Harriet Tubman: New Face on the $20

            It was announced on April 20, that Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Harriet Tubman will be the first African-American, male or female, whose portrait would grace the front of United States currency. The last female to do so was Martha Washington. Martha Washington was the wife to George Washington and considered to be the first – First Lady of the United States. Mrs. Washington was first featured on the $1 silver certificate in 1886 until production of certificates were discontinued in 1957. 

            Other influential leaders including Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt were on the ballot but Tubman won the popular vote. This is a monumental accomplishment for equal gender and race rights. President Jackson will not be entirely removed from the $20 bill. He will be featured on the back of the new bill. The final designs of the bill will be revealed in 2020, signifying the 100-year anniversary of the 19^th Amendment.  

            My only question is how will the artist depict Ms. Tubman? Will she be depicted as an elderly woman or will she be depicted as a younger and stronger woman who paved the way for so many?

            Please let me know what your opinions are on this subject. How do you think Ms. Tubman will be depicted on the new $20. 

Continuation of why politics is not appealing to our generation.

On the continuation of this post of why politics is not really appealing to our generation is because the lack of votes this year. Although the media portrays the active role of the everyday individual in political affairs shown in the following charts that will be listed below. One of the more important issues that I would like to touch on is how the democratic candidate Hilary is trying to garner the "black" vote. Bill Clinton unlike Hilary was very popular with African Americans during his presidency  more specifically the southern black states. Bill Clinton being from Arkansas was more at home among the community of southern African Americans. Bill's presidency has caused many snafus for the black community such as a increased prison population and the welfare bill that ended up that making poor black family more poor. Hilary's race for presidential race was viewed with this stacked against her and with other blunders from her political past. In a recent interview on the Breakfast Club, Hilary admitted to deliberately trying to get the "black" vote through means of pop culture. Nowadays people don't really care about how popular the politicians are with the media but what changes are going to be made.    

Sources cited:  

 Mcdonald, Micheal. " Voter Turnout Demographics- United States Elections Project" 2016

http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics

Kurtzleben, Danielle. " Understandin Clintons Popularity with Black Voters: NPR" March, 2016

 http://www.npr.org/2016/03/01/468185698/understanding-the-clintons-popularity-with-black-voters

Power 105.1 "Hilary Clinton's Interview with the Breakfast Club" April, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRZd861Pog0

Black Votes Matter

            The United State’s history of black political oppression has been the catalyst to our current state of disenfranchisement. It wasn’t until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law and removed the political disadvantages that muzzled upon the U.S minority vote. The United State’s use of literacy test and poll taxes has suppressed the rights of the minority vote in the past, and the use of the criminal justice and penitentiary systems currently suppresses the rights of the minority vote today.

            Last week, Virginia became the third U.S state to grant the reinstatement of voting rights to former convicts when Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) signed the executive orders in Richmond. Virginia has joined Main and Vermont - which both house a combined minority population of 16%, 3% less than Virginia’s total minority population – efforts for equal voting rights regardless of race or social class.

            Governor McAuliffe’s resolution to one of Virginia’s oldest laws has restored voting rights to more than 200,000 American citizens who have completed their parole and probation. This comes at a significant time of the 2016 Presidential Election because the frontrunners for the Democratic Party (Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) are eagerly campaigning to win the minority vote in June.

            The American Civil Liberties Union states, a patchwork of state laws disenfranchises about 5.85 million Americans. It is believed that the black population is sentenced more frequent and longer than the white population when committing similar crimes. This evidence supports the fact that the black population experiences a political disadvantage due to the lack of representation.

            Those who disagree with Virginia's new policy believe "Governor McAuliffe doses not have the legal power to do what he proposes to do," adding that "he is acting in obvious bad faith." Virginia Delegate William J. “Bill” Howell  (R) aggress that these former convicts deserve a second chance at becoming productive citizens but disagree that all former convicts deserve the reinstatement of their natural voting rights. Delegate Howell states, "policy should take into account the nature of the crimes committed, whether they have paid back their victims and the court system, and their willingness to serve as productive members of society.” 

            I believe that some former convicts deserve the reinstatement of their natural voting rights if they meet the criteria’s of holding a job for longer than 6 months, annually paying their taxes, and presents a clean criminal record after their probation. Governor McAuliffe has laid the foundation to unified voting rights within the United States by conveying empathy, one of the shared and highly praised qualities of several great leaders.

