A Conversation To Be Had...

Recently, just the other day, I was involved in a lively discussion about politics with a racially diverse group, mostly women, all dems. We talked about how out of touch the democrats are. We agreed that they are a bunch of wusses with no backbone who don't have long-term vision or a strategic plan.

I shared with them that there are calls for Black people to sit out the vote to show the power of our vote. Let America suffer... 

One white woman was aghast, "how could Black people sit out the vote? They know, if it's going to be bad for white people, it's gonna be worse for Black people", "Don't they know that?", she pondered. 

I said to her that Black people are tired of voting for the betterment of other peoples' lives. The Asian hate crime bill, DACA for the Latino community, gay marriage and transgender rights. Meanwhile, Black Americans don't have a permanent right to vote in America. It is voted upon every 25 years. How many democratic administrations have we had that didn't address this? SMH.

Talk about being sick and tired of being sick and tired. This is what it looks like...

Americans in general are fickle and single issue voters who will vote against their own interests based on one policy. The dems are in trouble and Black people are tired of saving them.  

Quite frankly, I cannot fathom voting for christie or any of these other republican candidates as suggested by a Black Woman in another discussion. And I don't appreciate politicians flipping the party script on their voters post election no matter what side of the aisle or what their race, that's just deceptive and wrong, but something has got to be done... 

If ever there was a need for a third party, it is now. And maybe it is Black folks who will rise and make that happen. Who knows? But bruvas' who follow trump, or even the likes of chocolate dipped tim scott, cannot lead the Black delegation. They don't even get to march in our parade. They are definitely out of step with the beat of our collective community drum. They have lost their place, their timing, and their rhythm. They can't even dance. Guilty feet have got no rhythm...

What are we, Black folks, to do? I know not the answer. The burden of the load is too heavy. 

There is a conversation to be had y'all. Let's have it...

Is Dignity An Inherent Trait?

I was in a training class yesterday where a distinction was made between dignity and respect. It was suggested that the two are often confused. The instructor defined dignity as an inherent trait that we are all born with while respect has to be earned, yet, he continued, we use the terms interchangeably. 

I objected that as a descendant of a people forced into chattel slavery, kidnapped, sold, raped, torn apart from our babies and our families, tortured in unmentionable ways for more than 400 years, I cannot subscribe to any notion that people who deny others the very basics of humanity, are born with dignity. The two just don't reconcile...

Dignity is not inherent. There is not "a little good" in all of us as we tell one another to try and understand the depths of depravity of those who commit sins and unthinkable acts against others. Some of us are just pure evil and have ZERO regard for dignity, ours or that of others.

The instructor was taken aback by the comment. I'm not sure he has seriously contemplated his response, that he "considers people individually", or use of such content in his training. He is a Black man, a Morehouse Man. I am surprised he had not considered this distinction himself. I will consider that perhaps I am conflating dignity with morality, but either way, neither is an inherent trait. There is not good and honor in everyone...

What say ye'?

James Baldwin speaks:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1241583719856549?mibextid=9drbnH