Democracy and the 2024 election

I have been posting daily about election-related things. That has included bad things about Trump and Vance, good things about Harris, Walz, and Biden, and things about business and media literacy.

I was starting to do one last post for today, and it started to have too much substance. I thought, okay, it's a blog post, and then it started to get kind of long for that too.

I generally do have a lot to say, but I am going to try and stay focused on this one aspect.

I was thinking about it because of the ballot box fires, but that came about because of the Proud Boys claiming they will be at polling places and various lawsuits about not counting ballots or removing voters from rolls. I was thinking about how great vote-by-mail is, but then in states with that, you still have people trying to take away the vote from people they don't like.

Of course, they have to be assuming they won't like those votes for the ballot box fires, but they are happening not just in states that tend to vote blue, but near the larger cities, also more likely to be blue. I mean, maybe it would make more sense to try it in Seattle than in Vancouver, but I if it's the same car in Portland and Vancouver, maybe they are too lazy to drive all the way up to Seattle.

It's probably someone different in Phoenix.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_ballot_drop_box_arson_attacks_in_the_United_States 

Anyway, what I was thinking about was all of the times I have seen people chime in -- when democracy is mentioned -- that we are not a democracy, we are a republic.

That is not a lie; on a federal level our laws and a lot of our budgeting are done by elected representatives. 

That is even frequently true for states, though 26 states have ballot initiatives or referendums available.

Those initiatives and that selection of who represents... I believe that is important, even though imperfect.

I can't help but notice that the people who have been so quick to negate democracy have tended to be conservatives. They tend to be the same ones who get irritated that the votes of some counties have more weight, without really dwelling on how that's because there are more people in those counties. 

(You know, if we decided the land should vote instead of the people, it would just end up being the land owners voting. Don't they already do enough damage by lobbying and buying up news sources?)

It also seems worth noting that some of those less democratic/more representative institutions -- like the apportionment of electoral votes and legislator allotment -- tend to favor the former slave-holding states. 

I will also note that when people put forward conservative ideas, it is unusual for it to be original; they tend to come through the same few sources and then get amplified.

Then I see men tweeting about how women shouldn't be allowed to vote (something coming up a lot this election cycle, even though one would think it had been settled over a century ago).

It makes sense that a party that knows that it can't win if everyone votes would teach contempt for democracy. 

It doesn't make it a good idea, and it doesn't make it right, but it makes sense.

I just wish people didn't fall for it so easily.

I know we are capable of better.

That's my wish going forward, and my goal is to help with that.  

More movies! -- Hispanic Heritage Month 2024

By more movies, I don't mean that I have already written about some this year and now am writing about more. 

(Actually, some El Salvador reading that should bring in another movie and a documentary.)

Instead, this is going back to that professor's list of movies he used in class that really helped you understand the country:

https://x.com/MPaarlberg/status/1560397489156624384

There was a list of fourteen films, and I have been slowly working my way through. That is not just due to my usual speed issues, but also that some of the movies have been harder to locate. 

I was able to find four in 2022 and five in 2023, but it was hard to be optimistic about finding the final six. As I managed to view three of them this year, it feels more likely that next year I will be able to finish.

For this year's movies, there were some stark contrasts.

Who is Dayani Cristal? (2013)

This is mostly a documentary. Gael Garcia Bernal does some retracing of the path, but it is not really re-enactment. There are times when it almost feels that way, as he is passing through these same places and using the same transportation, meeting some of the same people. Really it is that there are so many people following that same path.

It started with a body in the Arizona desert. The people who try and identify these bodies and return them to their families have one clue, a tattoo across his chest, "Dayani Cristal". 

Eventually they find the Honduran family of the man, learning his identity. We meet his parents, wife, and his children, including Dayani Cristal, his daughter. 

Like many, Dilcy Yohan Sandres-Martinez tried to make it to the States to earn more money. The need was more urgent due to a son's leukemia treatments.