Hillary and Logical Fallacies

It;'s no surprise that Hillary Clinton, like other candidates, has committed logical fallacies in debates. However, Clinton has repeatedly used logical fallacies.

Clinton will use logical fallacies to turn anything another candidates says to something bad to make herself look better. In the debate in New Hampshire, Clinton replied to Bernie Sanders' comment about his irritation with donations for political campaigns and how it will not help out the middle class families by saying, "There is this attack that he is putting forth, which really comes down to, anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees from any interest group has to be bought."

This is a straw-man fallacy because instead of Clinton responding to Sander's argument, she replies with a misinterpreted version of his argument. Sanders is stating that a lot of money controls the political process and that there will be no change for middle class families because of this. Hillary twists his argument by using this logical fallacy.

As you continue watching and following candidates, don't fall for their logical fallacies. In the mean time, enjoy this Bad Lip Reading of Hillary and Bernie's debate.

Hillary on Emotional Appeal

During Hillary Clinton's campaign, she uses the logical fallacy of Appeal to Emotion. She released a new ad appealing to Latinos. In the ad, the little girl is crying stating that she is scared that her parents are going to be deported. Clinton calls the little girl up to her side to holds her and comfort her. It seemed as though Clinton felt the little girls pain and she got emotional as well. Clinton tells the girl not to worry about anything and that she will take care of everything.

Hilary Clinton is successful at using this fallacy to attract voters who are feeling the same way as the little girl and who can see that Clinton has a heart. People who use this fallacy tend to attract more supporters, more people who agree with their opinions because people can appeal to the emotion of sadness and hope. These are the emotions that are being portrayed in this ad because we feel sad for the girl, but we gain hope that everything will be alright due to what Clinton said. 

In terms of audience, this ad mostly appeals to the latino community. Deportation is a strong subject regarding the latino community. Its a situation that many latinos relate to, both in family or themselves. Deportation is a fear instilled on many latinos. The little girl represents the way many latinos feel in regards to deportation. Although, deportation is not only aimed towards lations, but with everyone who is not a citizen of the United States or do not have legal documentations. Therefore, not only is this ad aimed towards latinos because the girl is latina, but also because she is a child. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, or any family member for that matter can relate to this ad because they can also understand the amount of effort that is put into to care for a child. 

Clinton winning the democratic poll for Nevada also demonstrates her success in using this ad with this fallacy.

Feministing

In a visit to London, President Obama spoke out against North Carolina’s HB2, addressed an audience member who came out to him as non-binary and expressed concern over the climate for trans and non-binary people in the United States and the UK. In doing so, the president demonstrated how far he has come discussing LGBT issues as well as how far he has to go

Obama has been the most progressive president on LGBT right. He expanded LGBT rights for federal workers through executive order appointed the first trans woman to the White House, and became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality (after notoriously “evolving” on the issue for a couple of years).

His response to this student demonstrates his growth and continued weaknesses on LGBT issues. He came out against the recent laws targeting LGBTQ people, but stumbled through the rest of his answer. The trend lines are good on this? We’re moving in the right direction? I understand what the president is saying, but his attitude makes me wonder what trends he’s looking at. That anti-LGBTQ
backlash is real, and it seems that our president may have been caught sleeping.

GO VOTE.

Monday during our in class discussion when our professor asked us who voted during the presidential primaries only two or three hands went up, which was pretty disappointing since everyone doesn’t want to see Donald Trump get elected but aren’t doing anything to prevent it. In 1776, one vote gave the United States the English language instead of German. In 1923, it was one vote that gave Adolf Hitler leadership of the Nazi Party. Finally, in 1876, it was one vote that declared Rutherford B. Hayes as the 19^th president of the united states. With this being said one vote can make history and its because of history that we need to vote, it is our civic responsibility.

We need to shape the social agenda. Are you passionate about a particular social issue? Gay marriage, capital punishment and the separation of church and state are only a few of many contentious topics that dominate the political discourse. Learn about candidates' views on issues that are important to you, and vote in support of your beliefs.

Economic polices will affect OUR future. Most expect social security benefits to be gone or greatly diminished by the time college-aged individuals reach retirement age - which will be higher than it is now. Politicians continually make decisions about higher education costs and student loan policies. These and other issues prove you have an important economic interest in every election.

Politicians know who votes each election, and they are more likely to support initiatives that are popular among groups with the highest voter turnout. For college students to have significant political influence, they must turn out in greater numbers than is traditionally seen. We have a part to play in that.

