TGIF!

Ah, the weekend!

Let’s leap right on in, shall we?

This bitch had a hard time getting up this morning and three cups of yummified coffee (with a healthy dash of organic milk followed by two cubes of sugar, of course) to get my mental engine started.

The morning news came on while a bitch was on cup of coffee number one.

Breaking News, y’all - Prince Harry is in Afghanistan and has been ten weeks!

Mmmhmm.

But a web site broke the news that news sites agreed not to break so now Prince Harry will have to come home.

Pause…consider…continue.

Fuck it, if the whereabouts of Prince Harry is the lead off story in the news then we’re in pretty good….

Hold it…just hold on, now…HOLD!

Flock of bitchitude, we have ourselves a Ricin story.

Play by Play of ABB’s Mental Absorption of the Ricin in a Las Vegas hotel room story…

Stage One
Okay, someone found Ricin in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Stage Two
Oh no!

Someone found Ricin in a Las Vegas hotel room and several people were hospitalized.

Stage Three
What the fuck?

Someone found Ricin in a Las Vegas hotel room, several people are in the hospital, they don’t know where the Ricin came from and Prince Harry’s tour in Afghanistan led the morning news.

***uploading additional information - police said they don't know how many people have stayed in the room recently - upload complete***

Final Realization
This story puts a whole new spin on the difference between hotel room clean and clean.

Blink.

Blasted!

Is it just me or is the word ‘blast’ being over used in the coverage of the election?

Clinton blasts…

McCain blasts…

Obama blasts…

Everyone is blasting everyone and now a blasting just isn’t blasting anymore!

Cough.

How about ‘challenges’ or ‘attacks’?

Hmmm?

Or maybe ‘responds’ or ‘answers’?

Perhaps the press could try not announcing every verbal volley as if it marked the outbreak of WWIII?

Blink.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? If the press gave a shit ‘bout this bitch there’d be a headline out there tomorrow saying ‘Shark-Fu blasts press for use of blast in blast filled post titled Blasted’.

Mercy.

Cambridge on my mind…

A bitch is starting to get excited about my trip to Cambridge Mass for WAM! next month!

My ass hasn’t been back to Cambridge since the mid-1990’s (wince).

Oh, but I remember it as if it were yesterday (sigh).

Shark-Fu’s memories of Cambridge Mass…

The Tasty Sandwich Shop…
Yes, I know it is gone now.

Sob!

But C-Money and this bitch had more than one eventful meal at The Nasty…cough...I mean, The Tasty.

Come to think of it, I think the overnight cook at The Tasty can take credit for explaining the historical importance of the Tet Offensive to me.

Mmmhmmm...I bet no one’s breaking down the Vietnam War over at Abercrombie & Fitch!

Shit.

The Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square…
A bitch was beyond broke whilst at college and a pastry from Au Bon Pain was a real treat.

Many a weekend, I’d stroll to Au Bon Pain on my way to visit C-Money and score a cheese Danish-esque portion of pastry-based joy.

Sigh.

Hell, that was almost as much fun as raiding the dining hall at C-Money’s dorm.

Christy’s Market…
Ah, the memories!

A bitch had a minified college breakdown and ended up sleeping on the couch in C-Money’s dorm room for a few months. It’s a long story….mayhap I’ll tell it sometime, but not now.

Anyhoo, I latched onto the habit of going to Christy’s Market and shooting the shit with the staff and then buying a cinnamon doughnut with a large grape soda on the side. Day after day after day…the same thing. The thing is I didn’t notice the habit until one of C-Money’s roommates came home bearing gifts of doughnut and grape soda for me!

Shit, I’ve always been a wee bit off.

Damn, I'll have to find time for a Christy's run during the conference.

Lawd, I wonder if Christy’s is still there!

Blink.

Motherfucking gentrification is destroying my youthful memories one by one…

Pondering a post-bullshit America...

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

We are not living in a post-racial political era.

We are not living in a post-gender era.

