I Started The K-Hive Because I Knew Kamala Would Be Erased By The Media
Okay, I get it. Kamala Harris is a Black Woman. As Black Women we have long been informed that “our place” is to support white men, black men, and white women while we help them achieve their goals. We are not to be seen leading, but instead as foot-soldiers, marching BEHIND whichever black man or white person has decided they will lead us. From long before the time of first wave feminism, when the white suffragists supported White Supremacy just as much as they supported the women’s vote, the American media has been complicit in the marginalization, caricature, and stereotyping of black women. I knew Kamala would be treated to the same courtesy. I am always right. Unfortunately.
Ida B Wells, a journalist and civil rights legend, was subjected to much the same foolfuckery as Kamala is now; only now Kamala is also subjected to the delight of having black male voices added to the cacophony of crows declaring her unworthy. This is to be expected. Men are able to sit with white women allies, who I actually like, and confidently declare things like, “Kamala is desperate and needy,” or similar, with no push-back. The ally, a generally kind woman, of course responded to the criticism by declaring her love for Kamala. To her I say, “she doesn’t need love, she needs you to push back on misogynistic bullshit…” But, whatever. Allies always declare love, they rarely defend her. This reinforces a belief among her supporters: Words like that are meant to cut down her value with the public, and they are intended to wear her down until she learns her place and drops out. Having negative beliefs about the media constantly reinforced is a harmful thing. Do better, please.
In 1913 at the “Women’s Suffrage Parade” a white woman organizer told the black suffragists to walk behind them, in a procession at the back. Ida B. Wells refused. She was determined to march under the Illinois banner, and she did so by standing between two white allies. Not behind them as one might demand of a servant at the time, but in lock step with them as God intended. Black women today feel like we are being told to walk behind; on social media we are bombarded with white women intent on leading us. Day after day we are issued orders, suggestion, given demands, and outright demanded not to discuss anything that might upset, alarm, or politically harm any white women who happen to be running. One glance through the timelines of many of these women are attacks on Kamala Harris; they assault her on authenticity, her honesty, and even her sexuality.
I tell you this because, as you may have noticed, there is a reticence in some white women to support Kamala based on increasingly ludicrous factors. I have white women come to me begging me to understand their positions and giving me their justifications for buttressing Liz rather than supporting Kamala ALL DAY AND NIGHT. Their reasons are stupid, fake, phony, paternalistic, humiliating, often malicious, and usually based on stereotype and false perceptions. Also, I’ve never fucking asked them to tell me all that.
I’ve heard Kamala was too young to lead (WTF), I was told she’d make Liz a great AG (See? We SERVE white women, we don’t LEAD.), I’ve been told she’s mean, and also too nice. I have also been told by a large number of people that she isn’t as qualified as people like Pete, Liz, or Joe. Well, Joe is old as Lincoln, so maybe I can let that one slide, but Pete is as young as I am, that’s bullshit. And not to be fucked up, but Liz has no experience in getting shit actually done for minorities, especially blacks, and we are 20% of the Democratic party. Liz sat her ass up in the GOP while they set the world on fire. I like my leaders to be aware of racism and discrimination at some time before they decide to run for President at 70 years old.
Even young children pick up on media biases when judging the intelligence or brilliance of men and women, and for them, black women rank below white men and women. Where do children get the idea that white men are the best, then white women, and why do black women come in beneath white women? Look at your media. They are why. News Anchors are still mostly white men, white women are far fewer in number, yet becoming prominent, and black women lag far behind. Even brilliant black women in the media can be sidelined by a stupid racist white woman at the drop of a hat, just look at what happened with Tamron Hall and Megyn Kelly.
And that is what I see going on here. White women are experiencing a Betty Friedan feminism moment with Liz Warren. The white male dominated media cannot take a black woman seriously, so Kamala is relegated to the space of “future Attorney General” in the minds of all but her dedicated social media tribe. We who know her best clearly see in her a combination of Obama’s charisma and capability, and the over-preparation (Most Times) and curiosity of Hillary Clinton. This, she has, along with an all encompassing compassion that this nation so desperately needs in the wake of Trump. She also has a determination to take him down and make him pay for his crimes along with a plan to do so (That’s so Hillary.).
Kamala doesn’t say the word fight to convince people that she knows how, or promise things she knows a president cannot deliver. It’s irritating to see her negatively compared to a candidate who promises wild thing like ending the filibuster in the Senate, major structural change in a nation that was not built for major structural change, and a litany of freebies all paid for by the billionaires. Our billionaires never pay for shit, and would legally move their money and residences the fuck outta dodge the second it looked like Liz might win. It is ridiculous to believe otherwise. Additionally, the President has no power over the Senate, so, I’d like to know which Constitution Liz has been reading, and also, when Dems took over the Senate at all. But I digress, it’s not about Liz at all. It’s about society as a whole. They have to begin to see us as leaders if we are ever going to lead this nation. That takes the media, and they don’t seem to be ready for a Black Woman AT ALL. So, they erase her. Daily.
