The closer we get to Election Day, the more voters are likely to feel like Neo in The Matrix when he’s offered a choice between the blue or red pill—a choice that will decide both individual and universal fates. Our democracy isn’t a Hollywood production, however, and the truth is that there are more than two options. For nearly 10 years, I’ve voted my values and cast ballots for third-party candidates—and I’ve survived, despite the many myths about what that choice would mean for our nation and the political process. Misrepresentations about voting third party may keep many voters from breaking out of the two-party system, but they shouldn’t. There’s life beyond the Republican-Democrat matrix if you know the truth. Here are five of the most popular myths about voting third party, and why they’re total bull: Read More

There isn’t enough ink to express our pain. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the pain of being Black in America globally is apparent. Moments ago I read the headlines and tweets that told me the NYPD officer  Dan Pantaleo (say his name until it can’t be forgotten, until he’s held responsible) the NYC cop that killed Eric Garner would not be indicted. A week and two days before that I heard news out of Ferguson, Missouri that Darren Wilson would not be indicted. That same day hours before, I watched my beautiful daughter be born into this world. Being Black is like that, valley, peak, valley—in that order.

No matter who it is, the time comes that you realize that being Black is hard and beautiful. You come to learn that your cool, your clothes, your rhythm is quested after like a golden fleece, and then you remember that you’re hated all the same for it. Hated for the thing you inherently possess and ultimately cannot dispossess—trust me, many are trying to give it up, but you can’t. Many are trying to recreate/generate it, but it has to be organic—we synthesize, it can’t be synthesized.

I recently got in an online disagreement with a family member. I gave up arguing online about 2 years ago and my life has been all the better for it, but this time suffering from sleep deprivation courtesy of our bundle of joy, I engaged. My cousin, one of closest loved ones on the planet, posted a status about shopping on Black Friday and tongue-in-cheek told folks to “say something” about her shopping. I was frustrated at her at life.

I remember when I first heard the calls to boycott Black Friday #notonedime, I knew that arm chair theoreticians and activists would sharpen their darts aiming at the hot air balloon of social activism. I knew it’d be a dog pile of, “How is that supposed to help?”, “We need new solutions!”, “What difference will it make?” –you know the standard chorus of consternation. I’d decided that for each post that someone put up like that I’d ignore it and write them off as disaffected, short-sighted haters (which they often are). But truthfully I understand them. I’ve been them. It’s kind of like being at a dance and not really knowing how to dance so rather than stepping out and risk being a fool, you talk about the DJ, you chit chat with your boys, you explain how you don’t like the newest fads … all the while the dance goes on, everyone else is sweating it out and having a good time, and you go home realizing you missed out, but never admitting it. It’s easy to be on the sidelines, it’s hard to put your shoes on the dance floor.

Moral and ethical courage are sometimes in short supply, but we have enough to move ahead, we never needed 100 percent to be on board, just a few committed ones. A few years ago an elder told me, “If everyone who claimed to have marched across that bridge [Edmund Pettus Bridge] was on that bridge the damn bridge would have fallen in!” They’ll come around later … or come around for the victory party. When Fidel Castro was asked about what he’d do differently regarding the Cuban Revolution he said he started with 82 men but he would have started with fewer men but ones who had absolute faith. That’s real rap!

Boycotting Black Friday or Cyber Monday may not be your cup of tea, but neither is the loss of Black life. I am in awe of the young people organizing out of Ferguson and the people who have poured into that community for the past 118 days. The boycotts on Friday or Monday were mass actions that allowed folks without much skin in the game to make a sacrifice, to symbolically and strategically show impact. It worked, no matter what mainstream media says. I’m still not really cool with my cousin for not participating, but she’s not alone. It just means we need to do more work to show folks why we matter, why boycotts matter, why protests matter, why Black lives matter.

We have too many servants and too few activists. Activism is sustained struggle. (Community) Service, often, is for a moment and done. Activism is not a visit to the soup kitchen; it’s not tutoring after school; it’s not collecting donors for a cancer run. Okay, it can be that, but that’s only a small part of it. Activism, in my estimation, has to do more than service the sick or un-well, it’s got to do the work of uprooting the things that injure and press to build a safe space for a thing to live and thrive. Too few of us have a heart for activism, because true activism means you give up something, not once, but daily. It’s a process of dying so others can live—it’s martyrdom, but without the fanfare.