We sure as shit are not living in a post-bullshit equality for all, let freedom ring and the masses have our bread and eat it too era.

What we are living in…and some of us are suffering through…is the mess that results from decades of avoiding the issues of race, class and gender by embracing the school of tolerance rather than engaging in the hard work of social justice.

I am not a fan of the school of tolerance. It gives birth to the delusion that any one political candidate experiencing public support as she or he runs for president of the United States is somehow an indicator that American society has transcended a damn thing.

That interpretation of the 2008 race to the Democratic nomination has been debunked by the very election cycle currently being hailed as transcendent. How the hell can any pundit fix their face to ponder a post-racial America when Democrats beat Republicans in the rush to bait based on race?

How can anyone seriously discuss a post–gender America when I’ve yet to witness a political analysis of Senator Clinton’s campaign by the mainstream media that doesn’t trip over the fact that she is a woman?

Let’s keep this shit real Jeff Foxworthy style (wink).

If anyone running for public office needs to swiftly debunk claims that she or he is a Muslim…we are not post-racial.

When pundits gleefully wallow in the stankification of sexism to the extent that an on-air public apology is required…we are not post-gender.

When President Bush’s challenge to the nation to stop casually tossing out lynching threats and engaging in noose humor doesn’t even hold for a week before a moron with a microphone gets his lynch threat on in reference to the wife of a serving United States Senator and candidate for the Democratic nomination for President (Lawd, have mercy) and no one thinks for one second he’ll lose his pulpit, apologize or even grasp what he just said and how bloody inappropriate not to mention dangerous it was to say ...oh hell no, we are not living in a post-racial era.

And when political pundits verbally fumble like novices getting past first base and spend more time analyzing that ‘emotional moment’ in New Hampshire than what the heck differentiates one candidate from the other beyond their gender and race…well, we’ve come a long way baby but we still have a long way to go.

What is lost in the mix is that fact that we also have a precious opportunity to confront these issues.

Parents and teachers have the opportunity to discuss gender and sexism with some pretty good examples of how that shit is used. Put this mess out in the open and in context so that our youth can learn from it rather than continue to repeat it.

Family and friends have the opportunity to discuss race and the need to respect religious diversity. Get real about that and discuss why a picture can incite fear which will feed a bigotry that holds all of us back. Get real about why some conservatives are discussing the issues while others are speaking about Obama on the radio in some strange version of black talk (ooooh, how original…not) and drooling over the opportunity to fully give in to their insecurity-based hatred.

When we the people get post-bullshit and debate the issues facing us all, free of the corruption of bigotry and the inhibitions of fear, then we can investigate whether America is post-ig'nant.

Enlightenment isn’t something we can speak into reality anymore than bigotry is something we can simply declare to be history.

Somebody’s baby, somebody’s friend…

Lawrence King was 15 years old.

He was somebody’s baby and somebody’s friend.

He was loved and cared for but he was also taunted and bullied for being gay.

On Feb 12 Lawrence King was shot in the head while working in his school’s computer lab.

He was declared brain dead the next day.

A 14 year old fellow student is being charged with the murder of Lawrence King. It is alleged that Lawrence King was targeted because he was gay and prosecutors have filed murder charges against the suspect with the additional allegation of a hate crime.

Hate, fear and bigotry have turned a junior high school into a crime scene and a young man into murder victim and I can’t help but think that Lawrence King was somebody’s baby before he was a headline. He was somebody’s friend before he was the victim of a hate crime.

Now, those who knew him and loved him mourn the loss of him because Lawrence King will forever be 15 years old.

Somebody’s baby…full of the promise that is a life yet to be lived.

Somebody’s friend…with so much of the happiness and joy of it all yet to be experienced.

In St. Louis there will be a vigil and candlelight walk in remembrance of Lawrence King Wednesday, February 27th at 6:45pm at Mokabe’s. The vigil will be held indoors unless the weather allows otherwise. The candlelight walk will take place afterwards.

