#and maybe wanted hispanic rep

[nicodiangelo-we-stan]

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month I believe that for that entire month Rick should make my terribly inaccurate hc I had when I was 11 of Mexican Nico real

Sorry Italians, you can have him back October 16th

[tashya03]

CHAPTER 6 FIELDWORK

My name is Tashya Anderson and my name was originated from my mothers. Her name is Tashonna. From the best of my knowledge both my mother and father are simply just Black Americans. I was born and raised in Camden, NJ. I come from a big family but a single parent household that consist of I, my mom and my little brother. I do want to add that I do have a sister (not by blood.). My mom had me at 19 and ever since then she's always told me she knew she had to work harder in life. My mother is my rock. She has honestly made so many sacrifices for me and I love her for that. She deserves the world and the most I would like to do for her is make her proud and give her an unimaginable life when she's old lol. My dad isn't in my life and it's honestly a touchy subject I tend to avoid to talking about.

Moving along, on a piece of paper I identify myself as African American/ Black because it's usually the only option us black Americans have in society. The point I'm trying to make is that us African Americans can become disconnected from our roots. I could honestly be Nigerian or Jamaican and not even know because of my family not educating themselves. This is why sometime this year I would like to start an Ancestry account or even maybe take a DNA swab test kit that can tell me where my ancestors originated from. For the most part I know that for many generations my family has been in America for decades. We're just regular Black Americans with no known history of original ethnicity. Sometimes I wish I had something to rep like hispanics, French, or other ethnicities. I only say this because I would honestly take much pride in doing so. I would love to have some time of pride for where I come from. Not debunking the fact that I am an American citizen just wish I had some type of gratification for my culture.

The pictures I included our MY FAMILY. The ones I love the most! I can admit that I am very fortunate to have a huge supportive, loving family!! My family values the traits of being their for each other, acceptance, and most importantly unconditional love!! My friends tend to compliment me for having this as well. It never really occurred to me how common it is for people to not come from super supportive, loving families until I got older. Family means everything to me and more.

[mygaynesshasnolimits]

Interracial marriages are also at risk.

Medication price negotiations are done with.

Defunding Medicaid, SNAP, other gov assistant programs. They're literally disbanding the deparmwnt of education to keep them stupid

Mfers went through HELL hurricanes season bc their republican reps voted no on natural disaster assistance and still voted red.

Muslims voted green party to get their voices heard on Palestine, good effing job wasting your effing vote on a fake ass bitch that pops up every 4 years, supports Israel but manipulated your uneducated dumbasses to vote for her. You want human rights for Palestinians, as do i and as do all of the people that voted blue. (don't come for me, I'm muslim I have my issues with kamala/democratic party but an election is not a one issue affair.)

The wasted Latino votes. My god, people. I am not Hispanic so maybe I'm out of line here, but wtf. Wtf. A white man will NEVER give a shit about you. All you did was further their white supremacy agenda.

I don't know what else. They'd rather put an unqualified, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, pedophilic, misogynistic,lying, fraudulent, criminal at the helm. I don't know if any of this is making sense I know it's disoriented but I am so angry and so disappointed; devestatesd really.

Oh and let's not even BEGIN to talk about what a fucking joke it is to be a woman.

I’m actually so fucking done..

This is literally about to be like the 1950s

- Cant go outside without being racially harassed

- Gay marriage is fucking donzo deal

- Muslims or any other indigenous groups aren't allowed to be here

- being gay is about to illegal

- ban african american or other educations js to replace it with religious indoctrination

- Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in "camps"

CAMPS IS FUCKING CRAZY

FUCK EVERY QUEER PERSON THAT VOTED FOR THAT BITCH

Fuck you geniunely

[mint-moon25]

