#ca primary

“In an extensive mini-documentary by Michelle Boley and Taylor Gill and produced by TYT and Rogue Kite Productions, we tell you the true story of what happened leading up too and after the California Democratic Primary. Go here to check and see if your ballot was counted!”

I simply cannot put out these thoughts or extinguish the fire that has been lit in response to the CA primary outcome and the overall election process this year that has been riddled with voter fraud and suppression. I don’t think it’s been this painfully obvious that the election has been rigged in a long while by corporate media representation and campaigning strategies.

Bernie Sanders has not only sparked a movement, but ignited a political revolution. I found a passion that I didn’t know laid dormant. Every election Americans get fed up of the corrupt political system and the two-party system; yet when an opportunity to elect a candidate for president who offers real change and is not groomed, programmed, and bought and paid for by corporations, has a record of serving the people and not themselves comes along they’re called radical, a dreamer, crazy, delusional, and full of shit. I’ll tell you why I will continue to support Senator Bernie Sanders and will never support Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. 

Electing Donald Trump will not move this country forward, but halt the progress and the significant strides that this country has already made and was long overdue before that change came. We will be moving further back in time where sexism, racism, bigotry, and hatred are not only acceptable but encouraged. 

Hillary Clinton’s vision for this country will move this country forward at a snail’s pace inch by inch. I do not believe she has the courage to actually stand behind what she believes in and her campaign platforms. I highly doubt that she will even try to tackle racial, social, or environmental justice. 

She was a proud Goldwater girl that supported a presidential candidate that voted against the Civil Rights Act ’64 because it was unconstitutional. As long as you can find a way to keep people oppressed within the confines of the Constitution it’s okay to delay progress and stand in the way of the Civil Rights Movement. It was a greater crime to act outside the Constitutional right to finally grant equal protection under the law and be treated as a human being. 

Hillary Clinton also has ties to private prisons lobbyists and let’s not forget she referred to black youth as “Super-predators” to help defend her stance on the get tough movement speaking out against gang violence. A movement which increased mass incarceration, elevated The War on Drugs, and increased the gap of racial and class inequality in the criminal justice system. Instead of actually looking into social circumstances and class inequality she instead implied that it was in these kids’ nature not their circumstance. She even used a phrase rooted in racism ‘bring them to heel’. African American children are human beings not animals you can command.

 No she did not vote on the Crime bill and Senator Sanders did vote for it. The bill protected women’s rights on violence against women however, Bernie Sanders did voice concern on how it could and as we’ve come to see has disproportioned racial and class inequality in jails and prisons creating a new racial caste system. Ashley Williams bought a $500 ticket to attend a dinner to ask for an apology for Clinton using the term ‘super-predators’. How did Clinton respond? Williams was escorted immediately off the premises by security. 

Compare that to Sanders when BLM activists interrupted his speech during a rally. He acknowledged that they had the right to be angry and stepped aside to let their voices be heard even though that situation could’ve been handled similarly to Clinton’s. In my opinion, Bernie Sanders wasn’t the right candidate to protest about BLM since he actively participated in the civil rights movement attending Dr.King’s historic I Have A Dream speech, fought to desegregate college housing in Chicago, was arrested during a demonstration, and he coordinated with CORE and SNCC! 

Moving on, Clinton has flip flopped on her views on undocumented children from child-deportation to legalization and so on to a path to citizenship. 

Hillary Clinton in 1975 defended and got off a child rapist with disregard of the 12 year old girl/rape survivor. A recording was released in which you can hear Clinton’s smug tone and chuckles about details in the case. While also on the subject of women’s rights, she has evolved from the position of pro-life to pro-choice. 

She’s a warmonger who voted for the war in Iraq and intervened in Libya and Honduras. 

She has gone from protecting the sanctity of marriage to marriage equality. 

Let’s not forget her support for fracking (clean renewable shale gas energy included) and still being pro-environment as long as the conditions are met which follows: 1. Locals and state department aren’t against it, if it doesn’t poison water or release methane (which you won’t know until the damage is already done, and 3. As long as we know the chemicals being used.

Why not throw in economic justice too? She negotiated and supported free trade deals that came at the price of countless working Americans jobs. She also led the fight for $12 minimum wage instead of $15 because $15 wasn’t realistic and people should settle instead of standing by their convictions! While on the subject of money Clinton also played a role in the United States decision to cut the minimum wage from 61 cents to 31 cents in Haiti. 

Now was Hillary solely at fault? No, but she was complicit and willing to settle in times where real change for this country was needed and already on its way. Do we want to settle for Hillary Clinton and accept apologies and excuses for mistakes she will make in the future or wait for her to evolve on issues? 

It simply amazes me. How long are people willing to wait for change? Are we going to bring the political revolution or continue to wait for the gradual evolution of change? People mock Bernie Sanders and his supporters for calling our movement a revolution and wanting to transform America now. He is the only presidential candidate that has a vision that represents the voices that are being silenced, the will to stand by our shared values, and the will to fight for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. Change really does come from the bottom on up and never from the top. This country wouldn’t even be founded if that wasn’t the case. 

I refuse to let the flames be snuffed out. I refuse to be complicit in thinking that my voice, that my vote, that my participation in what is believed to be a democracy does not matter. As a young black woman my voice, my vote, and my body would be of no consequence because I would be considered property and not a human being, if it weren’t for revolutionaries who stayed angry and banded together to see their vision become a future to believe in.