ARE YOU REALLY WOKE?
Voters rights act is being demolished in plain sight.
HBCU’s funding has been cut and threatened with bombings.
Gentrification is happening in every urban neighborhood.
Redistricting is at an all time high.
Public schools across the country have been shut down.
Freedom aint free.
Democracy is no longer the pursuit to happiness.
What is the pursuit to happiness? And how does that look?
Well I’m glad you asked. Lets start with the constitution.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
So let me get this straight. The constitution is saying; here’s the truth, all men are created equal and we have a right to live, be free and to pursue happiness. Is that what she saying; well, why don’t we feel that way as we attempt/pursue to be happy. We tried jogging, driving, working, walking, shopping, sitting on our couch, sleeping in our bed, eating at a restaurant, swimming at the hotel pool, taking a nap in school, voting and yet we still haven’t been treated equal.
Happiness is a relative term but, there are some inalienable rights that ALL people want in this corrupt, prejudice, narcissistic country.
Everybody wants to love and be loved, freedom to be me, a safe environment, equality, a good education, financial freedom, and a healthy lifestyle.
Would you say that voting is a right for everybody? Well I can’t tell with all this voter suppression going on. Like my God Granddaughter used to say
“(with all this fastness) going on. It seems like there is a rush to steal our equal rights.
Democracy definitely don’t mean what it used to, and it wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t like this.
Did you know that there are new laws regarding your voting privileges?
I can show you better than I can tell you.
Don’t hand them no water if you are in Georgia or you will be arrested, fined and stopped from voting.
How is that any difference than what they did in the Jim Crow days?
Under the Election Integrity Act of 2021, unless you are a poll worker, it is illegal to give food or water to any Georgia voter waiting in line. That means family members or friends.
Ex-felons have to pay ALL fees before they can vote.
Fewer drop boxes in communities of color.
Drop boxes have to be inside a building.
Which means you can only vote during those hours basically 9-5.
Good luck getting off of work to vote.
In Georgia there will only be 1 drop box per county. So for Dekalb county Georgia which is mostly people of color
765,000 as of 2020 census there will be only one drop box.
You might need to have a passport instead of your regular ID to vote.
Redistricting, gerrymandering and now a filibuster.
What is that? And what does that have to do with voting?
I’m glad you asked.
Redistricting is dividing or organizing an area to make it better for the republicans, I mean their party.
Gerrymandering is similar but it uses cracking and packing to hurt their opponent and help themselves by diluting and displacing.
Finally a filibuster is as James Brown said in a song “talking loud aint saying nothing”. A form of distraction and delaying the problem.
These are all barriers to stop the black and brown communities from voting.
Same tricks different devils.
Voter suppression undermines democracy.
They might as well be at the capitol busting out windows, and posing with the statues, since they are trying to keep certain groups of people from voting.
Let’s go back to the constitution and see what she says about
Voting.
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote.
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. The 15th amendment, enacted in 1870, appeared to signify the fulfillment of all promises to African Americans. Set free by the 13th amendment, with citizenship guaranteed by the 14th amendment, black males were given the vote by the 15th amendment. From that point on, the freedmen were generally expected to fend for themselves. In retrospect, it can be seen that the 15th amendment was in reality only the beginning of a struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life.
Did you catch that word in the first sentence?
APPEARED
So it seems we are still trying to appear free in 2022.
15th Amendment
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
In the olden days there were so many obstacles to keep black and brown people from voting like poll taxes, literacy tests, bureaucratic bull shit, harassment, economic intimidation, physical violence, even death.
No wonder Fannie Lou Hamer said she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Martin Luther King Jr. said he had a dream that one day. He didn’t say today or maybe tomorrow but one day we will all be together black men and white men Jews and Gentiles.
Sorry to say MLK Jr, today is not the day. We swimming backwards using a toothpick as a paddle talking about how things have changed, patting ourselves on the back, because we are taking down statues that should have never been up and naming streets and bridges after people we say we love and have so much respect for, albeit not trying for real change, because we are too comfortable in our privilege and we just aint ready to give that up just yet.
We love John Lewis but actions speak louder than words. My pastor use to say, “it takes money to buy land”. You can want all you want, but if you don’t put no action behind it, it’s just a want. I want a strawberry shortcake from Dave and busters but, if I don’t go get it, or order it, it’s just a want.
John Lewis fought and got beat up side his head so everybody could vote.
Yet here we are again in 2022 marching to vote. We still wrestling with crows about our inherent rights.
It’s like Jim Crow just took a vacay and now he’s back in full force ready to wreak havoc.
Lord help us, we always got to march for something.
We march for peace, jobs, freedom, food, schools, justice, and democracy or just to breathe.
Do we really have to start marching to vote AGAIN. It’s been over a 100 years since the voters act was made. Betty White had just been born and she just passed away and she probably talking in heaven, Lord those people have been waiting a long long time, help them, and we say thank you for being our friend. Betty White you will be missed.
