Perspective

 I sit here and stare at this blank page. There are so many thoughts in my  head, so much pain in my heart and my soul it is in a state. A state of what I can't really pin point. I have questioned how can Allah allow this to happen and then I see the Palestinian children, women and men with unwavering faith and I have to step back and ask myself who am I to question when the people most affected, most harmed do not. They continue to profess their faith, to call on Allah to know this is not the end for them.  

I cry. I cry because I am so angry, so disgusted, so ashamed and feel so helpless and then I have to step back and ask who am I to have this self pity when the Palestinian children, women and men have only exhibited resilience and strength.  

Tonight as I was cooking dinner I opened a pot and the steam burned my arm and as I held it under cool running water I couldn't help to think of the children I had seen on social media being treated for second and third degree burns with nothing more that salve and gauze.  

Yesterday when I got caught up in my day and realized I had not eaten since breakfast and now it was evening and I had those few pangs of hunger I had to think of those in Gaza not having food or water for days on end and that israeli civilians in all their arrogance blocked aide trucks from entering Gaza to take food and supplies to people that they have been slowly killing.

I see hundreds of thousands around the world that feel and believe as I do, that israel is committing genocide and yet the killing continues. bibi and his army operate with  arrogance and impunity  daring the US to take away support.... and his bitch baby Biden now realizing that "his base" is not supporting his zionist stance is backpedaling but it is all talk, no action. 

I don't get it. I can't make it make sense. How can anyone with a shred of humanity and decency think that the genocide being carried out by israel is justified. 

And then I step back and I listen to the children and their resolve as they state they will not leave their land, that the resistance will protect them, that they have Allah and I do what I can to support and I stand with them and have faith as they do. 

Who are the Terrorist?

 I never thought I would see this in my lifetime.  

I thought as a global community we have witnessed and learned enough to recognize madness when it begins to unfold. 

However here we stand in the midst of madness and I am amazed at the blind eyes, the rationalizations, the lies, the inhumanity that is being played out in-front of us. At the same time I am overwhelmed by how people around the world are calling it out, naming it, and protesting against the genocide that Israel is committing on Palestine with the support of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and  many other countries. The United States and the United Kingdom  are the primary abettors. Together these countries, these world powers  have begun the annihilation of Palestine, its people, its history, and its culture. Remember, Palestine is the true country here. Equally important is South Africa the country that had the audacity to put Israel in front of the world's International Court.  South Africa the country that fought its way free from apartheid and decades of oppression stood before the world and said never again. Never again will genocide be committed against anyone.

Let me pause here and offer a contextual understanding of the Zionist movement to takeover Palestine. It will blow some of the smoke from the room.  It may seem a little like a history lecture but it is important to understand what led up to October 7,2023 and to do so you need the full backstory.  October 7th was a terrorist attack, that is not disputed however, it was not a random act as some would like you to believe, it erupted from a long and brutal history of violent oppression. The conflict between Palestine and Israel is not a religious issue as some would like to have you believe, it is a colonization issue. It is not complex, in fact it is pretty straightforward. It is an issue of people moving into a country deciding they want to own the land and having no qualms with taking it by any means necessary.  And these means include displacing the original and rightful occupants of that country. And when displacing them doesn't get them what they want when they want it, they move on to attacking the population by bombing their homes and killing the owners by bombing their schools and creating an apartheid state. 

In regard to October 7, retaliation to any attack is expected however it should never ever result in genocide and ethnic cleansing.  The killing of children and women and the elderly is not a defensive response. Carpet bombing the most densely populated strip of land in the world is not a defensive response. Shooting children and unarmed civilian teens and adults is not a defensive response and nor is torturing and wiping out complete families.  

