The fact that Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic Party’s nominee to run for President of the United States is history-making in and of itself. The fact that she is on the precipice of becoming the nation’s 47th POTUS is mind-blowing. And because Harris, if and when elected, will also become this land’s first woman Commander-in-Chief and first POTUS with AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) heritage0, her ascendancy to the seat only grows in both contemporary and historic relevance.
But if “We the People” who are called to go to the polls and vote on Nov. 5, 2024, are inspired to do so solely on the juice of this history-making moment, we will miss the boat in a big way. And we stand in danger of not only making that history and getting Harris in office, but we’ll miss a vital chance to save the sliver of democracy that is still barely hanging on.
WHAT’S AT STAKE BEYOND HISTORY
Democracy
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Simply stated, democracy is literally on the ballot. On July 26, Donald Drumpf (his born name) told a campaign rally audience words that should chill your spine if you believe in fairness, equality, democracy, and the rule of law. He said, “Get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore… In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”
But Drumpf shared another message that went even deeper. He told his MAGA faithful that they won’t have to vote for him this November – a strange thing to tell potential voters if you plan on winning the election.
Here’s what Trump told Fox News anchors via phone: “My instruction, we don’t need the votes. I have so many votes.” Moreover, he’s been sharing that message in multiple stops across the country.
Observers point to the 70-plus pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials in several key swing states. Their stated game plan is to refuse to certify the results of the Nov. 5 Presidential Election… in essence, doing the work of the Jan. 6 coup from the comfort of their elected county seats.
Freedom to Protest
Donald has already promised, dictator-style, to “punish” his political opponents and anyone who he deems to be an “enemy.” When he was president, Donald wanted to order police and military to go in and shoot peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters but was advised against it by his less crazy white nationalist advisors because it was against the law.
But with Trump in office come November, and Project 2025 set in motion, along with the MAGA Supreme Court ruling that whatever Trump does while president (no matter how criminal or illegal) cannot be prosecuted, what will stop him from sending militias to gun down whoever the hell he chooses?
Police Gone Wild
Moreover, the murderer of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Black woman who called the cops to protect her, only to have one of them shoot her in the face would face no criminal charges whatsoever under another Donald administration. He has bragged about his willingness to give all police total immunity. That means, the cops who already arrest and beat and shoot and harass and murder Black people at alarmingly disproportionate rates now, even with local and national scrutiny over their actions, will be free to kill us, beat us, torture, maim and falsely arrest us at rates not seen since the Slave Patrols.
Exponential Miseducation
And if you think the war on education and Black history is insane now, another Trump presidency would set up the world for a global white nationalist indoctrination, “the likes of which we’ve never seen.”
Mind-Body-Spirit Health
Under Trump, racial violence and hate crimes rose at rates this nation has never seen before. And as crimes against Black humanity went up, our mental health went down. These realities only stand to get much worse with a second Orange go-round in the White House.
So, sure it would be great if a sister, a Black woman, won the presidency. Mos Def, it’d be cool for a woman to be Commander-in-Chief. It would be wonderful for girl girls, members of the AAPI community, and Blackfolk to look at the Oval Office and see themselves reflected. All that’s well and good.
But there’s so much more on the line come this Nov. 5.
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