#mlk day chicago

[raisingkidsinchicago]

Honoring the Dream: Chicago's Inspiring MLK Day Weekend

 Juliana Yeager  Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Chicago History Museum Celebrate the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his transformative impact on the civil rights movement in the United States. This family-focused event invites visitors of all ages to engage in a variety of enriching activities, including interactive hands-on workshops,…

[ojosespanola]

Honoring Dr. King today ... we marched in 0 degree weather and protested the incoming administration and the racism, misogyny, hate & sexism that it has brought. We can't do everything ..... but we can do something!

[delta7of96]

Tribute to Coretta Scott King: The Force That Made the MLK Holiday Possible | Chicago Defender

[directactionforhope]

Late notice but

Today 10/5 is an international day of action protesting one year of the Gaza genocide!

Find a protest near you today or tomorrow 10/6! If you're in the US, look at the links below, from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights!

October 5, 2024

Note: Tumblr has capped the number of outgoing links you can use in one post. Go to the USCPR link above and click on a protest for a flyer/organizer info for each and every one of these events.

Albany, NY | 4:30PM Dana Park

Albuquerque, NM | 2PM Robinson Park

Amherst, MA | Amherst Town Common

Anchorage, AK | 2PM Townsquare Park

Atlanta, GA | 2PM 190 Marietta SW

Austin, TX | 1PM Austin City Hall

Birmingham, AL | 2PM Victoria Square

Blacksburg, VA | 3PM Pylons

Boston, MA | 2PM Cambridge City Hall

Burlington, VT | 1PM Battery Park

Charleston, SC | 2PM Marion Square Park

Chicago, IL | 2PM Water Tower Park

Cleveland, OH | 3PM 11804 Lorain Ave

Columbus, OH | 2PM Goodale Park

Corvallis, OR | 12 NOON County Courthoue

Dallas, TX | 12PM The Grassy Knoll

Denver, CO | 12PM 400 Josephine St

Detroit, MI | 2PM 5 Woodward Ave, Detroit

Dover, DE | 12 NOON 250 Gateway S Blvd

Fort Myers, FL | 6PM Centennial Park

Gainseville, FL | 2PM City Hall

Honolulu, HI | 11AM Ala Moana & Atkinson

Houston, TX | 2PM Houston City Hall

Indianapolis, IL |  2PM Lugar Plaza

Kansas City | 1PM Mill Creek Park

Kona, HI | 12:30PM Old airport by the skating rink

Las Vegas, NV | 2PM 3449 S Sammy Davis Jr Dr

Little Rock, AK | 4PM 1200 Main St

Los Angeles, CA | 2PM Pershing Square

Louisville, KY | 3PM Water Front Park

Maui, HI | 11AM Kapuka’ulua (Baldwin Beach)

Memphis, TN | 2PM City Hall

Miami, FL | 5PM Torch of Friendship

Milwaukee, WI | 2PM Zedler Union Square Park

Missoula, MT | 7PM 200 W Broadway

Nashville, TN | 2PM Centennial Park

New York, NY | 2PM Times Square

New Haven, CT | 1PM New Haven Green

New Orleans, LA | 5PM Congo Square

Ottawa, Ontario | 2PM Parliment Hill

Orlando, FL | 4PM Orlando City Hall

Pensacola, FL | 5PM Palafox & Gregorary St.

Pittsburgh, PA | Film screening, 3PM 100 S Commons St.

Portland, ME | 5PM Monument Square

Portland, OR | 3PM Unthank Park

Providence, RI | 3PM RI State House steps & 5:30PM 1 Finance Way

Raleigh, NC | 3PM Moore Square

Rochester, NY | 1PM MLK Park

Sacramento, CA | 2PM West steps of the Capitol

Salt Lake City, UT | 2PM 125 S State St

San Antonio, TX | 1PM Travis Park

San Diego, CA | 2:00PM 1600 Pacific Highway

Seattle, WA | 2PM TBA, with car caravans from Spokane, Pasco, Ellensburg

St. Louis, MO | Liberation weekend, 9AM-8PM 475 East Lockwood Ave

Tampa, FL | 2PM Bank of America Plaza

Toronto, Ontario | 2PM Yonge Dundas Square

Urbana, IL | 2PM 101 E Main St

Ventura, CA | 2PM 501 Poli St

Washington, DC | 4PM White House

West Plains, MO | 12 NOON Downtown Square

Wichita, KS | 12:30PM Spirit Aerosystems

October 6, 2024

Amityville, NY | 1PM LIRR

Boston, MA | 1PM Boston Common

Green Bay, WI | 5:30PM Leicht Memorial Park

Los Angeles, CA | Vigil, 6:30PM Echo Park Lake

Minneapolis, MN | 1:30PM Gateway Park Fountain

Ontario, CA | 1PM Euclid & C St

Paterson, NJ | 2PM Palestine Way with Gould Avenue

Roanoke, VA | Vigil, 6PM Heights Community Church courtyard

San Diego, CA | 4PM Centro Cultural de La Raza

San Francisco, CA | 1PM 16th & Valencia

San Jose, CA | 12 NOON City Hall

St. Louis, MO | 1PM Choteau Park

[opencommunion]

please go to a protest for Land Day tomorrow (March 30th) if you can

AUSTRALIA – Hobart / Nipaluna. 1PM Every Saturday @ Davey St. (Grand Chancellor).

CANADA – Antigonish, NS. 1PM Every Saturday @ Antigonish Town Hall. Antigonish 4 Gaza.

CANADA – Montreal. 2PM Land Day Tatreez Workshop @ Refugee Center. PYM Montreal.

CANADA – Ottawa. 2PM Land Day @ Human Rights Monument.

CANADA – Toronto. 2PM Land Day @ Yonge & Dundas. PYM Toronto.

ENGLAND – Halifax. 1PM Every Saturday @ Wilkos on Southgate.

ENGLAND – Hebden Bridge. 3PM Every Saturday @ Holme Street. 4PM @ St George’s Square. West Yorkshire for Palestine.

ENGLAND – London. 11AM @ 7 Tavistock Square. PYM Britain.

ENGLAND – London. 12PM @ Central London. STW UK.

NETHERLANDS – Amsterdam. 7PM Every Night @ Dam Square.

PORTUGAL – Porto. 10PM Every Night Vigil @ Camara Municipal.

SCOTLAND – Orkney. 1PM Every Saturday @ St Magnus Cathedral Steps. Amnesty Orkney.

AZ – Phoenix. 1MP Land Day @ Civic Space Park. PSL Phoenix AZ.

CA – Los Angeles. 1PM Land Day March @ LA City Hall. PYM LA/OC/IE.

CA – Petaluma. 12:30PM Every Saturday @ Petaluma & E Washington. Occupy Pelatuma.

CA – Ventura. 12:30PM @ 181 E Santa Clara St. ANSWER Coalition.

CO – Fort Collins. 3PM Every Saturday @ Old Town Square. NOCO Liberation Coalition.

DC – Washington DC. 4PM @ DuPont Circle. ANSWER Coalition.

FL – Gainesville. 11AM @ Depot Park. ANSWER Coalition.

FL – Orlando. City Hall. TBA. ANSWER Coalition.

FL – Pensacola. PM @ Main & Reus (Blue Wahoos). PSL CGC. 

GA – Atlanta. 2PM @ Consulate of Israel. PYM.

ID – Pocatello. 12PM Every Saturday @ Bannock County Courthouse. Pocatello for Palestine.

