A Force

Always amazed by you, @Simone_Biles! Keep shining — we’re rooting for you! 😍✨

pic.twitter.com/Z5bbYIu95a

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 23, 2021

It’s The Racism

"Why the fuck is our healthcare tied to our employment?"
Racism! pic.twitter.com/u8utPyz29n

— EsmirElle (@ESMirelle) March 5, 2021

Everything is tied to racism in America https://t.co/z4sZBgCHtH

— UH82CIT 🙃 🇳🇬 (@PrinceHAK33M) March 7, 2021

‘What To My People Is The Fourth Of July?’

Amidst the national uprising for racial justice, ’Hamilton’ star @DaveedDiggs and a collective of Black artists created this evocative video inspired by Frederick Douglass’ ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’ pic.twitter.com/FFcCVVeWcr

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 3, 2020

‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’

Exhausting

https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1265343537010245632

https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1265343986794782720

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You deserved your breath, your dignity, your life. Not to die in the street, murdered by a white cop’s knee on your neck. You deserve our tears, our prayers, our rage, our action. We must act - for you - and for all of those were no cameras are present. We must. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/JeMNUtkXv6

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) May 27, 2020

https://twitter.com/KendraJames_/status/1265344965003014144

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I know we’re sharing pics and vids of Christian Cooper and I just want us to be really careful not to fall into the “perfect victim” narrative when it comes to Black folx confronted with racism. What Amy Cooper did was WRONG - it doesn’t matter what he looks or sounds like.

— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) May 26, 2020

I bring this up remembering how folx treated Rachel Jeantel, Trayvon Martin’s friend who testified at George Zimmerman’s trial and was described as “ghetto trash” - I think about this young woman often. She didn’t deserve that. https://t.co/9OY0aqxPe4

— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) May 26, 2020

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“He didn’t deserve what happened to him,” says Tera Brown, cousin of George Floyd, who said he couldn’t breathe as a police officer used a knee to hold him down by the neck. Brown said the four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd’s death should be “charged with murder.” pic.twitter.com/XKzn8Lwxzz

— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) May 27, 2020

It’s Our America

What truly makes our country great is its diversity. I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) July 19, 2019

Onward!

Congrats to the USWNT! A great performance from a great team—looking forward to Sunday. #OneNationOneTeam

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 2, 2019

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, America…

 

by @zizii2

…Who’s the ugliest of us all?

In case there was ever any doubt about our unvarnished national character, the conclusion of the Republican Party nomination Tuesday night, laid it bare for all to see. One of only 2 viable political parties within the sole superpower on this planet, that wields thousands of nuclear weapons, decided in a delirious fit of racial and xenophobic apoplexy, to put a madman just one ballot round in line to ascend the presidency!

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Yes, only 10 million Americans actually cast ballots to nominate Donald Trump to be flag bearer of the Republican Party, but with party Chair Reince Priebus’ seal of approval, that outcome multiplies to represent the will of a good half of this country. Let that sink in.

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While the other half of us recoil at the sheer horror that the existential threat of Trump’s endorsed candidacy portends, we’ve seen in the last 24 hours the utter venality of the Republican Party and its media minions on full display. Country be damned. The people be damned. Global alliances be damned. Competency? Who needs that? Wheeeeee, Trump is a giant amusement park rodeo they must ride all the way to the White House. And the hordes fueling this putrid dough of a a candidate? Who cares! Just feed them more bigotry. Nothing matters but naked power. This is one fucking ugly country!

American Tribalism: Road to Rwanda Redux

by @zizii2

I have been spooked these last 10 days by the insanity that erupted here in the US since the Paris terrorist attacks. I wanted to give words to my thoughts. But I froze. Then I rediscovered this piece I began writing in April 2013, but had abandoned for being too alarmist! If only I knew….

