Been angry, steaming, bubbling hot, shooting off red hot balls of rage — angry. Or trying not to be. Too many white folks having worn out my patience with their willful blindness, the ease with which they erase the most formidable candidate we have to take on the illegitimate occupant of the White House and heal this country. The ease with which they ignore the very Base of the Democratic Party. Now before anyone goes all white defensive fragility on me — read this. Really read it.
……...The distortion of Kamala Harris’s stellar record came from both right wing sources like the Washington Examiner, and leftwing sites like The Intercept. Most of these “criticisms” (such as wrongly attributing her to Jamal Trulove’s incarceration, outcries for not prosecuting Mnuchin, and allegedly fighting to keep prisoners in jail for cheap labor) have been completely debunked, but they remain staples in the comment sections of Twitter and Facebook from both Trump supporters and so-called progressives. Journalists also permit these distortions to go unchallenged, with the lone exception of Politifact debunking Tulsi Gabbard’s false claims after the second debate.
The disinformation surrounding Kamala Harris is inordinately persistent, but it is not limited to bad faith takes from journalists. The bot activity surrounding Kamala Harris is striking, particularly for a candidate that polls between 4th and 5th place. On a weekly basis, Kamala receives between 125 to 190 mentions on TV news stations, which is staggeringly less than the three people polling above her — yet the estimated bot activity stalking her account outnumbers every single other candidate in the top 6 combined. This means that Kamala has fewer options to defend herself on television (and those mentions usually skew negative, rather than neutral or positive), and far more attacks targeting her.
Similarly, Kamala Harris was the first person to introduce a maternal mortality bill that centered black women. California took measures at the state level to combat this epidemic, yet despite being the Senator from California and the leader on this issue, Elizabeth Warren was quoted for the article.
In truth, most of Kamala Harris’s policies go unmentioned or unexamined by the media, a fact which Rep. Wilson highlights in this interview.
Kamala Harris will present an excellent proposal, an excellent idea, and they’ll say it, but they won’t cover it. Start to pay attention, and you’ll see it. -Representative Frederica Wilson, FL.
Kamala Harris’s healthcare proposal was the first to create a cap for monthly prescription drug costs; unbeknownst to The Daily Beast, who reported that Pete Buttigieg had the first plan despite Kamala announcing hers months beforehand. When Harris spokesman Ian Sams pointed out the discrepancy, omitting the “first” without an apology or correction.
The Daily Beast doesn’t stand alone in skipping over Kamala Harris to highlight Pete Buttigieg, however. While reporting on the latest poll for California’s primary, MSNBC displayed the following graph:…...
The examples of erasure continue, including in reaction to Kamala’s demands that twitter adhere to its own policies and shut down Trump’s account.
The tag “stochastic terrorism” has been used 121 times on this site alone since the last day of 2015. The phrase has been used countless times in comments and diaries. And that is just on this site.
The conversation about stoachastic terrorism is not a new one in this Age of Trump. Pundits and experts have opined about the issue and rightfully so.
But the very people who can learnedly discuss the threat stochastic terrorism poses in these times totally dismissed a woman targeted by it.
Kamala spoke out to save lives, was dismissed and ignored. So were all the lives lost to hate inspired by Trump’s rhetoric.
The Trump inspired shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg? Ignored. The Trump inspired hunting and murder of Latinx people in El Paso? Ignored. The rise in hate crimes since Trump began his presidential campaign? Ignored.
New FBI Statistics Show Alarming Increase in Number of Reported Hate Crimes
…….anti-transgender violence remains an epidemic. In 2017, advocates reported the tragic deaths of 29 transgender individuals across the U.S., the highest number ever recorded in a single year. While it is unclear if all of these were hate crimes, they illustrate the fatal violence that affects transgender people, especially transgender women of color who live at the intersections of racism, sexism and transphobia.
Unfortunately, it’s not only LGBTQ identities caught up in an epidemic of violence. Bias-motivated crimes based on race, religion, disability and gender all increased. The FBI reported that anti-Black hate crimes increased by 16 percent, from 1,739 incidents in 2016 to 2,013 incidents in 2017. Hate crimes targeting Black people represented 28 percent of all reported hate crimes in 2017. Every other racial and ethnic group also saw increases in the number of reported hate crimes in 2017.
Additionally, hate crimes motivated by anti-religious bias increased 23 percent, largely driven by a 37 percent increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes, which constituted the majority of religion motivated hate crimes. Hate crimes motivated by bias against people with disabilities increased by a disturbing 66 percent and hate crimes motivated by gender bias increased by 48 percent.
But those targeted by Trump’s rhetoric and their allies are not ignoring how their lives are being dismissed and candidates of color erased.
We’re not ignoring the silence that falls when Kamala speaks out on our behalf.
Kamala speaks truth to power. Always has. Just as she has always fought for the marginalized, at risk, and all too often forgotten. She listens. She sees us, each and everyone. She is building a coalition that no amount of erasure will blind. We see her. We see her courage and determination. We see her constantly lifting people up. We see her brilliance and caring.
And we see those who try to erase her worth. She is not blinded by it all and neither are we . We’re rising up and not stopping. Anyone who thinks otherwise is sadly mistaken. We know who has the skill set this country so desperately needs. We know who has the Executive, Legislative, and Legal experience necessary to make justice real. We know who has the courage and caring to heal our country and lift us up. And we have only just begun.
Kamala2020 info and links are below!
Newpioneer has rounded up some highlights of her sponsored legislation here.
snowman3 has rounded up some more legislative highlights here.
Gay CA Democrat lists 21 bills or proposals here.
Want to know more about her positions and plans? Her policy page is Our America
Or go straight to an issue: quality, affordable health care for all, economic justice, raising teacher pay, combating the climate crisis, criminal justice reform, action on gun violence, a fair and just immigration system, LGBTQ+ equality, government for the people, debt-free college and student debt, gender equality, American leadership at home and abroad, and fighting for racial justice.
More plans: The Reproductive Rights Act, Equal Pay, Roadmap to Citizenship for Dreamers, Combating the Racial Homeownership Gap, Reducing the Opportunity Gap, Fair Prescription Drug Prices, Kamala’s 3AM Agenda, Combating Violent Hate, A Climate Plan For the People, Transform the Criminal Justice System and Re-Envision Public Safety.
Upcoming events:
Please remember to visit our community group page Kamala2020 and give us a follow! That way all our group efforts will appear in your stream; this makes it easy for everyone to keep up with our latest posts. As always, any who would like to join our group please leave us a comment and we’ll get your invitation right out to you!
If you’d like to volunteer to host one of our Kamala 2020 diaries, please leave your comment in the ”Calling all Volunteers”thread.
Even if you can’t commit to a weekly spot due to your busy schedules, guest bloggers are always welcomed.
Please volunteer! Come share your story about why you support Kamala!
Upcoming schedule:
Monday — October 21st —
Thursday — October 24th— MomentaryGrace
Saturday — October 26th —
Monday — October 28th — DigitusImpudicus
Let your voices be heard!
While you’re here, don’t forget to visit Kamala’s Official Campaign Website and her Swag Shop for your favorite campaign gear! 😄
Group Guidelines
The Kamala2020 community group has been created to positively support Senator Kamala Harris, and not to engage in negativity towards other Democrats running in the 2020 primaries.
All should be made to feel welcomed here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
I’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Kamala’s bid for the nomination, that we not respond to negativity from other campaign’s supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace. Recipes and cat pics work, too 😃
Doing no harm costs us nothing... pie-fights will cost us everything.