Immigration "reform" has done more to increase death than decrease attempts.

I was touched to see the caring dedication of the research team. 

La Sierre: Muerte en Medellin (2004)

I have to put an asterisk on that date. I found it described as a 2005 documentary and a 2006 television episode that was about half the length of the movie. I assume that the full-length movie was cut down for television presentation. I watched the full version (as far as I know), but the credits showed the year 2004, which is why I am using that.

Medellin is a neighborhood in Colombia which is run by teenage paramilitary groups. Two members and the girlfriend of an imprisoned member are followed by the cameras.

The first most horrifying part is how young they are, and the frequent reminders of how young they are. There may be an extent to which it matures them prematurely, but they really are kids. (And they are very much children having children; Edison was a 19 year old father of six.)

The next most horrifying thing was the apparent futility of it all. Even as they defeat one group, it leads to more war. They work out an amnesty, but there are other neighborhoods. 

It did remind me of the organizations in the favelas in Tropa de Elite 2, but it also made me think of the Crips and Bloods.

Tres Bellezas (2014)

Given that there is so much less death, this shouldn't be more disturbing... maybe it is just differently disturbing.

A former beauty queen in Venezuela is determined to have one of her daughters become a beauty queen as well, setting her daughters at odds with each other and neglecting her son. Even when she briefly gives up beauty there are similar dynamics, but pageants return. It is ghastly, tragic, and terribly typical. 

Constant death and poverty are hard, but they are not the only things that are soul-killing.

For some context: 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/12/venezuelans-obsessed-with-beauty

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/01/hispanic-heritage-month-2022-movies.html 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/12/la-raza-heritage-month-movies.html 

Some thoughts on strategy

Last week I wrote that I think Biden has done a good job, without being perfect. 

Frankly, I think it's strange that we seem to expect candidate to be perfect now. I mean, we are still voting for humans.

I also mentioned how carefully he had to tread to avoid setting off more violence now that some people have become so confident choosing it.

In fact, he seems to be pretty good at negotiating and navigating. You can't always get others to come around, but when successful, a big part of that is often using caution and tact to not exacerbate the situation.

I think that is a big part of why there is not a harder public line against Israel. 

I don't think it's the only reason. I think the United States' own colonialist history and guilt about the Holocaust has led to a historic support of Israel that is hard to throw off, not to mention the years of treaties and congressional approval... I understand why things don't happen quickly, and that there is a limit to how much one government can influence another government. 

All of which is to say that as horrifying as the genocide that Israel is wreaking against Palestinians is, I also understand that there is a limit to how much our government can do to prevent it, and that there might be things being worked on to that we don't see. 

Now, let's look at the people saying they won't ever vote for "Genocide Joe". 

Given the previous points, that phrasing may indicate that they are not really considering political nuance in any depth.

I will also concede that they are not necessarily operating from a point of honesty and sincerity. I recently saw someone who had posted that he would vote for Harris if she chose Walz for her running mate. He changed that after she did. 

I can only assume he was sure that the pick would not be Walz, so the excuse he built in did not work. I am also sure that his tweets were not a strong factor in the final decision. I only mention it because I don't think it pays to assume good faith in all cases.

Let's assume good faith... once you say that a party can never win your vote, you have no bargaining power. There is no point in the party trying to appease you; they need to pursue other votes.

I won't say that it's not frustrating; I am frustrated all the time.

I will say that I am not petulant enough to forget other people in danger.

Let's look at other ways the position can play out: wanting the death to stop, they decide they will vote for Trump. 

That doesn't sound like it will work. 

Okay, believing that neither party is good, they will vote for a third party candidate or a write-in or not vote. 

That may work to demonstrate displeasure, but it will not do anything to stop the death.

Can showing the displeasure be a moral stand?

Well, maybe, but it is a moral stand that sells out women, LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, people with disabilities... it is going to add a lot of suffering and additional death to the death.

