Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater, the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO) and the International African Arts Festival present 

the Virtual 54th Annual Kwanzaa Celebration on Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
Sunday, December 27, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 PM Eastern Time (US)

Featuring a Special Lecture by Dr. Maulana Karenga: “Kwanzaa and the Well-Being of the World: Living and Uplifting the Seven Principles”

For More Information, visit the Website: www.iaafestival.org; or Phone: (718) 789-3264.  For Vending Opportunities: (646) 291-7254.

The December 23, 2020 edition of Africa400 marked the approach of 20 years of imprisonment for Political Prisoner Imam Jamil Al-Amin, who was once known as H. Rap Brown.  Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty welcomed their Special Guests Bro. Kairi Al-Amin, the son of the Imam, and Dr. Maulana Karenga, Creator of Kwanzaa and Professor & Chair, Department of Africana Studies, Cal State University-Long Beach.  His Web sites are https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org and https://www.maulanakarenga.org.

Listen to the audio of the show by clicking here:

Dr. Karenga wrote an April 25, 2019 commentary on Imam Jamil Al-Amin’s continuing fight for freedom, which can be read in its entirety at Achieving Justice for Imam Jamil: A Battleline For All of Us – Los Angeles Sentinel | Los Angeles Sentinel | Black News (lasentinel.net).

“Clearly, his trial was grossly flawed and his conviction was deeply wrongful. His targeting and imprisonment was political. His transfer from a prison in Georgia for a state conviction to federal prisons in Colorado and Arizona and being placed in solidarity confinement for 8 years is vindictive, vicious and designed to isolate him from family, community and legal counsel, and punish and break him. The refusal to allow journalists and academics to see and interview him is to muzzle him and eliminate the regular monitoring and checking on their savage treatment of him. And the denial of adequate and appropriate treatment for him is inhumane, a violation of his human rights and creating conditions for his death. Thus, we must see and engage this as a moral obligation to resist and reverse these unjust and evil actions.”
– Dr. Maulana Karenga, Achieving Justice for Imam Jamil: A Battleline For All of Us

The Web site Prisoner Solidarity (Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, Imam | prisonersolidarity.com) describes the events leading up to the Imam’s incarceration thus:

“On March 16th, 2000, Fulton County Deputy Sheriff Ricky Kinchen is shot and later dies, while another deputy Aldranon English is wounded after being shot by a man outside Imam Jamil’s store. English identified the shooter in the March 16 incident as Imam Jamil, yet testified that he shot the assailant—who “had grey eyes”—in the exchange of gunfire. Imam Al-Amin’s eyes are brown, and he had no gunshot injury when he was captured just four days later.”

An important support Web site that has been established by Imam Jamil Al-Amin’s son, Bro. Kairi Al-Amin, is https://whathappened2rap.com.

There is also a YouTube video featuring Bro. Kairi Al-Amin (https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3R1v4ZWUZf8IJ_JEt4w4wUaBJW-sNv60ozfp-L71wRP_SKzordVwjmazQ&v=0SELtMGzx0w&feature=youtu.be) which appears on the WhatHappened2Rap site.

A Change.org petition (Sponsor Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard : New Trial For Imam Jamil Al-Amin FKA H. Rap Brown (change.org)) currently seeks signatures and support for a new trial in the effort to exonerate and free Imam Jamil Al-Amin.

Africa400 can be listened to on the radio in the Glen Burnie and Baltimore, Maryland areas on 1590-AM WFBR.  The show is also streamed over the Internet on a variety of platforms, most notably on WFBR 1590AM Baltimore, 1590 AM, Glen Burnie, MD | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn and Famous 1590 – WFBR – AM 1590 – Glen Burnie, MD – Streema Player.  After the show airs, it will be recorded and featured in an update of this post as well as on our Media Page.

Edited by SRDC International Facilitator Professor David L. Horne, The New African World is a publication of the UNIA-ACL Rehabilitating Committee 2020 which adds its voice to the discussion around the nature and essence of Pan-Africanism and Pan-African organizing in this often difficult time.  We will feature this publication on this Web site as new issues are published.  For now, we invite you to enjoy and be informed by the first issue of this new publication:

We now receive regular news and updates from a variety of sources related to African issues.  RSS Feeds from the African Union, United Nations and news service AllAfrica.com bring you the most recent news stories from Africa and the World Stage.  Check out our Newsfeed Page for updates from these sources as well as links to AfricaFocus, Pambazuka News and other sources to stay updated on news of importance to Africa and the African Diaspora.

Africa400 discusses the topic “Restitution Movement: Returning Stolen African Art and Heritage” on Wednesday, December 9 and Wednesday, December 16.  Hosts Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty welcome Special Guest, Mwazulu Diyabanza Siwa Lemba, international spokesperson of the pan-African movement YANKANKU (Unity Dignity Courage).  He will be assisted by his translator, Baba Francis Ndengwe, editor of Femmes and Hommes d’Afrique magazine.

