Some thoughts on the GOP tax gut inspired by my sister's Legendary Nickel and Dime Hustle of 1982....

Years ago, my sister C-Money taught me an extremely painful lesson. We were excited about a visit to the candy shop, and started going over how much we could score with the money we had. Crystal showed me her nickel and then I held up my dime. She offered a trade, hinting that her nickel was bigger and better, and acting like she was doing me a favor by even entertaining the idea of a trade.

I fell for it, damn it. And then had to watch as my sister went forth and purchased twice as many yummy sour sticks as I could! When I fussed about it to my father, he told me that my dumb ass needed to learn about money. 

Tough love, but Lawd has that lesson paid off in life.

Fast forward to now and the tough lesson millions are fixin to learn through the GOP tax gut. A bunch of millionaire Congresspeople are offering folk a nickel in exchange for our dimes.

There will not be a trickle down bounty. No significant job creation will come from tax cuts for the rich and corporations. The time limited scraps folk will get in their refunds will not offset the massive cuts to services and programs triggered by loss of revenue.

I grew up in the 1980s. It sucked, and I was blessed to live in a middle class 'hood...still sucked. Voodoo Economics ushered in extreme poverty, unemployment, a farming crisis that literally destroyed entire communities, rampant corporate and bank fraud, and a cultural bitterness that gave Gen X our attitude problem.

I watched the best minds of my generation produce some of the most amazing music and art inspired by despair, anger, the exhaustion of endless hustling, crime, violence, depression, and a well earned hatred of the rich. And I watch Donald Trump exploit every single precious loophole to emerge unscathed despite a solid decade of failure, corruption, predatory sexual behavior, and gaudy home decorating.

So, here we are...

...fixin to repeat the mistakes of the not so distant past.

All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.

Things said while standing on my beloved soapbox...

I've been posting some soapbox rants on Facebook, and a friend pointed out that I really should share these here too.

My bad!

*steps up on soapbox*

Yesterday, Black voters in Alabama saved themselves and helped other folk in the process. They did this despite a lack of funding, aggressive outreach, and the protection of a fully enforced VRA. Black voters faced long lines, police intimidation at the polls, the real threat of racist violence, and the reality that this vote won’t magically make all their problems go away.

And I woke up today seeing some on the left already trying to piss in our corn flakes.

#TrustBlackWomen.

Invest in us, fund our work, hire us, listen to us (and that will require some of y’all shutting the fuck up), and know that we know what we are doing and the why and how of it.

If you feel tempted to whitesplain about Alabama today, write a check to Stacey Abrams in Georgia instead.

If you feel the need to rattle off a long list of why the Dems are trash, write a check Reproaction instead! We are a C3, so you need not worry about party politics when you invest in us. *wink*

If you feel the need to book a white person on your show to discuss Alabama or Black voters in general, slap yourselves upside the back of your head. Do it again. Okay, now hand over booking to the sistah on your team who should have your damn job anyway.

If you are not Black but experience the desire to preach a wokeness about Blackness that you do not walk unless it is convenient to your wishes and needs, know that today is not the day.

But most importantly, hush. 

No, really...hush it, now.

Replace every lecture, hot take, “but Dems don’t,” and three paragraph deep bullshit comment with money, jobs, investment, and the deliberate prioritization of the issues Black women care about.

Can’t list any?

Take that as confirmation that you need to hush and start listening.

Got it?

Good.

Have a kick ass day.

And congrats to the folk who got it done in Alabama!

*settles into a sit on soapbox and sips second cup of coffee*