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UMTerp01

UMTerp01's Journal
UMTerp01's Journal
June 27, 2016

Jesse Williams POWERFUL BET Awards Humanitarian Award Acceptance Speech

This brotha's speech was iconic. I stood up clapping so loud because every single word he said was true. Here's the full transcript.


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Peace peace. Thank you, Debra. Thank you, BET. Thank you Nate Parker, Harry and Debbie Allen for participating in that [video].

Before we get into it, I just want to say I brought my parents out tonight. I just want to thank them for being here, for teaching me to focus on comprehension over career, and that they make sure I learn what the schools were afraid to teach us. And also thank my amazing wife for changing my life.

Now, this award - this is not for me. This is for the real organizers all over the country - the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers, the students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.

It's kind of basic mathematics - the more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize.

Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.

Now, what we've been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill white people everyday. So what's going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours.

Now... I got more y'all - yesterday would have been young Tamir Rice's 14th birthday so I don't want to hear anymore about how far we've come when paid public servants can pull a drive-by on 12 year old playing alone in the park in broad daylight, killing him on television and then going home to make a sandwich. Tell Rekia Boyd how it's so much better than it is to live in 2012 than it is to live in 1612 or 1712. Tell that to Eric Garner. Tell that to Sandra Bland. Tell that to Dorian Hunt.

Now the thing is, though, all of us in here getting money - that alone isn't gonna stop this. Alright, now dedicating our lives, dedicating our lives to getting money just to give it right back for someone's brand on our body when we spent centuries praying with brands on our bodies, and now we pray to get paid for brands on our bodies.

There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven't done. There is no tax they haven't leveed against us - and we've paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. "You're free," they keep telling us. But she would have been alive if she hadn't acted so... free.

Now, freedom is always coming in the hereafter, but you know what, though, the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now.

And let's get a couple things straight, just a little sidenote - the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That's not our job, alright - stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.

We've been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil - black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is though... the thing is that just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real.

Thank you.
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https://twitter.com/elenaisawesome/status/747279771982143488

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My favorite part:

"And let's get a couple things straight, just a little sidenote - the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That's not our job, alright - stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down."

Exactly!!!!!! We are not here to comfort your ass who sits on the sidelines doing nothing but criticizing Black Lives Matters and not understanding all of what Jesse was talking about. And like Jesse also said....if you do have a criticism then you best have been out there marching and protesting the killing of Black bodies. Otherwise, sit down and STFU with your privileged ass!!!!

June 20, 2016

A long overdue farewell to GDP

Wish I could say it's been nice but not so much. Congrats to Hillary supporters on the win. Congrats to Sanders supporters on your guy doing much better than anyone thought he would.

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 15, 2016

My heart is hurting over the Orlando shooting.

I'm half Puerto Rican (mother's side of the family) and this Orlando shooting has been particularly personal for me not only as a gay man, but because almost half of the dead were Puerto Ricans. The LGBT community in Puerto Rico is very close. There are certain areas of Puerto Rico that are gay friendly, but unless you are in those areas (Condado, Santurce, Isla Verde) its still not wise to engage in any public displays of affection with your partner.

I have found myself with such a range of emotions since learning about this Sunday morning. Everything from anger to sadness to a numbness about it all. This was such an unspeakable tragedy. If anyone has been to Orlando you know how many Puerto Ricans are there. I have talked about this in other threads in relation to how it will help Hillary in the election because so many Puerto Ricans have fled from the island and relocated in Florida, particularly Orlando because they have a lot of entry level paying jobs due to the tourism industry. The thought that some of them left the island or relocated from up north for a better way of life only to be struck down by something so uniquely American (mass shootings) is just heartbreaking. Listening to the stories has been heartbreaking. I find myself watching nothing else and my fiance told me that it was too much. I can't help it.

This board doesn't seem to have much of a Latino presence given the last time a post was made on here but we are here on this board. My heart aches for all of the victims and their families and loved ones. I have donated money. Its the ultimate irony that as a gay man I can't donate blood. The FDA lifted the lifetime ban, but if you are a man who has had sex with a man in the past 12 months you can't donate. Well WTF?!! Whats the point?

I really hope that the victims' families, the survivors, and their loved ones are aware of secondary traumatic stress. Listening to the first hand account of this atrocity can trigger secondary traumatic stress so I hope there is access to mental health counselors and support groups. I hope the state and various LGBT resource locales down there recognize that for the wounded victims, the mental health recovery is going to be just as important as the medical recovery, and that these services should be recommended for the families and friends as well. There will be survivor's guilt for some of those who were there and made it out and lost friends or partners. Even for people who weren't in Orlando, but like me are probably watching too much of the coverage, secondary traumatic stress is real and people should be aware of the signs/symptoms.