IL – Chicago. 1PM @ TBA. USPCN + Chicago SJP.

LA – New Orleans. 3:30PM @ 701 N Rampart St.

MA – Springfield. 2PM @ 36 Court St. ANSWER Coalition.

ME – Portland. 1PM @ Monument Square. PSL Maine.

MI – Detroit. 1:30PM @ Beacon Park. USPCN.

MI – Detroit. 10AM Land Day @ Rouge Park. PYM.

MN – Minneapolis. 2PM @ 2707 West Lake St. ANSWER Coalition.

MT – Kalispell. 12PM Every Saturday @ Main & Center. MT 4 Palestine.

NC – Asheville. 4PM @ 1 N Pack Square. ANSWER Coalition.

NC – Charlotte. 4PM @ Wilmore Centennial Park. CLT 4 Palestine + PSL Carolinas.

NC – Raleigh. 3PM Land Day @ Moore Square. PSL Carolinas.

NC, Charlotte. 4PM @ Wilmore Centennial Park. Land Day. CLT 4 Pali + PSL Carolinas.

NM – Albuquerque. 4PM @ UNM Book Store. ANSWER Coalition.

NY – New York. 12PM @ City Hall Park. Within Our Lifetime.

NY – New York. 12PM Vigil Every Saturday @ 5th & 44th in Brooklyn. Sunset Park Elders.

NY – New York. 5PM @ Times Square. PYM.

NY – Rochester. 1:30PM @ MLK Park. End Apartheid ROC + SJP UR.

OH – Cincinnati. 3PM @ 801 Plum St. ANSWER Coalition.

OH – Cleveland. 2PM Land Day @ Edgewater Upper Pavillion. USCPN.

OH – Columbus. 4PM @ 120 W Goodale St. ANSWER Coalition.

OH – Dayton. 5PM @ 2680 Ridge Ave. ANSWER Coalition.

OH – Wooster. 11AM @ 538 N Market St. ANSWER Coalition.

OR – Bend. 12PM Saturdays @ Peace Corner. Central Oregon 4 Socialism.

OR – Portland. 12PM @ Desert Island Studios. Letters for Palestine PDX.

PA – Philadelphia. 5PM @ 7th & Walnut. ANSWER Coalition.

PA – Pittsburgh. 3:30PM @ 4100 Forbes Ave. ANSWER Coalition.

RI – Providence. 5PM @ Prospect Terr. ANSWER Coalition.

TX – Houston. 1PM @ Waterwall Park. PYM Houston.

TX – San Antonio. 12PM @ 301 E Travis ST. ANSWER Coalition.

VT – Burlington. 1PM @ City Hall. ANSWER Coalition.

WA – Seattle. 2PM Land Day @ Lake Union Park. PYM.

WI – Milwaukee. 1:30PM @ Sijan Park. PSL Milwaukee.

WI – Viroqua. 11AM Vigil Every Saturday @ Main & Decker. Driftless Solidarity / Wolves PSC.

WV – Martinsburg. 12PM Land Day @ Martinsburg Town Square. PSL WV.

DISCLAIMER: I didn't make this list and it's not comprehensive. If you don't see a protest near you, look up what your local orgs are doing, and if you still can't find anything, take autonomous action

[therappundit]

PUNDIT PICKS: THE CREAM of the Crop - continued... [My Favorite SONGS of 2024 (*so far*)]

ICYMI, my favorite album list from Jan. - Aug.: https://therappundit.tumblr.com/post/763889760563576832/pundit-picks-the-cream-of-the-crop-my-favorite

***Please note: the selections on this list had to have dropped by 8/31/24, FYI***

Yikes. This has been a doozy of a week, to say the least.

But the show must go on, and back in June/July I began compiling what would become my ongoing “best of” list for 2024, with every intention of dropping said list by the end of the summer...aaaaaand it is now October. In my defense, it has often felt like summer over the past few weeks (just one of many red flags to rise that potentially indicate that the world is finally ready to shake us off)...so is it that crazy to be dropping a "summer blowout" list as we sail into Thanksgiving territory???

Meh. Don't answer that - let's just get to the music. Here are my favorite rap SONGS of 2024, ***as of Labor Day weekend***....

MORE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS: "place i rep" by Remy Banks, "Banded Up" by Chief Keef feat. Tierra Whack, "Complications" by Reiiki APOLLO, "HOO" by LIFEOFTHOM, "Bonnet" by TiaCorine, "ALAMODE" by CJ Fly & Stoic, "Type Shit" by Future & Metro Boomin feat. Travis Scott & Playboi Carti, "Curtis Jackson" by C Stunna feat. Skrilla, "Pedal tha Ave" by Wiseboy Jeremy & Kirti Pandey, "Shining Brighter" by Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey & Pink Siifu, "DUMMY" by JUNECINEMA feat. RoBB, Chow & rivan, "Rotation" by BagChaser Reke feat. 2Real, Rufus Sims, "Custard Spoon" by Cavalier, "Humpty" by Semiratruth, "NOTT" by Hitkidd, Key Glock & Doe Boy, "Money Problems" by Nino Paid feat. Lil Gray, "Colors" by Remble feat. Mozzy & Stoneda5th, "6ix Times 2Day" by BabyChiefDoit, "proper vertigo" by mynameisntjack feat. Sol ChYld, "euphoria" by Kendrick Lamar, "Fisherrr (Remix)" by Cash Cobain & Bay Swag feat. Ice Spice, "Cullinan Gang" by Nasaan feat. Icewear Vezzo, "Doubles" by Sasco feat. Big Flowers, "Grandmother's Lessons" by Your Old Droog, "Penmanship" by Kooley High & Tuamie, "THAT'S HARD" by Anycia feat. Cash Cobain, "Super Rufus" by Rufus Sims & Billionaire Boyscout, "LIBERATION" by Mutant Academy feat. Quelle Chris, "See The Sunset" by Nick Satchel & dp0mmy, “Short Stories” by Jawnino feat. MIKE

24. "12:50 in New York" by Chuckyy

(Probably my favorite flow in rap right now, the "new school" Chicago drill MC is blessed with a delivery that I can only describe as a "menacing auctioneer flow".)

23. "Amanda Seals" by ReallyHiiiM feat. B.A Badd & Boldy James

(Concrete hard ReallyHiiim beat, featuring some classic basement Boldy and B.A Badd vibes.)

22. "MESCALINE" by LaRussell & CAM CORTEZ

(LaRussell is one of the hardest working rappers in hip-hop today, so he has had plenty of high points in 2024, but the way he bounces over this "Grindin"-esque beat puts this joint over the top. LaRussell brings a breath of positivity into his music that the west coast sound is really benefting from right now.)

21. "Ray Vaughn" by Ray Wop

(Ray's recent run has added some teeth back to TDE that they lost when Kendrick moved on.)

20. "INFORMATION AGE" by No Label

(A NYC based crew that you absolutely need to keep on your radar.)

19. "SINCE I WAS LIL" by JasonMartin & DJ Quik feat. Curren$y, Bun B & Jay Worthy

(Classic westside head nodder with veteran reps from other cities. Dope album from Quik & the artist formerly known as Problem, if you haven't peeped it yet.)

18. "MLK" by Myaap & Nedarb

(Myaap has been one of my favorite artists out of Milwaukee since last year's "h.t.s. (Hit That Shit)", her records are fun as hell.)