By voting you are not only doing your part to influence the present, you are also affecting the future. Demonstrating this point well is the fact that the president selects U.S. Supreme Court Justices for lifetime appointments. These judicial officials may exert powerful influence for decades to come.

There was a time in this great country where only white, adult male property owners had the right to vote. Because of countless individuals before us work tirelessly to ensure voter equality, most of us only have to turn 18 to be eligible to vote. Students make up an enormous amount of the voting bloc for this upcoming election and thus make a huge political influence. According to RocktheVote.com, our generation makes up one quarter of the entire electorate, meaning 25 percent of the election is determined by us young people.

As American citizens, we all have a duty to democracy to let our voices be heard. Voting gives us a license to complain about the government and politics. Voting empowers us to make history and make a difference. Voting allows us to be a part of the most famous democracy in the world. So hashtag all you want, but the reality is real change will not occur unless you step into the voting booth. 

America’s modern Hitler?

Donald trump has been compared to Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini quite a few times and not for good reasons of course. while reading “Trump: The Man, the Meme” by author Ian Crouch, he mentions in his article that “When people are debating whether you’re more like Hitler or Mussolini, you are certainly on to something, though that something is not what a normal American political candidate would ever desire.” The article mentions how on twitter memes of Donald Trump are becoming popular and trending. One person went far enough as to putting up posters of Trump on a swastika.  Another important thing that Ian Crouch mentions is that “…outrageousness of Trump’s political statements, and to sound an alarm about the dangers that his candidacy might pose to the country. Perhaps if enough people share these memes, the thinking goes, it will act like a social-media version of Sinclair Lewis’s “It Can’t Happen Here,” and wake others up to the threat of creeping Fascism.” People are using social media as a source to reach out to a group of audience and inform them. Donald Trump is not the first presidential candidate to be compared with Hitler for example. Other candidates such as George W. bush have also been compared to Hitler as well as Hillary Clinton. Over all the moral of the story is that by using social media people can engage and inform others of issues. In this Case a lot of people are scared that Trump will become like Hitler or Mussolini and basically walk in their footsteps. Therefore, there are a lot of people coming out with memes to really catch the attention of people and get them to really notice the issue and see the bigger picture.     
                                                                                                                                                                                       

Moving to Canada...

We have all heard of this joke more than a few times during the 2016 election. Whether you are certain that either Trump, Bernie, or Hillary will win the presidential election, there is always a group of people who say, "I'm moving to Canada!" or "If he/she wins, I'm outta here". If you plan to move out of the United States, plan it out soon because November is right around the corner.

Searches for "how can I move to Canada" on Google have spiked +350% in the past four hours #SuperTuesday

— Simon Rogers (@smfrogers) March 2, 2016

Yet, whenever someone states that they plan to move out of the country, how likely is it to occur? Do people actually decide to move out due to political reasons, such as having a certain level of disbelief on whomever the winning candidate is? Based on previous elections and eras, it is true that there are small portions of the population who decide to move out of the U.S.

According to the National Public Radio, some lawyers believe that sometimes it is not caused by political reasons, instead, moving out is usually caused by economic problems. Joel Guberman, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer states, "I think there is probably a more direct correlation to the strength of the U.S. economy than to presidents". During the 2008-09 economic crisis of the U.S., there were higher fluctuations of citizens leaving their homes to other countries such as Canada.

The number of U.S. citizens who become Canadian permanent residents each year saw its most pronounced jump in the 2000s.

According to this graph from the Government of Canada website, there was an increase of Americans moving into Canada between the era of the Bush administration. A statistic which further decreased once Obama was elected president. 

Whether you decide to move into Canada, the Bahamas, England or elsewhere, always know that you are not only just leaving the American country, but also all of the American people and it's values. The legacy in which Americans try to achieve is to form a prosperous country where the people govern themselves with an equal form of government. The 2016 election is only a blink of American history and choices that people make are for the opportunities that reveal themselves for the future.

Why Is Politics So unappealing to our generation ?

