Free Thinkers

For context, it is the year 2020. Covid 19 has all but shut down the American economy. Racial tensions are at an all time high. It is an election year. Donald Trump is president. Joe Biden is the democratic nominee… and Kanye West of the Birthday Party has decided to run for president.

I was watching the Joe Budden Podcast, where I was able to listen in on a discussion between Chance the Rapper, Joe Budden and a few of his nearest and dearest friends; Rory, Parks, and Mal. While not a political podcast, they often share their thoughts on political matters that affect the black community. Chance the Rapper was both defending and supporting Kanye West during their discussion. Joe and the gang seemed noncommittal on the question of whether all black people should vote Democrat but expressed that Kanye looks nuts.

There is a popular narrative/expectation which states: “Black People are suppose to always vote Democrat”. In stark contrast to this narrative, Kanye West is running for president and pushing this idea of being a “free thinker”. I think this is a dangerous mindset for black people. In contrast, I believe that black people should be “strategic thinkers”. With respect to the upcoming election, the winner is either going to be a Republican or Democrat. Point. Blank. Period. Seeing the name “Kanye West” on a presidential ballot is distracting and dangerous.

But Dave, Donald Trump was a reality show star and he won the last election. Whats wrong with Kanye running for president?”

Yes. You are right. Tump won. But he wouldn’t have won if he ran independent under the Birthday Party. Instead, he ran as a republican, divided the republican party and dominated republican convention. If Kanye West could do that in either the Republican or Democratic party, I could think about taking him seriously… but thats not the case here. Instead, Kanye is just doing what Kanye does best: Trending on twitter, spewing bullshit all while embarrassing himself… and the black community whom once him in high regard.

I believe Black People in America need to be strategic thinkers. We need to organize and vote for whichever party holds our best interest. There are a lot of black people that didn’t vote during the last election. I think that these people along with many allies of the black community took the 2015-16 status-quo for granted. I don’t think people internalized that things could get worse if we elected Trump.

We lost ground: As a Nation. As a Culture. As a Collective.

White supremacy groups are now more embolden than ever. Our President is, always was, and will always will be a divisive racist. We have a 2 party system. We all get a chance to call heads or tales. This is not the time shoot rock, paper, or scissors. This is not the time to complain about the 2 party system. The coin will be tossed with our without your participation. Society took a major “L” 3 years ago and if you are black, it disproportionately affects you more than it affects society as a whole.

Well Dave, how will things change if we keep voting democrat year after year?

Things wont change. But rather than focusing on the pie in the sky policies of a candidate who will never win, or complaining about the democratic party that tends to pander to black culture during election years, only to forget about us when they gain power, we need to organize. We need to formally/culturally elect our own representatives.

Example: Let’s say we decided to recognize Killa Mike as our informal political representative. He would be the go-to-guy. If he said to vote Democrat, we the black people America would vote Democrat.  We cold pass policy through him, and formal government officials would have to talk to him (our informal leader)to earn our votes. There is some risk to this way of thinking. What if he becomes corrupt? What if he embarrasses us? It could happen. BUT. What if it works? The rewards to the risk are exponential. We would have true representation from the culture, of the culture and The positions would come to our turf. (We achieved this level of organization a few times historically, Malcom X. & Dr. King…. both assassinated… just saying.) 

Throughout the course of American history; From Emit Till to George Floyd, the following pattern has persisted:

1. A heinous act is committed against a member of the black community.
2. This leads to public outcry.
3. This leads to organized protest by the black community and their allies.
4. This leads to legislative change.
5. After the legislative change is written into law, The hype dies down and the organized black community disburses until the next heinous acted is committed.

We are most powerful when we are organized. If we kept that power consistent, we could create equity in it. We need to elect our own leaders and make the government come to us through them. I don’t think the black community needs a savor. I think we need a system. one that always works in our interest. Killa Mike, Dave Chappelle, and Barak Obama are 3 people I would follow politically.

Just look at how black people dominate sports like football and basket ball. Look what happens when the rules are clear cut and we are organized. If we want better policies that are more in line with our values and for the benefit of our communities, we need to organize ourselves. Until then, Yes. You should vote for the lessor of the 2 evils.

That means Democrat in 2020

Point. Blank. Period.