You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. — Vice President Elect Kamala Harris
My daughter loves this picture. She understands the significance of this moment. And her future is brighter. #khive #NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/1DkYpKOoVN
— Alexander Yarde (@thatalexyarde) November 7, 2020
With the Biden-Harris ticket’s history-making win, we now will have a Black woman Vice-President.
It should be crystal clear that Black women continue to be the Democratic Party’s most powerful voting group and deserve respect and appreciation.
Black women tend to vote at higher rates than other groups, with 94% also voting in favor of Hillary Clinton in 2016, meanwhile well over 50% of White Women voted for Trump.
You see a black woman you thank her, but don’t touch her hair.
Yet, White Women are routinely and uniformly praised for their turning out the vote efforts.
Black women are ignored, vilified or forgotten by the very same “allies” once votes are counted and Democratic victories assured.
That can’t happen this time around.
Black people continue to save an America that neglects us. Our belief in democracy, the values this country espouses even when its manifestation for us is less than ideal…it all speaks to unwavering patriotism and hope for a better tomorrow. This election was a vote to hope https://t.co/lggymOag7N
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free— Ameshia Cross (@AmeshiaCross) November 6, 2020
I HAVE RECEIPTS.
In states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where President Trump won in 2016, NBC News is reporting Biden as the projected winner after ballots were counted in cities with a high population of Black voters including Detroit and the greater Milwaukee area.
In Georgia and Pennsylvania, CNBC reported Friday that Biden took a lead in Georgia and Pennsylvania that only grew as the counts continued. Georgia’s first Democratic presidential candidate win since 1992.
Pennsylvania, which backed Barack Obama in 2012, voted in favor of Trump in 2016, and went to Biden/Harris.
These wins can all be traced back to the tireless, sustained grassroots efforts of Black women. All while suffering disproportionately from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid devastated many already struggling black & brown communities. Black female unemployment rate dwarfs all sections of the population.
Meanwhile, parents are left to care for and educate children remotely. Some caring for elderly parents or relatives. But those burdens didn’t stop them from the heavy lifting.
Mama’s always on stage.
Not only did 91% of Black women vote for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden according to NBC News exit poll results, but Black women have been on the front lines of this year’s election, working to ensure that all eligible voters have their voices heard at the polls.
Trump’s efforts to suppress the vote failed miserably. By botching the Covid-19 Response, he both soured seniors on him and made it easier for the elderly, who might be hesitant to risk in person voting, to mail in their ballots.
Well, that’s none of my business, as long as he and is packed and ready to go at 11:59 am Wednesday, January 20th, 2021.
SISTER ABRAMS
Stacy Abrams in February 2019, became the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address. She was the Democratic party’s nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, becoming the first African-American female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the United States.
She lost to Brian Kemp in an election marked by accusations that Kemp engaged in voter suppression. it’s reported that Kemp, who served as Georgia’s secretary of state during that time, purged upwards of 1.4 million voters from the rolls, with many voter registrations being canceled because a person did not vote in the previous election.
Additionally, in 2018, 53,000 people had their registrations moved to “pending” because of the state’s “exact match” law, which requires handwritten voter registrations to be identical to an individual’s personal documents, The Atlantic reported. Of those 53,000, more than 80% of those registrations belonged to Black voters.
But she didn’t let that stop her. In a 2019 Vogue profile titled, “Can Stacey Abrams Save American Democracy?” Abrams told the magazine that after her 2018 loss she “sat shiva for 10 days” and then she “started plotting.”
Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organization to address voter suppression, in 2018 after Kemp’s skulduggery, this Queen worked relentlessly to register over 800,000 new voters across Georgia who were affected by voter suppression in time for the U.S elections.
She and her coalition turned Georgia blue despite all efforts against her. She delivered Georgia and it’s 16 electoral votes to a Democrat! Hadn’t happened in decades!