SUNDAY - 26 MAR 2023 - 6:39P EDT - BRICKELL - CITY - CENTRE

EIGHT STREET - FREE - METROMOVER - 5A - 12A  - DAILY EVEN

HOLIDAYS - SAT - SABBATH - 01 APRIL - SHUTTLE BUS - THE -

WHOLE - DAY - 4 - OMNI - AND - BRICKELL - METROMOVERS -

ASSUMING - UPPER - LOOP - BAYFRONT - PARK - ALWAYS -

DOUBLE - TRAINS - ATTACHED - ONLY - METROMOVER XO -

WORKING - 01 APRIL - FORMER - APRIL’s - FOOL - DAY DIA -

‘THE - WITNESS’ - LUHAN - CHINA - GIVES - FREE - TAXI XO -

2 - THE - BLIND - DRIVER - MISOYGYNIST - LIKES - HER -

LOOK - NEXT - 2 - HER - BUT - SHE - SMELT - HIM SAME -

FR - TAXI - YOUTUBE - ERNEST Y - SHOWED HIS YAHT -

4 - STAY - 2 - ERNEST - AND - HIS - GROUP - AMERICAN -

DESIGNER - HIS - RED - WHITE - BLUE - COLORS - REP -

REPRESENT - FLAG - OF - USA - WOKE - UP - STORAGE -

UNIT - 4:30P EDT - SLEPT - SW 7 AV - SW 8 ST - AND - A -

SPANISH - MALE - BICYCLE - LOOKS - LIKE - A - LIME -

CONSTRUCTION - WORKER - BECAUSE - ALL - ARE -

I - SAW - BLK - MALE - CAT - WAITING - 4 - HIM - SAW -

TWICE - 2 DAYS - B 4 - 12:14A EDT - SAW - HIM - YES -

YESTERDAY - 12:40A - BUT - HE - RETURNED - 1:35A -

ESTIMATE - LAST - TIME - SPANISH - SPEAKING WAS -

THERE - AFTER - 0400 - 4A - SAT - NEXT - 2 - ME - IN -

2 PERSONS - PER - DIVIDED - SEATS - FRONT - OF -

TREE - IS - SAID - ‘INGLES’ - HE - PERSISTED - HE -

WANTS - ME - 2 B - HIS - WOMAN - (2 - SUCK - HIS -

MOBY) - (2 MAKE - HIM - HIGH - WITH - HIS - TRUE -

CERVEZA - BEER) - TOLD - HIM - SINCE - HE - YES -

ALREADY - DRANK - HIS - MOTHER’s - MILK - SHE -

IS - AVAILABLE - GO - ALL - THE - WAY - BOTH YOU -

U - MILKED - YOUR - MOTHER - LIKE - A - COW - ME -

SAID - HE’s - FROM - DIABLO - ANOTHER - NAME - 4 -

SATAN - BOTH - HIS - MOM - AND - HIM - GO - 2 THE -

CHURCH - OF - SATAN - INGLESIA - DE - SATANAS -

GO - I - SAID - GO - AND - HE - LEFT - AND - SOON -

WITH - HIS - BIKE - FRONT - OF - USED - HONDAS -

LOTS - OF - LIGHTS - RED - TRUCK - FIRE - AND -

RESCUE - 2 - MY - RESCUE - GOING - FORWARD -

I - SAID - ‘HEY - THAT’s - THE - FAVOR - OF - GOD’ -

SITTING - NEXT - 2 - ME - MADE - ALL - THINK I’M -

HIS - NOVIA - GIRLFRIEND - TALKING - 2 WOULD -

RATHER - SLEEP - THAN - LISTEN - 2 - HIM - YES -

BLKS - HISPANICS - DO - THAT - SINCE ALREADY -

WOKE - UP - STAYED - AWAKE - UNTIL - 5:37P -

AND - I - LEFT - SAW - GIRL - PONY - TAIL - AS -

SHE - WALKS - THAT - TIME - I - MADE - IT - AS -

2 MIN - LEFT - B 4 - 6A - GIRL - AGAIN - NEAR -

WOBBLY - 2 - ENTER - AS - CARS - AS - I WAS -

FIRST - AND - RESTROOM - USED - SHE JUST -

GOES - UP - GUESSING - 5TH - FLOOR - OR 4 -

2ND - FLOOR - HIGHER - MBPS - FILLED - FOR -

SUNDAY - ZARA - CLOSES - AT - 7P - INSTEAD -

OF - 9P - BUT - LIKE - ITALIAN - CASA TUA -

CUCINA - CLOSES - 10:30P - LIKE - DAILY -

TACOLOGY - MAYBE - 1A - ALSO THIS XO -

DAY - FAKE - GARDEN - WENT - LOWER -

GPS - BLK - HAIR - MALE - GOOD - LOOKING -

BLK - DOG - BULL DOGS - FRONT - HE - HAS -

SIT - NEXT - 2 - HIM - FARTHER - RIGHT HIS -

BUDDY - SPANISH - SPEAKING - I - ASKED -

IS - THE - SEAT - TAKEN - NEXT - 2 - HIM A -

SMILE - ‘YES - IT’s - TAKEN’ - THAT’s - NOT -

PARIS - FRANCE - NOT - ENGLAND - NOT -

PILIPINAS - 333 YRS - OF - SPANISH - AS -

THEY - MURDERED - RAVISHED - STOLE -

BURNT - 500 FAMILIES - IN - THEIR - YES -

WOOD - HOMES - LAST - MEAL - OF - XO -

STARVING - IN - EUROPE - STARVING IN -

PILIPINAS - DOCTOR - AUTHOR - HE - WAS -

GOING - 2 B - RIFFLED - EXECUTED - AND -

HIS - LAST - MEAL - INEDIBLE - UGLY - YES -

3 BOILED - EGGS - TURNED - DOWN - AS -

MANILA - WATCHED - LIVE - RIFFLE SHOT -

TWICE - WHEN - DURING - THIS - TIME IT -

WAS - ALREADY - GUN POWDER - AS XO -

THEIR - BARRIO FIESTA - BAMBOO STICK -

WITH - KEROSENE - LIT - ABOVE - AND XO -

MANY - KEROSENE - AVAILABLE - 2 MAKE -

FIRE - 2 - RELEASE - ARROWS - WITH YES -

FIRE - GUN - POWDER - THE - PRISONS AS -

TOSSING - KEROSENE - BAGS - AND - YES -

ARROWS - WITH - KEROSENE - FRONT AS -

2 - KILL - ALL - SOLDIERS - AS - HE - HIDES -

UNLIKE - GERMANS - WHO - GAVE SECRET -

OF - ANN FRANK’s - HIDEWAY - WITH - HER -

FAMILY - SHE - EVENTUALLY - DIED - OF XO -

DEADLY - SKIN - DISEASE - SPANISH - MEN -

LIKE - PREGNANT - FEMALES - AS - I - YES -

CARRIED - HEAVY - CHAIR - FR - FAR - AS I -

GAVE - BIRTH - IN - TOKYO - JAPAN - ALL - MY -

SONS - 2 - TWINS - 2ND - MARRIAGE - A SON -

5TH - MOST - PAINFUL - LABOR - 8 MONTHS -

DELIVERED - SUPERNATURAL - PAIN - AS -

SPANISH - SPEAKING - MALE - TOOK BLK -

LEATHER - BAG - FR - SURROUNDS - THE -

PLANTS - WITH - OPEN - ELECTRICITY - 4 -

I’M - GOING - 2 - STEAL - HER - PURSE - AND -

WHEN - ‘HER’ - CAME - HOLES - ON - JEANS -

BURNT - BACK - L SHOULDER - MAYBE - ITS -

MIAMI - BEACH - SPANISH - MALES - BASIC -

SAID - ‘GET - YOUR - OWN - HUSBAND’ -

U - OPEN - YOUR - VAGINAL - AREA - U -

SUCK - HIS - MOBBY - DICK - WHEN - U -

GET - YOUR - HUSBAND - WHO - WILL - SUCK -

YOUR - BREASTS - BRING - IT - UP - AND - YES -

DOWN - THEN - SOMEONE - WILL - RESERVE -

YOUR - CHAIR - SPANISH - MEN - AND - YES -

WOMEN - ALWAYS - ATTACK - PREGNANT -

FEMALES - SHE - IS - PANGIT - PALA THEY -

JUST - LEFT - 7:17P EDT - SHE - HAS SUSU -

BIG - GIGANTIC - BREASTS - HE - SUCKS & -

SUCKS - HER - BREASTS - THEN - AS THEY -

ARE - CATHOLIC - DAILY - THEY - GO - 2 XO -

THEIR - CATHOLIC - CHURCHES - MASSES -

HOW - 2 - ATTACK - SPAIN - IS - DURING -

THEIR - SIESTA - TIME - ALL R SLEEPING -

EVEN - ON - PARKS - THEIR - PURSES R -

THEIR - PILLOWS - OTHER - THAN - YES -

HOTELS - ALL - BUSINESSES - ARE - CLOSED -

WENT - THERE - WITH - INTERPRETER - NOT -

ONCE - WAS - SLEEPY - DURING - SIESTA AS -

THEY - WAKE - UP - WAY - LATE - IN - THEIR -

AFTERNOONS - 2 - PREPARE - 4 - DINNER -

LIKE - PARTY - ATMOSPHERE - DANCING -

IN - PUBLIC - DEEP - THICK - CHOCOLATE -

DRINK - ANCHOVIES - QUITE - GOOD - AS -

THEY - EAT - THAT - RAW - HUGE - PAELLA -

RICE - WITH - SEAFOOD - CHICKEN - AND -

MORE - AWAKE - EVEN - AT - 1:30A - AS U -

KNOW - FOREFATHER - OF - USA - TRUE -

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - REVISED -

‘EARLY - 2 - BED - EARLY 2 RISE -

MAKES US - HEALTHY - WEALTHY -

AND - WISE’ - ITALIAN - THE - LANGUAGE -

2 - LEARN - WORDS - LIKE - A - MUSICAL -

THEY - SPEAK - WITH - THEIR - HANDS & -

ARMS - IT’s - ALWAYS - FAMILY - MANY -

PLACES - OF - ITALY - WHAT - HAPPENED -

HERE - BRICKELL - WON’T - HAPPEN - IN -

ITALY - ROME - VATICAN CITY - HAPPENS -

IN - SEOUL - KOREA - THEY - SHOVE YES -

THEIR - MOBBY - INSIDE - SLEEZY SEOUL -

KOREAN - GIRLS - BOTH - ALL - THE WAY -

SINCE - AGE 3 - AS - GAY - MALES - AND -

AS - LESBIANS - WHEN - THEY - BECOME -

COED - 2 C - WHAT - THAT - FEELS - LIKE -

ABOVE - HAPPENS - IN - SEOUL - KOREA -