This interview was done in two parts.  The December 9 show (Part One of the interview) can be heard on our Media Page or by clicking below:

A combination of bad weather and technical problems forced the postponement of the second part of the interview from December 16 to December 17, when the show was broadcast by the good people at HAND Radio (Home – HAND RADIO) who made a recording of the full show.  Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty then made the show available to us, and we include it below:

Here is a little background information on Mwazulu Diyabanza Siwa Lemba:

ENGLISH/ENGLAIS

MAN AND HIS CONVICTIONS: Unfailingly attached to Bumuntu: African humanism Mwazulu Diyabanza remains convinced that the human person coming out of Africa has in him the key to the solution to all his great evils and that he must also look at him. profound as it may be to operate its upliftment and the transformation of its society. He also remains convinced that the unity of Africa is the sinequanone condition for its full economic and political realization.

Mwazulu is today, general secretary of the OTID union, independent researcher in African politics and culture and the international spokesperson of the pan-African movement YANKANKU (Unity Dignity Courage) and summarizes his pan-African commitment in 14 points included in the manifesto of Yankanku / MANINKANKU .

FRENCH/FRANCAIS

L’HOMME ET SES CONVICTIONS: Indéfectiblement attaché au Bumuntu: L’humanisme Africain Mwazulu Diyabanza demeure convaincu que la personne humaine sortie d’Afrique à en elle la clef de la solution à tous ses grands maux et qu’elle doit regardée en lui aussi profond que cela puisse être pour opérer son élévation et la transformation de sa société. Il demeure également convaincu que l’unité de l’Afrique est la condition sinequanone pour sa réalisation économique et politique complète.

Mwazulu est en ce jour , secrétaire général du syndicat OTID, chercheur indépendant en politique et culture Africaine et le porte-parole international du mouvement panafricain YANKANKU( Unité Dignité Courage) et résume son engagement panafricain en 14 points inscrits dans le manifeste de Yankanku/MANINKANKU.

**************************************************************

His commitment to the restitution of African artifacts of art and heritage has, as one might expect, landed him in hot water with Western authorities who wish to keep these Afrikan treasures for themselves.  He has endured numerous court dates, and more such trials are forthcoming.  As part of his legal defense, the Web site CotizUp has established a fund for his lawyers and the cost of the movement.  The site, SOUTIEN AVOCAT MWAZULU SUPPORT LAWYERS MWAZULU UDC – CotizUp.com, is similar to what is normally seen in the United States on a GoFundMe page. 

SUPPORT LAWYERS MWAZULU UDC
This pot is made to pay the lawyers who defend Mwazulu Diyabanza the activists who act in museum since June 12, 2020 and for the costs of managing our movement around the fight against the theft of invaluable cultural works and obtain their direct restitution to the underprivileged peoples of the planet.

Another fund-raising effort is the release and sale of his book Bumuntu: Humanisme Africain, on the Web site Cagnotte : CAGNOTTE POUR LE LIVRE NUMERIQUE BUMUNTU: HUMANISME AFRICAIN – Leetchi.com:

OFFICIAL RELEASE OF THE POCKET BOOK BUMUNTU; AFRICAN HUMANISM.
Mwazulu Diyabanza restores The spiritual, cultural and architectural heritage of Africa. It also introduces us to the human person who came out of Africa in its existential whole and in all its social fullness.  The book is available for purchase on the site.

More Articles on Mwazulu Diyabanza

There are several articles on Mwazulu Diyabanza from several sources on the Web.  Here are links to some of them:

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/marseille-mwazulu-diyabanza-1924953
A French Court Acquits Four Anti-Colonial Activists Who Removed a Spear From a Museum, Saying the Gesture Counts as Free Speech
The Congolese activist Mwazulu Diyabanza says the verdict sets an encouraging precedent.
by Naomi Rea, November 19, 2020

https://www.art-critique.com/en/2020/11/mwazulu-diyabanza-aquitted-for-theft-in-marseilles/
Mwazulu Diyabanza Aquitted For Theft in Marseilles
By Katherine Keener, Published on 19 November 2020

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/11/11/emery-mwazulu-diyabanza
Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza: ‘France is still a colonial country’
The activist on a mission to return colonial-era art to Africa has recently been fined for his protests, but promises to continue.
By Peter Yeung, 11 Nov 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/arts/design/france-museum-quai-branly.html
To Protest Colonialism, He Takes Artifacts From Museums
Mwazulu Diyabanza will appear in a Paris court this month after he tried to make off with an African treasure he says was looted. France and its attitude to the colonial past will be on trial, too.
By Farah Nayeri, Published Sept. 21, 2020, Updated Sept. 30, 2020

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/mwazulu-diyabanza-arrested-louvre-1234574985/
Activist Mwazulu Diyabanza Arrested After Attempting to Take Artifact from Louvre
By Claire Selvin, October 26, 2020 11:50am

Africa400 can be listened to on the radio in the Glen Burnie and Baltimore, Maryland areas on 1590-AM WFBR.  The show is also streamed over the Internet on a variety of platforms, most notably on WFBR 1590AM Baltimore, 1590 AM, Glen Burnie, MD | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn and Famous 1590 – WFBR – AM 1590 – Glen Burnie, MD – Streema Player.  After the show airs, it will be recorded and featured in an update of this post as well as on our Media Page.