17. "PAYMEAGRIP" by Ovrkast. & Cardo Got Wings

(His star keeps rising, as the barriers between sub-genres in rap music continue to fall. Ovrkast. has already proven to be one of the most impactful young producers doing it today.)

16. "Match That" by BRISTACKZ

(Another attention grabbing artist out of Milwaukee, rapping like a trap Missy Elliot, experimental in a similar vein as Certified Trapper, and like Trapper, Bristackz records might miss the mark...but when she hits, she hits real hard.)

15. "I'm G (OMG)" by Blu & Shafiq Husayn

(Funky, hard joint - with a perfect Easter egg of a movie sample worked into the hook.)

14. "Dream Blunt Rotation" by Rich Jones & Sleep Sinatra/SINAI. feat. AJ Suede, Qari & J.U.S

(As smooth of a dope posse cut as you're going to hear, coming from a diverse collection of some of the underground scene's finest.)

13. "Trippin" - Bossman DLow

(As contagious as mainstream rap can get today, and I'm still laughing at "I pullin' up in a what the fuck kinda car is that?")

12. "SONJE" by Mach-Hommy. feat. Hephzibah

(I went back and forth trying to choose which Mach song to include here, but in my mind this luscious instrumental best represents the strong vibes that run across #RICHAXXHAITIAN.)

11. "Rocafella Chain" by Grafh feat. Freeway, Peedi Crakk & Memphis Bleek

(A dope Roc-A-Fella themed posse cut is not what I expected to hear in 2024, but I couldn't be happier that it exists.)

10. "Gank Move" by Big Hit, Hit-Boy & The Alchemist feat. HitgirlLENA

(Hits that sweet spot between smooth west coast rider music and underground grime, and when that combination works well, there aren't many soundscapes capable of yielding a stronger outcome. This album's aesthetic is peak chemistry between Hit-Boy & The Alchemist, and I hope that all of the challenges facing Big Hit today end up in his rearview soon, because this talented family still has a lot to share with the world.)

9. "Psalm" by 7xvethegenius feat. Jae Skeese

(If 7xvethegenius wasn't high up on your radar before I sure hope she is now. 7xve packs all of the skills of a traditional "conscious MC" without sounding the least bit trapped within those constraints, she's an exceptional writer that knows how to corral the thoughts of a woman that's trying to excel in rap music in 2024, and that in and of itself, provides endless material. 7xvethegenius is the true MVP on Drumwork's team..yup, I said it!)

8. "Lost Angel" by Blu & Evidence

("This album is dedicated to L.A., and everybody who helped me get home, every step of the way." Blu and Evidence's Los Angeles album is easily one of the best rap albums of 2024, and even though it's a skip-free ride that showcases Blu's gifts as a presence on the mic and Ev's - somehow still underappreciated - incredible mastery over the production of this album, it's this loosie that the duo dropped earlier this year that perfectly captures Blu's heartbreak, and subsequent rise from the ashes of his painful past to release some of the best art of his already impressive career.)

7. "Yea Yea" by Star Bandz

(With certain records...you just know it as soon as you hear it. The beat, the swagger of the MC, thay MC's voice...on "Yea Yea" every box is checked. And Chicago's young rising star, appropriately named Star Bandz, has breakout potential written all over her.)

6. "expensive piss" - shemar & Child Actor

(Hazy, unrestrained, and representing some of the best indy music out there today, capturing some of the best traits of the boom-bap era but adding they're own twist to it, the combination of shemar and Child Actor yields a sound that I hope to hear a lot more of in the future.)

5. "The Harder They Come" by YUNGMORPHEUS & Alexander Spit

(The teeth of YUNGMORPHEUS's pen paired with the soothing palette of Alexander Spit, hit me in a special place when I first heard this song earlier in the year. The whole album they did together is great, but this one has stayed with me all year long as one of the strongest examples of hip-hop music being in great hands today.)

4. "Collection Plate" by Ka

(Still shocked to be writing this as the last time to ever be discussing a new Ka record. If The Thief Next to Jesus is to be remembered as the Brownsville poet's swan song, what a bittersweet beautiful farewell to behold. "Collection Plate" was the immediate favorite for me, as it captures Ka's knack for simple but highly effective hooks, sharply written verses without one word wasted, all of it dragged over a rolling organ that paints the picture of a Brooklyn evangelist better than anyone else ever could. 52 years was far from long enough, but thank you for all of the art you gave to the world while you were here, Kaseem.)

3. "Free Jesus" by Mike Shabb feat. Navy Blue

(Not totally sure of what the song means, but I felt it deeply from the moment that Shabb posted a snippet from the studio with Navy. I’d like to think that it’s a statement about how tales from the streets can escalate to God-like levels of exaggeration, and the fragile line separating the exaltation of idols from the reality…but whatever it means to you, it’s a potent attention grabber.)

2. "Zayre" by Previous Industries [Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, STILL RIFT]

(One of many standout records from this trio, but for my money's worth, this joint captures what is so special about the whole album: nostalgia for "the way things used to be" has never sounded more peaceful and content with the present.)

1. "Doves" by Armand Hammer feat. Benjamin Booker

("It's cold again..." Truth be told, I didn't think Armand Hammer's 2023 AOTY We Buy Diabetic Test Strips needed another song to make if that much stronger, but here we are. Maybe the greatest songs that I have ever heard added to an album long after it dropped, "Doves" captures both the beauty and pain of loss. It would be a bleak song as cold as the heart of winter if it wasn't coming from the powerful duo of billy woods and ELUCID, who excel at showing us glimpses of their hearts shining through dark clouds. And the crackle of that Benjamin Booker hook takes this moment to another level.)

[3dsmall]

a guy i used to be in love with called me last night from jail

5 memories:

seeing him for the first time outside of the restaurant i worked at in 2014. he's digging through the trash for food. manager offers him a job, lends him money. he moves in with Karina, a really incredibly sweet Mexican woman who works with us. later, he and i stay up all night on acid, smoking cigarettes on Karina's porch. peeling paint, splintery wood, dogs barking.

waking up on christmas morning on the floor next to him. freezing cold, sleeping in a garage on MLK in Oakland. we spend all day walking around looking for bananas and fried chicken so we can feed the bones to my rats as a Christmas treat.

kissing him in The Ruby Room, feeling like my body was floating and moving rapidly through space whenever i closed my eyes. i dont know any bars anymore where you can smoke cigs inside.

buying him a plane ticket to puerto rico last year only for him not to show up. wanting him as a buffer between myself and a creepy guy who had a persistent crush on me. later he quits his job in indiana and goes to Sinaloa, Mexico for a while. i stop hearing from him.

pointing at him from the backseat of an uber when i spotted his lumbering gait and Chicago Bulls jacket. yelling I AM IN LOVE WITH THAT GUY to the uber driver who says 'that homeless Mexican dude?' (Z was homeless but not Mexican)

i felt kind of hurt after i looked up his case online and saw that he's been in jail for exactly one year now and hadn't called me until last night. i asked him why he was in jail, and he said he was being accused of drive by shootings where no one got hurt. i tell him not to actually answer, i tell him i will just look it up. he tells me not to look it up, tells me if i look it up, it will seem really crazy.

i look it up, there are videos of shots being fired from a car. pictures of bullet holes all over a house, penetrating walls, going through a basket of childrens' toys. what the fuck, z.

he's a talented artist and writer. i can't believe this. i don't really understand what happened. i want to put money on his books, but its also sort of typical of me to spend money that way and ive begun to question my instincts.

my life has changed so much from what it used to be. not completely sure how i feel. i sometimes think i am becoming something very very different than expected. i wonder if he felt that way or not.

