Nearly two weeks ago, the second debate with the skinny field took place and black voters in South Carolina showed up and showed out.
About 57 years ago, two black students were arrested during a fight for democratic and human rights in the slave state of South Carolina. South Carolina was the state that ignited the bloodiest conflict in our country’s history. Rebels fired on Fort Sumpter and started a conflict about whether this government would exist either slave or free. 750,000 lives were lost. These two college students, Jim and Emily’s hearts were oppressed in jail, but their hearts began to dance when the wick of the freedom candle was lit. Eighteen months later, they married and about a year ago they celebrated 58 years of holy matrimony. Emily recently made her transition about 18 months ago. They were the ultimate power couple for they believed that politics was the art of gaining, maintaining and using power for the good of the people.
With Emily’s help Rep. Jim Clyburn went on to become one of the most powerful elected officials of our time. On Wednesday, with Emily communing with him from a faraway land, they endorsed Vice President Joe Biden for President of the United States. The South Carolina Democratic Party vowed to standstill until Clyburn used his hammer. Emily and Jim never forgot that in the not too distant past in South Carolina, they could never be husband and wife, only breeders for the peculiar institution of slavery.
Emily and Rep. Clyburn used the hammer to endorse Biden. His campaign was on life support and he became the COME BACK KID, winning every county from the mountains to the sea. The momentum carried him to a Super Tuesday near blow out, winning 10 states. Black voters were the anchors for a record-breaking run, even eclipsing the 2008 Obama turnout. The entire blue South, plus Oklahoma and Maine, enabled Biden to run through the tape.
Does your vote matter? Damn straight your vote matters! If either one of the Dems captured the Presidency and closes the Senate gap by two members, universal health care with coverage for pre-existing conditions win. Food security and mental health support without being in jail wins. A $15 minimum wage will become law in most of the nation.
Although black voters sent gun slingers Bloomberg, Warren, Klobuchar and Buttigieg to Boot Hill, the country is now seeded for progressive human development policies and a goodbye to the most dangerous CEO in our history. Bloomberg has been endorsed by our Teflon Mayor Sylvester Turner. For many of us the endorsement of Bloomberg by Harlem Children Zones Geoffrey Canada signals that this was not a “Rent a Negro” outreach. Bloomberg has an initiative that speaks truth to power called the GREENWOOD INITIATIVE: Economic Justice for Black America. This is a SANKOFA moment. Greenwood, a community in Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to Black Wall street in the early 20th century, the most prominent district of Black owned businesses in the United States. In 1921, the community was destroyed in the Wall Street Massacre, killing hundreds of black people and forcing blacks to flee for their lives. White racists even used airplanes to bomb the black community and sought to whitewash the history books so that we would be deaf, dumb and blind. Yes, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders would be on the right side of history if they endorsed the GREENWOOD initiative.
The Greenwood Plan is captivating because of the lost lives and the promise of hundreds of Greenwood residents victimized by racial terror. Bloomberg proposes to help one million new black Americans become homeowners and create 100,000 new black businesses. This is the first time that I have heard a white candidate for President of the United States admit to racial terror and wage theft. Closing the racial wealth gap must be a central metric in the selection of any candidate. Bloomberg is now endorsing Joe Biden and parking his ego. Kudos to Buttigieg, Warren and Klobuchar for parking their egos.
For the candidates no longer standing the epitaphs on their political tombstones will be – sent to their final presidential resting place by black love, votes, intelligence and passion for democracy. Emily’s legacy is that black women in S C outvote any other demographic and are literally gravediggers for those who fail to gain their favor.
Biden appears to be emerging from his cognitive fog and is touting the OBAMA legacy and his role in eight years of a black led nation. It is entirely possible that the OBAMA coattails will merge with Biden’s other legislative achievements to breathe new life into him and halt the premature autopsy. If he resurrects, his debt to black women and black baby boomers will be enormous. Blacks in South Carolina comprised 60 percent of the Democratic electorate and 40 % of the entire electorate. This is the hammer that was wielded by Emily and Jim as representatives of a nation within a nation.
Brothers, find your Emily. Sisters, find your Jimmy. Build generational wealth inside your house and clear the path for your children and grandchildren. Get your League of Women Voter Education Guide and study it before you vote. Know that the fossils are relying on Voter Suppression and Voter Apathy. Every single vote counts. During the revolutionary 1960”, President Kennedy, a despised Roman Catholic won the presidency by 1 vote per precinct. Do the math, you don’t have to be a mathematician to understand math. Intelligent voting helps to provide goods and services necessary for the good life. This means good schools, affordable housing, food security and an end to these stupid no end wars.
Good politics means that we focus on Electability, Effectiveness and Accountability.
Dr. Cofield has a sign at his church that reads, NO ONE CAN HELP US IF WE DON’T WANT TO LEARN. Study what Jim and Emily did and accomplished. Support those who support you. If you don’t vote, stop complaining. Vote for somebody with a program that benefits you and the community even if you must write your name in.
When you early vote and when you vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3, remember that Rep. William Clay said in the 70’s, we have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.
Poet Langston Hughes said, America, I too am America. You have never been America to me. Let’s make America a shining light on a hill for the least, lost and hopeless.
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