I have seen people profess complete comfort with this. Perhaps that makes them single issue voters.

That can be a strategy that works. To the extent that anti-abortion voters have made great strides toward making abortion harder to get. I am not sure how many abortions they have prevented, but they have certainly created a lot of suffering.

Perhaps being a single-issue voter is a better strategy for causing harm. That could explain a lot.

As much as being against genocide should be a good place to draw the line, what about Sudan? and the Central African Republic? Is it that the US does not have as much to do with those?

I am sure that many people who decide to abstain are probably in states where Trump is unlikely to win. Since the electoral college still exists, they may be right, but some of those margins get pretty close.

Also, choosing spite over participation makes me wonder how much they will contribute to the many repairs needed, no matter who wins.

Spotlight on Yuyi Morales -- Hispanic Heritage Month 2024

No, I am not done with the Pride Month writing. There will be more on that.

As my different reading sections are starting to overlap more (especially as I finish up the post-2016 election reading) I am trying letting the writing overlap and alternate as well. 

I don't know if I will stick with it, but there are ways in which I think it may be helpful.

Yuyi Morales seems like a good starting place. I first learned of her from a book that featured both her and Jerry Pinkney, so she connects to my Black History reading.

In trying to locate her work, I have run into some confusion. Among the books listed on Goodreads there was one, Le Costume de Malaika, by Nadia Hohn. I found one called Malaika's Costume and requested it (different language editions is nothing new), but the illustrator of that book was Irene Luxbacher. Was there a French edition illustrated by Morales? 

I went to her Wikipedia page to check. That bibliography mostly matches Goodreads, except that there is no Malaika's Costume (the French edition on Amazon shows the same artwork and lists Luxbacher). Wikipedia does show another book, Todas las Manos Buenas by F. Isabel Campoy, that Goodreads does not have.

I am trying to get a hold of that now, but tracking down books can be tricky, especially children's books. 

Maybe Yuyi is a good test case for blending and mixing things up.

Another reason that is appropriate is her own artistic style. While she can draw and paint, she will often mix in dolls and fabric and other materials. Sometimes it is blended so skillfully it is hard to be sure what was drawn and what was not.

That makes it seem appropriate that two of her books are tributes to artists: her illustrations for Amy Novesky's Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased and Morales' own Viva Frida.  

Many of the books have strong senses of familial love. It may make sense that among her solo books are a counting book, an alphabet book, one featuring a game of hide and seek, and two books about a little boy imagining himself as a luchador. It would be easy to believe that those were inspired by her son Kelly as he was learning and growing:

Just a Minute! A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book
Little Night
Niño Wrestles the World
Rudas: Niño's Horrendous Hermanitas

That is easy to imagine because of the love infused in Dreamers. 

In Dreamers, Morales tells the story of her and her young son coming into the United States. During a difficult adjustment they find libraries and children's books. 

In addition to the beauty and inspiration found in the story, part of the fun is seeing familiar book covers. A future reading month could launch from that, at some point. 

While the term "Dreamers" has a specific meaning now, in the book it is about a mother and child discovering what they can become. There is optimism, but also an awareness that there are dangers. This is echoed in Bright Star, and it makes Morales' participation in a book for Project Amplify, Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz, logical. 

I am glad that I learned about Todas las Manos Buenas before I read the foreword Morales wrote to Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children's Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. In it, she refers to Campoy, and I knew the context that Campoy's work was the first book Morales illustrated (also a friend):

My friend Isabel Campoy wrote once that there are no Latinos in Mexico. or El Salvador, or Cuba, or in any or the twenty Hispanic countries for that matter, because Latinos is actually the term used to refer to the Spanish-speaking population (and their descendents) of the United States. For the same reason, I realize now, I had to come to a foreign country to become who I am: a Latino author and illustrator. I have learned that to be labled Latino also defines such things as the shelves where my work will be displayed. I sense danger in any term that specifies ethnicity, as if being Latino, or African American, or indigenous suggests the possession of a monolingual voice and a specific vision meant to be understood only by those who are already familiar with these. I must say that I do not fear this label. In my path through schools and in visiting my readers, I have learned that children take from our work what they need the most.