And then you have to pose the question - what of the oppressed?  Shouldn't you expect at some point oppression will be met with resistance. That people want to be able to control and have access to the basic needs of life, that after living under an apartheid state for decades they want equal rights. That they are tired of being bombed and having their homes demolished anytime the occupiers wish to make space for new settlers. Or perhaps tired of being target practice for Israeli forces who brag about how many knees they can shoot out in one day. Or maybe the fact that a Jewish person from anywhere in the world can step foot on "Israeli" soil and immediately have more human and civil rights than you a person born on the land that can trace your family back for generations.  

Why is it when the oppressed rise up they are labeled  terrorist and yet the oppressor carries out the terrorist activities and it is viewed as defense. 

So where did all this start? It started with zionism.

Zionism: a movement for (originally) the establishment and (now) the development and protection of a "Jewish" nation in what is called Israel. The zionist movement was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzi, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.   

Zionism was a Jewish nationalist movement that had its goal as the creation and support of  a Jewish national state in Palestine.  It originated in eastern and central europe in the later half of the 19th century. It roots itself in the connection of the Jewish religion to the historical region of Palestine where in ancient Jerusalem there was a hill called Zion.  Zionism pivoted to politics under Theodor Herzl an Austrian who thought Jews assimilating into western europe wasn't possible due to anti-semitism.  In 1897 Herzl at the first Zionist Congress stated "Zionism strives to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law." When the Ottoman government would not support his request for Palestinian autonomy he turned to the British and, in 1903 the British government offered 6K square miles in Uganda for settlement but the Zionist wanted Palestine and white settlers already in Uganda did not want the zionist.

Herzl died in 1904 and at the time and prior to WWI Zionism represented only a minority of Jews most of them from Russia but led by Austrians and Germans.  Following the failed Russian Revolution in 1905 which resulted in violent attacks on Jews many Russian Jewish youth emigrated to Palestine as pioneer settlers. In 1907 a secret order called Bar Giora was formed to train Jews in combat, build Jewish communities and secure Jewish towns with the ultimate goal to create a defensive Jewish force. By 1914 there were about 90K Jews in Palestine; 13,000 settlers lived in 43 Jewish settlements. Many of the settlements were funded by a French Jewish philanthropist, Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

During WWI political Zionism began to strengthen and now the leadership was Russian Jews living in England. Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow helped obtain the November 2, 1917 Balfour Declaration from Great Britain. This declaration promised British support for creating a Jewish national home in Palestine and was included in Britain's League of Nations mandate over Palestine in 1922.  In the following years the Zionist built up urban and rural settlements for Jews in Palestine, this solidified Jewish cultural life and Hebrew education in Palestine.  By 1925 the Jewish population had increased to over 100k and by 1933 it was about 238K. 

 All this growth was unsettling for the Arab countries. The Arab population feared that Palestine would eventually become a Jewish state and resultantly they resisted Zionism and the British policy supporting it, this would be known as the Arab Revolt.  The British fought to maintain control in light of the Arab uprisings and the control was extensive from 1936 - 1939.  The British authorities destroyed at least 2000 homes and put 9,000 Palestinians in concentration camps where they were subjected to violent interrogation, including torture. The Brits also deported 200 Palestinian nationalist leaders. At least 10 percent of the Palestinian male population had been killed, wounded, exiled or imprisoned by the end of the revolt.  Britain's intent was to keep the peace between the Zionist and Palestinians in order to retain Arab support against Germany and Italy in WWII.  The British playing both sides of the table placed restrictions on Jewish immigration in 1939 and this action was violently opposed by Zionist underground groups such as the Stern Gang and Irgun Zvai Leumi which in 1944 declared war on Britain for attempting to limit Jewish immigration. These groups which you could categorize as terrorists, committed terrorist acts and assassinations against the British. Ninety one people were killed when the Zionist paramilitary bombed the King David Hotel in 1946 which housed the British administrative headquarters. Subsequently, Zionist lobbyists in London overturned the effort to control the immigration.  