May God have mercy…

Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web by Sarah Boxer…

Hey y'all!

AngryBlackBitch.com is one of the blogs featured in the anthology Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web by Sarah Boxer.

And let me tell you, that title is doing dangerous things to a bitch’s ego (wink).

Anyhoo, Sarah Boxer has created an anthology of blogs that is definitely worth reading and I’m not just saying that because my masterworks have been included.

Pause, fluff Afro and then continue.

Check out Sarah Boxer’s article in The New York Review of Books and you can listen to her being interviewed about Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web on NPR by clicking here.

Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web by Sarah Boxer is available for purchase at Amazon by clicking this link here.

35 years of keeping shit real…

Today is my birthday (yay!) and I'm reflecting on bitchitude 35 years in the making.

Seems like a good time for a bitchfirmation for my damn self!


Shark-Fu’s Birthday Bitchfirmation to Herself...


Go and walk without fear on the path of history.

Speak in a strong voice for those who were denied the opportunity and so no one will ever be denied it again.

Be fierce, defiant and proud...ever mindful that your inheritance is the result of struggle.

Go on, with your bad self...GO ON (wink)!

And be true to thyself, always.

Sigh.

Fantabulous!

I wish happiness and joy to all y’all on this my 35th year of keeping shit real…

A birthday request...

Happy birthday to me, damnit!

Flock of bitchitude, this bitch would like to thank you for supporting the causes and organizations that do good work in our communities!

I ask that you continue to donate your time, passion and/or money (wink). We the people can make positive change happen and our communities strong again.

I am blessed with family and friends and am rich in the energy their support provides, but I do have a birthday wish.

If you are able, please donate to PROMO. PROMO is Missouri's statewide equality organization and this year will again be working to get progressive candidates elected. You can donate to PROMO PAC (working to elect pro-equality candidates in Missouri in 2008) or PROMO (working hard to educate our community, empower individuals and advocate for equality for all Missourians).

Thank you and be blessed, for we are all worthy...

Fallout, thy name is debris…

A bitch just had to write a follow-up on the Great Satellite Destruction Event of 2008. There’s no way in hell my ass is going to pass up the opportunity to use the word ‘obliterate’.

Obliterate!

The United States obliterated that satellite on the first attempt.

Mmmmhmm, mission accomplished – satellite obliterated.

I love that word like hot chocolate during an ice storm.

Sigh.

Fallout, thy name is debris!

The United States and several other governments are tracking the debris from the recently obliterated (wink) spy satellite we blew the fuck up last night.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that there is an 80 to 90% probability that our missile struck the fuel tank and destroyed the dangerous 1,000 pounds of hydrazine (shudder).

More analysis is needed to determine what kind of debris was created from the explosion and where that shit is headed.

So, mayhap it's not currently raining ice in St. Louis.

Maybe that stuff falling from the sky is actually debris-based space spittle!

Blink.

Meanwhile on Planet Earth...

Last night C-Money and this bitch got our speculation on about the missile launch satellite shoot down event spectacular scheduled for tonight.

C-Money is sticking with her theory that the debris will land in South St. Louis city. She has no evidence to back that shit up, but with our luck…’nuff said. I’m betting that our blowing up of that spy satellite triggers a mid-air satellite explosion event spectacular arms race between America, Russia and China.

What?

Oh c’mon, it'll be like Sputnik 2.0!

The Navy is scheduled to launch this thang over the Pacific Ocean tonight 10:30 p.m. EST and there had better be live video of that motherfucker exploding since it’s our $60 million they’re spending to shoot that shit out of the sky.

Mercy.

Meanwhile on Planet Earth…

Scooter B. is in Africa fielding questions from leaders about the mission of the Defense Department’s Africa Command (Africom? Lawd!). Several African countries have expressed concern over America’s Africa Command and there are rumors that it is a front so that the United States can set up military bases in order to protect our oil interests.

