Why I Endorse Brother Bernie and Reject Brother Trump

The American Empire is in decline. Our market-driven culture is in decay. The criminal justice system has failed us. And the political system is collapsing due to the weight of corrupt lobbyists and greedy capitalists. Only organized power of courageous and compassionate people can turn around these catastrophic realities. Social movements in the streets and jails over against the Establishment in both decrepit political parties are fundamental. And prophetic politicians -- always with their faults and blind spots -- who tell the truth about Wall Street, white supremacy, empire, patriarchy and homophobia, deserve our critical support. Yet even more important is the issue of integrity.

Brother Bernie and Brother Trump are authentic human beings in stark contrast to their donor-driven opponents. Yet only Bernie has authenticity and integrity, whereas Trump is for real but not for right. Trump's attacks on precious Mexican brothers and sisters are unconscionable -- even as his blessed mother was born in Scotland and grandfather (Mr. Drumpf) was born in Germany. His kind of nativistic hostility could have excluded them. And Trump's unpatriotic complicity with the plutocratic corruption of our political system for over 30 years calls into question his integrity, including his commitment to "make America great again."

My endorsement of Brother Bernie in the primaries is not an affirmation of the neo-liberal Democratic Party or a downplaying of the immorality of the ugly Israeli occupation of Palestinians. I do so because he is a long-distance runner with integrity in the struggle for justice for over 50 years. Now is the time for his prophetic voice to be heard across our crisis-ridden country, even as we push him with integrity toward a more comprehensive vision of freedom for all.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how do you respond to folks who say that, well, the Black Lives Matter now has been confronting several Democratic candidates, but the Republican candidates, of which there are many more, have largely been so far unscathed on the question of answering their policy issues in terms of the black community and of police violence and on mass incarceration?

DAUNASIA YANCEY: Yeah. But, well, every presidential candidate should expect to hear from us and expect to be held accountable. It’s actually a practice called "power mapping," where it’s similar to lobbying, where you actually map who’s closest to you on the issue and go to those folks first in order to force them to articulate their stance and then hold them accountable to it. So this movement is very strategic, and that’s what we’ve been doing.

JULIUS JONES: I think we got to her in a way that made it feel like the trip was worth it. The content of the answer, I was not satisfied with, because Hillary Clinton gave an answer that I might expect in a normal conversation that I have with your everyday liberal person who is ducking their personal responsibility and just trying to focus on the solution. And that’s something that I expect in everyday conversation when I engage with people on this idea. But when it comes to Hillary Clinton and the Clintons, in general, they not only occupy a unique space in how they feel, but they are directly responsible for the greatest increase in the prison population under any president. And for her to be confronted with this idea and then immediately say that the movement needs to solve this problem, and then, in the backdrop, what she’s not saying is—what would be in parentheses would be that I created, like the problem that the Clintons created, and perpetuated this long, droning history of anti-blackness in the United States. And her visceral reaction, I think, was indicative of how she felt, and I think it was indicative of how, perhaps in her own racial introspection, it was the first time that it had really occurred to her like that, because it was like—it was a very emotional reaction, more emotion than I think we’ve seen in Hillary.

After video surfaced last night of a Miami police officer beating a man in handcuffs, the Miami Order of the Fraternal Police tried to smear the woman who originally posted the video on her Facebook page. Union President Javier Ortiz blasted out a press release picking images from Smith's Facebook page despite the fact that Smith herself isn't accused of a crime.

"As everyone is aware, social media has placed a very negative tone on law enforcement nationwide. On August 13th, there was a video that was posted in social media that shows an encounter with Miami Police Officers. While the video may seem concerning to some, the FOP is confident that when everything is analyzed with the totality of the circumstance, it will be concluded that the police officer was doing what he is supposed to be doing: Protecting our Community," wrote Oritz.

"What is extremely concerning is that the poster of this video (aka Facebook Marilyn Smith) has photographs of her with young men armed with handguns. It seems that no one cares to address this. Social media has focused so much on #blacklifematters [sic] /alllifematters campaigns, yet nobody targets the root of the problem our community faces today."

FINALLY #LorettaLynch #BlackGirlsRock

So many white women are disturbed abt #BlackGirlsRock. I received mtple FB msgs today abt how we shouldnt be tlkg about Loretta Lynch's race

We need #BlackGirlsRock because far too often when we talk about women succeeding, people are only talking about WHITE WOMEN.

The nxt woman (black white or otherwise) to hop in my FB inbox or DMs talking about "its not about race" is going to get an earful

White women like the its "not about race" line b/c its NEVER been about race for them. EVERYDAY is about race for me. #BlackGirlsRock

Everyday I have to shatter some over-sexualized, underachieving, yes this is my hair, inarticulate stereotype #BlackGirlsRock

So when another woman who I thought valued me as a person tells me its not about race, I have to invite her into my proverbial office

Then I have to remind her that America is 230 years old, but for most of those years WOMEN and MINORITIES were locked out #BlackGirlsRock

Locked out of opportunity, access and basic civil rights. And today...we are STILL feeling the effects of the lock out #BlackGirlsRock

So excuse me if I am overly excited about #LorettaLynch #MichelleObama or any other Black woman taking these stereotypes to task

I have to remind my White sisters in the movement that while they may earn 78 cents on the dollar I am only earning 64

I have to remind my White sisters that color may not matter to them because no one ever made them feel less than for it.

JUST MAYBE if 1 of them hopped off their gleaming white stool of privilege they could see why #BlackGirlsRock is not offensive but necessary

No one ever says its not about "gender" you know why? B/c White women can identify with the "gender struggle" and know sexism is real.

The issue is America has yet to TRULY buy into the notion that racism is also real & has systematically held many of us back #BlackGirlsRock

"We need to reinforce her value just as a person" look.. I can't get up in the morning and just choose not to be Black #BlackGirlsRock

As women, we have to actively work to understand the diverse plights that each of us have. We have to all be better sisters.

So to the women who feel slighted by #BlackGirlsRock or feel we don't need it I say - Can we please just have our moment?

Like @RantingOwl said - What bone in your body sees empowerment for black girls & thinks "that's not fair"? Where is your bitterness rooted?

I have no clue, but what I do know is #BlackGirlsAreMagic, #BlackGirlsRock and we don't care if you are uncomfortable about it.