The Holocaust led many Jews to flee to Palestine and also led many Jews especially in the US to begin embracing Zionism. With tensions escalating between the Palestinians and Zionists, Britain looking to rid themselves of the issues, ended its colonization of Palestine and handed over the disaster they created to the UN for a solution. The United Nations on November 29, 1947 proposed creating the UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181) which resulted in  2 separate states the Arab and Jewish states and internationalized Jerusalem. 

At the time, the Jews in Palestine made up about one third of the population and owned less than 6 percent of the total land area. Under the UN partition plan they were allocated 55 percent of the land, encompassing many of the main cities with Palestinian Arab majorities and important coastline from Haifa to Jaffa. The Arab state would be deprived of key agricultural lands and seaports which led the Palestinians to reject the proposal. Shortly after, war broke out between the Palestinian Arabs and Zionist armed groups who had gained extensive training and arms from fighting alongside Britain in WWII. The Zionist paramilitary launched a vicious process of ethnic cleansing in the form of large-scale attacks aimed at the displaced Palestinians. This was the first Nakba (catastrophe). 

British rule of Palestine ended May 14, 1948 and on May 15, 1948 Israel was created and Israel under the first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared their independence.  Fun Fact: Up to this point you will never see reference to Israel on any world map, it did not exist, you will only see Palestine. 

The creation of [the colony] Israel was violent. and forced the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians again from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state. Within 6 months From December 1947 to mid-May 1948 Zionist armed groups expelled about 440,000 Palestinians from 220 villages.   Between 1947 and 1949 at least 750,000 Palestinians from 1.9 million population were made refugees beyond the borders of the state. The Zionist had taken more than 78 percent of the historic Palestine, ethnically cleansing the area and destroying over 500 villages and cities and killed 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities including more than 70 massacres.   May 15, 1948 is the official day for commemorating the Nakba (catastrophe) but forced displacement by the armed Zionist groups had started much earlier.  There were the following:

The Ballad al-Sheikh massacre on December 31, 1947 killed up to 70 Palestinians.

The Sa' sa' massacre occurred on February 14, 1948 - 16 houses were blown up and 60 people were killed.

The Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948 when about 110 Palestinian men, women and children were slaughtered.    `    

By May 15,1948  half of the total number of Palestinians had already been forcefully expelled from their own country this spanned the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.  By 1949 when the armistice agreements were signed Israel had already taken more land than had been allotted under the UN plan.  Following the Israeli war approximately 800K Palestinians were forced into refugee status as they had been pushed out of their homes and off of their land.

By 1949 Zionist forces had committed about 223 atrocities including massacres, bombings of homes, looting, the destruction of property and wiping out entire villages.  About 150,000 Palestinians remained in areas that became part of Israel of which 30,000-40,000 were displaced internally meaning their homes were taken.

Fifty years after the first Zionist congress and 30 years after the Balfour Declaration the zionist achieved their aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine at the expense of the Palestinians. The response to this occupation and illegal seizure of homes and land resulted in hostilities. In the following decades Zionist organizations in many countries continued to raise financial support for Israel and encouraged Jews to immigrate there. Most Jews, however, reject the view espoused by some very Orthodox Jews in Israel who believe that the Jews outside Israel are living in exile and can only live a full life in Israel.

Following the establishment of Israel the Israeli army committed a number of additional massacres and campaigns of forced displacement.  In 1950 the remaining 2,500 Palestinian residents of the Majdal were forced into the Gaza Strip.  Two thousand inhabitants of Beer el-Sabe were expelled to the West Bank and another 2,000 residents of two northern villages were driven into Syria.

The Six Day War which for the second time forced  an exodus of approximately a half million Palestinians out of their homes and their land occurred June 5-10, 1967 when Israel attacked Egypt, Jordan and Syria and ended with Israel occupying the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The war rose from disputes between Israel and Egypt over the rights of Israeli shipping to pass through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) was formulated based on the principles of a just and last peace, including withdrawal of Israel from territories occupied in the conflict, which was to a be a just settlement of the refugee problem and termination of all claims. 

Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.