The United States claims that the creation of Africa Command was merely a consolidation of operations none of which have Africa as their primary focus.

Pause…consider…wince.

Fuck a duck, that spin made my Afro hurt!

The President of Ghana, John Kufuor, raised the issue during a meeting with Scooter B. at Osu Castle.

Scooter B., ever the embarrassment of our nation when traveling abroad, responded during a news conference in Kufuor.

“I know there's rumors in Ghana `All Bush is coming to do is try to convince you to put a big military base here’. That's baloney. As they say in Texas, that's bull."

Sigh.

Scooter B. then added…"The whole purpose of Africom is to help African leaders deal with African problems."

So sayeth the fuck up that keeps on fucking.

Blink.

Sexual healing?

A bitch just read this story over at CNN.com.

Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth has issued a sex challenge to his congregation. Specifically, he has challenged married members to have sex every day for 30 days.

Cough.

Pastor Wirth decided to issue that challenge in response to high divorce rates.

Sex…lots and lots and lots of man on woman fluid exchanging sex…keeps the divorce away?

All that talk about arguing over money, a lack of emotional intimacy or poor communication skills was just bullshit.

That’s news to me.

Blink.

Pondering the need for immunity…

Happy Monday y’all!

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

This bitch and C-Money watched 60 Minutes last night.

One of the segments dealt with a drug that has been linked to the deaths of patients after surgery. It focused on the two year delay between the point at which independent research pointed to the link and the drug (Trasylol) was finally pulled from the market by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The researcher who discovered the link believes that one thousand lives per month would have been saved had the drug been pulled sooner rather than later.

Bayer, the company that manufactures Trasylol, did a study of the study and the results supported the original conclusion that the drug in question was linked to patient deaths. But Bayer kept that information to themselves…even at an FDA hearing on the subject…with the estimated total loss of life numbering one thousand people per month.

Bayer wasn’t trying to talk to 60 Minutes…no surprise there. They sent a letter saying some shit about risk-benefit profiles that would have driven me to the point of violence had someone I love died as a result of this drug.

The FDA took a pass on an interview too.

Here’s the thing that really caught my attention - despite the loss of life and the apparent negligence in delaying any alert to the medical community and public, the FDA has taken no action against Bayer. We the people are supposed to take comfort in the fact that Bayer suspended two employees for failing to disclose the conclusions of that second study done on the original study that backed up the study being studied.

In the past 24 hours this bitch has learned of a recall of meat most likely already consumed and that this med allegedly killed thousands of people before being pulled off the market.

It makes a bitch wonder why Scooter B. and his minions haven’t simply reclassified telecommunication between American citizens as a food product or regulatable drug.

Who the fuck needs immunity when you’ve got the FDA?

Blink.

Lobby Days…

A bitch is a lobbyist and you can be too.

Just participate in a Lobby Day!

Freedom of Choice Council is hosting Lobby Day 2008 in Jefferson City March 4, 2008 from 10am until 3pm.

Join this bitch and a bunch of other folks as we speak to legislators about putting prevention first in Missouri. Check out this web site to register.

And save the date for PROMO’s Lobby Day March 26, 2008!

Memory is the first thing to go…

A bitch missed my own blogiversary (February 10).

Sigh.

Thank Gawd a certain Dean from Toronto noticed that shit (a tip of the Afro to you).

Anyhoo, three years ago (gasp!) the fantabulous Brother Rob Thurman gave me this blog for my birthday and the rest is bitchitude history.

Thank you Rob Thurman and thank you to all y’all for hanging out online with my crazy ass!

RHRealityCheck.org…

Flock of bitchitude, this bitch is thrilled to announce that I have joined the fantabulous team at RHRealityCheck.org.

Yay!

Check out my first post and, if you haven’t done so already, check out RHRealityCheck.org.

Glenn Beck is an asshole or How I learned to start worrying and resist Soylent Green…

A bitch just trudged through an article by Glenn Beck, who is an asshole.

