PASSING

During the civil rights era black people who were light skinned could pass as white people, they called it passing. There was a movie made about it.

Well this aint that type of passing. What I’m talking about is the passing of the recent laws in congress.

I know today many of us black and brown people, are very excited, happy and proud, that we will have for the very first time in history a black woman sitting on the Supreme Court; as we should be. Hallelujah!!!

Ketanji Brown Jackson you have made us proud.

But let’s not get it twisted like her sisterlocs and drop the ball; we still have much more important issues at hand. There are still so many injustices in this country, it’s going to take more than a black judge and a black vice president to fix these grievous miscarriages of justice. It’s going to take a gentrification of that whole system and that means it’s going to take all of us to lead this country in the right direction, where there is equality and unity for all.

We have to be careful to not let the enemy lull us to sleep with distractions. That is his most powerful weapon, more than weapons of mass destruction.

I know that some of us are thankful for the laws that have passed, and then there are those of us who say about damn time, with that being said we see the recognition and we acknowledge that it is a good thing, however; we can’t help but think why is it so easy to pass these types of laws so quickly, and yet we still haven’t passed the voters rights act that has been in place since 1965?

Congress passed the anti-lynching law but, I haven’t seen anybody being lynched in the last 50 years, so a lot of good that does for the nation.

Congress passed the daylight savings law, but all that does is make us more tired, like we all aint tired enough. Fannie Lou Hamer said she was sick and tired of being sick and tired, so are we.

Congress passed the crown act so we can wear our hair anyway we want without being ostracized and alienated from certain jobs, but when was the last time somebody was choked and killed because their hair was nappy.

Congress trying to pass the lift every voice and sing and make it the national anthem, but they’re not going to dismiss the other one, and we still can’t kneel without some judgment, so what good does that do?

Congress trying to pass a law to name the Edmund Pettis bridge after the man who almost lost his life on that very same bridge, who stood for voting rights for all, who marched with MLK, and believed in getting into good trouble and having peace with all man.

Yet there is a standstill to name this bridge after John Lewis because they still stuck on stupid.    

Protecting a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan of Alabama who wanted to preserve slavery and segregation now that makes much more sense.

The river which was used as the main route for cotton from the plantations, that bridge; named after the man that lynched black people. At the same time, Alabama was the leading state for lynching, too bad they didn’t enact the anti-lynching law then, when it would have made a difference.

Naming the bridge after John Lewis will mean a monumental thing to black and brown people, even if we can’t come across it to live in the better neighborhoods without being harassed by Karen or ken. It still gives us hope that one day we will be able to jog in a predominantly white neighborhood and not get shot down like a dog. The struggle is real and it’s still there in regards to our constitutional rights to vote.

Passing the voters rights act will do more for the American people then any bridge named after him, than any hair act, than any song being sung, than any daylight savings act, than any lynching act.

Don’t get me wrong it is greatly appreciated and recognized, even if it’s a day late and a dollar too short.

But can we pass a law to stop voter suppression in every American city, state, and country just as quick as we passed the other laws?

Can the voters suppression law pass as fast as the sb202, that says you can’t pick nobody up and take them to vote, or you can’t pick up your sickly elderly mothers absentee ballot and drop it off at a drop box, or you can’t get a person some water while they standing in line to vote. All of these laws have been passed right under our noses along with less drop boxes in the black and brown communities; as well as hours cut at voting facilities, voting precincts have been moved around like knights on a chess board, and you better bring every piece of ID you have when you do get a chance to vote.

How long do we have to wait for the John Lewis Voters rights act to pass? Something he would really be proud of because, that’s what he got into good trouble for, his whole life; that is if you really thought he was such a great man.

Can we pass a law that states anybody threatening a HBCU college with bombing will be strenuously investigated into and receive stronger penalties, than a slap on the wrist. So that in the future, people will think twice about doing that. Just like there are laws that state that if you are in the vicinity of a school dealing drugs you will be punished to the full extent of the law.

CAN WE PASS THESE LAWS?

WHY NOT? IF NOT NOW WHEN?