TRUMP-19

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Last night over dinner my eldest son, almost 8, asked me if Donald Trump had become rich by winning the lottery. Amused, I told him that Trump’s father was already a rich man when his son Donald started making his own money in business. He replied, “I think Trump’s father got rich by making TikTok videos or something similar.” I don’t know where my son got familiar with TikTok as no one in our family owns an account, and the anachronism was of course a good reason for my partner and I to have a good laugh, but then I started reflecting on my son’s vision of the world. 

Two years ago, they didn’t know who Donald Trump was, and Covid-19 didn’t even exist. Since January 2020, these have been our main focuses, as we watched the news of the world and commented on both situations, in both cases appalled by what we heard and saw. We have since learnt how to keep a safe distance with other people, how to wear a mask correctly, how to wash our hands thoroughly. We have learnt that being a racist, a misogynist, a con man and a liar could make you, then destroy you. Or not exactly… 

To be honest, the overrepresentation of Trump and his acolytes in the media was almost as much a sore as the literal toll Covid-19 was taking on humanity. Waiting shakily for the weekly update on the toll, the safety measures and closures, wondering whether schools would close again was, and still is, our daily lot. Comic relief came in the form of a character Shakespeare would not have disowned in this larger-than-life tragedy. How many times did I think I had heard it all, only to be contradicted the next day? I didn’t attempt to count, and I am glad I didn’t. Rather, I used Trump as a lesson to teach my sons about truth, respect, tolerance and fair-play. I told them they were growing up in a very special time, and they needed to remember that our planet defends itself against us sometimes, just as we defend ourselves against people like Donald Trump. 

I watched, flabbergasted, as the Capitol rioters claimed to rescue their nation from the Big Bad Democrats. I watched as they invaded, threatened, broke, stole, and laughed. I watched as they made excuses for themselves claiming they were just doing what the President had enticed them to do, powerless as he was to fight against this newly born evil called defeat. I watched as the President himself failed to bear the consequences of his words, his acts and his lies. I was lucky enough to watch, instead of lying in a hospital bed attached to a ventilator. This, I told my sons, is how a dictator falls. This is how a nation realizes it must stand together stronger and reclaim what is their founding principle: justice and freedom for all. It didn’t take long for me to be disappointed. The decision to reject the impeachment of the now-former President of the United States is a political move, by no means justice. You may loathe or love the man, but you must recognize him for what he is, and has always been: a selfish, arrogant, and spoilt megalomaniac. Losing the election was only fair revenge considering the harm he did to the American people. The ultimate step was to acknowledge that he had behaved the same way as those leaders he admires so much. Impeaching him was the only way to tell the Americans they had been swindled, mistreated, and lied to. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That we had to wait for it to happen –again— in the Land of the Free, couldn’t be more ironic.

If Biden, or anyone, wants to help fix this broken country, he must start with the people who claim they are dedicating their life to making it great. The fracture between Democrats and Republicans can heal, just like a broken bone, with reason and admission of guilt, not excuses. Fresh faces representing the USA’s multiculturalism will be needed to cement and reinforce the unity. Donald Trump shattered an already fragile skeleton, watched it crumble and danced onto its pieces. His failure to address the issues revolving around the pandemic contributed to his downfall, but the level of protection he benefits from is properly shameful. Aristotle’s assertion that all communities aim at some good only serves to highlight the decision-makers as prioritizing their own good at the cost of their country’s. We are witnessing a very special moment in history as the whole world is fighting a deadly virus. Since we have to rely on our governments to drive us through this crisis, now their time has come to shine, although making amends is sometimes the only way.  

By refusing to impeach Donald Trump, the Republicans have lost the trust many Americans, but also world citizens, had in justice. Sadly, I presume they have also gained unconditional support from those who think that getting away with crime is proof of leadership and strength. I do believe there’s dignity to be found in acknowledging one’s mistakes before starting anew. Hopefully, my sons will grow up to see the USA stand again, proud to be free as a true democracy, and Donald Trump will never be on TikTok. 

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My Reaction to the Storming of Capitol Hill

by with One Comment FeaturedPolitics

One of the things I’ve found really interesting about the events of the last year is that feeling of “what now?” that seemed to be ever-present. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse or even in those brief moments when we got the opportunity to take a deep breath or a sigh of relief, there was a consistent dark cloud figuratively looming overhead.