In the article, Beck offers the suggestion that the federal government send out those stimulus checks as debit cards. Beck argues that some Hurricane Katrina victims used debit cards handed out by FEMA to purchase luxury items…so debit cards are guaranteed to get spent and put money back into the economy…but checks might actually be used to pay off debt, so our government should just send out those nifty credit card resembling debit cards instead.

Somewhere in the article Beck mentions that he hates the idea and believes that the markets should be allowed to correct themselves.

For real, the man is having arguments with himself in print(wince).

Did I mention that Glenn Beck is an asshole?

A bitch wouldn’t want that to go unsaid.

Now, if only someone would tell his stupid ass that debit cards can be used to pay bills too…

A pondering…

This bitch is fascinated by how many people claim other people are just being sensitive about shit.

Honestly I’m surprised at some of the shit I let slide everyday.

Ummm, let me see - there was the woman I followed out of a store the other day who clutched her handbag and rushed to her car, threw open the door while casting desperate "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!" glances over her shoulder at me then quickly locked it as if she recognized my ass from an episode of America’s Most Wanted...or the many times I’ve been followed through a department store...or had my own personal police escort through certain St. Louis communities.

Oh, I noticed that shit. Hell, its dangerous not to. A bitch could get tased, for the love of all that’s holy! But 35 years of living has taught this bitch to expect ignorant assed shit to happen pretty much on a daily basis. What concerns me is how some folks react to the shit I actually do get fired up about. If I had a dollar for the number of people who passionately defend that woman, the store’s security team or that police escort my ass could finally pay off my student loans.

I’ve had people get Clarence Darrow on shit as if they have surveillance tape showing that my recollection of events is totally wrong and way off base.

Pause…check room for camera-esque things…continue.

In a way the defense is more disturbing than the incident being defended.

There's something in that instinct to try to speak bigotry out of existence, argue sexual harassment from having ever happened or dismiss a homophobic comment in favor of assuming the best of people.

How fascinating it would be to assume the best out of people having never experienced the worst and how illuminating that assumption, casting a glaring light on how often we don’t validate the shit that doesn’t happen to us.

I think a more likely reason for the defense is that the person offering it is actually very disturbed by the thing they are trying to convince a bitch never happened.

Which reminds me of something my Grandmother once said to me, “Girl, are you trying to be the first human to talk a floor clean? Pick up that broom and sweep.”

Blink.

Best in Show!

Uno the beagle has won Best in Show!

Woo followed by hoo!

Bay baby bay!

Betsey and Theo the sorta-beagles are beside themselves.

Well, they're both snoring...but its happy snoring.

Uno...

Longtime readers know that this bitch is guardian to two sorta-beagles, Betsey and Theo.

Although my house is partial to beagle-based mixes, any beagle based success is celebrated with joy.

So news that a certain Uno won best in breed at Westminster had Betsey and Theo wagging their tails with joy.

Okay, so they wag their tails no matter what. I could tell they were wagging extra hard for Uno!

Go on with your bad beagle self, Uno...and good luck to all that dawgs going for Best in Show tonight.

May the best beagle win (wink)...

Supercalifragilistic fubardemocratus...

A bitch took a couple of much needed metal health days this weekend and I feel much better for it! Sometimes life can become overwhelming and the best thing to do is hit the brakes, get some sleep and recharge.

All of the weekend political chat shows were discussing super delegates and how they may or may not play a decisive role in the selection of the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

A bitch has a few questions too (wink).

Shall we?

ABB’s knee jerk instant straight to the brain question about super delegates…
Who the fuck came up with this shit?

ABB’s somewhat calmer but still offended on the 'ain’t this shit supposed to be about the masses tip' question about super delegates…
Didn’t anyone in the room…anyone…raise a question about elitism? Shit. Now you’ve got everyone and their pundit talking about how the party elite are going to help out the ig’nant masses by showing them the error of their ways!