The tweets, the appearances on news media, the op-eds will all die out soon enough, but our willingness to sacrifice and fight must not. We can’t accept a commitment to body cameras and tough language (not policies) around ending police misconduct. The legislation needs to change, I truly believe it does #changethenypd. But more than legislation our entire orientation to Black life must shift. And I mean the lives of Black men and women, all lives matter but our blood runs too freely for us not to demand special attention.

The police don’t love us, and they never did. My dad was a cop and even he knows this, but I’m not sure he’d admit it. No matter how many times you show me a teary eyed boy or a dancing cop, I can’t forget that those moments don’t compensate for the force that they use on our bodies and have been doing so for centuries. Du Bois was right. The police are a new articulation of slavery. He was right – It’s not about diagnosing the problem, the bigger and trickier task is to get people to care and then to act. You’ve read all this so I guess it’s wrong of me to ask, “do you still care?” but I have to ask these days.

It’s hard to continue to care. For many of us, by the time we heard the non-indictment of Garner come down we were numb. Some of us got numb when we saw loved ones beaten into within an inch of their lives by cops and realized that no one cared—not the grand jury, not internal affairs, not the mayor, not even the politician who promised to get tough on corruption. Some of us have been numbed by what we have access to—hey, who doesn’t want to get that 60 inch on deep discount? Some of us are numb because the cost of caring is reckoning with the vulnerability we all must come to grips with—you may have more degrees than a thermometer but your skin remains a target. We’ve got to care enough to fight.

We’ve got to fight the system. We’ve got to struggle with ourselves. Love ourselves enough to correct ourselves. Love each other enough to remind each other that we got this. That our ancestors have already showed us ways and walk with us now. We’ve got to love so that we can see a new day. When I look at my daughter in resting slumber I get haunted with visions of the reality that she will face. I get scared. I get angry. I fight that with ancestral love. I fight it with knowledge that if we wake up, nothing can put us to sleep. I fight because I love her. I love my nephews. I love my nieces. I love our elders.

Love wins not because we will have some “pie in the sky” kumbaya moment—we won’t, and if there is I ain’t showing up because I know it’d be a sham. Love wins because it stands up to injustice. It doesn’t ask for forgiveness for the person who is stomping on the vulnerable. Love kicks the ass of the person stomping, helps the vulnerable, and tells the one stomping to get help … or get more ass kicking. I don’t mean that literally, well maybe I do. It’s somewhere between what the Bible and George Jackson said. Love is patient …  Patience has its limits. Take it too far and it’s cowardice.

My ancestors want me to be patient, but not a coward. They want me to wake up, to wake my neighbors and to dream. Dream the other world. Build the other world. Fight this world that is trying to rob Black joy and Black life. Remind them Black is beautiful and if you don’t know you’re going to figure it out later, but we got a nation to build, a world to transform, a system to fuck reform overthrow eliminate. We’ve got to sacrifice what’s here to create what should be. I’m not waiting for a grand jury; I’m waiting for my cousin; I’m waiting for my comrades; I’m waiting for us to be sick and tired of being sick and tired. But don’t wait too long. Don’t be too tired.

The last words you hear from Eric Garner on the tape of him being killed are him saying, “I can’t breathe!” I feel him, but I want to change that. I want to make it clear. I can’t breathe; I can’t live right; I can’t stop thinking about the trees cut short before they could grow and give their gifts. I can’t and won’t breathe without thinking about what they came to teach us. I can’t and won’t breathe without remembering there is work to be done. Now the only thing I have left to ask is, “I can’t breathe, can you?”

It usually sets in much later, but my election fatigue has set in already. It’s that feeling that you have when you’ve been inundated with television ads, robo calls, and emails requesting donations for a candidate, be it your candidate or maybe someone you’ve never heard of and will never hear from again after November 6^th. Some mornings, I want to rise and fast forward past Election Day to find peace. I don’t think I’m alone in this and it may be due to a twenty-four hour news cycle and social media inundation.

Could it be that our hyper-connectivity is leading folks to disengage from politics?