Now, on a day when we’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the impending Senate flip, we’re reminded that it ain’t over yet. It’s infuriating to see people, who had their fingers pointed during the fight for Black and Brown lives, storm the Capitol in the name of being sore losers.

I am mind boggled at the fact that they were able to enter the walls of the Capitol building without even the threat of a rubber bullet or tear gas. Where was this calm when people were genuinely and peacefully seeking justice?

I’m appalled at the lax reaction from people watching this all unfold and I hope the actions of these thugs force those who have been silent to hold up a mirror to themselves and audit their inactions that have emboldened these domestic terrorists. These hooligans have identified themselves, and we as a country have to decide how we are going to proceed.

No more standing by idle. It is time for action. It is time to make our stance clear. We cannot continue to be passive. We must continue to disempower the system of bigotry and hate that has fueled this country for so long. Enough is enough!

Do You Remember 2020?

by with One Comment CultureFeatured

Kobe Bryant died on January 26, 2020. That was just 5 months ago, but it seems like 5 years ago. Who knew his tragic demise would be the beginning of such a tumultuous year. Within weeks, you’d start hearing about COVID-19. What Trump once tried to dismiss soon turned into a global pandemic and the US quickly took the spotlight from Italy. At the time of this article being published, the US has more than 2.3 million cases and 123,000 deaths.

Before you knew it, unemployment skyrocketed to nearly 15% in April as 40 million people filed for unemployment over a 10-week period. The government passed trillions of dollars in stimulus relief; yet, very little of it made it to the people who needed it the most, those in poverty and small business owners. Instead, you had billion-dollar organizations like the LA Lakers giving the money back, which was intended for real small businesses.

If that wasn’t enough, the country witnessed Ahmaud Arbery, who was simply jogging in his Georgia neighborhood, being chased down and murdered in cold blood. The Breonna Taylor murder in Louisville, Kentucky began to get attention, and then on May 25th… for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd, and that moment was like the straw that broke the camels back. Angry citizens took to the streets. Protests and riots ensued, and they’ve been protesting ever since in just about every major city in the country. The senseless murder of Rashard Brooks has added more even tension and pain.

Now, experts are warning that a second wave of COVID-19 is damn near inevitable due to states reopening too fast, a lack of social distancing, and people flat out refusing to wear a mask.

It’s not even July yet.

Will states be forced to shut down again? Will schools open in the fall? And we can’t forget the presidential election in November, arguably one of the biggest elections of our time.

One thing for sure, in 10 – 20 – 30 years from now, people will ask do you remember 2020. Let’s hope the second half of the year is better than the first. Considering the human toll of COVID-19, record unemployment, and civil unrest which has spread throughout the world, I’m not sure we can sustain another 6 months like the 6 we just experienced.

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Can You Hear Me Now?

by with 2 Comments CultureFeaturedRace Relations

[New Contributor]

Remember the old Verizon catchphrase? Imagine if, you will, an entire country of disenfranchised African-Americans screaming that right now. Is anyone listening??  

Let me preface this with the fact that I am a White male. I know the privilege I was born into and I also know that simply based on my skin color I will NEVER know the level of anger felt by my African-American countrymen and women these last few days. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, I have one simple message to the masses protesting: “Burn this bitch down.”

If that sounds familiar to you, it should. Michael Brown’s stepfather uttered this phrase in 2014. Let me say that again for the racists in the back… TWO THOUSAND FOURTEEN. 

Here’s my point…

For all of you telling protesters that they are taking this too far, I would argue that they may not be taking it far enough. 6 years after Ferguson and the same shit keeps happening over and over and over again. When all the public outrage ends and the celebrities point their tweets in a different direction, the clock starts on the next injustice and the cycle repeats.

So I ask all of you (mostly White) people, what would you do?

You showed up to a government building with assault rifles because the government had the nerve to ask you to stay at home for the greater good. I shudder to think what would happen if suddenly the White race was consistently and intentionally targeted by cops for simply being White. So save your outrage. I say “burn that bitch down.” If you wanna hang your hat on the “Most cops are good” argument I say this: You’re right but there are enough bad ones that this brutality keeps happening, so I say “burn this bitch down’.” There are no more arguments to defend this behavior and if you have one, YOU’RE the problem. 

Can you hear me now??

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