ABB’s final realization about super delegates…
Whoever came up with this shit needs several hours of intense interaction with my Merciless Rod of Correction.

The thing is, most Americans don’t vote on a regular basis and most voters who express a party affiliation aren’t actually active in that party’s inner working day to day political bullshit. As a result, most folks woke up to the existence of super delegates the day after Super Tuesday when it became apparent that super delegates may actually play a key role in this selection-based shit.

Cough.

Here’s my problem with super delegates – they are what they are.

Blink.

Mmmmhmmm, that’s my core concern.

Super delegates are made up of party insiders...Congress people, governors, other elected folks and political activists. Any political junkie will tell you that the demographic represented by super delegates doesn’t reflect the demographic of those currently voting on the Democratic side of primary ballots.

Sorry, it just doesn’t…anymore than Congress represents the socio-economic background of most Americans or party activists represent the majority values of most Democrats and certainly not the Independents needed to win in November.

Whew.

Hell, I’m an activist and my kind of activist didn’t get the nod to become a super delegate.

There’s hope for us all if the voters actually vote in a nominee before the convention, but woe is unto the Democratic Party if the so-called party elite get the green light to over-rule the will of the voters.

Mercy.

Regarding Kirkwood…

Last night a gunman opened fire at a Kirkwood City Council meeting. Two police officers, three civilians in attendance and the gunman were killed. Another victim is recovering from a gunshot wound to the hand and the Mayor of Kirkwood is in critical condition at St. John's Mercy.

Kirkwood City Hall is now a crime scene.

In the coming days many will question security measures, whether the gunman should have been prevented from attending council meetings and whether Kirkwood will ever be the same.

But today I’m praying for the victims and the community of Kirkwood.

National Black HIV AIDS Awareness Day…

Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Everyday is an opportunity to advocate for those who are positive and educate our communities about prevention.

Commit to seizing those opportunities.

Get education.

Get tested.

Get involved.

Get treated.

Tech support needed...

A bitch is feeling a bit under the weather and I blame that on…well, the weather.

Thank Gawd for lozenges!

Shall we?

This morning I caught the morning news. There was a follow-up story on CNN about a certain Julie Myers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and her infamous office Halloween costume party from a few years ago where the Most Original Costume award went to some asshole in blackface wearing prison garb and a dreadlock wig.

Christ.

Anyhoo, at the time of the incident Jules said she didn’t know her employee was wearing make-up. However, she obviously did know that the photos of the asshole wearing prison garb and blackface could cause a shit storm…because she ordered them destroyed, saying that she didn’t think "recognizing an escaped prisoner in any way was beneficial to the agency's goal of treating everyone in our custody with dignity and respect."

Sniff.

What?

Well shit, that kind of uptight and political bullshit laced comment requires a sniff and the folding of hands or at least the clutching of one’s pearl necklace.

I’m just saying.

Where was I? Oh yes…the pictures were believed to have been destroyed and Jules spun the hell out of that shit and got her confirmation.

But, but, but wait!

Of course there’s more.

CNN filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act on November 6, requesting access to all related photos…Jules was confirmed December 20…and this week ICE released 113 official photographs of the party.

And damn it to hell and back again if those thought deleted black faced prison garb photos weren’t included in the mix.

Gasp!

Apparently, technicians were able to electronically restore the photos.

Mayhap they could do the same for the integrity of our federal government?

Mercy.

WAM! 2008…

I don't want your freedom
I don't want to play around
I don't want nobody baby
Part time love just brings me down
I don't need your freedom
Girl all I want right now is you
Do do do
Whoa whoa yeah
D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-doooo

No, not that WHAM…WAM!

A bitch shall return to Cambridge Mass. March 28 – 30, 2008 to participate in a panel at Women, Action & The Media (WAM!).

Yay!

I haven’t been back to Cambridge since…well, forever and a day.

Fantabulous.

Drop me a comment or e-mail if you’ll be there too!

Happy day after Super Tuesday!

A bitch is still trying to recover (wince).

