Will Trans Rights Be A Debate Topic In The Second Democratic Presidential Debate?

The second set of Democratic presidential debates will kick off tonight and Wednesday night in Detroit's historic FOX Theater on CNN.  They will be moderated by CNN's Don Lemon, Dana Bash, and Jake Tapper.

A draw that CNN televised live on July 18 set the candidate lineups for both nights. 

The first of the three draws divided the bottom ten candidates  between both nights.   The second draw divided the middle six candidates, and the final draw the top four contenders for the Democratic nomination.

The ten candidates tangling with each other on July 30 are  Montana Gov Steve Bullock, South Bend, IN mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Maryland Rep John Delaney,  former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen Amy Klobuchar (MN), former Texas Rep Beto O'Rourke, Rep Tim Ryan (OH), Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen Elizabeth Warren (MA),  and author Marianne Williamson.

The ten candidates who will take the stage on July 31 will be Sen Michael Bennet (CO), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (NJ), former HUD Secretary Julian Castro,  New York mayor Bill de Blasio,  Rep Tulsi Gabbard (HI), Sen Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), former Washington Gov Jay Inslee,  Sen Kamala Harris (CA)  and entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Now that we know which candidates will be debating each other on which night, the question now becomes what topics will are brought up for discussion by the CNN moderators?

Of concern to trans Americans is will trans Americans be discussed on either debate night in Detroit like we were by Sen Booker and Secretary Castro during the first debate in Miami.

We in Trans World certainly hope that what is happening to the trans community gets discussed again, but are cognizant of the fact that the topics that get discussed tonight and tomorrow night will depend in large part on the news cycle and what the moderators choose to focus on.

Either way, both nights are shaping up to be must see TV for political junkies like me and everyone interested in who will emerge from this crowded field to become the 2020 Democratic nominee.
     

The 'How I Feel About Trump' FB Post Debunked

The suburban white peeps who voted for Trump are now thrying to look for ways to justify voting for him again in 2020 and not look racist while doing so,

That ship sailed a long time ago Chad and Becky. 

This is why the Democrats need to laser focused from now until next November 3 on getting our base to the polls and increasing turnout amongst them instead of chasing the mythical suburban white swing voter that always keeps kicking them to the curb and voting GOP.

I ran across this problematic racist 'How I Feel About Trump' post on a former co-workers page.  She revealed she was one of the 53% of white women who voted for the Grand Wizard In Chief.

After I called out Trump, she tried to claim 'he's not racist' .  Y'all know I called that crap out with the quickness, then blocked her.   

This is the mentality of white suburban Trump voters and why it may be a fool's errand for Democrats to try to flip them in 2020 when they are cosigning crap like this in order to justify their 2016 vote and try to rationalize casting another vanilla scented privileged vote for him again. 

I'm going to take this original Facebook post and debunk it in sections:  My rebuttal comments will be in bold print.

***

HOW I FEEL ABOUT TRUMP

Lets say you've been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons.. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement.. You want them gone immediately!.. You call the city and 4 different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job.. But there is this one guy, and he guarantees to get rid of them, so you hire him.. You don't care if the guy smells, you don't care if the guy swears, you don't care if he's an alcoholic, you don't care how many times he's been married, you don't care if he has a plumber's crack, you simply want those raccoons gone!.. You want your problem fixed!.. He's the guy.. He's the best!

MR:   Nice try at the dog whistle racism all over this first paragraph.  Trying to cover up the slur word for Black peeps with 'raccoon'


Here's why we want Trump: Yes, he's a bit of a jerk; Yes, he's an egomaniac; but we don't care!.. The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republicans and Democrats can be two-faced and gutless, and illegals are everywhere.. We want it all fixed!..

MR  Correction: The country is a mess because Republican politicians like Mitch McConnell are more concerned with pushing a right wing agenda than doing the people business 
FYI, No human being is 'illegal'.  I want the immigration system fixed, too.  but throwing asylum seekers in Trump concentration camps and their kids in Trump baby jails isn't the way to go about ti. 


We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he's been married 3 times, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslim terrorist..

MR I and the 65 million people who voted for Clinton do care that he's all of the above including a racist, women's crotch grabbing azzhole with zero clue about how to run a business, much less the USA. .

This country became weak and bankrupt, our enemies were making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo, and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in; "AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED”.. And Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want..

MR  Our enemies are making fun of us on the world stage BECASE Trump is occupying the WH.  And there's that dog whistle racism again in the false claim that our country is being 'invaded by illegals'.