MURDERERS - ROBBERS - LIKE - SPAIN -

SPANISH - COUNTRIES - WON’T - HAPPEN -

IN - THE - CARRIBEAN - WHY - I - GO - YES -

THERE - WHY - I’M - BECOMING - PRIME -

MINISTER - OF - FRANCE - I - SUPPLY XO -

DIAMONDS - MY - CROWN - SASH - AND -

GLOVES - SPANISH - SPEAKING - WILL -

STILL - DO - THE - ABOVE - 2 - ME FOR -

THEY - KILL - PREGNANT - FEMALES IN -

SPAIN - ALL - THE - TIME LIKE CHARLES -

MANSEN - SO - SHE - BECAUSE WHEN -

U - GO - ALL - THE - WAY - U - BECOME -

ONE - WITH - THEM - THREW - HER XO -

BLK - LETTER - BAG - ON - CHAIR - AS -

THEY - LEFT - HER - WITH - BULL DOG -

AS - THEY - WENT - PROBABLY IN THE -

RESTROOM - SAW - EACH - OTHER’s -

MOBY - RAW - OR - WHEREVER THEY -

WENT - BECOMING - PRIME MINISTER -

OF - FRANCE - 1 YEAR - THEN - LT GOVERNOR -

NEXT - YEAR - OF - PARIS - AS - HOW - 2 B YES -

EFFECTIVE - LANGUAGES - IS - KEY -

200 LANGUAGES - OF - INDIA

ITALIAN - GERMAN - ASIAN XO -

LANGUAGES - JAPANESE - YES -

MANDARIN - CANTONESE AND -

KOREAN - MANY - LANGUAGES -

IS - IMPORTANT - AS - SINGER I -

WILL - PUT - WORDS - IN - THEIR - NATIONAL -

LANGUAGE - AND - SING - WITH - MY STRONG -

SINGING - VOICE - THEIR - PRIME - MINISTER -

OPERA - VOICE - INCREDIBLE - SINGER - AS 2 -

MY - FUTURE - PARIS - FRANCE - ALSO - YES -

SPANISH - SPEAKING - THREATENING - ME 2 -

NEXT - INDIRAH GANDHI - BY - MARRIAGE -

5′4 FT - OLD - HER - GUARDS - YES - MOST -

TRUSTED - AND - BRO - HER - RESIDENTIAL -

GROUNDS - GOING - 2 - HER - OFFICE - YES -

UNLOADED - THEIR - USA - FIREARMS LIKE -

20 BULLETS - EACH - 2 - MAKE - CERTAIN -

SHE’s - DEAD - SPANISH - SPEAKING WITH -

FEMALES - WITHOUT - MALES - AND - YES -

PREGNANT - JESUS - IS - LORD - NOW ME -

FEELS - BETTER - NO - PLACE - ON - THIS -

EARTH - KIDS - EAT - FREE - LIKE - OLDER -

SENIORS - FREE - FOOD - LIKE - WE - ARE -

DOING - PILIPINAS - NEW - BRICKELL CITY -

CENTRE - WHEN - SPANISH COMES HOME -

LIKE - KOREANS - PULLING - HAIRS - OF -

THEIR - KIDS - WELL - FED - THEN THEY -

SLAP - THEIR - FACES - BOXES - THEM -

BUT - WELL - FED - KIDS - WITH YOUR -

BASEBALL - BATS - U - CAN - FIGHT - KNIVES -

BLOCK - BULLETS - WITH - BAT - RUN BEHIND -

AND - HIT - THEIR - LEGS - AND - WHILE THEY -

SLEEP - HIT - AND - HIT - BASH - THEIR HEADS -

DO - NOT - MURDER - BUT - JUST - STRONG -

ENOUGH - 2 - WEAKEN - TALLER - AND - YES -

STRONGER - ANTIDOTE - EAT - GUMMIES - & -

PUT - SLEEPING - LIQUIDS - ON - THEIR YES -

MEALS - AND - DRINKS - SO - U - CAN TRUE -

PRACTICE ESCAPE - HAVE MORE PEACE -

BEING - WELL - FED - MORE - STRENGTH

[withered-warlock]

theres absolutely nothing wrong with having blonde straight/fluffy hair but cmon, give me some variety because thats all i see drawn in countryhuman art. i wanna see curly hair. natural 4c hair. locs. BALD IF YOU WANT!!!! (i love bald people) (i wanna kiss em) my design for america has locs that i like to style and play around with, its so fun! i love getting to explore different hair shapes and textures than mine. ive only ever seen very few artworks that depict them clearly as a poc. i get that theyre countries and whatnot so they dont really have a race, instead they have a flag design+no hair+no features other than mouths and eyes. but still, yknow??? maybe????

id also like to add that mostly all of the human versions of (countryhuman) america i myself have seen are always white or white-skinned. blue eyes and everything. i love you but please give us poc some rep I Am Asking, Begging, Pleading

this could go for literally any country

the reason im sayong this is because of how racially diverse ( the usa is, dont ignore us natives and hispanics, nor black people, nor asian people, or ANY poc and justml. make them white. slash not forced just slash complaining

[arizonaconservativegal]

Volunteer anon again. Thanks for answering my previous question! Here's a follow up. Ngl I'm usually hesitant to attend any GOP gatherings in my area because I feel like the attendees would mostly be middle-aged men and I would be the only 20-something woman there. I would feel weird and uncomfortable. But maybe I'm making incorrect assumptions?

Oh yeah I feel that. I'm 27 and I've been going to these things since I was 19. I have on more than one occasion walked into a room and realized I was the only person there without grey hair. It doesn't happen everywhere you go, but it definitely happens. My advice would be to go to several different types of groups and events and see what you think. Every group is going to get a different mix of people and even if you get a perfect age/gender mix, sometimes they'll be a bit too church-y or too libertarian or too Trump-y or too whatever. It's okay to shop around a bit and find something with a good vibe that works for you.

A monthly club or local party meeting is likely to be mostly middle age to retirement age folks, both men and women, probably in a roughly equal mix. They will probably be beside themselves with excitement to see someone under the age of 40 and there is a solid chance you will become their unofficial young person translator/mascot. Prepare to get adopted by a dozen new aunts/uncles/grandparents and you may be asked to help them fix their website or social media.

You might want to see if your area has an active Young Republicans club. Technically that's anyone under 40 so it's not super young, but young enough to do happy hour instead of early bird dinner specials. Or you could try the local Republican Women's chapter, but those will be more soccer moms and grandmothers, and not a lot of younger folks. If you're in your early twenties or in college, you can check out the College Republicans or Turning Point chapters near you, which is where the kiddos concentrate themselves. Personally I find them to be exhausting because although I'm only 27, I am an old lady already. They're good kids, they're just... a lot.

If you get involved in a campaign, you'll pretty much just see retirement age folks and college age kids as volunteers. Everyone in the middle is busy with jobs and families so they don't show up to volunteer much. You might see them for a few big events, but otherwise your regulars are going to be grandma and the intern pool.

I do have to add a caveat that the demographics of the party and of what I call the "activist class" are shifting a lot right now. We are getting more young people, more soccer moms, more hispanic people, and a lot more people who are brand new to politics. The more Trump-y a candidate is, the more you will see this shift on their campaign. Love him or hate him, that MAGA/America First stuff did wonders for our outreach.