[deadpresidents]

Here's the phone call between Lady Bird Johnson and LBJ from March 7, 1964 where Lady Bird is reviewing President Johnson's performance at a televised press conference, showing a very different side of both Lady Bird and LBJ, as mentioned in my last post.

This is from the LBJ Library's awesome LBJ Tapes website, created in conjunction with the University of Virginia's Miller Center, which specializes in Presidential history. The LBJ Tapes website features an archive of audio and transcripts of LBJ's taped phone calls that you can search or browse through depending on details such as the topic of conversation, date of the phone call, or names of the participants of the calls (which include people like Lady Bird, Martin Luther King Jr., Jacqueline Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Robert F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and scores of other important historical figures).

You can really spend days exploring the LBJ Tapes website, and some of the more fascinating topics like LBJ's calls in the hours and days following JFK's assassination where he's becoming more comfortable in the Presidency and begins asking (and, in some cases, ordering) people to serve on the Warren Commission, or LBJ's behind-the-scenes machinations during the 1968 Presidential campaign, as MLK and then RFK are assassinated, the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention spins out of control and Richard Nixon's campaign makes some shady moves with the Vietnamese to help ensure their own victory. On all of these calls, you hear the real Lyndon B. Johnson and they give an eye-opening definition to the "Johnson Treatment".

[readingsquotes]

But, while university administration had been supportive of me when I applied social justice journalism to race, LGBTQ identity, and infectious disease, it did not like when I began applying this same analytic to the genocide in Gaza and the obliteration of our journalism colleagues in Palestine, particularly after the House of Representative’s Committee on Education & the Workforce demanded that Northwestern take action against faculty who supported students in their protest.

In April, students on our campus set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. I spent five days talking with them, saying Passover prayers with them, learning from them and—most importantly when I saw Northwestern police getting ready to physically assault them—placing my body between them and the assailants. For this, I was beaten up by Northwestern cops, leaving me in physical pain for several weeks. Then, Northwestern’s President Schill was called to testify before the Committee on Education & the Workforce, where Representative Jim Banks referred to me as “one of the goons.”

More than two months later (while I was out of the United States for the summer writing my new book, The Overseer Class), the Northwestern police filed criminal charges against me and three other people. (Of the four of us, all were outspoken and most were LGBTQ people.) The State of Illinois declined to prosecute, and when the criminal charges were dropped by the state, I found out that my fall classes were canceled and I was under investigation at Medill.

What’s happening is obvious: the House committee witch hunt is putting pressure on Northwestern to punish people, and they’ve decided I am one of the people to punish. I am an easy target because—like so many people who are being punished for supporting Palestine on campuses around the nation—I am Black, queer, and very loud.

But it’s also awkward for Northwestern because, well, my position is an endowed chair to focus on social justice in reporting—and the genocide in Gaza in general (and the war on its journalists specifically), along with the right of students to express themselves freely on university campuses, are some of the most pressing social justice matters of our time.

...

So as I apply for tenure this fall, as planned, while being kept out of the classroom, and as I am praying for the safety of student protesters on my campus and across the country, I am keeping in mind these powerful words MLK said in his final public speech, the night before he was killed in Memphis:

Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren’t going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around! We are going on.

King was arrested 29 times in his life.

To my students at Medill, I want to say: I may not be teaching in the classroom this fall because I stood with many of you, in King’s tradition, for peace—but I will continue to teach.

[hgono]

HJS - again in writing (in all things and any) her literary style makes me melt.

this is her academic introduction dep. English Vanderbilt University:

https://as.vanderbilt.edu/english/bio/hortense-spillers/

Having taught in the U.S. academy for three decades now (and counting), I am reluctant to look back for all those mythical reasons that warn against the backward glance. (I never figured out why doing so might turn one into a pillar of salt, but it is alleged from quite reputable sources to have happened to at least one person!) In any case, when I conjure up 1974, when I started post-doc teaching at Wellesley College, I always find something to cut the memory short, since remembering is to suggest that you have more past than future, but it doesn’t feel so to me at all. Actually, I feel as though I’m just getting started good!  Though I think I wouldn’t have been half bad at either, I am nevertheless grateful to myself that I didn’t pursue a career in the practice of law, or tv/radio broadcasting, having spent my last two years in undergraduate school at the University of Memphis as a disc jockey at WDIA radio in Memphis. This historic organization—among the first, if not the dead absolute first, all-black radio station in the United States—might have been my launching pad, I’d hoped, to a career in national news; as I recall, I was preparing to take the broadcasters’ examination, administered by the Feds (and the equivalent of our SATs, or in those days, CEEBs) and about to cut a tape, at their request,  to post to the executives who ran WHER in Memphis—the first all-woman radio station in the country, I think. But after all that, William Blake’s prophetic books won the charm offensive! Is that not a surprise, or what! Not many things were more interesting to me then than Walter Cronkite, Pauline Fredrick, and Edward R. Morrow, unless it was “Vala, or the Four Zoas”! And one thing led to another and another and finally a career of literary and cultural interrogation that has taken me literally from my birthplace on the southern tier to the East and Mid-West of the country and several decades later, back again. It would be an understatement to assert that it is not today the same South from which I departed my parents’ driveway in my little Buick Skylark, three months after MLK’s assassination, enroute to Boston and Brandeis.  The changes have been momentous for everyone and precisely frame my own professional development.

Try to imagine this: I hired someone to type my doctoral dissertation, though I was competent enough to have done it myself. But one hired out the work before computers because the professional typist was expected to be very fast, very capable, and expert at the proper formatting. You did everything else. The distance that separates the mid-70s from the turn-of-the-century world is a matter of light years, but I wonder how we are doing today with an old-fashioned aim in mind, and that is to say, teaching reading and writing in the age of twitter, although we apply far fancier names to what we do. It is likely that I wrote my dissertation on the rhetoric of black sermons by hand first, then made a rough copy of it on my Olivetti, then gave the secretary the rough draft from which to make the perfect draft. I think I paid the lady $200.00 and change, as the first “real” painting I bought from the same era—a striking head of Miles Davis on a black ground-- cost five hundred. Living in Haverford rather than Philly, Ithaca rather than the Big Apple, not taking a job in Chicago, but staying in central New York, I survived the 80s, 90s, and the new millennium; what bothers me now is that we haven’t figured out yet the implications of inflated costs, e.g;, that of higher education and the speeds that are supposed to match the global flows of capital.  I think we need to spend a little time trying to imagine what all the latter mean to and for the tasks of higher education.

[whitesinhistory]

Campus Protests Are Called Disruptive. So Was the Civil Rights Movement

On May 1, a half dozen U.S. Senators from both major parties read aloud Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, a yearly ritual celebrating the power of dissent in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, the night before, the NYPD had used riot gear, military equipment, and hundreds of officers to dismantle nonviolent Gaza solidarity encampments at Columbia University and then at City College of the City University of New York (CUNY). In the process, NYPD officers, with authorization from CUNY and Columbia administrations, arrested more than 100 Columbia protesters and approximately 170 CUNY protestors.

The multiracial City College Gaza Solidarity Encampment had drawn students and faculty from across the 25 CUNY colleges, holding Passover seders, Muslim prayers, teach-ins, and art builds. Alongside their demands for divestment, disclosure, and an academic boycott of Israel, CUNY students also called for a demilitarized CUNY and free tuition. Over half of CUNY students come from households that earn $30,000 or less; the university student body is 22% Asian, 26% Black, 31% Latinx, and 21% white.