In 1980 Israel  annexed East Jerusalem and, in 1993, then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, which aimed to achieve peace within five years. It was the first time the two sides recognised each other.

A second agreement in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three parts – Area A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority (PLA), which was created in the wake of the Oslo Accords, was offered only limited rule on 18 percent of the land as Israel effectively continued to control the West Bank.

The Oslo Accords slowly broke down due to the continued illegal expansion of Israeli settlements. Israeilis began rapidly building Jewish communities on Palestinian land in the West Bank seizing any properties they wanted.  As a result of this expansion the settlement population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem grew from approximately 250,000 in 1993 to up to 700,000 in 2023. About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem but these communities are extremely fragmented. First there is the separation wall which creates a physical separation between the settlers and the Palestinians. The wall restricts movement of the Palestinians; their homes have doors that have been welded shut because they open to streets on which they are not allowed to walk. I watched a documentary a few years ago which showed how Palestinians have to traverse roof tops and windows to get to different areas because they cannot walk on the street. Additionally Palestinians in their daily work commute or errands have to navigate at least 140 checkpoints and another 600 barricades or road obstacles. Getting through these checkpoints can take hours and they are at the mercy of the security forces working these checkpoints. Due to the checkpoints, barricades and the whims of the security forces a commute which should take an hour can take upwards to 7 to 8 hours.  Additionally there are Palestinians that have olive trees that provide their livelihood which they can only access with permission, most of these have now been destroyed uprooted or cutdown by settlers and defense forces. 

In addition to the humiliation faced on a personal level everyday since 2007 when Hamas came to power Israel has imposed a blockade of Gaza controlling almost every life necessity and amenity which determines any population's quality of life. Israel has gone so far as to calculate the minimum caloric intake needed to survive and determined what foods they will allow into Gaza and the frequency of the shipments that can enter Gaza.  In essence Palestinians have been living in an open air prison for the past 17 years.

Which brings us to the  October 7th attack which resulted in the death of 1200 Israelis. Since that day Israel has cut off access to electricity, food, water, fuel, medications, medical supplies and the very basics of life such as sanitary products for menstruating women. It has gotten to the point that people are being operated on without anesthesia, premature infants have no oxygen, and cancer patients have no treatments. It goes on and on.

So here we are, Israel continues their ethnic cleansing plan initiated during the first Nakba in 1948 and they do so with arrogance and impunity aided by the United States' President who swore allegiance to Israel decades ago.  As of this writing 117 days from the start of this assault 26,422 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and bombings; 65,087 civilians have been wounded and an estimated 8,000 lie beneath the rubble. Children and women account for upwards of 70% of those killed  meaning over 11,000 children have been slaughtered and well over 1,000 have suffered amputations and we cannot even begin to assess the mental trauma they have experienced. People all over the world have rallied and protested and made demands for a cease fire and, even after the International Courts have cited that Israel should stop activities that could "lead" to genocide we continue to see the atrocities being committed by the Israeli army in near realtime. We continue to hear the rhetoric of their leadership and settlers dehumanizing the Palestinians and calling for their annihilation. In the meantime a handful of old white men making god like judgements allow this horror to continue.  

We have to pray for justice, vote our conscience, spend our money supporting business that do not support genocide.  We have to continue speaking-up and standing up.  We have to show that as all of this unfolded there were those of us that stood on the right side of history. 

Stop the genocide. Free Palestine. Hold Israel accountable for the atrocities and war crimes they have committed.  Hold Biden and all who support him and his stance accountable for his complicity in this genocide. But most of all for all of those that stood on the sidelines, turned a blind eye and were "neutral" due the complexity of the issue.... I call your bullshit you are complicit. 

And to answer the question who are the terrorist.... they are the Israelis and their well paid, well equipped well trained terrorist army. 