The other thing you can do is start your own club. I won't lie, that's not super easy to do, but if you talk to your local party about what you're trying to create, they can probably help. Turning Point reps may also be willing to help with this if you don't mind falling under their banner.

Also, if you are at all interested in going the career route with all this, you'll find a very different group of people. Consultants and staffers tend to be anywhere from 25 to mid 50s. They are mostly men and the women in that group tend to be on the younger side. They're also a very different vibe. It's a business for us, not a hobby, and while we enjoy what we do and believe in our causes and candidates, there's a little more pragmatism, sometimes with a cynical edge to it. We're less concerned with which particular brand of conservative you are and more focused on just getting the job done.

[murcielagatito]

we make up more than 19% of the usam population that is a LOT of us. yet the way we are viewed or not even seen at all in media is unrepresentative of that. just scrolling through all the different hispanic heritage collections shows that media sees the majority of us as a monolith of light skinned straight dark haired people and it affects us so heavily. i cant just go and pick something to watch that reflects me as a mixed brown hispanic living in america the way monolithic people can and immediately feel like one of those characters because of how badly media wants to simplify us

we dont all look the same yet whoever is in charge cannot fathom that maybe just maybe not all of us look like sofia vergara, jenna ortega or any of the hundred pale latino actors that are showcased in the film industry. and it’s exhausting feeling like an echoing chamber when we get sad or frustrated or pissed off when a beloved latino comic book or cartoon character that once had beautiful tan or brown skin be portrayed by a much lighter actor. im not saying our stories dont exist im saying we dont have enough of them

and its nearly just about every time and frankly more people need to be ashamed about the fact that its 2023 and we finally for once have brown latino main character rep and its in the form of some fantasy ass world. like man he did his shit and he did it well but what about the million other stories we have to tell what about a story about just us as normal regular people that isnt some sob story about trauma or racism or a tired ass stereotype its simply the fact that the TINIEST fraction of latinos (the ones that are accepted easiest by white people and the ones that white people can “sympathize” with) stories are told when theres so many more of us out there as well. we want to be the main character too not just comedy relief or a sidekick to our paler counterparts. i exist in the real world so why cant i see myself in its stories

also adding “en español” doesnt suddenly make a show hispanic either bc theres a whole ass category of that shit too

idk if its just me but looking at streaming services hispanic heritage month collections and seeing a lot of movies and shows in which a non hispanic white character is the lead like i dont want a movie to open with some blonde white girl having a nightmare (when typically the first person you encounter in film is the center of the story) i want the movie to open with a latino character like me. i dont want to be a side character in my own life why should i have to watch me be a side character when “supposedly” the celebration of my people is the center of hispanic fucking heritage month

[mischief-marauders]

So something I really like is reading and watching movies/shows/books that represent minorities and their experiences in better ways than the past. And it’s important to do so because it educates people that are not in that community and helps us to understand it better! So I wanted to share some recommendations I personally love:

Bipolar rep- Anyone else tired of wanting accurate representation of bipolar disorder and all you get is Silver Linings Playbook which despite being a funny movie, exaggerates bipolar disorder and doesn’t show people with bipolar disorder in the best light? Try Spinning Out. It’s a Netflix original show about a young woman who’s a competitive skater. It sadly didn’t get picked up for a season 2 BUT it’s one of the best shows on Netflix. The girl and her mother both have bipolar disorder and I love it because it’s an amazing show and doesn’t romanticize bipolar disorder. It shows it in an accurate light.

Trans rep- We need more trans rep. But good trans rep and trans characters played by trans people. Try Cemetery Boys. It’s a YA supernatural latine book written by a trans latine man. Not only does it show hispanic culture in a beautiful way but it’s great trans rep! The story basically follows a trans man who lives in a cemetery. As a part of his culture, all men are witches and tend to the dead while the woman heal. He’s desperate to prove he’s a witch so he tries to raise his cousins spirit. And he succeeds. Kind of. He summons a spirit although it isn’t his cousin. The books is funny, emotional, and rich!

Jewish/Muslim rep- I’m tired of horrible rep for Jewish people and Muslims. It’s so ingrained into society that sometimes we barely notice. We need to read more books that showcase Jews and Muslims in a positive light. Try Yes, No, Maybe So. It’s a YA romcom about a Jewish boy and a Muslim girl who get put together to campaign for a local election. It talks about antisemitism and islamophobia. The book is also funny and the romance is adorable. It’s written by two people (because the book is split between the two main characters perspectives) and one of them is Jewish and the other is Muslim!

Latine/Undocumented rep- I’m tired of immigrants being demonized (especially from these past 4 years) and it’s hard to find a good book about latine’ sand their experiences. I finished this book last month and wow, it’s AMAZING. The book is called Lobizona and it’s a YA fantasy by Romina Garber. It’s about an undocumented girl who finds out her mother is hiding secrets when she gets detained by ICE. The main character finds a school of magic and has to pretend she’s one of them. Which then she finds out she is. This book is based on Argentinian folklore and has all latine characters. It’s like a latine Harry Potter honeslty lol! The world building is amazing and you’ll fall in love with the characters! What I really loved about this book was how it showed undocumented immigrants in a positive light. It showed how they come here for oppportunity and a better life, not to steal jobs.

Black rep- Let’s pick up books with main black characters that isn’t just The Hate U Give (no shitting on that book, it’s amazing but there are other books with strong black leads). One of my personal favorite books is Children of Blood and Bone. Its a YA fantasy based on African folklore and takes places in Orisha. In this world, you’re either a maji or not. Maji have white hair and they’re treated like second class citizens. This is because years ago, the maji had magic. They belonged to various clans that had a deity. You could be a reaper, lighter, burner, etc. But years ago, the magic was wiped out by the current king. The books follows Zelie who accidentally gets her magic awakened when the princess runs away and brushes her arm (holding a magical scroll). The books follow Zelie, her older brother, and the princess on their way to awaken magic for everyone and give maji the equality they deserve while being hunted by the king and the prince. Amazing series. The third book comes out this year I believe! It has magic, it has heartbreak, it’ll make you bite your nails, and all the characters are black.

[i-did]

hi hello i couldn't sleep last night so i was scrolling thru all ur asks and stuff and ur opinions and analyses are so interesting!!! and then afterwards i was thinking about what u were saying about mlm smut and i'd also been thinking about such things a little bit recently bc like.....at a certain point it becomes quite clear that the vast majority of smut-writing is just imitation. like there's the sex noise verb list and all and the whole general mechanics of the sex and those things just .... replicate over and over. and the whole thing w people writing mlm vs wlw smut regardless of their own sexual orientation..... like i feel like a big part of that is just a self-perpetuating thing. like if u have not had sex and u r getting all ur (pleasure-related) sex ed from fandom (even if u do watch porn, that doesn't rlly tell u how to describe stuff? idk) regardless of What fandom , the majority is going to be mlm smut. which is itself majority imitation of other mlm smut, imitating and imitating back to whoever knows what the first smut fanfic was etc. there's just way More to mimic than there is on the women side of things. which then becomes a self-perpetuating thing, bc the mimicry continues and generates more and more. and---if there are fundamental misunderstandings of anatomy involved---those self-perpetuate as well. and maybe even exaggerate. and yeah. does this all make sense? idk i was just thinking about it. like all the stereotypes and stuff continue bc writers are getting their inspo from other writers rather than their own brains. or something. idk!!!!! it's just all... divorced from reality? bc words. or something!! i hope u get what i'm trying to say. just thoughts i've been thinking. anyway i think ur thoughts are cool. and ur writing. ok bye have a good day!!

