Category Archives: Uncategorized

After Mark Jones’ Victory, the Bigger Work Ahead

Politics, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

This is part of why I did whatever I did with Mark’s campaign.

This year, we blew the judicial and DA elections, badly. 4 Supreme Court justices, 6 Court of Appeals judges, 138 Superior Court judges across 49 circuits, all nonpartisan.

Out of those 138 Superior Court seats, only 14 received challengers, across 9 circuits.

Out of the 35 District Attorney races up for election, 6 will have major party candidates go up against each other in November (in Alcovy, Augusta, Dublin, Eastern, Gwinnett and Houston). Dems decided 7 DA races by default in the primary, and the GOP decided 22 other races by default. All DA races are partisan.

So the next chance we get to make an impact on these judicial and DA elections should be seriously capitalized upon.

In 2022, 1 Supreme Court Justice, 2 Court of Appeals judges, 74 Superior Court judges in 36 circuits, 44 State Court judges in 30 counties, 17 chief magistrate judges, and district attorneys in 10 circuits will be up for election. Most of these hardly ever get challengers, and that needs to be changed.

We can’t say that we are pro-CJ reform but not get involved in pro-reform electoral bids for judicial and prosecutorial seats.

So I’m writing forum questions to ask judgeship candidates for 2022.

ENDORSEMENT: Mark Jones for District Attorney

Politics, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

Full disclosure: I state the following in my own personal capacity.

This mail ballot was the first time in my life I have ever voted on paper, and I voted for Mark Jones for District Attorney.

However that I may have felt about his unorthodox campaign style for DA was obliterated by the developments of the last month. After seeing his dedication to his campaign and to those who he hopes to have as his constituents, as well as the attacks made against him by the law enforcement establishment in this region, I could not be more proud of voting for him.

I also could not be more proud of supporting his move into this campaign from the get-go. He reached out to me in late February after I made a post about the need for more primary contests in the upcoming qualifying week, and asked if there was room for him to run against Julia Slater for DA. He hesitated for a few weeks, and then I reached back to him and said that he – a lawyer, a resident of the circuit, a reform-minded person – is more than qualified to run as a Democrat, and that I wanted a good, clean primary contest to draw attention to this position and it’s role in corrections reform. The following week, he did not hesitate to jump in, drive to Atlanta to qualify, and loan himself money to buy signs and digital billboards, all before buying a website domain. He has been campaigning non-stop ever since, and being charged and staying for two nights at Muscogee County Jail has not stopped him one bit. Two of his supporters being arrested, charged and jailed has not stopped him fighting to get them released and their charges dropped.

I am angry at the behavior of the law enforcement establishment in this region against Mark, his supporters and BlackLivesMatter protesters in Columbus. I am angry that the jail is filled to such capacity as it is. I am angry that the police here are no better than the other police departments who should be defunded. I am angry at civil asset forfeiture, cannabis criminalization, cash bail and other stupidities committed by the laws and law enforcement establishment of this city and this state. Damn this authoritarian system, and damn this state and this city for perpetuating it.

Out of all of the votes I filled out on paper, I may have cast my first vote for Mark Jones for District Attorney.

Trumpist Hypocrisy

Politics, Uncategorized, , ,

Trump supporters absolutely love to blame Obama for somehow “increasing division and racism”, or hanging his response to Trayvon and Ferguson and Alton Sterling and Eric Garner around his neck.

Does this presidential responsibility extend to Trump over the deaths of George Floyd? Oh no, that’s a blue state. How about Breonna Taylor in Kentucky? Oh no, they may have a Republican supermajority but they also have a Democratic governor. How about Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, with no Democrats in state power? Well, that was just Ahmaud’s fault, can’t blame a government for that.

But what can you expect in responsibility from the same rubes who believe that voting-by-mail and wearing a mask in public are unmanly and fraudulent?

What can you expect in good faith from those who believe that everyone is out to take their property and historical dominance away?

What can you expect from them except nonsense? Disinfo? Lies? Infections? Hatred? Authoritarianism? Gaslighting? Entitlement? Shibboleths? Anti-urbanism? Half-baked plots for civil war? Fully-baked plots to further disenfranchise Americans?

Same old shit, same old excuses, same as it ever was.

Talking Heads was right.

U.S. States and Black Political Self-Perception

Politics, Uncategorized,

I have never met an African-American person who has ever worn their state of residence on their sleeve as a matter of political identity.

