It's Friday, instead of the typical Friday Reflections, let's ramble chat instead. Ha!
I've got a lot on my mind recently but don't we all?
I started writing this on Friday and only got to write two lines before I had to go back to work. I tried writing this on Saturday and had to upload this video, which kept failing so I spent my entire evening fixing that. Absolutely maddening. This is why I just write because all the other things are mad aggravating. I recorded like three takes, finally got a take that works, uploaded, and oops would not work no matter what I tried. Anyway, finally got it to work. So watch, watch, watch, comment, like, you know. Please encourage me because yo, those things are tough.
And now, it is Sunday. So let's get on with this, shall we?
Last week Tuesday was election day in America. In case you live outside America and you're wondering, how many times are these fools going to have an election. Fair. Every four years (well at least, so far IYKYK), America holds a presidential election to choose the President and Vice President, which is what happened last year. But elections also happen in other years for state, local, and other offices such as governors, city mayors, municipal councils etc. Some of those happen at the same time as the presidential election cycles, but some other occur in "off years" between major federal elections. So the Tuesday after the first Monday in November remains the standard "Election Day" irrespective of year to accommodate many of these other contests.
The big election to watch this year was New York City's mayoral race, mainly because of a [at the time] little known underdog called Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani not only went from being unknown to one of the most important political candidate of our time, he challenged the incumbent and other members of the establishment, including former governor Andrew Cuomo. Throughout that competition my biggest gripe was that no one thought to ask Cuomo why, after running the entire state and resigning in disgrace, he thought he needed again to run for mayor of a city within that state. Maybe no one asked because the glaring answer is: power and greed. But I digress. Mamdani ran on one thing only: affordability for the people. That was it. But if you listened to the pundits and the establishment politicians and effing moronic billionaires you would think he ran on: let's murder everyone. Mamdani campaigned strategically, incisively, brilliantly, and with tremendous compassion. I took one look at him several months ago and I knew. I knew this was a man with a heart for the people. I just knew.
And then I found out he was the son of THE Mahmood Mamdani, who is one of the most brilliant social scientist and academic. His complex, seminal work is fundamental reading for every first year grad student of comparative and global politics of the post-colonial world. (No, it lowkey terrorized me haha). A brilliant and exceptional thinker, if there ever was one. They don't make scholars like him anymore. But that's not why I wanted (so desperately) New Yorkers to vote for his son. I saw how Zohran Mamdani brilliantly articulated common sense policies that would benefit the PEOPLE and not rich folks. But I wasn't very hopeful people would actually vote. I had learned in the past year that good people don't necessarily win in politics so I half expected the failed governor to win. Not to mention, twenty-six billionaires spent over $22 Million to stop him from becoming New York's Mayor. It was how I knew this man struck a nerve. I spend a lot of time on Instagram reminding people to STOP defending billionaires because these people do not care one bit about the ordinary man. They care only for themselves: how to amass more and more. So I was certain people wouldn't actually go out to vote and that Mamdani would likely not win.
I was wrong.
New York decisively chose Mamdani. Even with the 2005-style Islamophobia targeted at him those last few days of the campaign. Even with the aggressive desperation of the billionaires. Elon Musk, one of the more cruel people God created, called this man a swindler and when asked to explain what made him a swindler, he had nothing to say. They are not afraid Mamdani will fail. They are scared he might succeed. They are terrified he might actually enact policies that work for the regular, working family.
Hope soared this past week when Mamdani was elected the first Muslim and youngest (in a while) Mayor-elect of New York in an era that has been filled with unimaginable bigotry. People turned out in historic numbers, reminding us again of what we can achieve if we come together; reminding us that we the people will; that there are more of us than there are of them. And the good news wasn't in New York alone. Democrats won major elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and tons in lower-profile state and local contests. In Virginia, the Republicans ran a caricature of a person, assuming that we're foolish enough to support any candidate just because they are Black. People said no. I felt a momentum of hope surge through me, so much I almost returned to Twitter then I remembered this moment exactly one year ago and how America can break your heart.
Too many politicians are enthralled by money and beholden to corporate interests that have little or nothing to do with the vast majority of they people who sent them to Washington. This has got to stop. So, no I'm not going back to Twitter. But yes, I'm going to hold on to that hope. Hope that even the worst of it ends.
Dick Cheney died this past week and no one even bat an eye. When this man was at the pinnacle of his ascendancy to power, it felt like he was immortal. Here is the funniest, bleakest Cheney story: once, he mistakenly shot a man while hunting. It was the man that apologized to Cheney. I am not kidding. The VICTIM apologized to his perpetrator for the inconvenience. Cheney ravaged communities and lives across the world, amassed more money at Halliburton than there could ever be need for, survived several heart attacks and heart surgeries (including a HEART TRANSPLANT), ran the country ruthlessly. A villain's villain. And even for him it ended. Even the worst regimes end. God truly is. Sometimes these people are so ruthless, you almost forget God has them (as he does us all) in the palm of HIS hands. He gives life and ho boy, He takes it too. So yeah, amass all you want, deport, threaten, humiliate, fire, ridicule...when God says when. That will be it. So may Dick Cheney rest in peace. I'll rewatch Vice for the billionth time in his honor.
I'm not naive. As I write this, the President of America is fighting ferociously to end SNAP payments (the government program that ensures millions of poor families do not go hungry) during the shutdown. Meanwhile Argentina got billions because their president is a fanboy of our president. The United States government has shutdown because Republicans want to end subsidies to the Affordable Care Act for Americans which will cause payments to skyrocket. This means that many federal workers and public servants have gone weeks without a paycheck. And um, more than a million jobs have been lost this year. Things are not good.
But today my pastor said even when you are down, the more important thing is it doesn't affect your heart. It made more sense when he said it. The point is, you can't lose who you are just because of horrible circumstances. I'm going to hold on to that.
So here is to more hope.
Love,
I
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