Okay yeah this is kinda messy but hope u see this, uhh yeah I think you're right about the echo chamber effect fr about stuff. I think it's a mix of projecting too sometimes. talk more under the cut and also link to a video essay since I love video essays.

Here’s a video that sort of touches on this topic: 

“Gay fanfiction” by Sarah Z. (has CC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8E_C00dKwI

This video begins to talk about fetishization at the end, but also… not really. The words “gay fanfiction” is used as a catchall, when really gay fanfiction is largely mlm written by non-mlm.

Fandom is a largely women's space dominated by the female gaze in a media industry world that is dominated by men and the male gaze. I'm really glad women have this space to explore creativity and queerness, and I don't expect the female gaze to go away, but I am still ultimately bummed out I can’t read most fanfic or interact with most fandom spaces without having fetishization in my face. 

So about 80% of fandom is women, and most of those women aren't straight, but 90% of those women prefer mlm ships. Why don’t they prefer wlw ships? Well definitely part of it is the fact that queerbaiting is centered around white straight men, and then there is also the fact that women tend not to be written as well charcter wise. But the fact still remains that you get jerjean getting priority over Layla and Alvarez who are in canon just as much and are a canon wlw couple who actually interact as well as Alvarez could likely be a woc because of her Hispanic last name. Korasami doesn’t get nearly as much hype as zuko and saka, despite the fact that they are 2 fully dimensional characters who canonly kiss and hold hands, something the creators fought for and ended up having to sacrifice another reboot for. 

I do believe the fandom echo-chamber is largely responsible for… a lot of things, like you're saying. But what's interesting is that the complaints I've heard about visual porn from non mlm in the fandom space is that they can’t get off to it because its for the male gaze and misogynistic usually. But they also don't seem to notice how the mlm smut circles has the female gaze and is also… almost always mlm. If it was a pure anatomical not knowing thing, I get that, but I also think that leads to the question of “then why the male body for porn, and not your own? The one you know and are familiar with?” 

I know some people want to get outside of their own body for porn and don’t want to think of their own anatomy at all, but overall I'm still uncomfortable. If an anglo said “well I watch porn of only Mexicans so I don't self insert” I'm gonna be like … hhhh in a similar way. I understand people “like what they like” but I wish they also noticed said patterns in the first place. I understand the t4t tumblr porn circle, and how it's different from cis people who only watch trans porn. 

I actually wished that instead of fandom focusing on mlm ships where some asshole guy hits on bottom troupe charcter for top troupe character to save, was instead… a wlw character experiencing said shitty getting hit on and other wlw swooping in. what's interesting is fandom writes a lot about misogynistic experiences without often realizing it. Ive read fanfic where guys get called sluts for sleeping with people or called bitch for speaking their mind, these arent things men usually experience, but rather women. Fandom has a lot of internalized misogyny and also queerphobia imo. Women characters often get pushed to the sidelines and men become the canvas for female fans to project onto. 

There is this natural inclination to mlm. When people are talking about “gay shipping” or “gay books” or “gay feels” or even just “gay” mlm is what’s largely in mind. I honestly am kinda saddened by this because if gay fanfiction was really solely about writing more to feel represented, then you would see a lot of bi and ace and lesbian rep, but this isn't the case. Queer women are seriously underrepresented, and I want to hear their stories and read them in fanfiction as well as published. 50% of lgbt literature is mlm, and of that its largely written by women. Becky Albertalli, Rainbow Rowell, Maggie Stiefvater, are the YA big names and are all women writing mlm. Red white and royal blue is written by Casey McQuiston and Captive prince (which is not YA) is written by C. S. Pacat, who is non-binary, but is also TME and not mlm. These are all the big names in mlm lit, behind them is some gay men, but honestly their stories aren't preferred, they're not the right “flavor” for the consumers usually, who are largely women. In general YA consumers and authors are women, but I wish that they… just wrote about women too. I think there is a certain… snowball effect to the overrepresentation of mlm representing the whole LGBT community that leads to fetishization, as well as misogyny playing a factor in: less women characters being written well to write fanfic on, when they are written well they're taken less seriously or the audience struggles to relate to them, they're less marketable then men. 

Idk I never feel “seen” or “represented” by any of the books above, which don't address boyhood and manhood and queerness intersecting really, and AFTG doesn’t either. I relate to AFTG as a trauma victim who has experienced a lot of what many of the characters go through and have gone through in the EC as well as them just overall being very well written characters, but I don't relate to it as a mlm really. I've never seen like.. gay voice or being straight passing or femphobia or how boyhood can be affected from a young age by those around you sensing you're ‘other’ or if you didn't experience this you feel outside the mlm community. Let alone sub cultures like bear and leather and pup, at most you see the word “he's such a twink” in fandom which... i fr hate non mlm using that word because it's usually used to replace the f-slur essentially, used derogatorily or to call him “such a bottom” and stuff like that. It’s like a joke or an insult.

Long story short, idk mang this was a ramble and I think I'm coning down with something. I wanna see more queer women rep and women authors writing about being a queer woman too. I think it's a complex web of fetishization and a bit of forbidden love yaoi culture (or it used to be in the BOYXBOY days) as well as misogyny on an industry level, creator level, as well as reader/consumer and fandom level. I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to explore other peoples stories and what we read has to be segregated, “only mlm are allowed to read and write mlm, only wlw are allowed to read and write wlw,” but I also think author’s intent and audience and background is telling, as well as overall statistics. Like about an hour ago I was looking for cookbooks in spanish or in english, and I was looking for some mexican food cook books, but I had to look for them using words in spanish because otherwise what came up was a bunch of “fiesta party, easy as uno dos tres authentic cooking!” and I was like… hm. Since I could tell they were marketing to anglos. (also the author’s last names were like michelle smith, james cooper, and this could be for a variety of reasons, but I trust Hispanic names more tbh and deadass would look at the authors pictures and if they had other books in Spanish or what their specialties were.)

anyways. not sure how to end this. uhm if anyone has any book recs (my to read list is like 500 books tho no joke) preferably not YA white mlm written by a white lady, hopefully queer women written by queer woman, LMK, I need more wlw and queer women stories on my list. I have a decent amount but always looking for more. I kinda wanna link my goodreads or my storygraph but I also don't want to get doxxed and it has my legal name on it so.

Also, I'm dyslexic and using spell check but if there's like some wild typos my b.

[milreads]

Books That Mil's Read 2021:

American Royals by Katharine McGee

4/5 stars

"Yes, exactly, because you’re a woman, and the world will make everything exponentially more difficult for you. It isn’t right, or fair, but it is the truth."

What to say about this book? If there's anyone out there that actually pays attention to how long a book has been on my currently reading shelf on here, you'll see that it's been quite a few months -almost half a year- there's a lot of things that atribute to that; two jobs now, going back to college soon, Global pandemic and all that but this isn't to say that this was a bad book.