Last night C-Money, this bitch and Brother Rob Thurman watched the primary results roll in way into the wee hours of the night.

At some point champagne was poured and consumed.

Just imagine the best political team in bitchitude getting our coverage on with three lazy ass dawgs.

Fantabulous!

Amusing happening of the night…
The Associated Press called Missouri for Senator Clinton…then uncalled it (is that a word?)…which triggered projection malfunctions across the networks as political analysts struggled to determine who won what in the Show Me State.

Someone somewhere said that Missouri is notoriously slow to count.

Or was that slow to report?

Anyhoo, they eventually figured it out.

But the quote of the Super Tuesday primary event goes to Pat Buchanan from this morning's Today Show broadcast, referring to Senator McCain.

“McCain will make Cheney look like Gandhi!”

Lawd, have mercy…

Update on a vote-based day…

Despite the rain, it’s been a fun day of vote-based joy! Unfortunately, I can’t post pictures because of confidentiality and so forth, but trust that there have been a lot of smiles and tons of laughter.

Keeping it real moment of the day so far (while getting ballots)…

Sistah Girl Student #1… “I need to vote, please!”

Poll volunteer, after handing over ballot… “Oh, don’t forget your sticker!”

Sistah Girl Student #1 (SGS#1)… “Cool!”

Poll volunteer, gesturing to SGS#1’s pregnant tummy… “And take another sticker for the future voter on the way.”

SGS#1, with a HUGE smile on her face… “Thank you!”

She pulled up her sweater and stuck the extra I Voted! sticker on her swollen stomach.

Priceless.

Toodles for now!

Super Tuesday preparedness…

Longtime readers know that this bitch teaches Voter Education classes at several local shelters and community centers.

I firmly believe that an educated voter is a lifelong voter!

Anyhoo, every election I get to enjoy the pay-off for all that volunteer time...the honor of driving new voters to the polls and participating in that new voter experience all over again.

Fantabulous!

Tomorrow, this bitch will be driving eight former students to get their vote on in a Missouri Presidential Primary. If everything holds together (please, pretty please) I’ll have one shift in the morning, another mid-day and a final one in the afternoon.

ABB’s Presidential Primary Preparedness list of needed things…

Petrol…because Ms. Sistah Girl Cabrio does not run on bitchitude alone.

Cell phone…because you never know when you may need to call for back-up.

Camera…because something this cool is begging to be documented.

LWV Voting Rights Info…because even a bitch needs reference materials.

Patience…because democracy is often messy (wink).

Some thoughts on the hot mess in my in-box...

As someone who enjoys all things poll related, a bitch subscribes to St. Louis city Mayor Francis Slay’s e-mail/newsletter/poll thing.

Usually, the e-mail is amusing and interested with a healthy dash of St. Louis trivia tossed in.

But today I logged on to find a hot mess in my in-box.

In an e-mail titled Vote on Tuesday!, Mayor Slay or a minion said the following…

PLEASE VOTE TOMORROW
On Tuesday, February 5, many of our readers will be going to the polls to vote in Presidential primaries in Missouri and Illinois.

Since MayorSlay.com attracts readers from both major political parties (and plenty of political independents), we are not going to tell you to take a Democratic ballot to VOTE FOR Hillary Clinton – although that is exactly what Mayor Francis Slay is going to do. Instead, we are going to urge you to break the recent pattern of low-turnout elections in the City, the county, and the Bi-State area by encouraging your friends and neighbors to get out and vote on Tuesday, February 5.

Oh, and there was some other shit about Prop S.

Now ain’t that some trifling shit?

Hey Francis! Feel free to endorse as you wish…do whatever gives your life meaning...but do not send out some half assed endorsement dressed up to look like a call for voter participation.

A bitch ain't fooled and the Mayor’s office ain’t slick.

Christ, where are a bunch of steamy text messages when you'd prefer them?

Blink.

