I hate bullies. There’s nothing worse than someone who thinks they can push others around just because they’ve got a little power or influence. You see them all of your life – that haughty, entitled, “I’m better than you” attitude, letting you know that they have everything you want and will take everything you have. It’s a cowardly act, really, hiding behind the bravado of strength when, in reality, all that’s there is fear and insecurity. Bullies have caused enough pain in this world, and I’m over this shit.
Take the case of Sonya Massey, for instance. A woman who was just living her life, trying to make it through this clusterfuck of a world, and what happened to her? She ended up dead, and for what? Because she dared to stand up against the big, bad bullies of this world. They say it was an "unfortunate accident," but let’s get real - we know better than to swallow that bullshit. Sonya wasn’t just some random woman who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. No, she was a force—a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, to push back against the powers that be. And that, my friends, is exactly why she’s not with us anymore.
But see, what really gets me is how easily they sweep her under the rug. They want us to believe that it was all just a tragic mistake, that Sonya Massey wasn’t targeted. But when you’ve been around as long as I have, you know that fuckery is afoot when it’s right under your nose. The system is a bully, plain and simple. And it doesn’t like it when folks like Sonya start making too much noise, drawing attention to its flaws, its corruption, its hypocrisy. So what do they do? They silence her.
And while we're on the topic of bullies, let’s talk about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Now, let me be clear—Trump is an assclown. The man is the poster child for bullying, always picking on the little guy, stirring up division, and acting like the world owes him something. But I’m also not one to cheer on violence. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done, nobody deserves to be gunned down. But in the spirit of transparency, let’s lay this all out. As the media covered this story, we learned a lot about the shooter. (I won’t say his name because I don’t want to push the narrative to make him famous) His high school and college classmates painted him as a loner – someone who was mercilessly bullied by others who just wanted to live. When bullying has been a constant in someone’s life, what does that say about the community as a whole? The nation as a whole? It is imperative that as we condemn the shooter, we condemn the actions that led him down this path in the first place. The fact that someone even attempted to take Trump out says a lot about the state of this country. People are fed up, and rightfully so. We’ve been pushed around, lied to, and manipulated by folks in power for too long, and people are starting to snap. But instead of addressing the root of the problem—the inequality, the injustice, the blatant disregard for human dignity—they want to paint this picture of a lone crazy person who just lost their mind. It is that, but it’s not just that. While we psychoanalyze the shooter, we must hear the cry that’s being overshadowed by all of the noise in the room. That cry is relatively simple. LEAVE PEOPLE THE FUCK ALONE.
Don’t get it twisted, I’m not here to defend Trump. That absolutely is not a part of the To Do List in my planner. The man has done enough harm to last several lifetimes, and he’s brought a lot of this on himself. But the fact that someone tried to take him out should be a wake-up call to all of us. This isn’t just about one man; it’s about a system that’s so broken, so out of touch with reality, that people feel like they have no other choice but to resort to violence. And that’s a damn shame. The country’s reaction on this has been universally split – there are those who demand unity despite all of the violence, and those who paint Donald Trump as the savior of the world because the shooter couldn’t hit a bowling pin with a basketball.. There is no celebration, but there is understanding. It boils down to a simple statement – a kid that was bullied tried to take out the biggest bully of all time. That statement is not to romanticize the nick that Trump received on his ear. It’s to say, when you ask for violence, you get violence in return. “’Punch them in the face,” he said. “I’ll pay your legal fees,” he said. Every rally was a cry to his base to do something illegal in service to Donald Trump. Trump has already called the Republican party stupid, and his goal was to mobilize those who know no better to do things that he would never do, and watch the show. We have to be honest with ourselves. This man pardoned Joe Arpaio, the most racist sheriff in the history of this country. He called January 6th a “peaceful, patriotic protest.” Those of us that are not his hue, however, see the writing on the wall. We see the tear gas and the water hoses take protestors off of their feet so that he could hold an upside down bible in front of a church. We know that if black and brown people had been the majority of the participants at J6, it would not be a “Crisis at the Capital,” it would have been a reenactment of Tiananmen Square on the National Mall. There is NOTHING you can say that would change my mind on this, and deep down in your soul, you know that black and brown blood washes away in the same way Caucasian blood does, but is never given the same value. NEVER.
What’s even more shameful is how the media plays into all of this. They’re like vultures, circling around, waiting for the next big story to sink their teeth into, all while ignoring the real issues. They’ll spend hours talking about the details of the assassination attempt—what kind of gun was used, who the shooter was, where they came from—but they won’t spend a fraction of that time talking about why someone would feel so desperate, so angry, that they’d try to take a life. They won’t talk about the fact that we live in a country where people are losing hope, where the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting stepped on. No affordable housing. No jobs growth. The lower and middle class are being iced out of opportunities to thrive and there is no relief in sight. Who fights for them? Who makes sure that cities account for more than just pretty branding and empty promises? They won’t talk about the systemic racism, the sexism, the homophobia, and all the other isms that are tearing us apart.
And you know what else? They won’t talk about Sonya Massey. They won’t make the connection between her death and what’s happening in this country right now. Because if they did, they’d have to admit that the system is rigged, that it’s designed to keep people like Sonya down while lifting up folks like Donald Trump. They’d have to admit that they’ve been complicit in this mess, that they’ve been feeding us lies and distractions while the real problems go unchecked.
But here’s the thing about bullies—they can only push you around for so long before you start pushing back. And that’s exactly what’s happening now. People are waking up. They’re tired of the lies, the deceit, the bullying. They’re tired of being told to sit down and shut up, to be grateful for the crumbs they’re given. They’re tired of living in a world where people like Sonya Massey can be taken from us without a second thought, while folks like Trump get to sit in their golden towers, untouched and untouchable.
I hate bullies because they thrive on fear and silence. They count on people being too scared or too tired to fight back. But they don’t realize that there’s a limit to how much people can take. And when that limit is reached, when folks have had enough, there’s no telling what will happen.
Sonya Massey was a fighter. She stood up for what she believed in, even when it cost her everything. And in her memory, we need to keep fighting. We need to keep speaking out against the bullies, the ones who think they can control us, manipulate us, and silence us. We need to push back against a system that values power over people and sees lives as expendable in pursuing profit and control.
And as for Donald Trump, well, let’s just say I’m not shedding any tears over his brush with death. But I’m also not celebrating it. Because the truth is, his near-death experience is just another symptom of a much bigger problem—a problem that won’t be solved by taking out one man, no matter how much of a bully he is. The real work, the hard work, is in dismantling the systems that allow bullies to thrive in the ght place. It’s in standing up for folks like Sonya Massey, who dared to challenge the status quo, even when it cost her everything.
I hate bullies, but I love fighters. And I know that as long as people are willing to stand up and fight, there’s still hope for this world. Sonya Massey’s death and Donald Trump’s close call are reminders that the battle is far from over. But it’s a battle worth fighting, for all of us who refuse to be bullied into submission.