Additional books illustrated by Yuyi Morales:

Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng
Sand Sister by Amanda White
My Abuelita by Tony Johnston
Floating on Mama's Song by Laura Lacámara
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes

Election 2024: Some thoughts on Biden's presidency

I mentioned earlier holding off on some plans to connect more. It would be fairly perilous in an election year. People can be so annoying. More annoying than usual, I would say, except that some of the worst people are making that their personalities now. If I have old affection for them I hope they can come around, but this may not be the time to look for it.

Anyway, one of the minor issues -- and the reason that this post is specifically about Biden rather than Harris or Trump -- relates to the pressure on him to step down, followed by the outcry from those who cried that the previously professed loyalty to Biden was clearly insincere when everyone got so happy about Harris being the new candidate.

Allow me to clarify my thoughts.

I believe Biden has done a good job as president. I think that is more important than debate performance, especially when at our current level of polarization no one is watching the debates to make up their minds. They are watching the debates to reinforce what they already believe. The people who do not find Trump's narcissism, grift, and incessant lying disqualifying aren't going to change. It's awful, but that's how it is.

I would also like to throw out something that I read early on in his presidency, about how much danger there would be of more insurrection, which required some careful treading and diplomacy. Biden has faced a lot of open obstruction, but yes, there are people who were willing to hang a vice-president if it would bring them closer to their desired dictator for life. That group quite possibly includes members of the Secret Service, who are supposed to be the protectors. And with protocol and propriety, you have to send away the dog instead of them. 

Then, that there was so much nitpicking at every minor gaffe as a sign of his age, when he has a speech impediment, he has always been kind of known for gaffes, and the competitor is Trump, who can barely string a coherent sentence together... pressuring Biden to step down seemed very misguided, except it was probably more racist.

Because we had a competent vice president right there, certainly more qualified than Vance. Except she's a Black woman. 

There were just too many reasons to think that was part of the motivation.

Look, I can sympathize with a certain amount of fear about a woman losing to Trump; the last time was devastating. I still feel pretty strongly that the solution to fighting the racist misogynists is not becoming them. For one thing, the people who specifically want terrible white men will never be satisfied by one of ours.

So I was irritated with those -- and they were pretty much rich white men -- who were pressuring Biden to step down. 

Then, when Biden stepped down endorsing Kamala Harris, guaranteeing that she was the choice going forward, it was beautiful.

First of all, Biden no longer has to bother with the debates, he can focus on governing. Good!

We did not suddenly become less progressive. Good!

It was a good move and well executed. I applaud (and only a little bit because it ticked off people who had ticked off me).

Is Biden perfect? Absolutely not. Harris won't be either. 

People are upset about Israel and Gaza, including me. However, the guy who relocated the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is not going to be better for Palestinians. Even if a third party candidate had a chance, looking at this crew, none of them should.

I would have gladly voted for Biden-Harris, and I gladly filled out by mail-in ballot Sunday night for Harris-Walz. 

It is absolutely still important to push for change. Next week I hope to write more about that. 

Pride Month: Continuity

I haven't been putting the year, like "Pride Month 2024". This is not a regular thing for me. 

Last year I was writing for Transgender Awareness Week, which was in November. We are almost there again, and with LGBT History month being now in October, or Pride being in June or July, there are lots of options for a regular rotation. 

When I finished writing about the transgender reading last year, I realized there were more books that I was going to want to get to. I planned to do that in June. That is why I have been thinking of it as Pride reading this year, but I do not know what my pattern will be. 

Here were some things that I knew after last year:

I knew that Janet Mock and Jonathan Van Ness each had another book, and I would read those, which I now have.

Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock

Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness

I can really see the value in reading things in order. 

