This episode is titled SCORPION, after the parable of the Scorpion and the Frog. Looking at Black people, Democrats, and elections, we can ask: Have the Democrats been the Scorpion to our Frog? Well, I'm just saying: every election in my 50 years of life, in yet another "most important election ever/shut up and vote" election, they've asked us to p…

What would the country, specifically, the Democratic Party, look like if Black people put ourselves first, like any political demographic is entitled to? What would democrats' messaging look like if they earned Black votes, rather than demanded them? What policies would have been fought, & what wars wouldn't have been? What compromises would (or wo…

Why does this country love guns so much? Why would we rather watch so many of our children, and ourselves, die by gun violence, rather than do anything other than the least to prevent deaths by firearm? Many of the answers, it'll shock no one to know, have their roots in American Enslavement, and the fear of historical and contemporary white people…

Do we "dishonor" our black ancestors by not voting? Is voting a reasonable pathway to freedom or justice for the 99%? Have we created a religion of elections, a system that depends on our faith, in spite of the facts of our living conditions? When (largely middle class, relatively comfortable) Black folk push the need to participate in our system, …