The Wednesday, December 2 edition of Africa400 discusses the topic “Decolonizing Relationships to Holidays, Food and Security” with returning Special Guest Grandmother Walks On Water, who will join hosts Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty for this inspiring discussion. 

Africa400 can be heard on the radio every Wednesday afternoon from 2:00-3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States) on WFBR 1590 AM in Glen Burnie and Baltimore, Maryland.  It can also be heard over the Internet on a variety of platforms, including https://mytuner-radio.com/radio/wfbr-famous-1590-am-426025/, as well as http://streema.com/radios/play/WFBR and https://tunein.com/radio/WFBR-1590AM-Baltimore-s29972/.  After the broadcast, we will post the show in an update of this post as well as on our Media Page.

The November 25, 2020 edition of Africa400 explored the topic of “The Awakening: Children of the Light”.

Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty’s Special Guest was Kwame Sunhorse.  He is a researcher of African History, Indigenous American Culture and Spirituality.  He is founder of A.T.U.M. (Awakening True Universal Minds).

To listen to the show, click below:

Africa400 can be heard on the radio every Wednesday afternoon from 2:00-3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States) on WFBR 1590 AM in Glen Burnie and Baltimore, Maryland.  It can also be heard over the Internet on a variety of platforms, including https://mytuner-radio.com/radio/wfbr-famous-1590-am-426025/, as well as http://streema.com/radios/play/WFBR and https://tunein.com/radio/WFBR-1590AM-Baltimore-s29972/.  After the broadcast, we will post the show in an update of this post as well as on our Media Page.

Editor’s Note: The following commentary by Professor David L. Horne was originally written in September for publication on the Web site of the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://www.srdcinternational.org). Due to a number of emergencies and other technical issues (not the least of which was the crash of the SRDC Web site several weeks ago), the commentary was delayed in being published. Even though the raw numbers pertaining to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically increased over the last month, most notably in Europe and the United States, Afrika still confounds observers who had predicted the pandemic would hit especially hard there.

The Politics of the COVID-19 Virus in the Sh**Hole Countries
by David L. Horne, Ph.D

This is not the article I intended to write for this week’s column. I had actually already started on another one that I’ll probably do next week. But this one refused to go away—I could not get it off my mind. As any decent writer knows, when the muse is so insistent, the only response is to give in to it, or face the consequences of possibly never getting another inspiration.

Okay, let’s get to it. As everyone with a brain knows, President Trump infamously called Africa a bunch of sh**hole countries a few months back. Mr. Trump has also been roundly and rightly criticized lately for the very poor leadership he has demonstrated in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just recently, tape recordings have surfaced which let the world know that Mr. Trump said he knew the virus was very bad, but he had done all he could to address it, and he was satisfied with his administration’s overall response.

In a country with far less than 20% of the world’s population, he had shepherded the U.S.A. to over 6,764,598 infections, 4,043,637 recoveries, and 199,571 deaths since February, 2020 in relationship to the COVID virus. [These numbers now stand at over 10 million infections and over 250,000 deaths in the United States as of mid-November–Editor.] These numbers—in the richest country in the world, reportedly, with more spent on healthcare than in any other country— put the U.S.A. into position as the number one worst country in the world in terms of handling the virus. No other country is even close to the U.S.’s totals.

Africa is a collection of 54 countries with a combined 1.4 billion population. Africa—Trump’s sh**hole countries—–at last report on September 14,2020, had 1,359,724 reported cases, with 1,106,991 recoveries and only 32,795 deaths, according to the African Centres for Disease Control. By contrast, two states in the U.S., California and New York combined, had more deaths than the entire African continent (47,097).

Certainly, these numbers were not what the experts predicted or expected. The most common conviction was that the COVID virus would simply decimate Africa. After all, the general healthcare systems throughout the continent are thought to be inadequate and generally backwards. Far too many people continue to live in squalid, overcrowded conditions. Industries are lacking, education is poor, just nothing seems to be going right in the entire land mass, according to western standards. Though publicly, most serious people have decried Trump’s negative name-calling associated with Africa, the general belief was, of course, that he was right, and the virus might clean Africa out, leaving it for re-occupation and re-colonization by Western powers.