It’s dangerous to omit Kamala Harris, though. Early in the day, I watched a couple hundred people of the K-Hive frantically looking for her video in the drop-down menu that housed the other candidate’s names. It’s true, her name was missing. This happened a few weeks ago as well, and last week one of her videos was posted without sound. Many times on Twitter, her name has been left off of poll results. Little things that add up in the age of Qanon, fake news, and Donald Trumpism. Things like this transpiring during a non-election year would be written off as coincidence. To have them happen during heart of the campaign season, well, that causes Conspiracy Theories to form rather quickly, which is not good for anyone. Please don’t make this a common occurrence, media.
From Axios:
“Of course” it’s different to run for president as a black woman, she said. “When there is not a reference point for who can do what, there is a lack of ability or a difficulty in imagining that someone who we have never seen can do a job that has been done, you know, forty-five times by someone who is not that person.”
There is so much truth and history in that statement that one needs to unpeel it layer by layer and view it through the lens of time. The struggles Obama dealt with were many yet, they lacked the intersection of gender. And while they were racial, they lacked the twofold racial otherization (Is this a word? Meh, it is now.) of being not only black, but entirely nonwhite. It’s Birtherism+ these days. With Obama, whites could still lay some psychological claim of ownership to him. Many a time I have had a white person suggest that the attributes within him they found inviting, intelligent, or impressive had come from “his mother’s side.” I never saw or heard a black person state similar about his intellect, instead they would lay claim to his singing, his coolness, his love for his family, and his Deacon-esque oratory style for their own.
“I have also started to perhaps be more candid” or speak with “a candor in terms of the politics of race in the way that I’m talking during my town halls and in my rallies.”
Well, let me be candid (I am always candid.) What could they, generic white people, claim for their own in regards to Kamala? India and Indian Americans would have claim on Kamala just as much as African Americans. And they DO claim her; many see themselves in her, and her travels “home” to India to visit her Grandfather are reflected in their own lives and travels. They see their lives in her, just as many black men and women see ours in Kamala. This is reflected in the make up of the K-Hive. The fact of the matter is, the K-Hive is an assortment, or rather a bouquet of the finest flowers gathered from all of the cultures around the world, and it includes beauties of every gender identity known to mankind. You’ll probably never see a more inclusive or diverse movement for a long time, just like you’ll never see a dynamic candidate like Kamala again. Unless Meena decides to run, lol! We support her candidacy for 2032 or 2036.
I heard from a friend that SNL made fun of the K-Hive. Oh bother. I have mixed feelings about a thing I organized becoming a joke in the vaunted upper echelons of comedic glory that SNL has become. Es muy triste. I don’t want to be the joke, I want to TELL the jokes. But I suppose I’ve dished enough out that it may just be my turn to take it. I’m almost scared to watch, lol! I didn’t bother watching it because of my one woman secret stupid boycott that began due to how black characters were represented on the show. I also idiotically wanted Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latinos, and Native Americans to have spaces carved out for them in the cast; for a “liberal” show, it felt quite mono-cultural. I have MANY of these secret stupid boycotts going right now, if I listed them, you’d probably laugh your ass off. Do you know I never watched one episode of Girls or Sex and the City? I secretly boycotted. I would have started back watching SNL for Big Les, I just forgot, not watching has become a habit that I can’t seem to break. I’m sorry, girl, I always caught clips of your segments online, and sometimes I ONLY watched yours. They didn’t do you justice, in my humble little opinion. They held you back. I’ll watch a clip online and see how they treated my little ragtag group. I promise not to get mad.
But let me make one thing clear.
The K-Hive is America; we are the Salad Bowl, the Melting Pot, the Floral Bouquet, the Mexican Indian Curry Jerk Chicken Lasagna and fry-bread at your cousins Same Sex wedding that is so fucking good you’ll demand the recipes and eat them cold while standing at the fridge. Just to let you know. And yes, I am a notoriously bad leader with a black anarcho-feminist approach to leadership that begs you to lead yourself and adhere to your own values and codes. I’m sorry, kids. Someone else should lead, I should be writing passionate articles on why Kamala is the best that ever was or will be. Maybe I still will. And maybe a leader will find the K-Hive and do a better job than I can; its not like leadership is one of my strengths on ANY personality test I’ve ever taken. Similarly, being LED is also not one of my strengths. Sigh. Can’t win for losing.
As I stated earlier, some of my folks were looking for Kamala’s segment online yesterday, because she lit it the fuck up, and shut it the fuck down, yet they weren’t hearing anything about it. This is a real shame because her speech was so good it made me cry. Skip to 1:13:00 and let’s watch this shit together.
That was… Inspiring as fuck….. Did you see how she got standing ovations?Multiple times? She could barely get her points out before the cheering started up again. The bold enthusiasm she inspires in people across the spectrum, of all colors, ages, genders, sexual orientations, levels of ability, economic classes, no matter your situation or who you are, she sees you, is just awesome. Just like in all her speeches, she let everyone know they mattered, they are valuable, they are an integral part of the American family. Justice was the theme of the evening for Kamala, and the screams of the crowd show that people are crying out for the exact type of justice Kamala Harris is trying to give. Justice is on the ballot, she says. I just wish I believed America could be just to US, to black women, to Kamala Harris. We have a few months left, let’s fight this shit to the muthafuckin’ bricks. Go K-Hive!
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