The juxtaposition of the Senate pageant with the mass criminalization of student protesters was not simply ironic. It reflects how public officials have repeatedly tried to drape themselves in the mis-history of the civil rights movement to oppose and justify the criminalization of protest in the present. Media commentators and public officials have decried the Gaza solidarity encampments and other pro-Palestinian protests with comparisons to King and the civil rights movement. King, many liberals and conservatives claim, didn’t inconvenience people, disrupt things, or make people feel unsafe; by contrast, today’s students are portrayed as reckless and dangerous. Students are protesting Israel's brutal war in Gaza and U.S. investment in funding that war. In January the International Court of Justice found that it was "plausible" that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and in March the U.N. Special Rapporteur determined there were "reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold of genocide...has been met." But two days after the violent NYPD raid, President Biden chastised students—not the police—that “dissent must never lead to disorder.”

Such popular invocations of the movement miss how the civil rights heroes of the past were viewed as dangerous, disorderly, and unwelcome in their own day. King and others who refused to live by the racial status quo were treated as “extremists” in their time, just like their contemporary counterparts are treated in our time. 

Read More: Biden Condemns Campus Unrest Over Israel-Hamas War: 'None of This Is a Peaceful Protest’

Indeed, from the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 on, King understood the need for disruptive protest to upset norms of segregation, poverty, and militarism. And he was criticized for it. Many leaders and commentators chastised King and the bus boycott for hurting the bus company and putting people out of work—and the national NAACP didn’t support the year-long bus boycott, finding it too disruptive, only later taking on the legal case. 

Even the march that King would later become most associated with after his assassination–the March on Washington (MOW) on Aug. 28, 1963, of 250,000 people—was not supported by many politicians or most Americans at the time, according a Gallup poll done the week of the march. 

Those who opposed civil rights activism were not some Southern fringe. The Chicago Sun Times in 1963 decried the “intimidation” of the MOW. The Chicago Tribune, alongside various Chicago politicians, referred to King as an “outside agitator” when he criticized the city’s deep segregation in 1963, saying it was as bad as Birmingham’s.

As King had said for years: “Racial injustice was not a sectional problem. …De facto segregation of the North was as injurious as the legal segregation of the South.” Indeed, a couple of months before the MOW, on June 12, 1963, Dr. King delivered the commencement address at City College and underscored that point.

Located in the heart of Harlem, City College proclaimed its mission to provide a free excellent higher education to the "whole people" of New York. But in reality, King addressed a nearly all-white crowd of 15,000 people that day. Less than three dozen of the 2,800 students graduating in 1963 were Black, though nearly half of the city’s schools were Black and Puerto Rican. Civil rights advocates, parents, and students had been pointing out the problem for years, including City College’s own Kenneth Clark, a sociologist whose research had been crucial to the Supreme Court’s Brown decision striking down school segregation in 1954.

A month after King’s City College address, Black Brooklynites staged pickets intended to disrupt—and ideally halt—construction work at the Downstate Hospital because construction companies excluded Black workers. Protesters even laid down in front of construction vehicles. Hundreds were arrested day after day.

King supported the confrontational demonstrations, stressing they would end “when the Negro feels he is getting a fair deal in housing and job opportunities.” The police roughed up many of the protesters, so King underlined the need for the federal government to create a special civil rights force to prevent police brutality against protestors (in New York as well as Birmingham). King emphasized the role the police played in maintaining segregation and criminalizing protest across the country. He later referred to New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago as sites of “domestic colonialism,” where police and the courts act as “enforcers.”

The year after his address at City College, Black and white moderates called on King to condemn Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality’s proposed stall-in. Brooklyn CORE had spent the early 1960s challenging housing segregation, school segregation, and job discrimination, garnering little substantive change. Now they sought to draw attention to the city’s rampant inequality by stalling cars on highways leading to the 1964 World’s Fair to be held at Flushing Meadows—to make it difficult for people to continue to avoid seeing racism and poverty. But King refused to condemn the action.

“We do not need allies who are more devoted to order than to justice,” King explained. “I hear a lot of talk these days about our direct action talk alienating former friends. I would rather feel they are bringing to the surface latent prejudices that are already there. If our direct action programs alienate our friends….they never were really our friends.” Allies are not allies who are more devoted to order than to justice, he argued, as he had in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail the previous year.

Read More: The Problem With Comparing Today's Activists to Martin Luther King Jr.

By 1969, City College was still 91% white; while CUNY’s Brooklyn College was 96% white. Alongside student strikes across the country that accelerated in the wake of Dr. King’s assassination, a massive movement at CUNY crescendoed in the spring of 1969. Student protesters challenged CUNY’s segregation, its nearly-all-white faculty, and a biased curriculum. At City College, students engaged in a two-week occupation of the campus. At Brooklyn College, they took over a faculty meeting, had mass demonstrations, briefly took over buildings, and engaged in minor arson and vandalism. And they faced massive criminalization. 

The Brooklyn College administration got an injunction against students congregating on campus and the NYPD raided the homes of 17 Brooklyn College activists who then faced multiple felony charges. The media framed them as Communists and terrorizers, and many city leaders and residents saw them as reckless and dangerous. But many Black and Puerto Rican community members rallied around them, continuing the pressure. And these protests ultimately succeeded in the establishment of Africana and Puerto Rican studies departments, the diversification of the faculty, and open admissions at CUNY.

Fast forward 55 years, universities like CUNY and Columbia now celebrate those activists of old, featuring this activism on their websites and praising them in anniversary celebrations of Africana and Puerto Rican Studies. Yet, university administrations brought the NYPD to violently break up the encampments; Brooklyn College suspended all outdoor activities, and Columbia canceled its commencement.

Such actions and the political leaders who misuse the memory of the civil rights movement and student activism of the past have not learned the needed lessons from this history. The young people of this moment—as they protest the war in Gaza, in the face of significant campus and police repression—are picking up that work.

[smokeybrandcompositions]

John Wayne

Year in and year out, Conservatives use the fear of brown people to propel themselves into office. It’s always the same story; “They’re not sending their best”, “They’re taking our jobs”, “they’re crippling the welfare system”, and whatever else. I tune that sh*t out because I’m not an idiot. It’s an election year so the Right has been particularly aggressive with their brown people prejudice. They’re touting a “crisis” at the border, that five thousand people a day are illegally coming over and that’s just not true. It’s wildly inaccurate. In fact, I learned today that this sh*t comes in waves. I listened to a Texan tell me, one that lives in the State and sees this sh*t pretty regularly, that immigration rises during the holidays because, you guessed it, they cross to see family. Like anyone else during the holidays, these people come over, stay for a week, and then leave. The drop these cats are seeing in the January numbers are because the holidays are over, not because of Greg Abbott’s harsh stance on border security It’s just the natural flow of family exchange for Christmas. You catch a plane to see your aunt in Chicago, they swim across the Rio Grande to so the same. And just like you catch a return flight home, they wade across to the Mexico bank when they tire of all that extended family time. He also mentioned that there would be a spike in the spring. Why? Construction season. These people come over, get picked up as day laborers, then go home. They are temporary illegals. Listening to this man speak, and knowing what my friends abroad think of the US, it immediately dawned on me that most of these “illegals”, probably don’t even want to stay. They come over, work the fields, build a few houses, stay with family for a bit, then go back home. It’s no different than an Asian family sending money back to the home country or an exchange student sending back gifts. The way the Right wing media tells it, those five thousand a day, stay and mooch off our system. That they are parasites on the teat of Big Government. I would posited a guess that at least two-thirds of that five thousand, go back home after a month  or two to however long their particular labor seasons lasts. No one abroad wants to actually LIVE in the US. It’s f*cking horrible here, especially if you have an semblance of melanin in your skin.

