Mastodawn

👴🏻Support Biden, no matter what he does! This election is too important! Just vote for the pro-cop agenda, and we'll fix it after the election!
🧔🏿‍♂️No. Stop killing us.

👴🏻Biden dropped out! Support whoever the next nominee is, even if they're super pro-cop! Even if we don't choose Kamala! This election is too important!
🧔🏿‍♂️No. Stop killing us.

👴🏻Kamala is about to announce her VP! Remember, support this ticket no matter who it is! This election is too important!
🧔🏿‍♂️ Do I really have to say it?

1/N

Yes, you can get most Black voters to vote for "Harris + [Whichever white dude]." Yes, 58% of Black voters is most voters, and you can get 58%. But you need 74%. 🤷🏿‍♂️

You can save yourself the trouble of typing lengthy responses at me about how "Trump is worse!" (I know), or about how I'm wrong about how Black men voters will behave (I'm not), or how I should vote for Kamala Harris anyway, despite who she picks (My 1 vote doesn't matter here. I'm one Black vote in California, a non-swing state).🤷🏿‍♂️

58% gets you President Donald Trump.

74% gets you President Kamala Harris.

Yes, it's this close. Yes, this is the Dems' election to lose at this point. Yes the VP choice is that important.

Don't talk to me about astronauts, or who looks good on Bill Maher, or women's reproductive rights. Talk to me about police reform (AKA, keep killing Black people or nah), or "tough on crime," (AKA, kill more Black people than before or nah"). Talk to me about women being shot in the face in their own homes

Kevin Riggle Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke Whoever gets the nod, we have to do the work

Dylan Aug 6, 2024

@kevinriggle @mekkaokereke Whoever gets the nod, THEY have to do the work. WE need to hold them accountable.

Same old, same old can't cut it anymore. If Dems get in power, they have to act like the gloves are off because collegiality and bi-partisanship neutered the legislature, empowered the executive, and made the judiciary the final call on literally everything.

THEY have to do the work. WE need to hold them accountable.

Tofu Golem Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke
France showed the way to defeat the far-right. The Dems are going to have to make some policy concessions and do some actual liberal shit to get liberal voters on board.

Jeff Shaffer CBET, ret Aug 6, 2024

@tofugolem
I’m a self identifying liberal voter & am definitely on board.
I don’t think there is a way to make every liberal satisfied, especially since a policy goal for some is the opposite of what others want, e.g. Gaza.
I think it’s liberal voters who haven’t committed to the Dems who need to suck it up & act like the French, quit nitpicking b/c they aren’t getting everything they want & join in the fight against the fascists. Hell, even non MAGA GOP folks are joining to defeat this orange scourge.

Скобиформ

🇪🇺Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke TWO WOMEN! WE NEED TWO OF THEM.

devil_party_parrot

Whitmer is my top choice. But she's declined. I wish she hadn't.

If Black voters got to choose the VP, it would be Whitmer. Black voters prefer Whitmer by a 2 to 1 margin over the next option.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112855835590699830

A Harris Whitmer ticket would push that Black voter line up over 80%.

But hey, they don't let us decide things. Clearly. 🤷🏿‍♂️

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Biden was on a path to lose the election, because he prioritized swaying "independent" voters, over driving turnout and engagement for the people that have already decided that racism, fascism, and insurrection are bad (Black voters). Future president Harris is on trajectory to win, because so far she's doing much better with the US democratic base (Black voters). So when news covers polling of who should be VP, do you think they prioritize Black voters' pick? Or independent voters pick? 1/N

Hachyderm.io

Tofu Golem Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke @scobiform
She picked Walz. I would have preferred Duckworth.

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Aug 6, 2024

🗣️ 📣 LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @mekkaokereke

>> Yes, you can get most Black voters to vote for "Harris + [Whichever white dude]." Yes, 58% of Black voters is most voters, and you can get 58%. But you need 74%

>> how Black men voters will behave [ #vote ]

I keep hearing, "Stop killing us," but seems like you believe these are falling on deaf ears.