Georgia was once a reliably Republican state Abrams telling NPR that 45% of these new voters are under the age of 30 and 49% are people of color. In addition, Abrams tells NPR that she and her team were able to get rid of the “exact match” policy before the 2020 election.
Sister Abrams efforts delivered Georgia’s Electoral Votes to Biden’s column. She needs a Cabinet level position or head of the DNC.
Fight me.
K-HIVE IN FULL EFFECT.
Filling out my ballot for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden made me realize something.
This is the first time I've ever voted for a Black Woman to hold one of the highest offices in the land.
I've voter for a White Woman, a Black Man, a White Man, but never a Black Woman.
We Rise.
— 💜 Unbothered Bloodthirsty Bougie Banshee Bianca💜 (@RealKHiveQueenB) October 31, 2020
I discovered the K-Hive following Ms. Bianca De La Rosa @RealKhiveQueenB and her Brave News Blog. Her amusing, insightful, and straight no chaser comments are thought-provoking and a much-needed counter-program to the bullshit on Twitter.
Though not formally affiliated with the campaign it was a powerful coalition of Black Women and Allies that Ms. De La Rosa worked tirelessly for and I’m so happy her efforts led to this outcome!
The K-Hive community formed prior to and during her 2020 presidential campaign as an effort to defend Harris from racist and sexist attacks and debunk misinformation.
Organizing platform Mobilize said Harris’ digital team “was able to draw her community of online KHive supporters, off the internet, and into the volunteer ecosystem, where they could advocate on behalf of the campaign, call potential voters, and host events”.
When Harris endorsed Joe Biden in March 2020, the Biden campaign released a video in which Biden asks Harris if the #KHive will support him. Now that’s power.
Check out Sister Biancas Anchor podcast-
https://anchor.fm/braveandthekhive/episodes/UnBothered-Bianca-is-Unbothered-by-Election-Night-em3oc1
Support her Brave News Blog By Donating Via Paypal Today!!
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD WHITE MEN
Newsrooms, you can kill all of your stories about understanding white racists and shift that energy to recognizing Black patriotism
— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) November 6, 2020
The fact of the matter is, the biggest news and what drove the most energy of this election and what secured the Biden/Harris victory wasn’t the Old White Men at the top of the tickets.
It was about young women of color running for and winning seats in Congress setting historical records!
Of those 408 candidates 117 are women of color, building on the midterm elections of two years ago which saw high-profile women such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in New York, and Ilhan Omar, in Minnesota, elected.
#AOC and her fellow ‘Squad’ members all won re-election to Congress. Sorry Jimothy. #thesquad ain’t goin’ nowhere! By early Wednesday, 13 non-incumbent women had been elected to the House and one to the Senate. Of those, seven were Democrats and six Republicans.
In Missouri, Cori Bush, a nurse who cut her teeth politically during anti-police brutality protests in #Ferguson in 2014, was elected to the House of Representatives for the state’s first district. The election of Bush, a progressive, was a boost for the left of the Democratic party.
Bush’s election came 2,278 days after Brown’s killing, Bush noted following her victory. “Today we take this fight for Black Lives from the streets of Ferguson to the halls of Congress. We will get justice.”
RESPECT. BLACK. WOMEN.
Black women deserve better. Black Women deserve more. And it’s time we show up. -Malcolm Jenkins
Brother Jenkins @MalcomJenkins breaks it down to the ground.. don’t hear, LISTEN.
Dear America,
Black women deserve better. They deserve more. And it’s time we show up. #SincerelyYours, @MalcolmJenkins@toyota x @uninterrupted pic.twitter.com/MVPs1TLZj9— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) October 27, 2020
I’m here for Brother Jenkins’ appreciation of black women.
It’s long overdue Black Women and girls see themselves in positions of real power. But the higher you go, the more you show, and there are so many critics out there to tone police Black Women it’s madding, particularly hurtful coming from our own people, parroting the narratives of our oppressors.
