Political Pageantry

am recording this prior to the debate tonight. Hopefully you will tune in to my YouTube channel to get woke where I'm going to be giving my thoughts tomorrow about what went down, But today I don't want to preempt what I think is going to happen, because who the fuck knows to be honest with Donald Trump and his barrage of lies, and the media going to be grading Kamala Harris harder than they ever look at Donald Trump.

She has to do all of the things, but Donald Trump just can stand up and they'll say, oh, he was so presidential. Going to get into that. But what I do want to talk about today, and I mentioned it a little bit yesterday, and it's just my final thoughts around the subject of not my final thoughts around the subject of racism, but my final thoughts on the subject of how racism showed up once again at the Country Music Awards with the snub to Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album.

And you know something struck me and I posted it on Twitter and I also posted it on my Instagram, which is this, and I'll read it to you all if you know, if by the time that you're seeing this, you haven't seen it. But you know, there are times when I'm just like completely outdone, and then there are other times when I'm just like, you know, racism is

really wild to me. And there are times when I go through my mind and I wonder what I kind of go into these like fantasies of like what would the world look like if black people had not been enslaved and if Jim Crow had never happened, And it's so hard to even imagine because it's just so ingrained

in what America is. Like Racism and bigotry and misogyny and just hatred are like baked into the fabric of this country because since the beginning, right there was this massive displacement of Indigenous people who opened up their land, their heart, and their homes to these foreigners, thinking that they had the same values that everyone is part of community, that no one is better than others, and because of their belief system that was not shared, they were decimated

by a greedy, hateful bunch of people that would then spread across this country. You bring in then the enslaved Africans, and we see throughout history, well for some of us who are able to actually, you know, read history that isn't band or blocked or whitewashed, and then you see kind of the brilliance and the ambition and the persistence of black people and people of color, like it doesn't matter what obstacle is thrown at us, we will always prevail.

That is what makes I think being black, being a person of color in this country so phenomenal. Like there are always these little things like if you could And there was a book that I just read and I did an interview, and I want to say that the interview was with yes, it was here, Nicola Yune's book. Our kind of people read that book, particularly the last

sixty pages that are just like wild. But this idea of if you could wake up tomorrow, if you're a black person, you could wake up tomorrow and be white, would you right? And you know, there are these weird questions that kind of go around and my answer is always absolutely not. Like I love being black, like I love it. I love being Jamaican. I love the culture and the food and the resilience and the poetry, and

like the music, the spirit of blackness. I love it and I would not trade it for anything in the world. Do I wish that the world could love as much as they covet and appropriate our culture? Do I wish that they also could love black people? Absolutely? But would I ever trade that? In? No? And so coming back to the Country Music Awards and their snub, and just like this overall sense of be that MAGA has right,

that they are so superior and so much better. And so I wrote this and I've been like thinking about it, and it reads my final thoughts on country music. White people really think that their racism and hatred will break us. They really believe that they have the ability to quote put us in our place. And I'll pick up on that phrase in a minute. Yet all you ever do

is continue to reveal your fragility and fear. If people like MAGA and the country music folks truly believed they were indeed superior, then they would win without restraints or obstacles. But they know they can't. Every generation of blackness and people of color just gets stronger, So good luck. And I wrote that in truly believing that all racism does is reveal over and over again the fragility and the

inferiority of whiteness. That's what it does. And you know, Tony Morrison, it said that the purpose of racism is distraction, right, because it has you defining over and over again and trying to convince people of your humanity. What I think is really interesting about the times that we are living in is not that anything has changed extraordinarily as it

pertains to racism in this country. We just saw the NFL star get pulled over for doing nothing other than being a wealthy black man and driving a flashy car and then being put in his place quote unquote by the Miami Dade police officers because they can't imagine that a black man could be driving such a car and that be legal, because they couldn't afford it. Because they can't do it, so it must be impossible to be done.