Serious questions:

Why are #black men not organized politically to make sure these words do not fall on deaf ears?

Who do they believe will help them in their cause/battle?

🤔Not organized politically? Black men, lead by Black women, just had the largest civil rights demonstration in the history of the US. 26 million people.

Or by the ballot? Black men refusing to vote for Biden put enough pressure on him that his party forced him to drop out. It was clear that he was not going to win.

Deray McKesson is still facing legal jeopardy for simply attending a protest where a policeman was attacked.

What more political organizing do you expect?

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @mekkaokereke

Just started following you. Still trying to calibrate my reading and comprehension of your posts — there is a lot of subtext in them, and as a new reader, much of it eludes me 🙂

The impression I get from this thread is that #black men will not vote in a way that many of us wish they voted, because nobody hears their message.

So that's the context in which I ask why is nobody hearing the message? Is it lack of organization or political participation? What is it?

It's racism.

It's the belief that as long as the GOP is more racist than the Dems, that Black folk will always choose the "lesser of two evils." So they assume that Black people will vote 90% for Dems, even if the Dem policies are genocidally harmful for Black people. That deal worked for about 80 years, but the spell is broken.

Other than Reagan, no politician passed more harmful legislation for Black men than Biden. Biden said he'd changed, then passed some more during term 1🤦🏿‍♂️

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @mekkaokereke

>> as the GOP is more racist than the Dems, that Black folk will always choose the "lesser of two evils." So they assume that Black people will vote 90% for Dems, even if the Dem policies are genocidally harmful for Black people

IOW, feeling of being taken for granted?

If #GOP is more #racist than #Democrats, and Dem policies harm #Black people, then one party is racist in attitude and the other in deeds

Deeds can be influenced politically. Attitudes, never.

I'll reply if you edit "Blacks" back to be "Black people." Not sure why you quoted me, but then contracted what I wrote, in a not awesome way?

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @mekkaokereke

I do that when I run into the 500 char limit and I don't believe it changes the meaning or intent.

Also, TIL that there is no difference between "American people" and "Americans", but there is a difference between "Black people" and "Blacks," and that latter term is not awesome.

So we are communicating in fits & starts, but we are still on different wavelengths, and I am still trying to calibrate my understanding.

Anyway, updated my post to remove characters from other places

It's not a "feeling" of being taken for granted. That implies that the reality may be something different. Maybe Black people feel that their votes are being taken for granted, when in reality they're not? No. It is an objective, provable reality that the Black vote has been taken for granted for at least the last 80 years.

Most egregiously and unapologetically, by Biden.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112504956582273431

In 2020, he again took votes from Black men, and used it to increase cop funding.

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

Attached: 2 images @zzzeek @[email protected] @[email protected] 🤦🏿‍♂️The Southern Strategy is not a Republican thing. The Southern Strategy was invented by Republicans, but when everyone says "tough on crime" we know what they mean, and we know what they do. How many white people were beaten to death by SCORPION squads? How many white people have been held at gunpoint multiple times in their lives? Biden always does this nod-nod, wink-wink, "It's not racism! It's just tough on crime! Oopsie! I hurt Black men again!"

Hachyderm.io

Compromise_bi_flag

@mekkaokereke Thanks for the perspective; someone said "blacks" on Discord the other day and it really rubbed me the wrong way, but I wasn't sure if I was being extra (caveat: I'm not Black).

Jon (now at neuromatch.social)Aug 6, 2024

Yep. It's dehumanizing. "Black" is an adjective, modifiying people; dropping "people" denies Black people's humanity. Unfortunately I don't kow a great reference for this. https://www.archives.gov/research/catalog/lcdrg/appendix/black-person has "Note that Blacks and the Blacks are both considered offensive and should not be used. Black people is the preferred plural form of Black" but doen't explain why.

@jima @mekkaokereke

Black Person

Reparative Description Preferred Term Preferred Terms: Person/people (with no modifier), man/woman/boy/girl/child (with no modifier), Black person/people, Black, Black Americans, African American(s), Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino/a, (specific national background if known, e.g. Jamaican), exclusively for the Spanish word negrito/Negrito use the Spanish word negro/Negro. Non-Preferred Term: Noun form: nigger (pl. niggers), negro (pl. negroes), Negro (pl.