Overall, I can't deal with the politics of the whole thing. Should someone who was questioned by the FBI twice be able to buy an AR-15? Probably fucking not!! Should an AR-15 be available for anyone to buy? Probably fucking not!!! But it seems like there are layers to this story given that this shooter had accounts on gay dating/hookup sites and had been to the club before. Hypermasculinity and homosexuality are a big part of this given that this man seemed to have been struggling with internalized homophobia being raised in a religion that is socially conservative and not accepting of gays. But its not just Islam. Christianity has its role in this as well and until the church stops demonizing the LGBT community, and until we stop putting forth such a hypermasculine ideology, something like this can happen again. Its bad enough that its indirectly the cause for countless suicides each year and manifests itself into LGBT being the most vulnerable to youth homelessness and the most vulnerable to being caught up in human trafficking.

The beauty of it though has been the LGBT community coming together with our straight allies. The solidarity that I have seen and been witness to as I was at a memorial yesterday was beautiful. The LGBT community has its issues just like any other, but we have really come together for this and found comfort in each other and in our strength and resilience to not let this scare us or define us, and to not let someone like Donald Trump try and use it for his own political agenda. My heart hurts but it is also full with the acts of bravery I saw from this tragedy and from the bonds that will be made from such horror. Much love to my LGBT Boricuas and to all those lost so tragically.

June 10, 2016

The first Black President endorsing the first female nominee of a major party for President

Just thinking about that is pretty damn amazing. I am going to miss President Obama so much. Can't believe in almost half a year he will be leaving. But wow...amazing times.

June 9, 2016

Caption of Hillary and Barack after Bernie's speech last night

Can't take credit for it. I saw it on Twitter and freaking SCREAMED I thought it was HI-LARIOUS!!!

President Obama: "Gurl....he said the struggle continues"

Hillary: "Chile"

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Caption contest anyone? What other things could they have said?

June 8, 2016

The silent majority strength of Hillary Clinton supporters

I've seen and heard many people wonder how Bernie could possibly be losing with his "YUGE" rallies. How on earth could he possibly be losing with all of the Bernie yard signs and bumper stickers I see. How can he be losing with so much Twitter support. Umm....yard signs, rallies, bumper stickers, etc do not a vote make. We've known Hillary Clinton for years. When a movement comes along that is new, people always want to enthusiastically support it and display it so thats not a surprise. However, when it came to election day people were so surprised that Hillary was pulling out wins. I have no Hillary paraphernalia. No bumper stickers because I've always felt bumper stickers were tacky, no yard signs, no buttons, no t-shirts, etc. But I'm still a voter. I may not be at rallies and all the such, but I vote, and clearly many other people are the same as me.

The other thing that is being EXTREMELY understated going forward to the general election is the Clinton machine!!! Many people can keep their head buried in every poll that comes out as some sort of doom and gloom for Hillary. She has been working a general election field game FOR MONTHS!!!! Its already been reported that Donald Trump's ground game is severely lacking. Organization and ground game is what got Obama his win. Forget polls. Elections have become so much about data and infrastructure and Hillary has that, particularly with some of the same people on her team now that were on Obama's team.

Am I saying that there aren't voting irregularities? No. I'm sure there are. But its not to the extent that it has "stolen" anything from Bernie Sanders. Keep underestimating the Clinton ground game. You'll do it at your own peril as was proven during this primary process. I saw post after post about how much the increased voter registration and independents and the such were going to be "seismic" for Bernie in California. What do the California results show? I find myself talking to people who are wonderfully passionate for their candidate but are very ignorant to the PROCESS and intricacies these days of how elections are won!!!!

June 8, 2016

Bernie speaking now in California

I'm interested in hearing what he has to say.

June 7, 2016

Why is TODAY the most important day of the primary?

Bernie Sanders is pissed that the AP called Hillary as the presumptive nominee last night saying that it was ahead of the most important day of the primary. Why is TODAY the most important day of the primary? Why are the other days not as important? Why this particular day? Shaun King said the same thing... "On Monday, on the eve of the most important day in the primary...." So what makes today specifically the most important day? I can't wait to see the verbal gymnastics people are gonna do trying to explain this to me.

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