Here is the piece completed with a few edits…

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Rwanda: A Haunting Lesson

April 6 marked the (21st) anniversary of the launch of the genocidal nightmare in the central African country of Rwanda that ended 100 days later with 800,000 people dead, and a nation scarred deeply. That was 11.4% of the total population of 7 million. Nearly three-quarters of those massacred were Tutsis who comprised 14% of the entire population.

The word “anniversary” seems inappropriate because although it is technically a neutral term it still invokes positive associations and anticipation. No one should anticipate a genocide nor look forward to marking milestones in its aftermath. Yet mark, we must. The lessons are not simply framed in dog-eared history tomes or award winning films about a bygone tragedy. The lessons are here. With us. Today.

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In societies wracked by mass economic, social and political faultlines the signs are always there for a Rwanda Redux, or a Srebrenica. Hate Radio. Divide and conquer. Nihilism. Opportunistic politicians and cultural loudmouths. Group resentment. Grievance. Silence and apathy from the majority population. Now, all of these do not a genocide trigger. But they exist to be manipulated if conditions ripen.

“The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. This small, privileged group first set the majority against the minority to counter a growing political opposition within Rwanda. Then, faced with RPF success on the battlefield and at the negotiating table, these few power holders transformed the strategy of ethnic division into genocide. They believed that the extermination campaign would reinstate the solidarity of the Hutu under their leadership and help them win the war, or at least improve their chances of negotiating a favorable peace. They seized control of the state and used its authority to carry out the massacre. (UnitedHumanRights.Org)”

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Genocide, Cultural Appropriation, Thievery, Marginalization – aka Columbus Day

https://twitter.com/nffc65/status/521666690397274112

Christopher Columbus - the first person to invoke Stand Your Ground on American soil. #HappyColumbusDay

— Propane Jane™ 🔥💣 (@docrocktex26) October 13, 2014

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https://twitter.com/DJGREENLANTERN/status/521660318775136256

Enjoying a day off to rest and relax thanks to another "American lie" #happycolumbusday

— Candace L. Bowe (@_CLBowe) October 13, 2014

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https://twitter.com/JRehling/status/521683948280479746

Accidentally walked to the wrong class but played it off like I was supposed to be there the entire time #happycolumbusday

— CNO (@CNOtheCEO) October 13, 2014

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https://twitter.com/cdewayneharris/status/521691341286543360

#HappyColumbusDay but try not to get lost, have one of your ships abandon you, enslave tons of people & then kill them.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) October 13, 2014

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https://twitter.com/BobbyJComedy/status/521698976220069889

https://twitter.com/lunarseawitch/status/521699416596832256

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https://twitter.com/KeepItRealMusic/status/521705665132507136

On this day we honor and observe imperialism, breaking and entering, thievery, deception, and of course, mass genocide. #HappyColumbusDay

— uncle dabid (@Dloui_33) October 13, 2014

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https://twitter.com/Sassy_BlondeUSA/status/521700545548275714

I'd really like history textbooks to put more emphasis on the forced slavery rather than "sailing the ocean blue." #HappyColumbusDay

— Sebastian (Trans rights are human rights) (@AroundTheWeird) October 13, 2014

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#ColumbusDay, Sholumbus Day. pic.twitter.com/aLXBylVEkc

— 🤌🏾 Imani Gandy 👆🏾 (@AngryBlackLady) October 13, 2014

https://twitter.com/KRASHgetsCASH/status/521704006977331200

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So if I brutally and intentionally massacre a whole race of people will I get a holiday named after me too? #HappyColumbusDay

— Christian (@uberweiner) October 13, 2014

https://twitter.com/TheMissE/status/521703062419693568

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Spending Columbus Day worried about foreigners with diseases a cruel irony.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 13, 2014

https://twitter.com/chaseditz/status/521710387692339200

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Happy Columbus Day ❤️ #IndigenousPeoplesDay pic.twitter.com/G88fPUez5O

— Echefulam Madubuike (@echemadubuike) October 13, 2014