National Archives

Jon Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke This was timely! I added a footnote to the draft of "4 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people".

BTW I just noticed that the archives.gov sentence I excerpted -- "Black people is the preferred plural form of Black" -- leaves out the word person from the end of the sentence! I went back to check whether it was cut-and-paste error ... but no, it really isn't there. lolsob.

Anyhow

4 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people (DRAFT!)

Draft! Work in progress! Feedback welcome!

The Nexus Of Privacy

Oggie Aug 7, 2024

@mekkaokereke @rameshgupta
I actually was unaware this was a charged issue, but I know how much I get irked when someone says 'the gays' ( this used to be constant), though that was less dehumanizing intent and more just aggressive dismissiveness ('gay people are upset' v 'the gays are upset' does change tone).

As a follow up, is it bad if I occasionally forget capitalization? Eg, black people vs Black people? The latter just feels odd, for some reason, but it is a grouping marker.

Jon (now at neuromatch.social)Aug 8, 2024

@Oggie Black is capitalized when referring to a person because “The lowercase black is a color, not a person.”

Here's a good discussion:
https://news.ucdenver.edu/is-the-b-in-black-capitalized-yes/

EDIT: and no it's not horrible if you occasionally forget, I also grew up not doing it that way and sometimes screw up. It's just like any other unintentional microaggression: when it's pointed out, acknowledge it, apologize, fix it if you can, and make a point to try harder to keep it in mind going forward

@mekkaokereke @[email protected]

Is the B in Black Capitalized? Yes. - CU Denver News

The summer of 2020 was a turning point for many style manuals—and the capitalization of the word Black is now the norm.

CU Denver News

jrm4 Aug 6, 2024

@rameshgupta @mekkaokereke

Oh this horseshit again

BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA ARE THE MOST PRAGMATIC VOTERS. WE ARE THE BEST VOTING BLOC AND CAN RARELY BE FOOLED. We always do the right thing.

Now, if you're dissatisfied still, great, that's fair.

If you're expressing that in the big Presidental election, you're lazy and you should have already been doing work at other political levels.

#blackmastodon #blackfedi

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @jrm4

I don't know why you are yelling when I'm trying to have a conversation with
@mekkaokereke

Clearly, I don't understand something, and I am trying to understand. Is that such a bad thing?

jrm4 Aug 6, 2024

@rameshgupta @mekkaokereke

"Yelling" because I'm tired of foolishness on this topic, it's not particularly *personal* -- but to highlight how bad "general thought" is on this topic and how people keep making the same mental mistakes on black voters.

Put differently, you can fix the world by protecting the black vote. You don't have to influence, or convince, or change its mind. Just make sure it's counted and we will take it from there

#blackmastodon #blackfedi

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @jrm4

>> to highlight how bad "general thought" is on this topic and how people keep making the same mental mistakes on black voters.

Cool. But if you read this thread, you'd also know that I am having difficulty pulling myself out of what you pejoratively call "general thought"

I just discovered #BlackMastodon on day of #NABJ, & I am sincerely trying to understand how black voters think.

And I'm having difficulty following the tone and tenor of @mekkaokereke that you take for granted 🙂

Jeremy (יעקב) 🇺🇦Aug 6, 2024

@jrm4 @[email protected] @mekkaokereke

The number of white people I've heard say "If voting made a difference, they'd make it illegal!" with a snicker at their cleverness is just insane. No, nobody is taking their vote because they piss it away. While Black voters have had centuries of it being made illegal because they make a difference.

Empower minorities and we'll save ourselves but they gotta stop fighting and denigrating those doing the work. Black voters are organized. They are the base of the Democratic party: the rock solid core protecting/advancing minority rights for all of us.

But for white people, when they say "Democrats" they mean wealthy, white, straight Christians because they fundamentally believe that politics belongs to white straight Christians and the only question is whether to support those who vote D or those who vote R.