 

 

It Makes Me Physically Ill

I think it is the arrogance and pure evil that has me and I am sure many others, completely off kilter.  The arrogant entitlement of these zionist who no matter where they lay their head, plant their feet or make up their mind that something or someplace is theirs they just take it. They take it mind you by any means necessary. They lie, they steal, they burn, they bomb, they kill, they maim and they do it all in the name of privilege and God. It makes me physically ill. It makes my physically ill to not only understand but witness their inhumanity as these hateful people who indoctrinate their children from birth to work tirelessly to maintain the status quo of white majority, white mindset, and in their mind white supremacy. 

It makes me physically ill.

It makes my physically ill that world powers will stand in solidarity, shoulder to shoulder to ensure these zionists' remain in power.  

Innocent children be damned they will shoot you in the street, bomb you in your home and if they can't  reach you there, they will block your food, your medical care, your water, your electricity, your heat any thing that sustains your life. And when still you rise they will drop white phosphorous on you and burn you to the bone. All so they can maintain the status quo of white majority, white mindset, and in their mind white supremacy.

It make me physically ill.  It makes me physically ill that people around the world raise their voices, stand up and say this is wrong and yet a handful of white men can sit in a room and decide the fate of the world.

It makes me physically ill.

Allah Yusa'iduna

I just don't know where to begin.  When you think as a people we cannot go any lower you come to realize there is yet another level below the bad we are living.  

The world is standing by as Israel commits genocide in Palestine. 

I am not an antisemite. 

I am anti zionist just as 

I am anti nazi, anti white supremacy and just as I am 

anti racist.  

I have taken the time to discern the difference between Judaism and Zionism. 

I have taken the time to understand the difference between the religion which is 3000 years old  and the political movement that is 150 years old and a transformation to nationalism started by non religious Jews capitalizing on the Star of David to take over the land of Palestine and, whose actions and positions conflict directly with the teachings of the Torah. 

Many, who only pay attention to world politics when it is a breaking broadcast by the media,  think this conflict started with an out of the blue terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th. In fact that attack was  simmering for over 76 years as Palestinians have been pushed, shoved and bombed out of their own homes and country.  When Palestinians had their land segmented under colonialism and portioned out to refugees from Europe only to have those refugees decide they deserve all the land and have since 1948 when Israel declared their independence done so by oppressing the Palestinian people. 

This Israeli war on Palestine will set the political tone and actions on this planet for the remaining 76 years of this century.

Allah yusa'iduna

God help us

Silent Complicity

When United States citizens demonstrated they were okay with children being slaughtered in schools, the gun lobby was emboldened, and we have had mass shooting after mass shooting ever since.

When trump became the racist voice of America his believers fell in line and took on the mantle of his demented agenda, an insurrection attempt followed and even now with all his crimes and his documented commitment to ruling as a dictator he is still the republican front runner for president.

When cops in this country realized they can kill Black children, women and men with little to no meaningful consequence, living while Black is officially a health hazard.

When women exercised their voices and chose to control their reproductive rights, the ultra conservative supreme court appointed by trump took those basic human rights away.

When Black folks started voting and showed we can make a difference in outcomes the move to suppress the Black vote and gerrymander voting districts took on a whole new life of their own.

When white folks became uncomfortable with their children learning the racist history that some of them and their ancestors participated in, they have been working tirelessly to rewrite history – slavey was a career development move. And what they can’t rewrite or white wash they work to ban teaching at all levels of education.

When folks took a stand to live their lives as their true selves the conservatives decided the LGBTQ+ community should not have that right and moved to ban treatments, crminalized their sexuality and rolled back their civil rights.

When it appeared that the playing field might eventually become level for non-white folks and women, war was waged on affirmative action and the supreme court took the first step by dismantling affirmative action in the college entrance process even though at least one supreme court justice clearly and directly benefited from the program.

When women and specifically a Black woman took on the leadership roles of "elite" white universities they were dragged before congress on the pre-tense of anti-semitism. And when the Black president of Harvard survived the attack from the rich white conservative whose life mission is to return Black folks “to their place” waged on under the pretense of plagiarism which by the way Harvard had already investigated and cleared her of any wrong doing.... and even the attackers wife a former MIT professor clearly committed and was charged with plagiarism and oh, also had a connection with epstein (he donated $$$ to her lab and she provided him with a sculpture) but that was all money washed and disappeared.....