I felt moved and immediately compelled to at least purchased the second one after finishing it and it is a Solid 4 star read and I'd recommend it to anyone who this seems like their type of book. It has made me want to immerse myself in royalty culture, learning more about politics, maybe even reading like the Gossip Girl books to see like more teens in public positions and whatnot and what being a socialite is like.

It was so multifaceted and I loved the complexities that they gave to such young people in terms of things like Beatrice not being sure if she was ready to take on such a severe role because is anyone ever really prepared for such a heavy role like ruling a country? This is also something that I have been observing from reading Obama's Memoir while reading this book. I also loved all of the over-the-top soap opera drama. I loved all of the romance plots that for whatever reason could not work out. I was particularly invested in Beatrice's with Connor.

And I like that a character like Samantha existed in this book without her being completely villainized. Sure she was selfish and maybe not the best at all times but she still very much loved the people that were close to her and when needing to step up a bit she did. I do think that she was insensitive sometimes never thinking to understand why somebody might be keeping something from her or why somebody might also be going through shit as well. Basically if she had an issue she let that overcloud her judgment to where she was the "only" person going through an issue. Also her romance with Teddy is so steamy.

The character of Daphne as the villain was so compelling. I love the idea of her not caring about Jefferson as a person but still wanting to do whatever she could even if it meant manipulating and ruining people's lives to become a royal. Her romance plot felt a bit off though.

While I liked Sam and Jefferson as characters and how their dynamics with Nina were so specific, I could not care for Nina as a character which was so weird for me, since I loved that they added Hispanic rep with her. Honestly though I would enjoy one day seeing a book about Nina's mom growing up. Like a latina queer woman climbing through the ranks of a royal court and falling in love? Sign me the fuck up. But anyways yeah Nina bored me. She felt to be the most immature of all the characters and should just be dropped by the Royals if she's that ashamed of that part of her life that she DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A PICTURE OF HER CHILDHOOD LIFELONG FRIEND HANGING IN HER DORM.

But yes I am definitely picking up the second book. Imma look into more political and Royal dramas now and I really care about these characters. Would reccomend.

[fandomblr]

Love this asks and Iove hearing about your stories and OCs let's see: 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 16 I'm still thinking about mine because I really want your opinion on them

Omg thank you so much, and yes, please do take your time! I’ve been writing this OC for eight years so these questions are easy for me to answer, but please take your time!

Alright so today I’m gonna focus on one of the main characters in the novel that I am trying to publish, her name is Florencia Coronado Quijano and in the first novel I’m writing rn she is a seventeen-year-old first gen Mexican-American immigrant, she’s also demi-bisexual and a demigirl. Just for reference, here are some piccrews I made of her (the first one is by far the most accurate):

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

Her appearance for sure. I always knew I wanted a strong main female character that defied the ‘dumb curvy blonde girl’ stereotype, and although Florencia isn’t 100% a blonde (she has natural blonde streaks on her dark brown wavy/curly hair) she is still heavily stereotyped as a Latina so I wanted to mess with that ‘angry loud Latina’ cliche. Although originally I wrote her as a white girl, (13 year old Adrián was white-washed and so were his OCs), later I realized that she is a Latina at heart and since I’m Mexican, so is she so she’s an outlet for me to express my culture as a Mexican American.

3. How did you choose their name?

Whitewashed Florencia’s name was Florence, so I just added a bit of ✨Hispanic spice✨ to it. The name in itself was just totally random, but looking back at it I think Florencia really suits her as a name, especially how she uses Flor as a nickname.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair color? 

So glad you asked, yes! So she is actually mixed, her mother was an indigenous Mexican woman, but her father is Lugh, Irish god of arts and crafts and a solar warrior god. She gets much of her prowess as a warrior from her half-blood status, which technically makes her a demigod. She takes after her mother in terms of physical appearance (brown skin, dark hair save her blonde streaks that she gets from Lugh, dark eyes), but the blonde in her hair is reminiscent of Lugh’s golden hair since he is a sun god.

7. Is there any significance behind their height? 

Uh, she’s 5’1 and I’m 5’2 but uh... short queen representation for all my fellow smol Latinx people out there???? Other than that, I’m afraid not.

9. Are they based off of you, in some way? 

Back when I wrote her no, she was not intended to be like me. But looking back at it she definitely is an idealized version of who I wanted to be as a Latinx femme. She is feminine and even androgynous sometimes but not afraid to let that define her and doesn’t let her weight (she’s plus-size and considered fat by most thin people) define her either. She can and will kick your ass in battle, has an incredible Mexicanized sense of humor, and is loyal to a fault and would happily die for any of her friends. She was everything I wanted to be back then, and even now that I know I’m a guy I still want to have her bravery, her strength, her valor, her loyalty, and her fearlessness. I think she is the positive Latina rep that I always internally craved when I thought I was a Latina (spoiler alert: I never was because I was never female, never a woman, even if I presented femme.)

11. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation? 

Yes and no. When 13 year old Adrián wrote her she was a cishet white woman, but looking back at it she has always been inherently queer, especially with her relationship with Jin (another female OC who is a lesbian) and how she has a massive crush on her in most of the first draft of my book.

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 

The furthest I go is in my short story Under the Same Stars that I turned in for my creative writing workshop class, and she is 13 in that story but there are flashbacks that go back to her earlier childhood.

15. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh? 

She uses Mexican slang constantly so if you’re Mexican the book is guaranteed to at the very least make you smile, and the very most make you crack up. She’s also really humorous in English too.

16. What is something about your OC that can make you cry? 

When she emigrated to the US she was sent to an ICE concentration camp and was separated from her legal guardian (her uncle who died by the time she was released) that’s the whole story in Under the Same Stars (if anyone wants to read it let me know and I’ll DM it and maybe even post it on here) and I got a B+ for the final story cause my professor may or may not have been lowkey racist but hey, I live in Texas so nothing new here :))))

[bran-who-writes-theoretically]

Julie and the Phantoms Appreciation Week:

Favorite Character: Julie Molina

Let me talk for a moment. I’m sure I’ve posted it before but really the only Latine/Hispanic representation I ever saw was like the Selena movie (1997) and Wizards of Waverly Place. That was pretty much it. I never really had a role model growing up that looked like me. Madison is what like, four years younger than me (she’s 16 right?)? That’s not a long time in terms of representation in Hollywood changing. I’ve really only noticed it recently happening. Stuff like Diary of A Future President, Roswell: New Mexico, Knives Out, Love, Victor and now Julie and the Phantoms all have Latine leads, and it’s still quite sad to me that Madison never had a role model either. Still, I’d like to see more boys here, but it’s honestly just so great to see more Latine rep across the board. Even telenovellas have a really big problem with colorism, so it’s nice to see darker skinned actors take the spotlight too.

Julie is someone I feel like I needed to see when I was growing up. Who knows, maybe I’d still be playing music if I’d have seen this show as a kid or a teen in high school, because it already makes me want to pick up an instrument again (seriously, I’m thinking about it). I really hope that this show gets to the hearts of all the Hispanic/Latine kids who need to see themselves on screen, because I’m twenty years old and it’s already made it’s home in my heart. (I may post some fics for this, but it may not coincide with the prompts because I simply don’t have the time to write) hoping for a season two!