It’s not been successfully driven into us that the state one lives in can’t and shouldn’t adopt ideas and cultures and laws from other states.

It’s not been driven into us that borders between states should be so strict as they are.

It’s not been driven into us that states are countries unto themselves and can’t possibly be challenged on the merits of their governments’ actions by the national government.

It’s not been driven into us that federalism is, in any sense, a worthwhile method of governance.

I don’t think African-Americans will completely buy into the ideology of federalism, not when states and their governments give us so much unnecessary grief over our civil rights.

I’d like for someone to at least try to step into our shoes and convince people like me that federalism benefits Black people in this country, when it has failed so many states’ governments and their residents of all ethnicities.

Fair and Equal Michigan Finds a Way to E-Sign Ballot Petitions

Politics, Uncategorized, , , ,

I’ll be watching Fair and Equal Michigan’s electronic signature campaign for putting an LGBT anti-discrimination bill on the November ballot. Numerous other organizations have tried gathering signatures by mail or electronically, but many state governments which allow for petitions to put questions on general election ballots specifically mandate (like in Arizona’s constitution for example) that the circulator must witness voters signing the petition in person, and even what sort of ink to use. Courts in Ohio, Montana and Arizona have all ruled against ballot campaigns asking for electronic signatures for such issues as Redistricting reform, Cannabis decriminalization and voting rights expansion, all within the last month.

The Michigan campaign is doing an end run around this requirement by allowing Michigan voters to:

  1. use two-factor authentication
  2. submit their driver’s license or State ID number
  3. use DocuSign to sign twice, once as a signer and once as a petition circulator
  4. Have their identity checked against voter rolls by the campaign

Furthermore, the campaign cites that this is covered under both Michigan’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) as well as Executive Order 2020-41, both of which provide that e-signatures for legal documents shall have legal effect and shall not be denied enforceability. If they pull this off and can get the prerequisite number of signatures before May 27, this may be the first statewide ballot question in US history to ever be put on a general election ballot using electronic signatures. This could open a new chapter in direct democracy in the United States.

Let’s Not Go Back to Normal

Politics, Uncategorized,

I’ve read a few takes on why this disaster is an opportunity for change.

One was about how things should not “return to normal” for Black people when the previous normal sucked for us, another one was comparing this moment to the days after 9/11 when the Left failed to rise to the occasion and preempt the Bush-era growth of the surveillance state, and another one talked about how so many bad, exploitative practices against the working class were suddenly suspended in a cascade across multiple states and cities and why they should be permanently retired.

I somewhat agree. This is a moment of change, a moment to press against power, make powerful asks and root them in the language of “if you don’t do this, Americans will die and their blood will be on your hand”. This is already happening in the realm of voting rights, particularly regarding voter registration deadlines (like Wisconsin), primary delays (like Ohio) and absentee ballot request excuses (like Alabama).

While things are in such a state of flux, are we willing to take advantage of it?

Stacey Abrams is Right to Stay Away from the Senate Race

Politics, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Pundits on Twitter are still pissed that Stacey Abrams abstained from a Senate run.

It’s not her fault that all our candidates for Senate suck at fundraising, or that idiot Democrat donors from out of state are burning their money on the twin pyres of McGrath (KY) and Harrison (SC).

Her eyes have been set on the governorship and nothing else. If she ran for Senate (or even House) in 2020, she would be trashed as an also-ran chasing any office like Beto was.

I also don’t think she should be a VP pick. What would be the benefit? She would be distracted from her political plans, and whoever wins the nomination would be attacked for picking a state legislator without federal experience.

The candidates who qualified for Perdue’s Senate last week just need to step their game up and/or clear the field ASAP. It’s getting a bit late in the day, and state’s out west and in NC are deciding their Senate nominees real soon. Similarly, these Dems running for Loeffler’s seat in the jungle primary need to get their shit together to avoid a lockout from a likely runoff.

Also, as an aside, I don’t care much for Maya Dillard Smith because she’s transphobic AF. Accomplished, but not on my shortlist.