Being a young African American male in the US is a blessing while others view as a obstacle. Why is it that we rarely see government leaders who are not afraid to put pressure in legislation to make a difference.  We rarely have true leaders who have a voice in politics that money doesn't due to corrupted motives. Does race play a factor in politics?.....YES! This is not simply a one sided berating of our govt but there are words that need to be said. Why is it that in order to get a more "urban" demographic people have to due stupid dances like the whip or the nae nae? Has anyone even noticed that more politics is more of a puppet for money rather than changing the nation for the better? Is it frightening that Donald Trump is winning states and has one even Virginia ? Maybe people have stopped caring because politicians seem like they don't care about the people. I watched a movie that inspired me to write about this topic called Bulworth. This movie is so profound that even Back Obama himself stated that he wanted be like Bulworth, who literally did not give a crap about what his investors or political had to say. He was only motivated to tell the truth, the word truth itself is very ugly to those who hold people in the dark with everlasting lies. The movie Bulworth literally showed that politicians literally have to watch what they say to either protect their investment or more extreme their lives.  We hear the saying that the love of money is the root of all evil, so why do have people in congress who only care about their pockets? The more our eyes are opened the more evil we see behind the scenes. Truth is ugly to those that love beautiful lies....

Gotta Take a LEAK

The next few months should be very interesting regarding global politics. The Panama Papers have leaked, and it looks like some very wealthy people are in quite the pickle. The Panama Papers is pretty much an enormous, 2.6 TERABYTES, collection of reports that link various business men, politicians, and celebrities to tax evasion. 

What's huge about this report is that it includes names of those in charge of countries, such as the President of Argentina, the king of Saudia Arabia, Vladmir Putin, and much more. With this news breaking out, trust between the citizens and governments may be a little shaky. With trillions of tax dollars not being paid, one could only think how greedy these people must be to go behind the backs of their own people and cheat their own government. I expect there to be huge protests globally regarding the corruption that has been exposed. In fact, mass protests in Iceland have already begun, which lead to the Prime Minister's resignation. 

When skimming through a list of countries involved in the controversy, I was surprised to see that the USA wasn't involved. Maybe the report does have some Americans involved, or maybe there weren't any. Either way, it's interesting to see that politicians from our country are safe... for now. I believe that there are some Americans involved, but not anyone well known or important. After watching Wolf of Wall Street, I think it's safe to say that foreign banks don't want to deal with American customers due to the constant surveillance by the government. Also, it is not illegal to hold money in off-shore banks. What gets people in trouble is avoiding taxes, for example, with said money. Either way, this news will spring forward a plethora of investigations and financial monitoring. I fully expect to hear more about who was involved in the next few months.

I can only imagine what types of comments the candidates will say. Trump will most likely have some interesting insight, with him being a wealthy businessman. What will be VERY interesting is to see how Bernie and Hillary will play this out. Clinton helped push the Panama Free Trade deal, while Sanders heavily opposed it. This could shake-up the Democratic race. Sanders needed this boost, and with more primaries coming up, he could very well start gaining ground on Clinton. It's just a matter of whether Bernie goes on the attack and calls her out on it. Either way, the Panama Papers will be another topic for the candidates to chime in on. I say this is a perfect opportunity for Sanders to have his " I told you so!" moment. 

The (Political) Assassination of Donald Trump.

What is a greater threat to humanity than Jihadist terrorism destabilizing the global economy? . . . Wait for it . . . Donald Trump.

Donald Trump wins the U.S.A. 2016 Presidential Election.

Before you read, take a second to think—put it to words. What's your opinion on Donald Trump? The opinion of mainstream media is pretty clear:

Donald Trump is an asshole—a twisted businessman who'll drive the country like a corporation. He's ignorant, and provocative, instilling his cult with violence. He's racist, sexist, homophobic and worst of all: a Republican. He'll waste his presidency enslaving America to China, and retire to his penthouse where he'll spend his nights eating kitten-flavored cereal with his best-bud, HITLER!

At least that's how it seems. But is he really that bad? I mean, his toupee is, uh . . . 

What you're about to see is what's known as a "political narrative." This is a bias in journalism, where news outlets downplay, emphasize or omit elements, and employ word choice and crafty sentence structure in order to nudge a reader towards an opinion.

* * *
First, I'm going to link two mainstream articles of different events. Feel free to read them, but hear me out before you do—pay attention to the titles.

Trump supporter charged after sucker-punching protester at North Carolina rally

Now this is journalism! Clear as day and unambiguous; the Trump supporter: front and center, the topic, the actor—the protester, the victim. There's no question here, no doubt. This story's more vivid than last night's dream I had of Charlotte Wess—

Look, this is to the point. You learn 95% of the story from the title alone. Let's see another:

Donald Trump Chicago rally called off amid protests and violence

Notice the passivity? There's this lack of blame . . . the protests and violence, sort of just "happened." We know nobody involved. Are the protesters Falun Gong practitioners and its the PRC Ministry of Civil Affairs hunting them down? We don't know without reading the article. All we see is "Donald Trump," "protests," and "violence."