Demanding equal rights coverage promised to every American by the Constitution is not 'special rights'.   The diversity of America's population is our strength, don't something to be denigrated or feared.   

And Trump has no clue what the people want. 
  
We're sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, sick of the Republican Party, and sick of illegals!.. We just want this thing fixed..

MR  The rest of reality based America is sick of racist MAGA azzholes who think that immigration is a detriment to this country.   And exactly what IS the thing you want fixed?  

Trump may not be a Saint, but we didn’t vote for a Pope.. We voted for a man who doesn't have lobbyist money holding him back, a man who doesn't have political correctness restraining him..

MR You also voted for a man who is racist jerk

We all know that he has been very successful, he’s a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he's also NOT a politician, NOT a cowardly politician.!..

MR:  If it weren't for Daddy Fred's money, he'd be swilling beers with the rest of you MAGAts.  As for a successful negotiator, Trump has proven to be anything but that.  
And yes, he is a cowardly politician.  A thin skinned coward that can't handle criticism or the truth being told to him that he ain't all that, especially by Black women. 

And he says he'll fix it.. And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong, or looked at and called a liar.. Also, we don't care if the guy has bad hair.. We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW!!!

MR  Sad that you believe the FOX Noise hype about him being a 'great POTUS".   Yeah, right.  He's the worst ever in addition to being a baldfaced liar 
And once again, who are these raccoon you're babbling about that you want out of 'your house'?  Black people?  Latinx folks?  Muslims?  Asians?  TBLGQ people?

And if our house is a thinly disguised metaphor for America, this house belonged to native Americans long before you Europeans came here   

You are welcome to copy/paste/share this.. Thousands of people who haven't voted in 25 years seem to be getting involved.. And the more people get this message, the more that will understand why Trump was elected..The raccoons have got to go!!!

MR Thar racist piece of orange excrement occupying the White House has to go for the sake of our country and the planet.

Warning H-town Progressives, Bill King and Tony Buzbee Are Republicans

Houston municipal elections are officially via the city charter nonpartisan, but a little digging into voter records,  Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) and Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign donations records will reveal despite any spin attempts whether you're really a Republican or Democrat.

Because of the blue tsunami last year that flipped Harris County to Democratic control and the desperation of the Harris County Republicans to capture a Houston mayor's chair they haven't held in over 30 years, they are trying to peddle the fiction, especially in Houston's Black community, that mayoral candidates Tony Buzbee and Bill King are Democrats.

Um naw players, not on my H-town watch.  Buzbee and King are undeniably Republicans.  Don't want any Republicans in my mayor's chair.

Thanks to Melody Tan and Erik Manning, I have the receipts.

Let's start with Buzbee.   That's him on the right in this pic at the top of the post with Rick Perry and Lugenprasident at Buzbee's River Oaks mansion.

Um no.  He not only held a fundraiser for Trump, he has according to this FEC filing, made multiple donations to the Republican National Committee and Trump,

Buzbee has also given money to the state Republican parties of AR, CT, LA, MS,NJ, NY, TN, VA, WV and WY.

Nope, #NeverBuzbee   You were canceled when you donated money to Trump.

Now for Bill King,  the former mayor of the suburban community of Kemah who narrowly lost to Sylvester Turner in 2015.   He still wants to take his act to the Horseshoe. 

Um. no boo boo.   Not on my watch  Democrat my azz. Peddle that lie to someone that isn't paying attention.   #NeverKing

Note King's donation record.    Rep. Jarvis Johnson, the person who succeeded Mayor Sylvester Turner in HD 136 is the only Democrat on this donation list.   The rest of his cash is going to Republican leaning groups like the Houston Realty Business Coalition,  the Kingwood Republican Women's Club, The Spring Branch Republicans, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt's (R) problematic behind, and the Coalition For a Greater Houston.

And yes, King since 2006 has been voting (when he has cast a ballot ) in the Republican primary.

So naw Harris County Republican Party and all you Houston activists mad at Mayor Turner to the point you're considering spitefully voting for these two.   The Houston mayor's chair is not something to be played with because of its immense power in our strong mayor form of governance.

We know the Harris County GOP is big mad about being swept out of power, so they are trying to push that 'Buzbee and King are Democrats' lie to siphon enough votes from Turner to force a runoff.

Frankly, I don't see a compelling reason why Mayor Turner should be kicked out of office after only one term.  Neither am I inclined to fire only the second African-American and first Black Houstonian to have the job without an exceptional candidate to replace him.