@jatp-week

[dumbputalostheraccount]

can we talk about poc rep in tv shows, movies, and posts? because i remember watching a dumbass show for a solid 2+ years purely for one character.. a hispanic lesbian (who’s actress wasn’t even hispanic, only the character) because i was so desperate for ANY level of representation, this was about 5-6 years ago, and when you look back at posts during the gay migration™️ it’s almost always white lesbians, i see maybe 3-4 black lesbians, no hispanic lesbians, no asian lesbians, no indigenous lesbians, no pacific islander lesbians, no MENA lesbians, there’s just.. nothing, it’s white lesbians, and yes i am happy we get rep in general but this all ties in to the racism in the gay community which i could go on and on about but i’ll stop here. anyways pay attention to diversity because it matters, it can mean so much to see someone that’s like them on screen. i was already a double minority i did not want to be the triple minority (woman, indigenous, gay), and that’s something white people will just never understand, you can say “i understand” but you really don’t because you have never been in my shoes and you never will be, that’s the thing. it’s nice to see lesbians on screen but you see them do things and act a certain way which you know you would never be able to do or act because of the fact you aren’t white. imagine looking for representation and the best thing you have is your oppressors (which are also oppressed by being lgbt, just never to the same extent), imagine that. if you are white you can only imagine that because you haven’t experienced it. please pay attention to diversity in all forms of media

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Former Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden announced Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate today. Here’s a look at what this choice means and … what it doesn’t.

It’s a historic choice, with the potential for even more history to be made.

Harris is the first Asian American and the first Black woman in American history to be a general election candidate for president or vice president for either of the two major political parties. (Harris’s mother was born in India, her father in Jamaica. They met as graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley, in the 1960s.) Harris is just the second Black person (after Barack Obama) and the fourth woman (after Democrats Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008) to be on a presidential ticket for one of the two major parties. If she and Biden win the November election, she would be the first Asian American, the first woman of any race or ethnicity and the second Black person in U.S. history to be vice president or president.

Harris’s selection is the latest sign of the increasing diversity of the Democratic Party. Democrats last had an all-white, all-male ticket in 2004, with then Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards. This vice presidential process, with Biden committing to choosing a woman fairly early on and then choosing a Black woman, suggests the Democrats may rarely in the future have a ticket of two white men. They may also rarely in the future have a ticket of two white people (as in 2016 with Clinton and Tim Kaine) or two men (as in 2012, with Obama and Biden).

It’s another illustration of the power of Black Americans in the Democratic Party.

A clear plurality of Black voters favored Biden throughout 2019, helping keep the former vice president near the top of polls through most of the Democratic primary race. Black voters in South Carolina and then other states, particularly in the South, strongly supported Biden and played a key role in his winning the nomination despite lackluster showings in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

After it was clear Biden would be the party’s nominee, a lot of prominent Black Democrats — mostly notably Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking Black Democrat in the House — pushed for Biden to pick a Black woman as his running mate. With Harris’s selection, their wish was granted.

It’s another defeat for the party’s left wing.

With Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren losing the nomination contest, many liberal activists pushed Biden to pick Warren as his running mate. They were unsuccessful. Harris has a fairly liberal voting record in the Senate, but she’s not nearly as far to the left as Warren. Harris hasn’t called for the breakup of Facebook, for example, or supported a wealth tax.

The Democratic Party is moving left ideologically. But liberal activists may have a hard time getting their main policy goals adopted, even if Democrats control the House, Senate and the presidency next year. The most important figures in Washington in 2021 might be Biden, Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, all of whom have kept some distance from the party’s left wing.

Let’s pause there for a moment. I could have made the preceding three points — the history of the selection, the power of Black voters and the loss for the Left — and even used nearly the exact same words in some of those sections if Biden had selected one of the other Black women who was reportedly being considered for vice president. That list includes former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, Rep. Karen Bass, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Rep. Val Demings and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

The implications of Harris’s selection, however, become more complicated when you look at Harris specifically, as opposed to the selection of a Black woman more generally. So here’s what’s not clear:

We don’t know if Harris will help or hurt Biden win the general election.

Research suggests that the electoral impact of vice presidential candidates is fairly limited. I would expect Harris to follow the same pattern. Harris is a sitting senator who was competent during the debates she participated in during the 2020 Democratic primary process, so she is unlikely to make huge gaffes that raise questions about why Biden selected her (in the way that Palin became a problem for John McCain in 2008). At the same time, a senator from California doesn’t provide an obvious electoral boost in a key swing state. Also, overall, Harris wasn’t a particularly effective candidate when she ran for president last year.

So the most likely outcome is that Harris’s selection doesn’t change much — either Biden keeps his current lead and wins the presidency or Trump comes back based on factors that don’t have a lot to do with Harris. But politics is dynamic, so I’m not sure that prediction will come true.

We don’t know if Harris will boost the ticket with Black voters.

I don’t want to downplay Harris’s Indian American roots. But Black voters are expected to account for about 13 percent of the expected 2020 electorate, a much bigger share than Asian Americans (5 percent). Black voters are also a particularly sizable and important bloc in key swing states such as Florida (13 percent), Michigan (13 percent), North Carolina (23 percent), Pennsylvania (11 percent) and Wisconsin (5 percent.) I am addressing Harris’s potential appeal to Black voters specifically not because I think Black voters are likely to be particularly energized by a Black woman like Harris, but rather because much of the conversation around the vice presidential selection has implied that picking a Black person will create extra enthusiasm for the ticket with Black voters.

The percentage of Black voting-eligible people who cast ballots was significantly higher in 2008 (65 percent) and 2012 (66 percent), when there was a Black candidate on the ticket, compared to 2004 and 2016 (both around 60 percent) when there was not. Some political science research shows that Black people vote at higher rates when a Black candidate is on the ballot, although that finding is somewhat contested, and that research is about voting for a Black candidate at the top of the ticket, not a white candidate with a Black running mate.

So it’s not a crazy idea that Harris might boost the ticket with Black voters. It has some empirical basis. But I think the stronger case, at least based on what we know right now, is that she won’t have much of an effect in terms of Black voters.

Why not? First of all, while it happened in 2008 and 2012, it’s just really hard for Democrats to get that much more support from Black voters, who even in elections like 2004 or 2016 vote at fairly high rates (significantly higher than Asian American or Hispanic voters) and overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates.

Second, it’s not 2008 or 2012, when Black voters had the chance to elect and then reelect the first Black president. Third, Harris herself seems unlikely to particularly excite Black voters. This is not a random guess — Harris ran for president for much of last year and was not the preferred candidate of older Black voters in the Democratic primary (that was Biden) or younger Black voters (that was Sanders or Warren in earlier stages of the race). Obama, in contrast, had very strong Black support during his 2008 primary run, previewing what would happen in his two general election campaigns.

We don’t know how Harris’s selection affects the protest movement that has emerged since the police killing of George Floyd.