A list of Black Southern Mayors since 1869

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Here is a list of first Black Southern mayors:

  • Pierre Caliste Landry (1869, Donaldsonville, LA)
  • Stephen Atkins Swails (1869 Kingstree SC)
  • Robert H. Wood (1870 Natchez MS)
  • Howard Nathaniel Lee (1968 Chapel Hill NC)
  • Charles Evers (1969 Fayette MS)
  • James R. Ford (1972 Tallahassee FL)
  • Clarence Lightner (1973 Raleigh NC)
  • Richmond Hill (1973 Greenville GA)
  • Maynard Jackson (1973, Atlanta GA)
  • Lelia Foley (1973 Taft OK)
  • Oscar Du Conge (1974 Waco TX)
  • Henry L. Marsh (1977 Richmond VA)
  • Ernest “Dutch” Morial (1978 New Orleans LA)
  • Richard Arrington Jr (1979 Birmingham AL)
  • Charles Bussey (1981 Little Rock AR)
  • Ed McIntyre (1981 Augusta GA)
  • J.O. Patterson (1982 Memphis TN)
  • Harvey Gantt (1983 Charlotte NC)
  • James W. Holley (1984 Portsmouth VA)
  • Jessie M. Rattley (1986 Newport News VA)
  • Robert T. Tobin (1989 Minden LA)
  • Lee Morgan (1990 New Bern NC)
  • MW Thornhill Jr (1990 Lynchburg VA)
  • Ron Kirk (1995 Dallas TX)
  • Floyd Adams Jr (1995 Savannah GA)
  • Abe Pierce III 1996 Monroe LA)
  • Harvey Johnson Jr (1997 Jackson MS)
  • Lee P. Brown (1997 Houston TX)
  • R. C. Horn (1998 Jasper TX)
  • Curtis West Harris (1998 Hopewell, VA)
  • Clarence R. Fields (1999 Pineville LA)
  • C. Jack Ellis (1999 Macon GA)
  • James Perkins, Jr. (2000 Selma AL)
  • Johnny DuPree (2001 Hattieburg MS)
  • Marshall Pitts Jr. (2001 Fayetteville NC)
  • Yvonne Brown (2001 Thcula MS)
  • Kip Holden (2004 Baton Rouge LA)
  • Carl A. Redus Jr. (2004 Pine Bluff AR)
  • Sam Jones (2005 Mobile AL)
  • Terry Bellamy (2005 Asheville NC)
  • Sheriel F. Perkins (2005 Greenwood MS)
  • Cedric Glover (2006 Shereveport LA)
  • Terence Roberts (2006 Anderson SC)
  • Timothy Hancock (2006 Killeen TX)
  • Yvonne Johnson (2007 Greensboro NC)
  • Marcus Knight (2008 Lancaster TX)
  • James Young (2009 Philadelphia MS)
  • Stephen K. Benjamin (2010 Columbia SC)
  • Alvin Brown (2011 Jacksonville FL)
  • Daniel Brown (2011 Knoxville TN)
  • Louvenia Diane Lumpkin (2011 Orrville AL)
  • Eddie Lowe (2012 Phenix City AL)
  • Harry LaRosilliere (2013 Plano TX)
  • Percy Bland (2013 Meridian MS)
  • Cornell Harvey 2014 Brunswick GA)
  • Ivy Taylor (2014 San Antonio TX)
  • Mary Moore (2015 Pearsall TX)
  • Barbara Blain-Bellamy (Conway SC)
  • Rufus L Davis II (Camilla GA)
  • Jo Ann Bennett Grimsley (2016 Midland City AL)
  • Kenneth Alexander (2016 Norfolk VA)
  • Brenda Davis (2017 Stamps AR)
  • James Nowlin (2018 Brookneal VA)
  • Steven Reed (2019 Montgomery AL)
  • Timothy Ragland (2019 Talladega AL)

Notable Southern cities which have not had a Black mayor:

  • Nashville TN
  • Huntsville AL
  • Dothan AL
  • Valdosta GA (interim mayor Sonny Vickers served for three months in 2011)
  • Charleston SC
  • Athens GA
  • Columbus GA (interim mayor AJ McClung served for a short time)
  • Austin TX
  • Chattanooga TN
  • Greenville SC
  • Wilmington NC
  • Winston-Salem NC
  • Biloxi MS
  • Corpus Christi TX

100 gecs – money machine (Official Music Video)

Uncategorized, Videos

Stream/Download: https://ift.tt/2YGkNiz

Credits:
Shot by gabe howell
VFX by mikey joyce

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