This is click-bait, empty. Biased. Here's the page's only mention of violence at the event:

Nerijus Meskauskus, a Trump supporter from Oak Lawn, Illinois described being assaulted by protesters . . . as Meskauskus described it, he was surrounded by protesters and punched “six or seven times” before “cops grabbed me and pulled me over the barricade”. He said protesters were “trying to jump the barricade to attack me”.

If you think about this, admittedly specific example, the mainstream media switches to a more passive stance when their only evidence points towards a protester as the instigator. This is how active voice is used when reporting on the same event:

Donald Trump abandons Chicago rally after violent clashes erupt
How Bernie Sanders Supporters Shut Down Donald Trump's Rally in Chicago

* * *
Eyewitness testimonies are never the end-all-be-all accurate description of events, but they're another viewpoint we should see before we start closing our minds. Google: Trump Arizona rally violence. If you notice the articles, the narrative is that trump encourages violence and blames it on protesters.

Here's a video of Brandon Tatum's experience attending the Trump rally in Arizona:

"Went in there . . . very, very shocking. I wasn't expecting what I saw. I had no idea that I was going to leave that event with the thought process and experience that I obtained. I just had no idea."

The articles never mention Trump's disclaimers, or the fact Trump privately rented the building. They never mention the provocation, the screaming, and spitting protesters.

* * *

America hates trump and trusts the mainstream media that we're willing to see the negative and ignore the rest. We'll discredit his policies by slandering his character—when he does that on his own! I'm not asking you to change your opinions on Trump, he's only an example. But remember him, next controversial character to hit the world stage.

The media has a profound effect on our frames of mind.

Trump is a polarizing figure, but he's a human too. He has the right to spew his stupidity as much as any of us . . . but then again, what do I know? I'm a not-so-politically-savvy man.

Good night.

How important is freedom?

There are many different forms of governments out there: dictatorships, monarchies, democratic republics, aristocracies, etc. The United States of America, for example, is described by the Central Intelligence Agency’s website as a “constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition.”

So what makes one system of government better than the next? Is it how well the various ethnic groups or religions are represented in the governing body? Or perhaps, it is how much personal freedom each individual has that determines which government is better. Many of us may say it depends on the average income of the citizens.

The “World Happiness Report” (which can be found here) lists Denmark as the 2016 world’s happiest country. Index Mundi, which lists statistics on many different counties, however, lists Denmark at as having the 32^nd highest GDP in the world. Qatar, by the same reports, is listed at number 1 in regards to GDP, and number 36 in happiness. Clearly, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does help.

I say it the one true way to judge a government is by the types of lives its people live. Truly, if the citizens of a nation are truly happy, what else matters?

via GIPHY

Take a citizen living in a dictatorship in the New Floridian Order. She is told to wear certain clothes, work a certain job, and live in a certain place. She also doesn’t earn any money. How could she possibly be happy? Surely, the Northern Virginia Democracy should step in, remove the dictator, and free this citizen and all her peers from oppression.

But what if she’s truly happy? The government told her to wear comfortable yoga pants and a variety of colorful tee-shirts. She works a job that’s mentally exhausting, but she has short hours and plenty of time to spend doing her hobbies. She lives in a government-owned 3500 square foot home, where she goes to a local government cafeteria and enjoys a choice of many delicious foods for every meal. Her government also has eliminated currency, and provides the citizens with everything they need.

Now, that doesn’t sound too bad does it?! For having been told our entire lives how terrible a dictatorship is, that almost seems like a dream come true. While I grant you, it is indeed a fabrication, the point is: a government is not benevolent or malevolent based on the system it uses. It is the people that corrupt it.

Let’s look inward at the United States. Some Americans believe the US is the pinnacle of freedom. To quote the great Miley Cyrus, “It's our party we can do what we want. It's our party we can say what we want. It's our party we can love who we want. We can kiss who we want. We can sing what we want.”

via GIPHY

If we have so much freedom, how are we not the happiest nation on Earth? We are 13th on the list. Not bad, granted, and yet Israel, a nation constantly at war and in danger of being wiped off the face of the map, is number 11.

A dictatorship in the wrong hands usually ends up going awry. Look at North Korea for example. Yet, with the right person in charge, it doesn't have to be that way!

The point is, look beyond a system of government to what that government actually does to its people. The right people in the right positions can make all the difference in the world. People should be happy, not just “free.”

via GIPHY