#USPol #USPolitics #Minority #Black #VoterSuppression #Vote #Voters #Voter #Election #Elections #Fascism #Democracy #PollTax #Democrats

CubeThoughts Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke
Asking to understand. Most cops are local, but as Pres, Biden of course sets policy for federal law enforcement. The Pres can also veto legislation, and has a bully pulpit both in Congress and in general. And nominates federal judges and admin law judges.

What should he have done differently legislatively (push for/against or veto)? What should he have done executively?

I'm just hoping enthusiasm for the top of the ticket will help down ballot.

@CubeThoughts @rameshgupta

1. Biden directed cities to use their Covid relief funds to form new "tough on crime" police units.😮 $1B more of money to the cops. Money that should have helped innocent Black folk, instead used to kill them. One. Billion. Dollars.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112713965219788102

2. One of Biden's newly formed units beat this man to death. Watch the whole video. Then understand that 3 in 5 Black men have been a victim of police violence, many from units like this.

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112503606576510594

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

A quote from the Biden Trump debate. Which candidate said this, Trump or Biden? "I put more – we put more police on the street than any administration has. He wants to cut the cops." As a reminder, Biden is the candidate that needs more Black men to vote for him, or he is likely to lose the election. As a reminder, Biden is the one that pushed for and passed the 80s crime bill. As a reminder, Biden is the one that instructed cities to transfer ~$1B of Covid relief funds to police budgets.

Hachyderm.io

@mekkaokereke Who do you think she needs to pick? As I wrote in another thread, if she's listening to any Democratic strategists, it better be ones that two weeks ago said, "if Biden drops out and endorses Harris, she'll raise $200MM in the next two weeks." Because if two weeks ago they were like "eh... I don't know if she's electable," she should ignore the fuck out of them.

Out of Kelly, Shapiro, Buttigieg, Walz, it has to be Walz.

It should be Whitmer, but she keeps saying no. 🤷🏿‍♂️

@mekkaokereke I'm definitely hoping for Walz

Ramesh #NotGoingBack Aug 6, 2024

⬆️ @tacertain @mekkaokereke

It'd be sheer joy to find out who #KamalaHarris chooses to be her running mate.

It's her choice, and she's smart, and on top of that, she's surrounded by smart advisors. What's not to like in whoever she chooses?

@rameshgupta @mekkaokereke it's like you didn't even read the thread!

Compromise_bi_flag

@tacertain @mekkaokereke Well this aged well, 11 hours later. 👀

Oggie Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke @tacertain
Thank you, I was trying to draft up a way to ask explicitly what you thought (his name doens't appear in that list you linked earlier, and posted a while ago) with polling data.

I am really hoping for him as well.

@Oggie @mekkaokereke I've found Mekka's pretty responsive to direct questions! 🙂

A Lloyd Flanagan Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke Clearly Whitmer is the smartest.

Greg Pfeil Aug 6, 2024

@mekkaokereke @tacertain I think of myself as an optimist, but I figured it wouldn’t be Walz, because he was clearly the best option. I think I’ve been disappointed too often, but I’m really happy about this decision (and apparently have to work on my outlook).

And as a bonus – Peggy Flanagan & Bobby Joe Champion would get bumped up in Minnesota!

@sellout @mekkaokereke @tacertain

I was 100% braced for a Shapiro announcement today. When the Walz news hit I realized how tense I'd gotten.

wasabi brain Aug 6, 2024

@EdCates @sellout @mekkaokereke @tacertain exactly my experience!

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Aug 6, 2024

@sellout @mekkaokereke @tacertain SAME! have gotten so used to Dems ignoring Bernie i really thought the asshat from PA had it in the bag.

@blogdiva @sellout @mekkaokereke Maybe they have decided to stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

Honestly I think maybe they've just decided that a bunch of old Washington insiders don't know the best path to getting shit done.

Compromise_bi_flag

@sellout @mekkaokereke @tacertain Interestingly enough, I've yet to hear a single unkind word spoken about the idea of Governor Flanagan.

PJ "Vote Green" Coffey Aug 6, 2024

Nailed it. :D