Hello! Welcome to COTL, a discussion place for BIPOC. Posted the first 3 Wednesdays of the month
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I originally considered using this awesome header image:
However, I thought the image of MLK Jr in front the protestors of the famous 1963 March on Washington was more appropriate & significant an image. There is no movement without the people rising up.
Last month I became aware a little too late (as I’ve been avoiding the PT for my own mental health) that it was Martin Luther King Jr Day on January 20th. Something I missed as a non-american & the awful nature of the situation: with the inauguration of Cheeto-in-chief on that day 🤦🏾♀️. The horrible dichotomy didn’t register till after I had posted the weekly thread.
I won’t spend too much time talking about all the things that have happened since the worst possible outcome (for what should have been a great day), but already the nazis are hard at work trying to cause a great many problems for people of colour, women & LGBTQ+. Essentially anyone who isn’t a straight white man.
Not that anyone will be able to live great lives under their rule?
- Destruction of globalised* markets by massive tariffs (trade wars… really?! 🤦🏾♀️) that will really only increase the average consumers bills though. *Gotta stop immigration somehow I guess?!
- Regulations (I mean, who needs clean water, am I right)
- & dismantling climate change proposals. That will be sure to go well, what with worsening Forest fires & Storms…
You’d think I was being overly dramatic (okay, of that I can be a little guilty) calling the new US administration nazis, but “they” were already nazi saluting in the first few days & they’re already attempting to raid places & deport people of colour (isn’t Musk here on an invalid visa?** Funny how that works 🙄) by sending them to Guantanamo Bay: the infamous “terrorist” holding facility/prison/camp.
**
Anyways, I just wanted to highlight some key news items (that seem relevant & hopefully not forgotten in the history books) for my own prosperity:
1) Trump didn’t win… Voter Suppression did:
The crucial statistic is that not everyone’s ballot gets disqualified. One study done for the United States Civil Rights Commission found that a Black person, such as Maj. Turner, will be 900% more likely to have their mail-in or in-person ballot disqualified than a white voter.
2) They’re going after Government data & their websites:
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/31/health-cdc-websites-data-removed-trump
All the bad news aside, January 20th was Martin Luther King Jr Day & to kick off Black History month in the US (the UK’s isn’t till October), I thought it would be a good to acknowledge the civil rights leader whose led not just African Americans, but inspired all marginalised people (even across the entire world) through the use & promotion of unified protest.
MLK Jr delivered the final speech at the ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom’ on August 28, 1963.
Widely regarded as having given one of the greatest speeches in human history.
Despite the bad news & the state of things, I’d like to leave this thread with some positive words from the Voter Suppression article linked above:
NOW HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS
We saw that in 2020 when, despite extreme, even felonious actions by Trump supporters to block, challenge and disqualify voters and ballots, the theft by suppression was defeated.
That was the work of voting rights groups challenging these attacks. The work was done in the courts and, more important, in the precincts, re-registering the purged, challenging the challenges, “curing” disqualified ballots.
The road is long but victory is certain. After the 2016 election, the Palast team uncovered a cruel, racist purge program called, “Interstate Crosscheck” that cost nearly a million voters, overwhelmingly minorities, their rights. This motivated the Rev. Jesse Jackson to launch a campaign that successfully shut down Crosscheck. Unquestionably, Joe Biden could not have won in 2020 without the Reverend saving literally hundreds of thousands of votes. The point is, they can’t suppress all the votes all the time.
In other words, Democracy can win, despite the 2.3% suppression headwind.
And that’s our job as Americans: to end the purges, the vigilante challenges, the ballot rejections and the attitude that this is all somehow OK.
Martin Luther King gave us our marching orders in 1965, in words just as important today.
“Let us march on ballot boxes, march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena. I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now.”
Rest in Peace King.
Also be sure to checkout Headphone Princesses ABC’s of Black American Music thread, where she’ll update everyday with awesome insights & thoughts.
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