I’m a huge black dude who is native to the US. I’ve lived here all my life and have seen, firsthand, how f*cking stupid it is here. I’ve watched as out “education” system gets dumber and more propagandized, as time has gone on. Hell, since I graduated high school twenty years ago, sh*t has gotten worse. Common Core Math is the dumbest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life and the fact here is this ridiculous belief that Critical Race Theory is being taught to grade school kids, is insane. Bro, my niece’s history book refers to the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a f*cking cultural exchange. Do you have any idea how absurd that is? Red States across the nation are declining to teach anything about the Civil Rights Movement, outside of the whitewashed and sanitized version of MLK, because of white tears. More than that, our “education” system is constructed to actually educate. It’s not built to help teach you how to think critically or properly comprehend information. It’s there to make sure you are indoctrinated into the School-Work-Prison system we have here. There’s a reason you go to school for eight hours a day, have an hour of yard time, need to ask permission to use the rest room, and stay sequestered in social blocks most of the day. What’s the difference between desk, a cubicle, an a cell? They don’t teach you anything meaningful like taxes, self-defense, basic auto repair, or computer literacy. They did all of that when I was young, but not anymore. The first budgets to get slashed, every year, are Social Security and Education. Why? Because you don’t need to be intelligent to be a cog in the machine for the entirety of your life. They just move you from one institution to another, until you f*cking die. Our education system is designed to kill any semblance of free thinking and to encourage conformity. You are to take direction, never question it. It’s no wonder these people on the Right, who covet a Strong Man and value Cults of Personality over actual leaders, take to such egregious half-truths.

Admittedly, it never dawned on me to ask if all these illegals actually stayed and I tend to question everything. I just didn’t see it as that big of a problem because, in my experience, most illegals are hardworking, considerate, and go out of their way to avoid the system lest they be targeted. I’m from California. I know a bit about this immigration “crisis.” I live it, too, but, unlike Texas, I don’t care like that. I’m not laboring in that Cali heat during the summer. I did that when I was young. Use to work for a lawn care service in my youth. If someone else wants to do it, they can have it. That’s the funniest thing about all of this, the “illegals” WANT to do that sh*t while the “legals”, don’t. Florida is experiencing firsthand what happens when you turn hostile toward the people who do those quiet, unsung, jobs. Construction has come to a halt. Crops are rotting on the vine. Sure, DeSantis got his wish and bused out all the “illegals” or whatever, but not their State has reached an impasse. Oranges are literally rotting on the vine because all those white people who had a problem with the browns during harvest season, refuse to get out there an pick fruit. Hell, most are even willing to pay taxes out of there slave wages. They don’t mind contributing to a country which gave them more financial opportunity than the one they left. You have a temporary workforce who are willing to d this back-breaking job you outright refuse to do, in horrific seasonal conditions, and, instead of giving them an opportunity to do so in an acceptable, legal fashion, persecute them because they hopped a border? That doesn’t make any sense, especially when you take into account that the government, a bipartisan coalition, set up legislation to do just that. There was a plan on the books, a whole budget ready to be implemented to “secure our border”, and the Right sabotaged it because their Orange Hitler told them to. Because this immigration bogey man is all they have to run on. I don’t think Trump is getting re-elected, he’s alienated too many independents and women, but it’s nuts to see so many Republicans bend the knee, know it’s only in his best interests, not the country. That legislation on the border was the strongest sh*t put forth in decades and the Republicans, after negotiating so many concessions from the Democrats, effectively killed it. Boggles the goddamn mind, man. And that brings me to my whole point: Stupid people are being tricked by this blatant propaganda.

A guy I know was radicalized when he moved to Idaho, one of the Reddest, Whitest, most Religious States in the union. They are known as the potato capital in the Union so, guess what the second highest demographic there is? Before, this dude was absolutely in love with a Mexican woman. She was his unicorn. After that move, and after his second wife cheated on him (just like his first), he became this Far Right, conspiracy believing, Fox News watching, Arm Chair Patriot who believes in his Country, His military, and his God. Dude is also a prime example of the cog pour education system kicks out. He was a C/D student, which speaks to his lack of comprehension but ability to make orders, who graduated High School by the seat of his pants and opted to join the military, another institution where you are literally conditioned to take order. He told me that he loved the military life specifically FOR that. He didn’t like to think and found it easier to take orders. This is a man who had to ask his father for advice at every major life choice, a person who had to have his mother or wife, but up his steak because he refused to eat any food off the bone. Dude refused to cash his Pandemic check because he didn’t need no handouts, or whatever, even though that check was basically the government giving him back his own money. Just stupid sh*t born of immaturity and a complete lack of comprehension, just how our education system raised him up to be. This dude doesn’t have the ability to think for himself, he can’t dive deep into a subject because he was never taught patience or given the tools to actually research properly. He blindly believes whatever strong, male, energy is currently in his immediate space and defers, like a puppy, to it. His masculinity is tied to someone else’s and it’s jarring to see. He fetishizes black bodies, basketball is his favorite sport, but he doesn’t value black lives. We had a NBA Bubble long exchange about the civil unrest after George Floyd’s death and he took the cliche, milquetoast, Conservative stance of, “I believe they are right to be angry but riots are bad and don’t work because they alienate people from your message.” Nah, they alienate white people from the message because seeing a bunch of black people out in force, terrifies them. Riots work. It’s why there are Gay Rights. It’s literally how this country started. Basically this dude I know, is the exact face of the modern Republican proletariat and that goes a LONG way to explain why some asshole like Trump can strangle the entire GOP to near death, in service to his own ego.

The bulk of the Republican voter base are like the dude I know. They’re idiots. It’s not their fault, they were trained to be that way. Sh*t started early, in the pulpits of church, carried over through school, perpetuated once they entered the work force or military, and solidified once they entered middle age. These people are sheep, bred to prop up the elites. They just accept whatever Fox News or Donald Trump spoon feeds them, because they’ve been doing that their entire lives. They want the Strong Man. They need the orders. They can’t function without them. Plus, all these brown people are coming over here and breeding out their pure, white, blood. Poisoning the gene pool and sh*t. They can roll my burritos, but I’ll be damned if they roll in the hay with my daughter. Even though it takes two to tango. That doesn’t matter because Fentanyl is flooding over the border, never mind that the opioid crisis was engineered by Big Pharma and the over prescription of Xanax. The “Crisis” at he border is something only Trump can solve, even though Biden had his pen ready to sing that bi-partisan plan which the Right killed. They even released it to the public so they could see for themselves where that loot was going but that didn’t matter. The Sheeple didn’t believe anything the Swamp was trying to slide by them, because their kowtowing leaders, those weak ass Strong Men they crave, told them not to. These people don’t have the capacity to think for themselves and the ones who do, use that ability to grift. People like Ben Shapiro aren’t stupid. They know what they say is incendiary and ridiculous but he gets paid to say that dumb sh*t, because it resonates with dumb people. Tucker Carlson is a bigot who gave Putin time on his show, and exposure to his gullible ass audience, so that the Strongest Man would push his absurd, revisionist, history directly to the most susceptible idiots in the idiot bunch. And they ate that sh*t up. Carlson is joke and has done irreparable damage to this country with that stunt but only people who understand consequence, individuals who fight for the right to think for themselves, understand that. It’s the same reason these people are so easily spooked by the phantom brown boogeyman every election year. They don’t want to read the legislation and are too idiotic to complacent to ask why? They feel safe in the arms of the Strong Man, even as said Man slowly closes his grip, choking them to death with that strength they long for.