I'm also not happy about the dog whistle racism that King has deployed in his second campaign implying there is  'corruption' at City Hall, or the dog whistle racism being aimed at him by some of his detractors.

As Trump has overwhelmingly proved, being a businessman doesn't mean you have the ability to handle the demands of being mayor of the soon to be third largest city in the US.  If these two are trying to cover up the fact they are proud Republicans, what else are they covering up?

Because of the charter change, the mayor no longer serves just a two year term.  If we don't handle our electoral business, we're stuck with that person in our mayor's chair for four years. 

So we must choose wisely on November 5. 

But at least you're going into the voting booth when early voting starts on October 21 armed with the knowledge that Buzbee and King are not Democrats, but undeniable Republicans. 

TransGriot Note:  Lugenprasident = lying president in German 

NAACP Passes Pro-Trans Resolution!

You longtime TransGriot readers are quite aware that I have been calling out for years the NAACP's cricket chirping silence when it comes to what is happening to Black transgender people .

They are the oldest civil rights organization in our community, and whether you feel that way or not, the 110 year old  NAACP's voice is still respected in the progressive civil rights community and with elements of our people.

I have urged them to not only say the words 'Black trans lives matter' from their convention stage, but pushed for NAACP state and local chapters to take action to make sure those words, when they are finally spoken publically, are backed up with policy.

Today, I was thrilled to hear that a resolution supporting the trans community was passed yesterday by the delegates of the 110th NAACP convention in Detroit!

The resolution reads:

Be it resolved that the NAACP will work with all of its Units to work to support equal protection for transgender individuals so that all members of our community can live free of violence, shame and discrimination.

This is a huge win for the Black trans community!  One of our legacy civil rights orgs has actually passed a resolution that acknowledges our existence. 

We in Black Trans World want all members of our Black community to be free from violence, shame and discrimination.   It's imperative that we at least get the process and conversation started about how we do so for Black trans individuals in collaboration with the NAACP before we start plunking down our T-bills for memberships.

Hopefully this opens the doors for conversations with the Black trans community as to the best way to accomplish coordinated action that makes a reality the goal set forth in that resolution.

The State Of LGBTQ POC In America NAACP Convention Town Hall

You TransGriot readers know that I have been pushing for the NAACP to end the silence, say the words Black Trans Lives Matter, and start aggressively backing them up with policy.

Yesterday afternoon during the NAACP convention happening in Detroit two longtime freinds of mine and fierce Detroit SGL leaders in Michelle Elizbeth Brown and Curtis Lipscomb were on a livestreamed townhall entitled The State of the LGBTQ POC In America town hall that was moderated by Keith Boykin.

Wish I could have seen this panel live, but I did get to see it on the NAACP convention website and was pleased that a trans person was on that panel.

Maybe next year we can get a panel at an NAACP convention that specifically talks about the issues that black trans people have to navigate in our community.

It was once again a needed and necessary conversation to have in that space,  We need our community's oldest civil rights org to recognize that Black TBLGQ people exist.  We also need the NAACP to open their mouths and consistently say that Black trans lives matter. 

But thanks for a wonderful and much needed conversation.

One Year To Tokyo 2020

One year from now we will get a break what promises to be an ugly 2020 election campaign in the United States to watch the opening ceremonies of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.

The Tokyo Games will open on this date and close on August 9 in the soon to be completed New National Stadium.   Other venues are will be completed in time for the Games

It is not only the second time since 1964 that Tokyo has hosted a summer Games, it is the first Asian city to do so twice.  Japan has also hosted the winter Games twice (1972 Sapporo, 1998 Nagano).

It will also be the middle leg of three consecutive Olympic summer and winter Games being hosted in east Asia that started with the winter Games in Pyeyongchang last year and will conclude with the winter Games in Beijing in 2022.



When the Tokyo Games open there will be a record 33 sports in the 2020 Olympic program.  There will be along with the permanent core sports new additions like 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and the Madison cycling race.  Baseball and softball will also return to the Olympic sporting program for the first time since 2008.

Four sports, surfing, karate, sport climbing and skateboarding will make their Olympic debut, and as usual, men's and women's soccer will start their respective tournaments before the opening ceremonies at stadiums across Japan.

One of the questions trans people around the world have is will this finally be the Games in which a trans athlete qualifies for their national team.   So far the only time a trans person has a ppeared inside an Olympic stadium was when model Lea T rode in on a tricycle carying Brazil's placard during the 2016  Rio Games opening ceremonies .