How coincidental is it that Black male celebrities who typically do not wade into political discourse or elections are all of a sudden so engaged (with Trump) when there’s a Black woman on the ticket who is a major contender pic.twitter.com/82UH5U0nWq
— Tristin B. Brown, Esq. (@trisquire) October 29, 2020
The following is a perfect example. In her The Grio article “Peggy Noonan is my friend. Here’s why her Kamala Harris comments were wrong.”
Author Sophia A. Nelson says Noonan’s critiques of Harris’ joy was tone-deaf and lacked a true understanding of Black women.
Noonan penned a column where she was rightly perceived as treating Sen.Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, disrespectfully by implying that Harris needed to be more serious and sober-minded when she is out on the campaign trail — not dancing, laughing and being what she considered to be inappropriate. I couldn’t disagree with Peggy more.
Ms. Nelson went on to say this –
The truth is Kamala Harris dances and uses her laughter to deal with what many of you out there simply could not. The hate. The name-calling. The death threats. The attacks on her by the sitting president of the United States and others in his camp. We as Black professional women face a unique set of issues — as I wrote about in my first book, Black Woman Redefined — and part of how we get through it all is to find ways to exude joy. To share peace. To laugh out loud when others would not dare.
I wrote a tweet in response to Peggy Noonan as well.
She’s not unique in her criticism. #PeggyNoonan is only privileged enough to show her bias openly because her audience is old & White. This is a phenomenon I’ve considered writing about. Her piece confirms my theory #BlackJoy for some reason, often offends many White people. https://t.co/hXKNIfxAOR
— Alexander Yarde (@thatalexyarde) October 25, 2020
DEAR PEGGY,
May I call you Peggy?
As a black man, I would never presume to give advice to Black Women. I know better. I’m here to listen, learn, and give all the love I can muster at this monumental moment for our country all thanks to my Queens and their efforts.
You presumed to be an authority on black women in American politics, and how they should present themselves.
That Vice President Elect Harris’ (I love typing that) dancing to MJB was “embarrassing” for you.
That’s mighty white of you. But unlike you. I am not here to “fix” you or anyone else. Please, continue to do you.
See, I was raised by black women. So my love and admiration is real and your disrespect was personal. I have a little black girl of my own, that’s my heart, playing in the next room, delighted a woman that looks like her will be Vice President.
I’ve one job. That before I leave this world, that little black girl in the next room discovers how brilliant, beautiful, and badass she truly is.
I get solidarity with “The Help” wasn’t big in your era. You feel comfortable tone policing grown black women because that’s your norm.
However, it’s 2020, not 1950. You see the “what” and have no clue about the “why”. Did you even consider, for one instant, WHY Kamala might be dancing?
Do you have any idea what it’s like to be a Black Woman in America? Of course, you don’t. You haven’t the foggiest idea what Kamala Harris, your girlfriend Ms. Nelson, my daughter or any Black Woman or Girl deal with daily as they are judged about every aspect of their lives.
You only sit in judgment. Because you don’t have to think about being black in America. Please save your uninformed character judgments based upon stodgy, privileged, white lady perspectives. You aren’t helping, you only do harm when you pile on. It’s that your idea of “sisterhood”?
White Feminism is a hell of a drug.
You teach at Harvard yet, like many White Americans, you don’t even know what you don’t know. You’re too smug to change once you know better, and because of your privilege, you don’t have to.
So since we’re all giving unsolicited advice, I thought I’d return the favor, share a personal story, celebrate my sisters and recommend old white ladies like yourself, stick to old white lady subject matter and stay in their lanes.
Unlike you Peggy, I have first-hand knowledge of the positive qualities Black Women possess.
The selflessness to give to others while they themselves go without, gladly.
The tenacity to fight tooth and nail, to make a better life for themselves and opportunity for their kin through sheer force of will, no matter where they started from.
I’ve witnessed these traits my entire life. I know of what I speak.
My mother was the second of thirteen children born into poverty on a tiny Caribbean Island. Barbados.
