THURSDAY THOUGHTS: TELEVISION

 

THURSDAY THOUGHTS: WHY I VOTE

I laugh and shake my head every time I hear someone say, "This isn't who we are. We're better than this!"

ARE we? Have they read a History book, seen a documentary, searched the National Archives, or heard actual people's lived experiences? To make anything great again, implies that it was ever great in the first place.

For whom were the good ol' days, so good? If you're longing for a time when all was well with, and for you, but miserable for others, I have serious reservations about your ability to lead, and what that leadership means for everyone who's not like you.

There's so much good to be found, and so many exceptions to the rule, but for centuries, America has been the home of power-hungry, entitled, greedy, inhumane, selfish, irrational, evil, abusive, racist individuals--many who identify as Christian. Each succeeding generation has been taught to hate--to perpetuate the dysfunction--and believe in their supremacy, and right to rule, to the detriment of their own souls. Maybe it's the thought of being treated the way they have treated others, that fuels their fear.

In the current crop of supremacists' often violent pursuit of control, they have been in the underhanded business of cheating, gaslighting, disenfranchisement, and stoking fear. It’s nothing new. Think Reconstruction. 

For generations, the decisions of politicians--local and national--have affected MY family's right to exist, be educated, exercise its right to vote, and enjoy full citizenship. 

The hatred and scheming, however, has stopped nothing. We're still here--in the land where we were born--and still very much aware of our origins--as all Americans should be. Perhaps the ease at which people are called immigrants, aliens, or illegals, would stop if everyone could see the humanity in others. Perhaps, a lot of chaos would stop if everyone embraced the good and the bad of American history, and stopped trying to whitewash, lie about, or suppress it.  Perhaps, a prerequisite to holding any public office, is to have a sit down with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, so that he can delve into their ancestry. 

Few of us can say that our ancestors were already here, when Columbus got lost in 1492. Some, like him, had their trips here, financed. Others were viciously stolen and brought here to be slaves. Some agreed to be indentured servants. Many fled oppression, war, famine, and lack of opportunity elsewhere. How anyone could claim this land as purely their own, and attempt to demean and expel others whose ancestors have been here for centuries, is ridiculous.

"Go back where you came from!", the delusional ones cry. For me, that would be Louisiana...right here...in America.

This is my paternal great-great grandmother, Emma Dean Martin Hamilton. The year she was born, the 1855 Louisiana gubernatorial election was the second election to take place under the Louisiana Constitution of 1852. As a result of this election, Robert C. Wickliffe became governor of Louisiana. He reduced funds for public education, advocated the spread of slavery to the islands of the Caribbean, and the removal of free people of color from the state— lest they be a negative influence on slaves.

“Louisiana, looking to find a more straightforward method to exempt whites, created the Grandfather Clause in 1898 which allowed those who were able to vote before 1867, and those whose fathers or grandfathers could vote before 1867, to skip the tests and taxes. As no Blacks could vote in Louisiana before 1867 (the year in which the Reconstruction Act ordered universal male suffrage), the grandfather clause excluded Blacks in an explicit manner, thus, in theory, avoiding the ire of the Supreme Court and Northern Congressmen. Additionally, the enactment of the Grandfather Clause avoided national scrutiny because the national media was preoccupied with the coinciding outbreak of the Spanish-American War." ~BlackPast.org

This is my maternal grandmother, Ethel Mae Johnson Washington. She was born on Cinclare Sugar Mill Plantation (Cinclare Central Factory) in Brusly, Louisiana, in 1898–only 35 years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. On June 11, 1970, the state of Louisiana finally ratified the 19th Amendment. My grandmother could not cast her first vote for president until 1972. She was 74 years old. 

This is my paternal grandmother, Spencena “Rose” Hurstian (Herstain? Hersin?) Williams. She was born in Red Cross, Louisiana in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana in 1910.  (I’d love to know more about her father, Charles.)

At 62 years of age, she cast her first vote in a presidential election.

"Between 1887 and 1892, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia refused equal access to African Americans on public accommodations and transportation. These laws forced Blacks to sit in the back of the bus, on separate cars in trains, and in the balcony at theaters, for example. From this period on, segregation became a rigid legal system separating the races from cradle to grave—including segregated hospital facilities, cemeteries, and everything in between—no longer tolerating any flexibility in the racial interactions that had previously existed."

This is my paternal great-grandmother, Nellie Gordon Martin. She was born on Australia Plantation, in Louisiana, in 1887. 

The first implicit literacy test was South Carolina's notorious "eight-box" ballot, adopted in 1882. Voters had to put ballots for separate offices in separate boxes. A ballot for the governor's race placed in the box for the Senate seat would be thrown out. The order of the boxes was continuously shuffled, so that literate people could not assist illiterate voters by arranging their ballots in the proper order. The adoption of the secret ballot constituted another implicit literacy test, since it prohibited anyone from assisting an illiterate voter in casting his vote. In 1890, Southern states began to adopt explicit literacy tests to disenfranchise voters. This had a large differential racial impact, since 40-60% of blacks were illiterate, compared to 8-18% of whites. Poor, illiterate whites opposed the tests, realizing that they, too, would be disenfranchised." 

This is my paternal great-grandmother, Aydell (Census enumerators wrote Idal and Idella) Seals Williams. She was born in Louisiana in 1882. 

Because so many think it's up to them to decide who votes, or who doesn't, voting rights legislation is critical. The attempted coup and violent insurrection that occurred, is more proof of that. It is past time for the Voting Rights Act, trumpeted by the late Congressman John Lewis, to see the light of day. 

Tweets won’t do. 

Speeches won’t do.  