Over the last several Olympiads the host nations have been one upping each other on who has the most spectacular opening ceremony and who will have the most unique Olympic cauldron lighting.

Will be interesting to see not only who gets the honor of being the final Tokyo 2020 torch bearer, but how they light the cauldron and what it looks like during the opening ceremony.. 

We'll know the answer to that question in 366 days.   Yep, a summer Olympics always takes place during a leap year   

Precious and Myles Are Having A Baby!

Y'all know I have mad love for Myles and Precious Brady-Davis, and the last time I spent any quality time with the both of them was back during #CC16 in Chicago.

We jjokingly call them in the community the 'Trans Obamas' because this amazing Chicago based trans power couple are both doing trailblazing advocacy work.   He's the communications director for Equality Illinois, while Precious is communications manager for the Sierra Club.

You may also remember Precious' apperance on the show Say Yes To The Dress in the runup to her and Myles' wedding.

While Myles has always wanted to have children, Precious initially wasn't feeeling parenthood but got onboard with the idea after being convinced by Myles.

It was a two year journey for them to get to this point.   Their initial attempt at IVF failed, and both had to go off their respecttive masculinizing and feminizing hormone regimens in order to give themselves the best possible chance for parenthood to happen.   It did, and now they are on a countdown to their child's December due date.

Congratulations Precious and Myles, and may your child be healthy, happy and surrounded with love!. .

Sarah McBride's Running For A Delaware Senate Seat!

I first met Sarah McBride back during the 2012 NBJC Out on the Hill event when she was a White House intern and I was visiting the Obama White House for an all day policy briefing.

After being pleasantly surprised pleased to see a girl like us Obama White House intern,  I made a mental note to keep up with her because I felt at the time she was destined to do some great things for our community and our country.

My intuition about her turned out to be right on target.  Sarah went on after completing that White House internship to do some amazing things.

She was hired by HRC to become its national press secretary.   In 2013 she helped pass her home state of Delaware's statewide trans non discrimination law, and received the Delaware Order of the First State for her efforts to do so from former Gov. Jack Markell. 

She became the first out trans person to make a political convention stage speech when she did so during the 2016 DNC convention in Philadelphia.



And now Sarah McBride is attempting to become a Delaware state senator in 2020.

She recently announced her candidacy for a recently vacated state senate seat, and if she's successful, she will become the first out trans person to ever be elected as a state senator. 

But her run will focus on the issues facing her potential constituents, not her trans identity.

"At the end of the day, I'm not running to be a transgender state senator, I'm running to be a senator who serves her community, I'm running to be a senator who fights for affordable health care, I'm running to be a senator who works to expand access to paid leave and reform our broken criminal justice system," McBride told local radio station WDEL. "Those will be my priorities." 

She's running for the Delaware 1st District seat formerly held by Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington North) He was Delaware's longest serving state senator, having been first elected to the chamber in 1976. 

McDowell announced his retirement on June 30, the last day of the 2019 legislative session, and capping a 44 year career.





I'm already enthusiastically giving her a 2020 TransGriot endorsement for this position. I'm also  hoping this happens for her, her potential constituents and our community. 

And yeah, it goes without saying that it would be nice for y'all to drop some cash toward her election campaign.    
 
Good luck Sarah, and hope you make more history in that 2020 election cycle.

Houston Puts In Bid For 2023 World Pride!

I got a small taste of WorldPride when I made that quick trip to New York last month to participate in the opening ceremony for it at Barclays Center.   There's now a possibility that I may get to stay in my H-town backyard and participate in a WorldPride. 

So what's WorldPride?   It's an international Pride event sponsored by InterPride, the international organization that represents and is composed of producer organizations of TBLGQ community pride events from around the globe. 

WorldPride is generally a month long and is comprised of parades, panel discussions, parties and other events that celebrate the TBLGQ community.

The first one was held in Rome in 2000, and since then has held in Jerusalem  (2006),  London (2012), Toronto (2014), Madrid (2017)  and the just completed one in New York for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion 

It was the first time that WorldPride was ever held in the US, and New York successfully handled their business, drawing over 5 million attendees for it.   

WorldPride will next be held in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden from August 12-22, 2021 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Christine Jorgensen's successful GCS in 1951 and the 50th anniversary of the 1971 founding of the Danish chapter of the Gay Liberation Front.

The EuroGames will also be held in the two cities during WorldPride.

Pride Houston, our local group that coordinates our local pride event, has put together a bid to host the 2023 WorldPride event.   We have the fourth largest pride event in the United States (after New York, LA and Chicago), are the fourth largest city in the US (at least until we leapfrog Chicago to become the third largest after the 2020 census) and the only one that  has a nighttime parade.