After helping raise her younger siblings and supporting the family financially (working as many black women do for little pay and fewer thanks), she put herself through nursing school. She fell in love and married my dad.
Eventually, my parents emigrated to the U.S. where my mom became head nurse of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at one of New York’s best hospitals.
While creating this successful career, she raised two kids who wanted for nothing and put us through school.
I recall her and her co-workers all highly skilled professionals, West Indian & Pilipino R.N.’s at the top of their fields, needing joy and laughter, singing, and dancing to combat the numbing effects of unimaginable challenges they faced on a daily basis.
They need respites from the care they provided sometimes terminally ill newborns and the ever-present, casual racism within the medical profession. They celebrated each other if no one else would.
When I look into my daughter’s eyes, I see hints of the strength, intelligence, and bottomless heart of her paternal grandmother.
She is well served in that regard.
As my little girl grows into womanhood, she will need every ounce of those qualities in order to thrive in a society that mightily attempts to either pigeonhole or silence women that look like her.
I’ve watched my grandmother, my mother, my daughter, and countless black women I admired growing up, so I could be of use as an ally, and I learned a big reason why they shield themselves with self-love and public displays of joy.
Some days, making a joyous noise is all one can do not to cry.
Being a black woman in America isn’t for the emotionally fragile. Dealing with white folks even “good” white folks can be exhausting.
Psychic roots grown in self-love and joy make strong mental foundations, These coping mechanisms are not ,” frivolous” they are essential parts of a black woman’s survival kit.
What you may judge as “frivolous” often is the only armor against the fear, pain and trifling indignities heaped daily upon the psyches of Black Women and girls in an America they love, that doesn’t love them back.
Can you find value in another’s lived experience? That’s why I’ve always loved literature.
May I suggest Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Caged Bird is an American classic. Though your empty, misogynistic, high society 50’s dogma seems preserved in amber.
Ms. Angelou’s perspective may spark personal insights as you unpack your strange reaction to a black woman’s public displays of joy.
Maya Angelou, who was a poet laureate, taken very seriously in academic circles, was also big on singing and dancing in public and had a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
How many Presidential Medals of Freedom were you awarded again, Peggy?
Maya Angelou’s Autobiographical coming of age story illustrates how the strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma.
Throughout the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice.
Most of us are acutely aware of our own struggles and we are preoccupied with our own problems. We sympathize with ourselves because we see our own difficulties so clearly.
But Ian MacLaren noted wisely,-
Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle.
Black women of humble means, at the pinnacle of society, and every stage in between, need to be loved and celebrated every day, not only every election cycle.
Positivity fuels the joy black women need as a bulwark against the deluge of negative stereotypes and hate in our society for women of color in general, and Black women and girls in particular.
I want my daughter to see more images, stories, and depictions of heroic women in powerful positions, that look like her. This is vital for every child’s self-worth and self-esteem.
Vice President Elect Harris is an exemplar of modern Black womanhood my daughter, my son, and many other daughters, sons, and gender non-specific children admire.
And require.
So please slow your roll. (look it up).
Best,
Jojo’s Dad
KAMALA ON KAMALA
In a video posted on social media Vice President elect Kamala Harris took time to answer questions from voters, including one question about her advice to women both young and old.
Reflecting on her own career journey as a woman in politics, Harris replied saying,
You know, I have in my career been told many times, ‘It’s not your time. It’s not your turn? And let me just tell you, I eat ‘no’ for breakfast, so I would recommend the same. It’s a hearty breakfast.
During her short 2019 campaign for the presidential nomination, Harris told the Associated Press, “There are always going to be doubters. That’s not new to me.” But the way you overcome these doubters, she said, is “you win.”
Anyone check on #PeggyNoonan ? #KamalaHarrisVP pic.twitter.com/ZJyTQ7AAUS
— Alexander Yarde (@thatalexyarde) November 7, 2020
All Art – Twitter
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