their racist behavior, and if society and global communities are ever going to improve, that has to change.

Similar Read: Press Play & Focus on the Future

The Day After: 2018 Midterm Elections

by with No Comment FeaturedGen ZPolitics

Two years ago I wrote a piece on the day following the 2016 presidential election. I was full of emotions that day—sad, angry, confused, frustrated, devastated, scared, and most of all, hopeless—and I needed to express them somehow. Two years later I’m here again to write a new version of my post-Election Day thoughts. This piece, however, will not be nearly as emotionally charged as the original. I have a lot of feelings about last night’s election, but above all else this time I feel hopeful.

​I want to start by talking about Election Day itself. One question that often gets asked is why Election Day is not a national holiday. I believe it should be. People are missing out on the opportunity to vote because they have to go to work or class. I also believe that on Election Day, all public transportation should be free. All people should have fair and equal access to voting and I believe that includes free transportation to get to the polls. Uber and Lyft have already implemented free rides to polling places on election day, so public transportation should be doing the same in order to ensure that everyone has a chance to vote. If we want to continue the pattern of growing voter turnout, we need to make sure that everyone has equal opportunity and access.

I also believe that every state should have same-day voter registration. A lot of people miss out on the opportunity to vote because many states require registration to be completed weeks before Election Day. Allowing people to register through the day of the election gives more opportunity for people to be able to vote. Voting should be a quick and easy process that everyone should have access to. After speaking to a few first-time voters yesterday I realized the process of voting might not be intuitive to those who have never done it before. There should be someone available at all polls to assist first time voters and anyone else who might need help.

​When it comes to the results of yesterday’s election, I have a lot of mixed feelings. However, like I said before, the emotion I’m feeling most strongly is hopefulness. As a registered Democrat, I am overjoyed to see the flip of the House of Representatives. Although the Dems were not able to flip the Senate as well, I find some joy in other smaller victories. For example, record-breaking numbers of women were elected to the House. There were many firsts of this election as well. For example Sharice Davids, the first openly gay and Native American woman to be elected to Congress, Jared Polis, the first openly gay male Governor, and Ihan Omar, the first Muslim woman in Congress.

​Although we may not have come away with the “Blue Wave” that so many people were hoping for, I see the victories from this election as a step in the right direction. I feel very optimistic about our future and I hope we continue to make history going forward in our elections by pushing for more minority representation in out Congress.

Diversity in Recruiting, Pt. I

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Last June, an article was published by The Root naming Black women the most educated group in the US. That’s something to celebrate, right? Well, yes. Except the article then went on to say that in a recent study, black women were found to make up only 8% of private sector jobs and less than 2% of leadership roles. How is it possible that black women are proving to be highly educated, but are still having trouble with representation in Corporate America? Is this an issue that is only affecting black women? I think it’s fair to say that there are many educated black men as well as other minorities and even veterans who can relate to the job market hustle.

Applying for a job is no easy task. You have to research the company in order to write a decent, personalized cover letter, check all your LinkedIn connections to see if anyone has a connection to help you get a foot in the door, make sure your resume or CV reflects the needs of the company, etc. After all of that, you send your application in hoping to at least receive confirmation that it was received. Then, you have to start all over and do the same thing for the next company. It can be really draining. Imagine doing that for weeks or months on end with no hope of even getting a job interview.

Meanwhile, on the other side, a hiring manager sends out a job description to their network of colleagues and associates who then recommends candidates from their own network. Many times, those networks are built from college and professional organizations. If the college or professional organization is not diverse, you’re essentially going to get a carbon copy of what you already have.

Ideas are born from the combination of your education and experience. If everyone has the same educational background and similar life experiences, how can new and innovative ideas be formed? It takes bringing people from different backgrounds and different walks of life, aka diversity, to make businesses thrive.

How can an organization foster diversity? By breaking out into new worlds unexplored. There are so many professional organizations that are geared towards minority groups. Find them. There are many universities that have Black student associations. Establish a relationship. Howard University, Spelman College, Morehouse, etc. are producing some of the top college graduates in the country. Go there and recruit. It takes effort.

We’ve all been told that hard work pays off. That’s one of those quotes that I believe to be true. Putting in the work to diversify your work environment is definitely one of the jobs worth the effort. Not only does hiring more diversely drive innovation and creativity, but you’re also likely to capture more market share. Having a diverse staff means your company knows how to communicate and connect with different cultures, and eventually convert them into customers. By increasing diversity, you could essentially be increasing your company’s financial performance.

It is now 2017 and it’s time that we stop talking about making things more diverse and just do it. Systematic differences, which negatively impact minorities, have been in place since the dawn of this country, but it’s clear that many of us are excelling regardless. Will the hard work of those individuals pay off? I definitely hope so, but it’s hard to achieve success without opportunity. The time for sharing those opportunities is now.