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Progressive California Governor Changing The State’s Future

California Governor Gavin Newsom is on a mission it seems.

Just a few days ago, he issued an executive order apologizing on behalf of the state for its past violent treatment of its indigenous population. From The Hill:

In a historic move, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order apologizing on behalf of the state and its citizens for the past violence against Native Americans. “We can never undo the wrongs… but we can tell the truth.”

Telling the truth is a start indeed…

But he followed that up with a bold move forward. He placed a halt on all executions in his state. CBSNews.com: 

There are 737 inmates on death row in California – most of any state in the nation. But that could change now that Gov. Gavin Newsom, who took office in January, halted executions with an executive order.

“Just last year we had someone who was exonerated that spent 26 years on death row – joining the ranks of 164 human beings that have been exonerated, that have spent time on death row. It’s a racist system. You cannot deny that,” Newsom said Friday on “CBS This Morning.” “It’s a system that is perpetuating inequality. It’s a system that I cannot in good conscience support.”

He also makes some interesting remarks about the Green New Deal and about influence and privilege in the nation. 

“We’ve got to reflect on this in a much deeper way. It’s all about money. It’s all about money,” Newsom said. “Two-thirds of the folks in these positions of influence as administrators – their purpose, they’re literally judged on their basis of their connections and ability to raise money. But with that comes some expectation. People aren’t just benignly writing $100 million checks. They expect something more than just their name attached. They’re going to get a return phone call.”

He acknowledged it applies to politicians as well.

“Deeply true with anyone in positions of influence, and politicians are among them,” Newsom said.

Newsom has always been a progressive politician. I’m curious to watch how California leads the nation with him at the helm.

Tom Morello: There’s Never Been a Time More Right for Rage Against the Machine Than Now

“If like you are missing a Rage Against the Machine element in the world, then form a band. What’s on your mind? It’s your time – do it. Don’t sit around waiting, you’re wasting life if you’re waiting for some bands to emerge from the shadows to save you, it’s your time to pick up a guitar or a turntable or whatever or Ableton or whatever it is, and have your say.” – Tom Morello

Read More HERE

Fury Over Racist History of Democrats Video

DISCLAIMER: Some of my friends reported this video to Facebook. Apparently, American history is violent and graphic, but most of all, politically divisive. In other words, this is the United States, and this is history. The accuracy of the words has not been questioned.

WHITE FOLKS: If you view this video, you should be prepared to be all up in your feelings with FEAR and FRAGILITY about how a TRUE depiction of the Democratic Party’s racist past will affect everyone EXCEPT you and other white folks. You may find yourself caught up in the current neo-McCarthyist Russian scare mongering where you believe that any negative information about the United States is the work of former KGB agents bent on destroying YOUR country.

PEOPLE OF COLOR: If you view this video, you will be reminded that the current White House occupant is NOT the first racist president of the United States. In fact, you will be reminded that at times past, the Democratic Party may have been far worse.

While SOME people FEAR this may reinforce any desire you have to stay home and not participate in US electoral politics, you may find that it is MORE likely to inspire you to get out and VOTE for the record number of people of color and women running in primaries and in the mid-term elections this season. This video may very well remind you that you have a chance RIGHT NOW to begin changing the complexion of the Democratic Party FOREVER.

EVERYONE REMEMBER: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. FEAR NOT the violent, racist history of the United States. MARCH BOLDLY FORWARD determined NOT to maintain the status quo and the tacit acceptance of white supremacy.

WE determine from here forward what type of nation we will be. Will you sit back and let the US remain weak and divided, lashing out like a bully whose only strength is superior firepower? Or will you DO THE WORK to make TRUE those shiny words in the parchment of this nation’s founding documents, that ALL HUMAN BEINGS are created equal; that hence we should ALL be afforded the SAME rights regardless of skin color or zip code or where and how your ancestors arrived on these shores?

This video is our collective history. We cannot change it. But THE FUTURE is entirely in our hands. Will you walk forward with knowledge, or continue to blindly follow the echoes of the past? The choice is yours.

 

I’m Not Listening

My friend and former MTV Street Team colleague Anthony Wojtkowiak suggested I check out this TED Talk by his boss Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute. I recommend that you take 15 minutes of your life to do the same.

Why?


Our world has become more polarized and more divided along political and ideological lines. So much so that we just don’t get anything done. Continue reading

Do Artists Avoid Message Music For Fear Of Being Blackballed?

imageDo Artists Avoid Message Music For Fear Of Being Blackballed?

The short answer is “Yes”. Of course, I’m an artist who has never avoided  writing what they used to (and what others, including Patrick Flane7ry at Billboard.com, apparently still do) call “protest music”. But indie and major label artists alike tend to shy away from controversial material.

Have I lost opportunities because I’m labeled too political? Probably. Is that going to make me stop saying what needs to be said? Not a chance.

If I don’t say it who else will? If no one speaks up, how will we change the world?

Questlove: Fear of Being Blackballed Prevents Artists From Releasing Protest Music

Obama Isn’t Black?? Part 2

The cards are on the table.

Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential candidacy is going to be about race. I’m sure he doesn’t want it that way, but that is how it’s going to play out.

Already his ethnicity is being attacked from all sides. I’ve blogged previously about Black folks like Debra Dickerson of Salon.com who say Obama isn’t Black.

Now the darling of race-baiting conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, encourages the biracial Obama to renounce his Blackness and declare that he is white. Continue reading

Obama Isn’t Black?? Part 2

The cards are on the table.

Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential candidacy is going to be about race. I’m sure he doesn’t want it that way, but that is how it’s going to play out.

Already his ethnicity is being attacked from all sides. I’ve blogged previously about Black folks like Debra Dickerson of Salon.com who say Obama isn’t Black.

Now the darling of race-baiting conservatives, Rush Limbaugh, encourages the biracial Obama to renounce his Blackness and declare that he is white. Continue reading

© Nadir Omowale