Houston will be competing to get the WorldPride bid against Sydney, Australia and Montreal, Canada.   Pride Houston will have a 30 minute presentation to make at the InterPride annual meeting being held in Athens, Greece this October in order to secure it.

Houston Pride President and CEO Lorin Roberts (yep, my cousin) believes that we can do so. 

"We're Houston, where everything is bigger and better. Our main thing when it comes to this bid, is that even though we're a small town in the south of the U.S., you can see the world when you come to Houston," Roberts said in an ABC13 interview .

The theme for our Houston WorldPride 2023 bid is "Come to Houston, See the World, Feel Your Pride."   We are considered one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and only New York has more international consulates than we do.   
"We're trying to win this thing because we see so much in Houston as a Pride organization and within our community, that we just want to share with the rest of the world," Roberts said.

If we get WorldPride 2023, it would also be happening during the 45th anniversary of Pride Houston's formation and the 20th anniversary of the Lawrence v Texas SCOTUS case that declared sodomy laws unconstitutional in Texas  and a dozen US states. .

Good luck, and hope it does happen for us.   Would love to experience a WorldPride without having to leave Texas to do it .

Number 12- Rest In Power And Peace Denali Berries Stuckey

Was distressed to hear while attending a BTAC leadership training in Dallas about the way too soon loss of another young Black trans woman.  We head to North Charleston, SC for the latest news.

Thanks to Marcus Yasir Ross and Taliyah Cassadine Smith for alerting me to this latest death.

North Charleston PD officers responded to a 4:05 AM EDT call of a body lying on the side of the road at 2721 Carner Avenue.  They arrived at the scene to find 29 year old Denali Berries Stuckey dead from a gunshot wound

And as you probably guessed. local media misgendered her in their reporting.

North Charleston PD is still investigating the crime.   As of this writing NCPD has no suspects or persons of interest in the case.   If you have any information that will lead to an arrest and conviction, please call NCPD Crime Stoppers at 843-554-1111 or the NCPD Tip line at 843-607-2076.

Stuckey is the 12th trans woman to die this year in the US, with all of the known victims so far being African American.  She is also the 8th one under age 30 to be killed in 2019.

As of yet no word about whether there will be a vigil or memorial service for our trans sibling.  If one is organized, I will pass that info along as soon as I receive it. 

Rest in power and peace, Denali.   Hoping that the person who killed you  is swiftly caught and punished to the full extent of the law. 

Moni's Thoughts On The 'Trans People Are Sacred' Billboard In Detroit

The 110th annual NAACP convention is taking place in Detroit starting today, and I'm loving a pic of this billboard that popped up in east Detroit that states 'Trans People Are Sacred'.

In a time in which we have a presidential misadministration that is openly hostile to trans people and gleefully being egged on by evilgelicals to be as cruel as possible to our community , this billboard is a timely reminder of our humanity

And yeah, let me say it once again and make it clear where I stand with Dolt 45.  The Trump misadministration is the worst ever for the trans community.

I also find it interesting this billboard popped us just as the NAACP  convention has arrived in town.  It's my hope and prayer that some of the expected 10,000 delegates to the NAACP convention not only see this billboard, but ponder the fact that our community's oldest civil rights organization has been way too silent on the violence being aimed at Black trans people.

Black trans America has noticed that deafening silence and your cricket chirping response to it.   We need you to say from the floor of your convention that Black Trans Lives Matter and then follow it up with action.

Trans people are indeed sacred.   Our trans kids are even more sacred to us.   It's past time you treat us that way.

But to echo what my Texas homegirl Anna Nguyen said when I posted this pic on my Facebook page, I'd just be happy with trans people just being considered human. 

And we need that to happen like yesterday

 

In The 2019 BTAC Leadership Institute House

Last week I was in Philadelphia for Netroots Nation, now I've made another drive up I-45 with Dee Dee Watters and Diamond Stylz to attend the second annual BTAC Leadership Institute.

This time instead of having it in NOLA, we're having it in our headquarters city of Dallas.   Last year's event in New Orleans helped us tremendously in not only building a solid foundation for us to kick off our 2018-2019 programming year, it also had the benefits of allowing us to get to know each other better

We had a board meeting yesterday at the Wyndham Dallas Suites in which we discussed BTAC coalition business, our upcoming 2019-2020 programming year and fundraising to pay for it.