For Van Ness, Love That Story was material that was important but did not necessarily fit into the first book. If I had read that first, I might have appreciated the greater context given in Over the Top.

In Mock's case, Redefining Realness did come first, but was missing some things that were important chronologically. Reading the things she thought of after putting the first book out in the world gave a more depth. That worked well.

I think both books are also a reminder that you can never tell a whole story. It doesn't have to be a lack of openness or anything intentional. Not only is there always more, but also sometimes things look different after more time and thought.

I knew I was going to want to spend more time on the Interface Project after suddenly not being able to get Eden Atwood out of my mind.

http://www.xysuz.com/the-interface-project 

https://www.interfaceproject.org/stories

That ended up being useful before I got to any of the books. The Olympics brought it up.

Let me be clear that I do not know that Imane Khelif is intersex; it is pretty clear that Umar Kremlev is shady. Nonetheless the topic came up and I had a source for more information on something that people really oversimplify.

Finally, while my focus was specifically on transgender people, there was also some historical reading about the larger movement. This may be another reason why this year feels more like it is related to Pride and the larger group. (I am aware that there are often inclusion issues with organized Pride activities.)

Regardless, after reading And the Band Played On, I started wondering about some of the people who were mentioned in the book, but not mentioned as having died. (It is about the early days of the AIDS crisis and there are lots of deaths.)

Two I remember looking up were Larry Kramer -- who had died, but not until 2020 -- and Cleve Jones.

Cleve Jones is still alive. He has a memoir.

When We Rise: My Life in the Movement by Cleve Jones 

First of all, it was inspiring to see that people did live. Yes, we know now that there are drugs that can fight HIV and AIDS, but for people who had it then, and saw so many of their friends and lovers die, that was not guaranteed.

In addition, just from reading Jones' book, there are at least two more movies and another book that I need to look into. It's not going to happen this year. 

I know that something will happen again at some point in 2025.

For now that's as specific as I can be.

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/11/transgender-awareness-reading-memoirs.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/12/transgender-awareness-reading-until.html

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2024/08/gender-olympics-and-dominator-culture.html

Allowing space

I have been going back and forth with a very serious decision recently: whether to get social media set up on my phone.

It would mainly be for travel. I used to have a laptop that traveled with me. Once I day I could log on and post the song of the day and any relevant blogs and wish people a happy birthday, but it died quite a while ago. 

Right now I am also posting political content daily through the election as well as trying to stay connected to people. That I might have times when there are a few days with no posting is a concern.

I never worried about using the laptop, but somehow it feels different with the phone.

I suppose this is partly because most people keep their phones on them all the time; something I never did with my laptop. 

It is also because of merging, like Instagram with Facebook, but probably more because Musk ruined Twitter and Zuckerberg is evil and even Google no longer has not being evil in their charter... do I really want to reinforce that connection?

(It is a teeny bit because being in school gave me a new Google profile besides the one that has everything else. That only adds a small level of complication, but does act as a minor deterrent.)

As it is, we have had things come up twice now preventing travel; maybe I just shouldn't be planning on going anywhere.

I am not saying things will never be different. For now, my phone remains mostly just a phone, that sometimes take photos. It's pretty handy being able to call or text from wherever.

While it is technically still a "smart" phone, that part pretty much never works. I know I could figure that out, and I would have to if I were going to maintain social media use while traveling.This decision makes that a moot point.

This means that when I am watching television, I am watching television. 

(I wish my sisters would do that. So often they are there but missing things because their faces are in their phones. I rewind a lot.)

When I am on the bus, I will be reading, or thinking, or watching and even talking to people.

That's not awful.

In church, I... okay, sometimes my mind is wandering rather than me really listening -- there is room for improvement there -- but I am not scrolling my feeds.

Yes, it would theoretically still be possible to be like that with social media on my phone, but it's even easier when the phone has nothing there.

It was also a choice to allow me to have days off from what I am doing, no matter how important it feels. Breaks are important too.