To be fair, I am not an electoral politics fan or stan. While I am very much interested in policy and the way that government affects the life chances of people, but analysis of exit polls, convention speeches, and watching the electoral votes come in turns my stomach. The 2008 election was so phenomenal because we saw a leveraging of the Internet, particularly social media, crowd sourcing, and the turnout of people across a broad spectrum. However in 2012, this same approach has not sparked my inner politico. Instead, I think of responding to Barack Obama’s emails as informally as he messages me every single day:

Hey Barack,

I’m glad you recognize times are hard. I know you need my support. I don’t think Romney is a good choice for this country but I need you to have a little more discretion with your emails. I’m tired man!

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On Thursday July 26, 2012 President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order creating the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for African Americans. The initiative creates a commission that is tasked with monitoring and improving the educational performance of African American students. At its best, Obama’s creation of this commission is groundbreaking and signals the start of a national commitment to the educational needs of Black children. At its worst, this could be a political hat tip but provide little force in shifting the trajectory of Black education. What will be the deciding factor between these two? You will be.

The creation of the commission should come as no surprise with the 2012 Election campaign in full swing. This is not to suggest that this is simply political pandering by Obama, rather I’m suggesting that the president knows keeping the African American electorate on his side is essential.

Read more

Sixty four schools will likely close in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s recent announcement to close these schools has not been a media lightening rod. Instead, the case of Philadelphia is just the latest in a string of national stories of struggling urban districts shuttering school building doors to keep budgets afloat in turbulent financial times. But is that really all there is to it?

If we look more carefully, the patterns of national school closing are tied to poor academic performance among schools, but also the formerly controversial trend to close traditional public schools and opening charter schools. I say “formerly” controversial, because under the Bush administration there was a national debate about the expansion of charter schools, school choice, and educational privatization. Yet under President Obama, all three of these issues have gained traction with little national resistance or Democratic party challenge. Read More

“Kunta Kinte shirt? Check! Obama button? Check! Public Enemy’s “Brothas gonna work it out” banging in the ipod? Check! Time to hit the line! YEEEEEAAAAHHH DADDY!!”

“Yes we did!!! ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!! All hail the New Chief.”

“Have we seen the promised land?”

“He looks like me.”

“Dumi- Yes we can!! Look what interracial marriage can produce!! Yes I – we can!!!”

“Unfucking believable!! You better party it up, reality’s gonna hit us in about a day, LOL”

“Brother President!”

“Just saw a woman catch the holy ghost in the middle of Michigan Avenue.”

“Congrats Bro, tomorrow we wake up to a better day.”

“First Tiger, then Halle, now this! They like us!”

“Since they wouldn’t give us 40 acres and a mule, we’ll take fifty states and the White House.”

“We did it!! I was moved to tears… it happened in MY lifetime… and though I don’t agree with all his policy, I do see the bigger picture…”

“Sweet dreams and realities to you!”

“Please tell me why i just saw a Black woman with a rhinestone Obama shirt and booty shorts, flying outside the moon roof booty poppin'”

“Brother Dumi WE ARE OFFICIALLY FREE, much love.”

“They have a sign up sheet for volunteers to help Bush pack his shit and get the hell on Nov 5th. I put us down for the 3-8 shift.”

“I predict Michell Obama will announce her 3rd pregnancy three months from last night! Lol”

“I’m waiting for [identity removed] to birth a monkey out his ass to honor his promise he made in November 2007 that American would never elect a Black President.”

“Change is here! We are the ones we have been waiting for!”

“My pres is Black and so am I. I now am a man of two nations as opposed to the lost child of one. Both of my nations need me. Barack’s electon is a green light and I’m ready to go right now!”

Wouldn’t you like more choice?

In coming to this decision, I realize that I have alienated myself from a large number of my friends, family and even colleagues, but there is a method to “my madness.” As a resident of New York, my vote for change comes in the form of a Black woman and Latina woman, the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente. For the past year, McKinney and Clemente have campaigned feverishly, which to many has appeared to be futile. They are seldom in the same venues as the mainstream candidates; you’re more likely to see them on C-Span than the cable news channels, and they have failed to gain the attention that Ralph Nader did with his Green Party campaign in 2000. But even with these factors, my vote is still valuable to changing the landscape of American politics.

If you have stayed with me this long, I’m sure you’re wondering why I would “throw away” my vote to two candidates that most people don’t know. The simple answer is I’m going Green because I believe democracy must have more than two faces.