And when it seemed as a country that we had hit rock bottom and we could not go any lower the United States, Joe Biden specifically who has pledged unwaivering support to zionist israel for decades and even undermined Obama's peace efforts in the region while throwing Hillary under the bus outwardly and singularly is supporting Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians. In 90 days beginning October 7, 2023 over 22,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered with upwards of 70% being children and women. This is in response to a terrorist attack that took place that day that killed 1200 Israelis and brought into world view the fact that Palestinians have been living under apartheid and oppression for 76 years. Banned from living and moving freely in their own country.

So. What does this have to do with Black and Brown people in this country (US)? Do you say it is not our business, it is a Middle-Eastern thing. It is not anything that will ever happen here, not in this day and time.

Sit with this for a moment.

Think through what was done to the indigenous folks in this country, diminishing their tribal land rights, sovereignty, and having a say in land and resource issues. The same country enslaved Africans to build their country and economy and dehumanized them every chance they had, treating Black human life like chattle. From post Civil War to the 1950s over 100 thriving Black communities in this country were burned to the ground simply for existing and their Black citizens prospering. Once the communities were destroyed their land was illegally appropriated by white folks. 4400 Black folks, men, women and children were lynched in that same period.

Do you see what has happened each time the envelope has been pushed and the morality and humanity is tested... Once they see how far they can go they push to the next level.

Once the genocide in Palestine is accepted and normalized folks supporting these actions will again be emboldened and, if you are a person of color or an ally in this country and you sit in silence as the US supports unencumbered genocide you are complicit in allowing the newest foundation to be set for what these same folks want to carry out here... Next...

Taking Stock

 I am blessed. I have completed 67 revolutions around the sun and God willing I will begin my 68th shorty like literally in 45 mins.  The weird thing is I can still remember turning 16 when getting to my present age wasn't even a thought. This is not one of those let me go back and relive those years with everything I know now moments, those years remain intact and unchanged they were meant to be.  All the years from then to now have formed me and I like who I am. 

I thank God for every adventure, misadventure, unexpected venture and disastrous adventure, I thank Him for every success and every failure and all the ups and downs.  Oh the lessons I have learned. I used to believe that saying "youth is wasted on the young" but youth is exactly what it is supposed to be its own special social experiment. And now, at this age, I have the benefit of understanding somethings you can only get away with when you are young, probably because at that age you are either too naive or too oblivious to have things hit you the way they do as an adult.  As a kid and young adult I never really over thought what may or may not matter but then in my 30's and 40's I was consequence centered stuck on the what ifs.  My 50's were my politically correct era but as I ventured out, experienced my fake single years, lived in different states meeting different folks it all started to clear up for me and when I hit 60 I finally got to the I really don't give a fuck stage of my life.  Don't get me wrong I still care deeply about humanity, treating people well, equality and fairness and all those things but I was finally comfortable enough to do it authentically. The authenticity meant no more code switching, no more dressing a certain way or wearing my hair a certain way because it was expected, no more toeing the line to keep things smooth or thinking/rethinking how to make a statement as to not appear as the angry black woman or aggressive or ghetto. Getting to that point was liberating and I regained some of that youthful just do it or, better yet don't, attitude.  I am just sorry it took so long to reach that point but happy that I got there before leaving the c-suite and the board rooms so the young women of color that I supported and mentored could see it and experience it.  

Physically, mentally and spiritually I am in a good place. I am comfortable and don't feel the need or desire to please folks.  It is not my job to make you feel good. Folks really do need to do that for themselves.  I am who I am and I am  happy, pleased and thankful to begin my 68th revolution around the sun.

Peace.