[smokeybrand]

John Wayne

Year in and year out, Conservatives use the fear of brown people to propel themselves into office. It’s always the same story; “They’re not sending their best”, “They’re taking our jobs”, “they’re crippling the welfare system”, and whatever else. I tune that sh*t out because I’m not an idiot. It’s an election year so the Right has been particularly aggressive with their brown people prejudice. They’re touting a “crisis” at the border, that five thousand people a day are illegally coming over and that’s just not true. It’s wildly inaccurate. In fact, I learned today that this sh*t comes in waves. I listened to a Texan tell me, one that lives in the State and sees this sh*t pretty regularly, that immigration rises during the holidays because, you guessed it, they cross to see family. Like anyone else during the holidays, these people come over, stay for a week, and then leave. The drop these cats are seeing in the January numbers are because the holidays are over, not because of Greg Abbott’s harsh stance on border security It’s just the natural flow of family exchange for Christmas. You catch a plane to see your aunt in Chicago, they swim across the Rio Grande to so the same. And just like you catch a return flight home, they wade across to the Mexico bank when they tire of all that extended family time. He also mentioned that there would be a spike in the spring. Why? Construction season. These people come over, get picked up as day laborers, then go home. They are temporary illegals. Listening to this man speak, and knowing what my friends abroad think of the US, it immediately dawned on me that most of these “illegals”, probably don’t even want to stay. They come over, work the fields, build a few houses, stay with family for a bit, then go back home. It’s no different than an Asian family sending money back to the home country or an exchange student sending back gifts. The way the Right wing media tells it, those five thousand a day, stay and mooch off our system. That they are parasites on the teat of Big Government. I would posited a guess that at least two-thirds of that five thousand, go back home after a month  or two to however long their particular labor seasons lasts. No one abroad wants to actually LIVE in the US. It’s f*cking horrible here, especially if you have an semblance of melanin in your skin.

I’m a huge black dude who is native to the US. I’ve lived here all my life and have seen, firsthand, how f*cking stupid it is here. I’ve watched as out “education” system gets dumber and more propagandized, as time has gone on. Hell, since I graduated high school twenty years ago, sh*t has gotten worse. Common Core Math is the dumbest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life and the fact here is this ridiculous belief that Critical Race Theory is being taught to grade school kids, is insane. Bro, my niece’s history book refers to the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a f*cking cultural exchange. Do you have any idea how absurd that is? Red States across the nation are declining to teach anything about the Civil Rights Movement, outside of the whitewashed and sanitized version of MLK, because of white tears. More than that, our “education” system is constructed to actually educate. It’s not built to help teach you how to think critically or properly comprehend information. It’s there to make sure you are indoctrinated into the School-Work-Prison system we have here. There’s a reason you go to school for eight hours a day, have an hour of yard time, need to ask permission to use the rest room, and stay sequestered in social blocks most of the day. What’s the difference between desk, a cubicle, an a cell? They don’t teach you anything meaningful like taxes, self-defense, basic auto repair, or computer literacy. They did all of that when I was young, but not anymore. The first budgets to get slashed, every year, are Social Security and Education. Why? Because you don’t need to be intelligent to be a cog in the machine for the entirety of your life. They just move you from one institution to another, until you f*cking die. Our education system is designed to kill any semblance of free thinking and to encourage conformity. You are to take direction, never question it. It’s no wonder these people on the Right, who covet a Strong Man and value Cults of Personality over actual leaders, take to such egregious half-truths.

Admittedly, it never dawned on me to ask if all these illegals actually stayed and I tend to question everything. I just didn’t see it as that big of a problem because, in my experience, most illegals are hardworking, considerate, and go out of their way to avoid the system lest they be targeted. I’m from California. I know a bit about this immigration “crisis.” I live it, too, but, unlike Texas, I don’t care like that. I’m not laboring in that Cali heat during the summer. I did that when I was young. Use to work for a lawn care service in my youth. If someone else wants to do it, they can have it. That’s the funniest thing about all of this, the “illegals” WANT to do that sh*t while the “legals”, don’t. Florida is experiencing firsthand what happens when you turn hostile toward the people who do those quiet, unsung, jobs. Construction has come to a halt. Crops are rotting on the vine. Sure, DeSantis got his wish and bused out all the “illegals” or whatever, but not their State has reached an impasse. Oranges are literally rotting on the vine because all those white people who had a problem with the browns during harvest season, refuse to get out there an pick fruit. Hell, most are even willing to pay taxes out of there slave wages. They don’t mind contributing to a country which gave them more financial opportunity than the one they left. You have a temporary workforce who are willing to d this back-breaking job you outright refuse to do, in horrific seasonal conditions, and, instead of giving them an opportunity to do so in an acceptable, legal fashion, persecute them because they hopped a border? That doesn’t make any sense, especially when you take into account that the government, a bipartisan coalition, set up legislation to do just that. There was a plan on the books, a whole budget ready to be implemented to “secure our border”, and the Right sabotaged it because their Orange Hitler told them to. Because this immigration bogey man is all they have to run on. I don’t think Trump is getting re-elected, he’s alienated too many independents and women, but it’s nuts to see so many Republicans bend the knee, know it’s only in his best interests, not the country. That legislation on the border was the strongest sh*t put forth in decades and the Republicans, after negotiating so many concessions from the Democrats, effectively killed it. Boggles the goddamn mind, man. And that brings me to my whole point: Stupid people are being tricked by this blatant propaganda.

A guy I know was radicalized when he moved to Idaho, one of the Reddest, Whitest, most Religious States in the union. They are known as the potato capital in the Union so, guess what the second highest demographic there is? Before, this dude was absolutely in love with a Mexican woman. She was his unicorn. After that move, and after his second wife cheated on him (just like his first), he became this Far Right, conspiracy believing, Fox News watching, Arm Chair Patriot who believes in his Country, His military, and his God. Dude is also a prime example of the cog pour education system kicks out. He was a C/D student, which speaks to his lack of comprehension but ability to make orders, who graduated High School by the seat of his pants and opted to join the military, another institution where you are literally conditioned to take order. He told me that he loved the military life specifically FOR that. He didn’t like to think and found it easier to take orders. This is a man who had to ask his father for advice at every major life choice, a person who had to have his mother or wife, but up his steak because he refused to eat any food off the bone. Dude refused to cash his Pandemic check because he didn’t need no handouts, or whatever, even though that check was basically the government giving him back his own money. Just stupid sh*t born of immaturity and a complete lack of comprehension, just how our education system raised him up to be. This dude doesn’t have the ability to think for himself, he can’t dive deep into a subject because he was never taught patience or given the tools to actually research properly. He blindly believes whatever strong, male, energy is currently in his immediate space and defers, like a puppy, to it. His masculinity is tied to someone else’s and it’s jarring to see. He fetishizes black bodies, basketball is his favorite sport, but he doesn’t value black lives. We had a NBA Bubble long exchange about the civil unrest after George Floyd’s death and he took the cliche, milquetoast, Conservative stance of, “I believe they are right to be angry but riots are bad and don’t work because they alienate people from your message.” Nah, they alienate white people from the message because seeing a bunch of black people out in force, terrifies them. Riots work. It’s why there are Gay Rights. It’s literally how this country started. Basically this dude I know, is the exact face of the modern Republican proletariat and that goes a LONG way to explain why some asshole like Trump can strangle the entire GOP to near death, in service to his own ego.