Today at the Wyndham Dallas Suites starts our two days of training to level up, and I'm looking forward to it.

Also looking forward to seeing and spending quality time this weekend with my BTAC family

Trump Is A Racist, And So Are You If You Support Him

Like every rational African American, I supported and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election because as I warned y'all repeatedly in the runup to that election,  Trump was historically bad  and unqualified to become POTUS.

Some of y'all were too caught up in your 'Bernie lost' fee fees to get over it and see the big political picture that I and many Black voters saw as November 8 loomed.

It was about the SCOTUS and the federal court system, stupid

Because of your lack of political vision, we are now navigating the worst presidency of my lifetime, and I was a teen during the Nixon years.

Black people have known for decades that Trump was a racist, and after his unwarranted attacks on four POC US congresswomen, some of y'all are finally shaking off the willful ignorance along with the media to call his racist azz out.

Now it's time for you folks who fell for the okey doke, voted for Trump and gleefully support him to come to grips with an unpleasant truth about yourselves.

Since you are enabling and unquestioningly defending his azz, that makes all you MAGA hat wearing white peeps and the 53% of white women who voted for Trump racists as well.

And before you go there, don't even part your conservalips to illogically call me 'racist' for calling out the racism I undeniably see. 

You don't like Moni saying that unpleasant truth about you?   Too damned bad.   You voted for and still support a man that David Duke endorsed.  With every passing day of this incompetent mispresidency he makes it clear he hates Black and non white people.

And y'all are eating up the oppression, hate speech and cruelty he aims at us.  Some of you are even engaging in it.

Spare me the whitesplaining about how saying 'go back to you country' is not racist because it is.

To me, the most disgusting Trump supporters are ones who are in the trans and SGL community.  That's a rant for another time.

Note to you Trumpettes and MAGAts.  I am not obligated as an American citizen to unquestioningly love this country.   That what you conservafools do.   I love my country enough to praise it when it does the right thing and when it's wrong, to use my First Amendment rights to speak truth to power and call BS out.
 
I love my country when it comes closer to living up to its democratic principles and I see people who look like me participating in governing it.  I want it to be better and always striving to evolving to be a more perfect union.

Trump and his ilk want a dark, white supremacist America that is the antithesis of the beloved community that the Rev Dr Martin Luther King talked about  Your racism is not patriotism, and the sooner you MAGAts grasp that concept, the better our country will be.

Trump is undeniably a racist.  Disagreeing with him doesn't make me un American.  It makes me a patriot. 

A Californian's Thoughts On Sen. Kamala Harris' Candidacy

I've been getting sick of hearing the borderline racist at times vitriol being aimed at Sen Kamala Harris and the BS 'Kamala is a cop' line.   I'm leaning toward supporting her in large part because I've been keeping an eye on her political ascent since 2010 and I'm tired of the anti-Kamala rhetoric.

Is her record perfect?  Nope.  Neither are the other 20 people running for the Democratic nomination either,

One of Harris' constituents, Viktor Kerney wrote this on his Facebook page explaining why he enthusiastically supports her 2020 candidacy for president.

 ***

So, someone asked me why I ride hard for Kamala Harris, especially since was a prosecutor. Well, I don’t see being a prosecutor a bad thing. I think people have to realize that a prosecutor is not a simple job, like working at Target. It takes someone who can make tough decisions and look at things through a critical lens. But here are my reasons.

Kamala has fought for people of color during her time as DA and AG in California. She’s worked on initiatives to get people back on track after being incarcerated, making sure the children had a proper education and opportunities to succeed. Yes, the truancy policy was not ideal, but with the research about children missing school and later becoming incarcerated, she had to do something.

Kamala is comfortable making tough decisions. I want a president who can make these decisions with proper caution.

Kamala’s policies for America helps middle-class workers as well as Black people. I’ve seen people say what is her Black agenda. It is my belief that the Black agenda is healthcare, jobs, education, shortening the pay gap and the ability to have home security.

She has a strong list of successful receipts through her time in office and a high approval from President Obama himself.

Kamala has fought the big banks, predators, corporations in the world to make life easier for her constituents.

She understands hard work and does not shy away from big tasks.

She understood that being a prosecutor will bring negative views about who she is. However she used her experience to improve criminal reform.

While there are many rumors about her record, the facts state that she has been successful. I encourage people to read her records from California.gov versus some blog post from these descendant of slaves (ADOS) or her rivals’ fan base.

She has taken on men like Trump and not afraid to call them out and hold them accountable. That’s what I want in a president and I think she can do it.