And that's like the narrow lack of imagination that racism has, which is this belief that you couldn't have possibly have gotten anywhere without cheating or lying or whatever. And I realized, because all of that is projection, because they can't manage to create, innovate without stealing without lying, without blocking others from being able to do it. Like, if you really thought, like just think about this, let's think about misogyny and

patriarchy for a minute. If men really thought that they were excellent, right, that they were the quote unquote superior gender. Why black women from your schools, right? Why black women from positions that, if given the opportunity, wouldn't be able to do as well as you. Anyway, if you really believed that you were in fact better, then throw your hands up and just say, hey, go at it, because I know that at the end of the day, you are not going to be as successful as I would be.

But that's not what toxic masculinity does. It bars women from being able to access certain positions for a long time, access to the ballot right, hundreds of year right like access to career credit cards, economic viability. Like again, if you thought that men were the superior gender, then it wouldn't matter if women had the same access and opportunity because they wouldn't be as successful. But we see that

that is actually furthest from the truth. You see when people, whether it be men or white folks, when they look around and they're at this you know, the top of the pyramid, and they're like, oh, you see, it's only us here because we're great. It's like, no, because you dropped so many boulders and broke and burned so many bridges that the rest of us had to take the long way while you took, as Michelle Obama said in

her speech, the escalator up. So what we need in terms of kind of shifting our mindset is that I'm no longer in a position or have the desire I should say, I no longer have the desire to convince people of my exceptionalism. That's on you. I'm gonna be over here doing me. So I'm not going to convince white folks that black people have humanity, going to entertain

the fuckery that jd. Vance is doing in Ohio by trying to create this disgusting and racist divide between the Haitian immigrants that are in Springfield, Ohio and the white community that is there. Mind you, that community Springfield, Ohio was on an economic decline. It was rusting in terms of the rust belt and the industry that had left

that area. Thanks to the immigrant population, they are on an economic rebound, but then have to justify and rationalize the fact that, like, yeah, you couldn't fucking do it on your own. And so now that they're in a position of vitality, you have people like JD. Vans that are making up such disgusting stories that I refuse to repeat that go back to trying to equate blackness with barbarous. Meanwhile, y'all are the descendants of slaveholders that were cannibals, rapists, brutalists,

and murderers. Miss me with it. So I'm not going to be in a position where my forefathers and four mothers were forced into trying to convince Black people through our respectable dress and speech and this, that and the other thing, that we're just like you. No, we're not, actually, because I would argue, in many ways, we're better. And why do I say that, Not because I'm going off on some racial superiority thing, but because I don't have

to belittle people in order to feel good. I don't have to step on somebody else's back in order to feel taller. I don't have to deny people access in order to feel better about myself, in order to feel like a winner. That's what I mean by better. I don't need all of the shit that the racists do. I'm good, right, Elon Muskoh, he's so small already, so amazing, is he because when faced with things that he doesn't agree with or doesn't like, he crumbles like a little bitch? Right?

So is Elon Musk really that brilliant or has he just been able to capitalize off of things that other people have already created? Does that sound familiar? I don't want us ever to get back into a place where we find ourselves trying to convince those that refuse to understand, that choose ignorance on a regular basis that somehow, if we yell loud enough or assimilate enough, that somehow will be accepted. Fuck your acceptance. I actually don't give a fuck.

What I want to do is just be able to live free and safe from violence for who I am. But I am no longer trying to convince or be an ambassador of my race, my sexual orientation, my gender Like, no, I don't care. And so coming back to the CMAS and just to the disrespect that they showed Beyonce, I think that one of the most beautiful things about Beyonce and this, like powerhouse that she has become. And if you listen to the stories that she's telling in her albums,

is that like, I don't need you. I don't need your accolades. I don't need to sit down for your interviews. I speak when I want to, when I do when I want to, because I create who I am. I don't need any of you to tell me that I am exceptional with your little trinkets and your rewards. I'm an artist and I got to this place because of my blood, sweat and tears, not because of any carpet