The bulk of the Republican voter base are like the dude I know. They’re idiots. It’s not their fault, they were trained to be that way. Sh*t started early, in the pulpits of church, carried over through school, perpetuated once they entered the work force or military, and solidified once they entered middle age. These people are sheep, bred to prop up the elites. They just accept whatever Fox News or Donald Trump spoon feeds them, because they’ve been doing that their entire lives. They want the Strong Man. They need the orders. They can’t function without them. Plus, all these brown people are coming over here and breeding out their pure, white, blood. Poisoning the gene pool and sh*t. They can roll my burritos, but I’ll be damned if they roll in the hay with my daughter. Even though it takes two to tango. That doesn’t matter because Fentanyl is flooding over the border, never mind that the opioid crisis was engineered by Big Pharma and the over prescription of Xanax. The “Crisis” at he border is something only Trump can solve, even though Biden had his pen ready to sing that bi-partisan plan which the Right killed. They even released it to the public so they could see for themselves where that loot was going but that didn’t matter. The Sheeple didn’t believe anything the Swamp was trying to slide by them, because their kowtowing leaders, those weak ass Strong Men they crave, told them not to. These people don’t have the capacity to think for themselves and the ones who do, use that ability to grift. People like Ben Shapiro aren’t stupid. They know what they say is incendiary and ridiculous but he gets paid to say that dumb sh*t, because it resonates with dumb people. Tucker Carlson is a bigot who gave Putin time on his show, and exposure to his gullible ass audience, so that the Strongest Man would push his absurd, revisionist, history directly to the most susceptible idiots in the idiot bunch. And they ate that sh*t up. Carlson is joke and has done irreparable damage to this country with that stunt but only people who understand consequence, individuals who fight for the right to think for themselves, understand that. It’s the same reason these people are so easily spooked by the phantom brown boogeyman every election year. They don’t want to read the legislation and are too idiotic to complacent to ask why? They feel safe in the arms of the Strong Man, even as said Man slowly closes his grip, choking them to death with that strength they long for.

[davisexplainableart]

Photos from Red Wing

[Taken directly from "News" section of Mixels site]

(Also this isn't actually real)

The band's drummer, Amethyst (as a Mixel), after playing their set.

The frontman, Davis, holding his tambourine in his mouth like a dog, whilst wearing his turquoise-colored parka.

Obviously, we're taking time off due to MLK day today, but we hope to see you in Chicago tomorrow!!

-Mr. Burbleton

================================================

Okay, so... If you're wondering what's on Amethyst's head (because of course you are), that's a hat I've owned for several years now (got it for Christmas in 2018). I'm letting Amethyst borrow it because it is still WAY TOO COLD for us to be playing in outdoor venues!

[thenewsart]

Service helps on MLK Day, but some say it's not enough : NPR

Members of AmeriCorps, a federal volunteerism agency, gather at Herzl Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side for a beautification project. It was postponed because of inclement weather. Esther Yoon-Ji Kang/WEBZ hide caption toggle caption Esther Yoon-Ji Kang/WEBZ Members of AmeriCorps, a federal volunteerism agency, gather at Herzl Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side for a…

[wutbju]

WutBJU found this little gem in the 1968 Vintage.

John Stormer was a featured speaker at Bob Jones University's Bible Conference in 1968. It's BIBLE CONFERENCE. And who does BJU invite?

A fear-monger that could be a model for Ron DeSantis' 2024 Presidential campaign.

The Greenville News reported on it. A transcription with commentary will follow.

"Forty eight hours ago a man was shot down by a sniper's bullet in Memphis, Tenn. Since then, at least 20 people have been killed in violence in 46 cities of the United States. As we meet here tonight (Saturday), troops have the White House and Capitol surrounded to keep mobs from burning it to the ground. We live in a troubled land; we live in a land which is in trouble."

Well, yeah.

Stormer's speech in Rodeheaver was on Saturday, April 6, 1968.

Anybody remember what happened on April 4, 1968? Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Does Stormer mention MLK ever? At all?

Of course not. He's just "a man." Can you even believe it? THE Martin Luther King, Jr. is nothing but "a man" in this Klandamentalist account.

These were the opening remarks Saturday night as John Stormer, author of "Note Dare Call It Treason," spoke to an audience of more than 4,000 at Bob Jones University. He said that within the last four years more than 150 people have been gunned down in the streets of America; thousands of others injured, more than a billion dollars worth of property burned or otherwise destroyed. "What is behind all the unrest and violence?" Stormer asked.

Oh what could it be? :/

He answered the question by saying that the President's Commission on Civil Disorders says that poverty, lack of economic opportunity, prejudice, and White racism are responsible. "Others, including, J. Edgar Hoover, grand juries in cities wrecked by violence, and police officials, have made it plain that Communists and other subversives have played upon the discontent, which stems from some of these conditions, to provoke the actual violence."

Here's a place to start reading about the Kerner Commission.

But the real problem in 1968 is, of course, a Red problem!

He quoted Hoover as saying that Communists and other subversives and extremists strive and labor ceaselessly to promote racial trouble and take advantage of racial discord in this country. Such elements were active in exploiting and aggravating the riots; for example, in Harlem, Watts, Cleveland and Chicago. Stormer said that all the rioters are not pro-Communist or anti-American. He quoted the Negro writer Louis Lomax, who after the Detroit riots, said that once the organized revolutionaries break open stores and get the violence started, then the human element begins to play into the hands of the revolutionaries.

And look at Stormer here. Does he sound any different than every white supremacist for the last three years?

Continuing, the conservative author said, "Men and women move in to satisfy their lusts for free cigarettes, free clothes, free booze, and anything else they can carry away. I have studied the cause for riots in the last several years, and I was puzzled for a long time, We have always had poverty in America; there has always been discrimination against any group as they have come to America."

Going back to the depression days, Stormer mentioned that during that time more than 15 million people were unemployed; the communists had a thousand members working actively to promote a revolution; and there were no riots. Why? "There are two principle differences between then and now," he noted. "In the 1930s it was a certainty that if trouble would break out and looting start, the government would move quickly and forcefully to put down any trouble. This is no longer the case."

Ah, yes! The good ol' days during the Great Depression!

There is a second element, as well. In the 1930s there was still a general acceptance among most of the population that there was at least a possibility that men would have to answer to God for his actions even if he weren't caught by the police. In the 1930s Christians, both black and white, and their churches were still faithful in proclaiming the message of God's judgment to come for all men. This puts a restraint on the natural wickedness of the heart of man.

Stormer told his audience that the function of the Christian was that which Jesus Christ referred do when he told his disciples, "Ye are the salt of the earth." "In the Lord's day," continued Stormer, "salt was used to preserve or to keep meat from getting rotten. If the Christian is serving his function in society, he tends to hold back corruption." In conclusion he said "Because Christians are not functioning as the salt of the earth and have lost their savor, Christians in all society are being trodden under the feet of men."

Have they ever changed?