Because of history already made…

In this historic election year it is easy to forget that extraordinary ordinary people have been making political history for years. But this political junkie is reminded of the past as I consider the history about to be made when either a woman or a man of color accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

We must never forget that it took the courage of thousands for us to arrive here. So, today a bitch is remembering Fannie Lou Hamer and how her courage and dedication helped keep our eyes on the prize and our feet marching.

Fannie Lou Hamer was the granddaughter of slaves and the daughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. She dropped out of school at the age of twelve to work full time and help support her family. Hamer later married and continued to work on a plantation.

In 1962 Fannie Lou Hamer stood up and volunteered to attempt to register to vote in Indianola Mississippi. In what would later become her trademark, Hamer sang spirituals on the bus ride. The next day Hamer was fired from her job and received death threats from the klan.

It took courage to get on that bus and try to register to vote…many had died for simply speaking about doing just that…but an activist had been born. Fannie Lou Hamer joined SNCC…combined literacy work with voter registration efforts…and got back on a bus to tour the South in support of these campaigns.

In June of 1963 Fannie Lou Hamer was falsely arrested in Winona Mississippi. Between June 9 and June 12 of that year, Hamer and her fellow activists were viciously beaten nearly to death. It took a month for her to recover then she got back up and organized the Freedom Ballot Campaign in 1963 then the Freedom Summer initiative in 1964.

If Hamer’s efforts had ended there she would still be viewed as a key figure in the Civil Rights movement, but Hamer then took the cause to the 1964 Democratic National Convention and forced that party and President Lyndon Johnson to address the denial of voting rights and the lack of true political representation.

Contrary to recently revised history (wink), LBJ was reluctant to address the plight of black voters in the South. Southern delegations were threatening to break from supporting Johnson on the voting rights issue. LBJ, ever the politician, weighed the rights of thousands against his political future. Had Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democrats not gone to the convention there is little doubt that the issue of black voting rights would have been silently and efficiently tabled.

But attend they did. The MFDP addressed the Convention Credentials Committee and spoke into history the struggle blacks faced in trying to register to vote…the hypocrisy of seating delegations that failed to truly represent black voters…and why their delegation should be seated to right the wrong that was the 1964 Democratic primary election in Mississippi.

Despite several compromise proposals and a lot of political two stepping, the MFDP was not seated in 1964. But through their activism and the work of thousands of people, LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the Democratic Convention adopted a clause that required equality of representation from state delegations in 1968.

Fannie Lou Hamer went on to speak out against the Vietnam War, be seated as a member of Mississippi’s legitimate delegation in 1968, join MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign…and work on literacy programs in Mississippi.

Fannie Lou Hamer died in 1977 of breast cancer at the age of 59.

May all y’all Super Tuesday voters embrace the amazing power of the vote and remember how that right was won. Know that change happens from the masses up when folks who are sick and tired of being sick and tired rise up and do something about it.

When I vote in this historic primary it will be because of history already made.

February and this bitch…

Happy Friday, y’all!

A bitch missed the Democratic debate but did catch the post-game re-cap and well, looks like both remaining candidates took their happy pills yesterday.

Blink.

My goodness, such unity…such positivitude…it was almost disturbing given the drama of the past two months.

Anyhoo, my thoughts have been so occupied with all things political that I neglected to note the date.

It’s February, chil'ren!

Pause…wait for cheering to die down…continue...

I know. I'm beyond excited too.

Black History Month (in my world every month is BHM).

A bitch’s blog anniversary (practicing the fine art of bitchitude since February 10, 2005).

MY BIRTHDAY!!

February 22...oh, hell yes!

The month long celebration/festival of debauch is tentatively titled The ABB Party – Rated Unacceptable by an All-Trifling Jury (wink)…

Hold please...

A bitch took a day off yesterday and the work-based gods are punishing the hell out of me!

Shit.

And where the fuck did all this snow come from?

Mercy!

Anyhoo, bitchitude shall be delayed today whilst I get my shit back in order...