Deeply concerned comments, won't do.

Outrage won't do.

Given our nation’s abysmal history of systemic racism, injustice, disenfranchisement, and the current, feverish, broad daylight attempts to make voting more difficult for actual citizens, there’s no time to delay. 

It’s a shame that a law is required to ensure the right of every eligible citizen to cast ballots, but it’s where America has been, and unfortunately, here we are. People are actually burning ballot boxes in some states, and voters are being removed from rolls, in others. 

The willingness of seemingly rational people to forfeit their reputations and freedom, by spreading lies, hawking conspiracies, and engaging in illegal acts against their fellow citizens, in order to install a dictator, is nothing new. It's one of the reasons why the teaching and learning of accurate history is so important. The pandemic, and the recent fascist rally at Madison Square Garden are two examples that many have learned absolutely nothing. 

There has to be an urgency and willingness in elected officials to do the right thing, genuinely serve, and care about all of their constituents. Doing the right thing shouldn't be considered an act of bravery. Speaking up against injustice shouldn't be a reason for someone to lose their livelihood. Sadly, many who played integral roles in the atrocity that unfolded on January 6th, as people watched TV screens in disbelief, are still occupying seats of power-- and have faced zero consequences. That sends an ominous message in itself.

This is my maternal great-grandmother, Amanda Mims Godfrey Washington. She was born in Mississippi in 1855. She lived in St. Landry, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

(Did you note those surnames? Yes. Those Washingtons were in Virginia, before they settled in Louisiana...and my great-great grandfather's name was--you guessed it--George.)

When I look at the photos of my grandmothers—all natural-born, law-abiding citizens—I marvel at the strength, faith, and wisdom they must have had. 

I also wonder what the angry, unhinged insurrectionists meant, and still mean, by “taking our country back”.  I wonder exactly where it is that racists direct others to “go back” to. 

One day, people are going to realize how much their insistence on perpetuating racism has cost them financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

I wonder how America can extend her hands into undemocratic affairs all over the world, identify terrorists all over the world, and point out injustice, but fail so miserably to see, or even address her own. 

There’s a theory, I hear…

#whyivote

#votingrights

THURSDAY DETAILS

 

WEDNESDAY THOUGHTS : REPRESENTATION

“Puerto Rico
You lovely island
Island of tropical breezes
Always the pineapples, growing
Always the coffee blossoms, blowing
And the money owing
And the babies crying
And the people trying
I like the island, Manhattan
Smoke on your pipe, and put that in!

I like to be in America
Okay, by me in America
Everything free in America

(for a small fee in America)."

Originally, the lyrics were "You ugly island". There was also erroneous mention of tropical diseases.

Lyrics heard first (on Broadway) in 1957, and 1961 (on film), written by Stephen Sondheim (who confessed that, until his participation in the production, he had never even met anyone from Puerto Rico) and Leonard Bernstein, are being used in 2024 to justify bad jokes. 

Anita, a character, portrayed BY award-winning actress, Rita Moreno, sang “America”. She and her dancing friends believed those words. 

Anita bashed her homeland. Not Rita. 

In the film version, the assault in the candy store, and death of Bernardo, made Anita reconsider just how great her adopted homeland actually was. She quickly changed her tune. (Listen to “A Boy Like That”.) 

Anita got a rude awakening. 

Those lyrics she so arrogantly sang about Puerto Rico, are still searchable. Anita bashed Puerto Rico. That doesn't mean that Rita co-signed. The song, however, informed and cemented some people's opinions, and they think a mere song gives them license to bash the "lovely island", too. 

Rita Moreno has spoken of her struggles with low self worth, and how she reluctantly took on stereotypical, ethnic roles to make a living, and build a career. This role, however, she wanted, but not if it meant denigrating her people. She'd seen the Broadway musical that preceded the film version. She said that the disparaging words about her place of birth, would not come out of her mouth. 

Representation matters, but it also matters what you agree to present, once given an opportunity. The picture you paint may be construed as common, normal, truth, facts, accurate, or reality. How you present, may not only be used against you, but be cast as the norm for everyone who looks like you. 

There’s a reason why groups of people are seen as monolithic. When even one person says, does, likes, wants, or believes a thing, it’s assumed that ALL people like them, will follow suit. That’s how tropes are born.

It’s funny how the focus is on what Anita, Consuelo, and the ladies sang about America, in that West Side Story dance number, but not the lived experiences and complaints of the guys, in their musical defense of Puerto Rico. The Sharks hit back with the truth about living in America as an immigrant.

Demeaning, changing, or rejecting any part of yourself—or your culture—at the direction, or suggestion of others, is tricky. People will insist on certain behaviors from you, that make them comfortable. They’ll lump you into categories based on their ignorance or inexperience, and gaslight YOU into thinking the jokes they make, tropes they use, and satire they attempt, isn’t about you. Don't be fooled. They mean you, too. To the infamous “they”, there are no “good ones”. Anything that contradicts their narrative, has to be made fun of, scrutinized, or erased. 

It's vitally important who gets to tell your story, and write your history.

Trying to fit into spaces and places where you are disrespected or dehumanized, to your face, but expected to laugh, agree, and be supportive of people and systems that blatantly disregard you, has to be exhausting. 

How deep is the delusion of those who continue to defend ANYTHING that disenfranchises, demeans, and hates them, but courts them only when there’s labor to be done, art to be made, or votes to be counted? 

It’s fascinating what some people will support.

"Dixie"? Really?...never mind.

TUESDAY THOUGHTS: TELEVISION

“What if, by chance, we got out of our own way?”

 

“Caregiving is about dignity.”