that you rolled out for me. And so I feel as if if all of us can find ways in ourselves to embody that sentiment that we are not here to convince other people of anything. We are here to remind ourselves who we are and what lineage we come from. And when you start to do that, you let go of just the weight, You let go of the weight and the unnecessary work. This life is work, folks, right, And so where do we want to place our energy? Do I want to place my energy into convincing you

to be better and do better? No? But you know what's funny is that is how I started WOKF. I said, let me educate people, let me try and convince people of their power. So maybe no. No, people always say to me, Dannielle, why don't you try and like, you know, bring Republicans on or do X, Y and Z. Why why would I bring a Republican on this show? What good would that do? Because the Republicans nowadays just lie? Right, So I'm not going to pull in Ari Melber on

MSNBC or you know, these folks on CNN, Like. My show is not a platform for orchestrated bullshit, right. My show is for people who genuinely want to know and do better in their own lives, not to create some type of food fight environment for entertainment. This world, this life is too serious for that shit. So no, but I'm often criticized I could do better. Folks say, okay, then you go do it. Because what I realize is that the work that we are all doing is on ourselves.

The work that I am doing is no longer the work that I was doing twenty years ago, when I was you know, young and just starting career and trying to figure out who I am and wanting to be taken seriously. So let me assimilate in certain types of ways, and then you know they will see me. The work is in seeing ourselves. The work is in believing in ourselves. The work is moving and creating and building paths that

like you may not see. And when other people think that you're nots or thinks that you should quit, the work is believing in you. That's what it is. And so the lesson the reminder that the CMAS provided was if you start to do your work, whether that is content creation like me, whether it is music, whether it's art, whether it's hr right, if you start to do your work so that other people will recognize you and patch you on the back rather than you just doing the work,

you're already losing. You're already losing because you're putting your value in other people's hands rather than your own. And then your value is based on what they think of you rather than what you think of yourself. And so fuck the CMAS and all, frankly, all of those award shows. By a long time ago, my mom had said something to me to the effect of, like, I don't understand these award shows. It's like they all like just get together to get dressed up to congratulate themselves on how

great they are. The awards are not about the people that watch it, right, and so you can't live your life that way. The other day, Angela Bassett, amazing friggin' actress that Angela Bassett is just won her first Emmy. What do you know the kinds of people that they've been given Emmys to? And Angela Bassett just won her first one. Someone like a Felicia Rashad never won one. So does that mean that she's a terrible actress? No,

it does not. So I just say, folks, it is a good reminder to take steps back to not get caught up in the utter bullshit and pageantry that people put together. And this is what I will say again, not knowing how the debate will turn out, but do know that I'm doing post shows which you will be able to listen to. The New Abnormal will be up tomorrow and for the first time, wajah Hot and I are going live with Democracy Ish on Friday. So we'll

certainly get into a bunch of stuff. But if you're following my YouTube channel, then you're going to get the most of the moment content because that's what I'm using that platform for But it's like the debate. The debates are pageantry, political pageantry. No one is making a decision about who they're voting for based on how they perform

in ninety minutes. Unfortunately, Joe Biden was pushed aside. But like we know that that's so has worked out for the better in terms of re energizing the base and recentering this Democratic ticket around joy and around possibility. So that worked out. I don't like the way that it did in terms of the treatment of Joe Biden, but so far, so good. But we know that, Like folks, are there real independents who don't know what's happening right now and who Donald Trump is? I don't think so.

So you'll watch, I'm certain, with drinks, with cocktails, you know, with popcorn, and we will see. We will see. But regardless of which, I'm voting for my freedom, I'm voting for joy, I'm voting for lightness, I'm voting for possibility. So whether you have a good singer in a ninety minute set doesn't really fucking matter to me, and it really shouldn't matter to anybody else. That is it for me today, Dear friends on WOK f as always power

to the people and to all the people. Power. Get woke and stay woke as fuck.