Another part of the discourse has been that the selection of a Black woman became more necessary in the wake of the national protests around racial inequality over the last several months. But it’s not clear the Black Lives Matter activists organizing these protests view a Black woman being picked as vice president as a major priority in terms of addressing racial inequality in America (as opposed to, for example, reducing spending on policing.) And some more liberal Black people are wary of Harris because they felt she was too punitive toward people who committed minor crimes like truancy when she was the district attorney in San Francisco and then the attorney general of California.

I would emphasize all of this is a bit unknown. Maybe Harris’s choice will be applauded by BLM activists; it’s just not a given.

We don’t know if Harris is now the most-likely Democratic nominee in 2024.

If Biden and Harris lose, Harris’s presidential ambitions are likely over. (Just ask Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan and Tim Kaine.) But if they win, remember that Biden will enter office at age 78 and that in March he described himself as a “bridge” figure who will help usher in the Democratic Party’s next generation of leaders.

So is Harris being set up to be the Democratic front-runner and likely nominee in 2024? I don’t know. And honestly, Biden and Harris may not know either. But this matters, for two big reasons. First, in the 2020 election, expect Trump and his campaign, who have had a hard time casting Biden as an extremist or a radical, to make attacks on Harris with sexist and racist undertones, cast her as an ultra-liberal Californian out of touch with Middle American values and suggest that voting for Biden in November means that Harris will be running the country for 12 years.

Second, if Harris is vice president, she would need to make sure she is ready to run for president in 2024 — in case Biden either doesn’t want to run for a second term or isn’t up to it — while also ensuring she isn’t portrayed by the media as constantly planning her 2024 campaign, which would likely to irritate Biden and other Democrats.

Biden made the predictable pick (in fact, we kind of predicted it in March). Harris is more liberal than Biden but not Sanders/Warren-left, and she is an Asian and Black woman in a party that always wants to show it cares about traditionally marginalized groups and probably feels the need to showcase its racial diversity even more in the wake of the Floyd protests. So Biden choosing someone with Harris’s political, biographical and demographic attributes makes a lot of sense.

The biggest unknowns are around Harris herself and her electoral skills. Harris is a good politician based on these facts alone: She was elected senator in the nation’s most populous state and in a country with a lot of race and gender discrimation, Harris is the second Black woman ever elected to the Senate, and arguably the first to be a serious presidential candidate. That said, it’s still not clear if she is a particularly strong politician on the national stage, and therefore if she will be that helpful for Democrats in the No. 2 slot in 2020 or as the main candidate in a future presidential election.

[malex-overlord-believe]

Saw some Malex video AND I NOW HAVE FEELINGS. AGAIN. UGH. I'M JUST. SO MAD AND TIRED AND INFURIATED BECAUSE LIKE THE CHEMISTRY AND POTENTIAL. IS RIGHT THERE. THEY DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO DO ANYTHING. THEY JUST NEEDED THESE 2 TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM AND LIKE 3FT FROM EACH OTHER. AND IT WOULD STILL BE AMAZING BECAUSE THAT'S HOW INSANE THEIR CHEMISTRY IS. BUT NO. IT'S JUST WASTED AND NEARLY RUINED. YES THEY'RE ON A FRESH START NOW BUT WHY PILE ON EVEN MORE TRAUMA AND PAIN WHEN THINGS COULD'VE BEEN FIGURED OUT BETTER. WHY PROMOTE THIS 'COSMIC' COUPLE WHEN YOU DO NOTHING WITH THEM. WHEN YOU COULD'VE GIVEN YOUR VIEWERS SOMETHING GOOD AND NEW AND MAYBE SOMETHING HEALTHY? FINALLY BE THAT SHOW THAT GIVES ACTUAL QUEER REP. YOU NEARLY HAD ME WITH HEARING BISEXUAL MORE THAN ONCE CAUSE YES THAT WAS GOOD AND I NEEDED THAT BUT NOT WHEN YOU SAY IT WITHOUT SHOWING. NOT WHEN YOU JUST USE THE WORD FOR WOKE POINTS WITHOUT GIVING ACTUAL GOOD BI REP. THAT WAS NOT BI REP. MARIA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AMAZING AND GOOD BUT YOUR RUINED HER FOR ME. I HOPED SHE WOULD BE THE FRIEND AND ROCK FOR EVERYONE TO ANCHOR THEM WHEN THE ALIEN STUFF GOT TO CRAZY. SHE WOULD BE THE BRIDGE. YOU COULD'VE LET MARIA AND MICHAEL BE ACTUAL FRIENDS AND STAY FRIENDS INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU DID. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON ISOBEL AND MARIA. THAT WAS ANOTHER PAIR WITH PERFECT CHEMISTRY YOU BURNED. LEARN HOW TO WRITE. STOP PLAYING FAVORITES. LISTEN TO YOUR VIEWS TO SOME DEGREE.

I was just so hopeful and excited and fell in love with RNM because of Malex, the main character being a Hispanic woman wanting to heal people, some hopeful queer content, a somewhat murder mystery, and Alien sci-fi stuff. Yes it's a CW show. Yes there's gonna be dumb drama and all that stuff most CW shows have but season 1 was so promising. Season 2 was completely detached and felt like a fever dream where time means nothing. Actions mean nothing. Just nearly 90% of what was going on made no sense. Yes I love Greg. Yes I'm happy and heartbroken about Nora and Trip and who Walt could've been to Michael. Yes I'm glad Jesse is dead. Yes Malex is finally getting the fresh start they need... But it's just not enough to make me understand or even want what season 2 was. It just felt like a waste of my time and love. Just so much waste of potential. That's what season 2 was for me. I couldn't even watch all of it, when before I found any way I could to not miss an episode during season 1. The first season is supposed to be a base to build and improve so the next season is better but if anything they just built a flashy house of cards that barley held it together until the end. Again this is just how I feel and what season 2 felt like for me. I still want to love RNM and enjoy the things I still do love about it but sometimes you need to voice and get things out so you can let bad stuff go. It didn't have to be perfect but jesus the bar is already so low.

[angelic--blossoms]

on the topic of "blackwashing" i'd have to agree. why do people think that more "diversity" = more black people? asian and even latine people are also poc/marginalized groups and they get barely represented in media as well (outside of feeding into stereotypes). but nope, lets just shove them aside in favor of more black people, right? :/ (cont. 1/2)

It’s due to black history is more covered, especially in the West. With more recent ‘woke’ stances on issues, it seems to be the only important history. And while I think that’s necessary, yes people should be educated about the hardships and unfortunates..as well as achievements and accomplishments of Black people.  Other groups shouldn’t be forgotten. We can have full on films and series starring black people now and it’s not seen as a ‘black film’. Which is good..normalizing minorities in pop culture/media is fantastic.  But where’s the Native rep? When will I see a South Asian character? Can I have a Hispanic character that’s not a living breathing stereotype. Eastern Asian means more than “Smart foreigner from maybe China”. A Muslim woman is more than her headwear...but it seems even if she will get a slight representation..that’s all she’ll be about. Blackwashing isn’t helping diversity within media. Snatching away another identity in favor for the ‘superior’ identity isn’t helping. And ye...you want more black characters..make some. Why take an existing character and risk criticism like this? Make your own, make them as dark skinned as you want. And it’s not even dark skinned since we have plenty of other races that are of darker complexion..but still don’t get this treatment. I don’t agree with any sort of racebending (or genderbending) But blackwashing in particular is quite a problem.