November 3, 2015- January 6, 2020

 I went to a funeral once where the person while eulogizing the decedent stated their year of birth and their year of death and emphasized  all the living is in the hyphen.  When you look back to the presidential election which took place on November 3, 2015 which elected donald trump as the 45th president and look at where we are now as a nation, as a people, as human beings, all the destruction is in the hyphen.

donald trump ran his campaign and presidency baiting the base hatreds, fears, evils and prejudices of citizens (majority white folks) that felt maligned by the country and its government. White folks that felt like Blacks and immigrants were getting too big for their britches and as as result putting their (white) way of life at risk. Data shows that white folks will in the coming decades be the minority.  I believe their biggest fear is that as a minority they may be subjected to the behaviors that perhaps they exhibited when they thought all was right in the world and white folks ruled. Leading up to November 3, 2015 and for the four years following the United States of America saw rises in hate crimes, white folks who have apparently for years harbored these prejudices and hates were emboldened to display them every time an opportunity whether real or fabricated presented itself. Why? because the person in the White Hose spewed the same rhetoric. he brought voice and validation to what they always believed to be true, that if you are not white you are not right but rather lessor than. They wanted to "Make America Great Again".  One can only assume this meant the return to the pre-civil rights era.  A return to a time when white folks were unquestioned in anything they did. When blacks and browns and immigrants were overtly  disadvantaged, redlined, red circled, discrimintated against, kept out of housing, education, medical care, access to financing, good jobs all the things that are supposed to be the American dream.  A dream not always available to everyone.

The neo-nazi, white supremacist found a leader that "legitimatized" them.  They had to be legit, he was the president and he supported their views.  And with that it became open season on any non-white folks, non-european immigrants, queer folks and other white folks that didn't and don't share their beliefs and ideologies. 

This hyphen represents for me some of the darkest times in America.  

During this period it became open season on Black men, women and children.  The killings carried out by the very folks hired to protect the community.  Cops killed Black men and boys for just the mere fact that they were Black. The killings that brought this all to a head were George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.  George Floyd who was executed on national tv.  

There were scores ahead of him. And each time the victim was demonized, marginalized or criminalized all for the purpose of  rationalizing of the actions of the cops and the downplay of the severity of the killing epidemic. Social media was flooded with videos of white folks fighting with cops, pulling their weapons, stealing their cars and living to screw up another day. In contrast social media was also flooded with black men and women being pulled from their cars for traffic violations and being tased, and beaten and shot while cops yelled stop resisting to handcuffed folks that were either not moving or dead.  It became evident that Black Lives didn't Matter in this country and after Ferguson and Baltimore and other cities around the country that began to see the outright attack on the black community, the Black Lives Matter organization grew.  It was met with All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter all again looking to minimize and rationalize and discredit what was happening to people of color in this country.  But when a white cop put his knee to the neck of a black man laying on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back posing no threat and the cop kept his knee there on that mans neck for 7 minutes executing him on national tv it was the capping moment. Only to be followed by a group of white cops showing up at the home of a black woman Breonna Taylor and shooting her in her own own home. The attack was based on a no knock warrant looking for a person already in custody who did not reside at the home. And those cops walked away unscathed. There were so many other incidents before and many many after -folks accosted, brutalized, killed for jogging while Black, driving while Black, sleeping while Black, working while Black...Living Black. The summer of 2019 was filled with protest that were peaceful in nature but in some situations erupted into violence. There was rioting and looting. While that behavior was not the majority of activity that occurred it was what was primarily focused on.  What didn't get as much scrutiny were the infiltrators that started much of the violence. BLM was then labeled by trump  as a terrorist group while he referred to neo-nazis that killed a person in Charlotte as "very fine people".  trumps pied piper affect on his followers would keep this country in crisis from November 3, 2015 until January 6,2020 when his followers at his behest staged an insurrection, an all out attempt to overturn the 2020 election results which ousted trump from office.   

As I write I understand this is so high level it doesn't do justice to the full gravity of the situation and environment in which we had been living. It was 4 years of terror.