I want to very briefly talk about two things today, but before I do, I need to note a couple things:
I definitely over-celebrated yesterday, as I’m sure a lot of us did, and I’m hungover as fuck today.
I realized this morning I’ve been so stressed I haven’t pooped for three days. Forty-five minutes on the toilet later, I remedied that; not that you wanted to hear about my poo, but you just did. And, I’m sure some of you can relate.
OK, so item number one is Dave Chappelle’s monologue from SNL last night. I rarely watch SNL these days (avid readers will know this based on my continued rage about the fact that they never use Melissa Villasenor, despite her being the most talented impressionist I’ve seen in maybe ever, which you can read about HERE and HERE, if you like) but I will watch anything that has Dave in it. He’s likely taken over being my favorite comedian of all-time, a title long held by Richard Pryor. But, watch, and really listen, to what he is talking about. There might not be a more poignant summary of 2020 than these 16 minutes. How he condensed the literal year from Hell into 16 minutes is beyond me, but that’s why he’s a genius and I’m not. If you haven’t seen this yet, it is an absolute must watch.
Item number two is this: Biden better not forget who brought him to the dance. Young voters and Black voters turned out in droves (so did angry white people, but that mostly went for Trump) to make their voices heard. Don’t forget about them like most Democratic candidates do. It’s always about change and hope and having those young and Black voices heard, and then it’s “thanks for the votes,” see you in four years. I hope that isn’t the case for the umpteenth time.
But, I’d like to point out the three people I believe to be the most responsible for Biden’s victory: Rep. Jim Clyburn of SC, Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris.
If you can remember back to the end of February, a long fucking time ago, I know, but Clyburn’s endorsement essentially handed the South Carolina primary to Joe Biden and re-energized his lagging campaign. He had finished very poorly in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries and was looking to be dead in the water. Clyburn threw Biden his support, and the rest is history.
Abrams did an incredible job of getting people out to vote. Her home state of Georgia, yes Georgia, went blue for the first time since Clinton and both Senate races are heading to run-off elections. That is fucking incredible. And I’m sure her get out to vote campaigns extended beyond the borders of Georgia. The way she was able to drum up interest in one of the least interesting candidates of all-time, was amazing. In our house, we often call Joe the “plain chicken breast candidate.” We know he’s good for us but, man, can you spice it up a bit? She brought out historic levels of Black and young voters. I know Georgia itself didn’t hand Joe the Presidency despite barely leaning his way, but her impact on this election was definitely felt across this country. Hell, I even felt more inspired by her and I didn’t need any more inspiration to vote this election cycle.
Lastly, we have Kamala Harris who was a recommendation from Jim Clyburn, I believe. Kamala was the person who inspired people to come out to the polls. After the announcement yesterday when TV reporters were interviewing people who were celebrating in the streets of NYC, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, etc., almost every person was talking about Harris. They all noted how huge this was for women, especially Black and Brown women. She was the story of this election and it’s amazing to see how many people were rooting for her. I can almost guarantee Joe loses this election if not for her. She gave people someone to vote for, instead of just voting against the President. I definitely had chills during her part of the speech last night. Seeing as Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, it was amazing to finally see one going to the White House. Next time, I hope, it’ll be as President.
I just felt the need to point that out and recognize that three Black people, with two being women, cemented Joe’s win yesterday. I hope he doesn’t forget that and makes a serious effort to do everything he can to support them and the communities the represent.
(dictated but not read)