My New York residency provides me both security and luxury. It is from this position that I decided a vote for the Green Party could serve to expand the political spectrum beyond the two party system to which we’ve become so accustomed. New York is a decidedly Blue state, which continues to poll heavily in favor of Obama. This means that my vote for Obama on the 4th will likely provide no extra push in the Electoral College; it would just increase his numbers in the popular vote. Having watched elections results the past couple of years, I’ve grown to lament the Electoral College, but I’ve come to the conclusion that if I am going to play the game of American politics, I must play it wisely. If the Green Party can receive 5 percent of the popular vote this election, they are eligible to receive major party status, which would help them build a third party with the potential to influence national politics. My vote however is not simply because I want any third party to spring up on the scene. The ticket of McKinney and Clemente comes closest to my own political roots and desires. The Green party chose two women, one with legislative experience and the other with grass roots experience. These women share many of my views on war, education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation. I have been taught that I should vote with my ideals, but this is seldom an option if one’s goal is to be a part of the “winning team” in American politics. Now is a time for Left-leaning, justice-oriented advocates to vote with their ideals and achieve victory on multiple levels. While this election is pitched as a zero-sum game, all or nothing, there is a third option, particularly for those of us in decidedly Blue or Red states.

I’m going green because since the 1980s Black Americans have been concerned that the Democratic Party has been moving towards the center and betraying many of the critical programs that are necessary for uplifting our community. I grew up in a working class family that has benefited from Affirmative Action, unionization, and the safety nets of social welfare. I continue to fight for the ideals of the poor and disenfranchised, but know that a single politician cannot and will not transform the landscape of America.  In voting in the past, I’ve gotten to the booth and consistently voted Democratic in national elections because I feared losing. In 2000, I lost. In 2004, I lost. In 2008, I want to win. Not just by electing the first president who acknowledges his African descent, but win by being true to my ideals and the ideals of democracy. While I know 5 percent is lofty, and likely out of reach, I think it is just as important to vote for my ideals, which helps to push towards diversification of the political machine that has been broken for far too long. On November 4th, I’m going green because democracy must have more than two choices. I don’t want the next generation to arrive at the voter’s booth and think, “It is time to pick my poison.” Rather I want them to arrive and think, “It is time for me to pick my prescription.”

Recently I’ve been burning the candle at both ends, so I haven’t been able to get a new post together. But In the meantime, make sure to click around and see what else is happening on my blog roll. In the meantime, let this video be your motivation to be skeptical off all these polls which suggest Obama has a large lead.

Who do you want to take the White House?

Barack, I guess, but I can’t make a real opinion. I ain’t watching no debates. I just want my people to understand that Hillary and Barack are not running for president–they running to be able to run for president. There’s a Republican party, too–we ain’t about to win, fool! A woman or a black man versus an old white dude? Fcuk no! They gonna be like, This black-ass nigga trying to come in my Oval Office? Fcuuuuuk no. The world about to end in 2012 anyway. ‘Cause the Mayans made calendars, and they stop at 2012. I got encyclopedias on the bus. The world is gonna end as we know it. You can see it already. A planet doesn’t exist: There’s no more Pluto. Planes are flying into buildings–and not just the Twin Towers, but dudes who play baseball are flying planes into buildings. Mosquitoes bite you and you die. And a black man and a woman are running for president!

DMX in XXL in March excerpted below:

So you’re not following the race. You can’t vote right?
Nope. (dumi’s note: wouldn’t this be a good time to mention felon disenfranchisement if that’s the reason he can’t vote?)

Is that why you’re not following it?
No, because it’s just—it doesn’t matter. They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. It doesn’t really make a difference. These are the last years.

But it would be pretty big if we had a first Black president. That would be huge.
I mean, I guess…. What, they gon’ give a dog a bone? There you go. Ooh, we have a Black president now. They should’ve done that shit a long time ago, we wouldn’t be in the fuckin’ position we in now. With world war coming up right now. They done fucked this shit up then give it to the Black people, “Here you take it. Take my mess.”

Right, exactly.
It’s all a fuckin’ setup. It’s all a setup. All fuckin’ bullshit. All bullshit. I don’t give a fuck about none of that.