But of course, that has not happened, and the “experts” cannot figure out why. Is Africa’s majority youth population the explanation? Is it the residue in Africans of so much prior medicine for HIV, SARS, tuberculosis, malaria, Ebola, etc.? What in the world is saving Africa from COVID extinction?

Of course, there is still the matter of the Madagascar Organic Tonic promoted as a palliative. The origin country Madagascar, of course , is still using it. Although there have been some deaths in the country—211—-so its efficacy in inoculating everybody might be questioned, there have been very few reported cases of infection and very many recoveries in the country. Other African countries, including Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and others, have been distributing the potion to their citizens, from the thousands of free bottles delivered to them from Madagascar.

While that debate is going on, one thing is crystal-clear. The African countries and their leaders have handled the pandemic better than Mr. Trump has handled the problem in the U.S.A. Not one African leader, as bad as he/she may be otherwise, has piloted his ship of state as poorly as has Mr. Trump viz-a-viz the COVID pandemic.

This begs the question: Who’s the real sh**hole now?

David L. Horne, Ph.D. is a tenured professor at California State University at Northridge. He is also the International Facilitator of the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (SRDC), a Pan Afrikan Diaspora organization dedicated to bringing the voice of the Global Afrikan Diaspora to the World Stage, primarily through interaction with the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), the African Union’s Pan African Parliament (PAP), the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) and independent global Afrikan organizations such as the Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) and the Pan African Federalist Movement (PAFM). The organization’s Web site, https://www.srdcinternational.org, is currently being rebuilt and will re-launch in late November.

More articles on this subject can be found at the following links. The below articles were written between August and November 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Africa
https://guardian.ng/news/why-africa-is-recording-low-covid-19-deaths/
https://allafrica.com/stories/202008160034.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-africa-mortality-i-idUSKBN26K0AI
https://www.theafricareport.com/45557/covid-19-why-are-africas-low-death-rates-low/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-17/south-african-study-puts-covid-deaths-higher-than-official-toll

The November 18, 2020 edition of Africa400 discussed the Umoja Karamu/Unity Feast and its creator, Honored Ancestor Dr. Edward Sims Jr.

Dr. Edward Sims, Sociology Professor (transitioned 1996) Jr. and wife Deanna Jones Sims, Teacher (transitioned 1994)

Show hosts Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty’s Special Guests were Dr. and Mrs. Sims’ sons, Dr. Guy Sims and Dawaud Anyabwile, co-creator/writer and illustrator of Brotherman Comics; and nine-year-old Folasade Shabazz, author of the book Umoja Karamu, A Fun Feast for Family and Friends.

Dr. Guy Sims, Co-Creator and Writer

Dawaud Anyabwile, Illustrator

Folasade Shabazz, Author of Umoja Karamu

For the audio if the show, visit our Media Page or just click below:

The biography of this brilliant young Sista is related as follows in her new book:

Folasade Ramia Aza Shabazz is a homeschooled student who enjoys singing, dancing, cooking and having family and friends over for big parties.  She possesses a female warrior spirit, yet is as sweet as pie.  Umoja Karamu (The Black Family Ritual) is one of the little known holidays that brings Afrikan and Afrikan-American families throughout the diaspora together to remember our story and celebrate our victories.

Folasade writes books so that Afrikan girls and boys can see themselves and celebrate Afrikan/Afrikan-American culture.

This is her first book.  She lives with her parents and siblings in Richmond, Virginia.

For those tuning in who wish to call in to the show, the call-in number is (410) 761-1592.

Africa400 can be heard on the radio every Wednesday afternoon from 2:00-3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States) on WFBR 1590 AM in Glen Burnie and Baltimore, Maryland.  It can also be heard over the Internet on a variety of platforms, including https://mytuner-radio.com/radio/wfbr-famous-1590-am-426025/, as well as http://streema.com/radios/play/WFBR and https://tunein.com/radio/WFBR-1590AM-Baltimore-s29972/.  After the broadcast, we will post the show in an update of this post as well as on our Media Page.

This Is Your President

• They (Central Park Five) admitted their guilt.  They’re guilty.  The (2002) settlement was a disgrace.
• Barack Hussein Obama was not eligible to be president of the United States.  He is not a citizen of the United States.  He was born in Kenya.  He won’t show us his birth certificate.  My investigators have looked into it, went to Hawai’i to find the records, and what they found is shocking.
• Grab them by the p*$$&.  If you’re a star, they let you do it.
• The election process is rigged.
• Crooked Hillary should be in jail for what she’s done.  Lock her up!
• They’re (Mexican undocumented immigrants) rapists.  They’re bringing drugs.  They’re bringing crime.
• I am the least racist person you will ever meet.
• This was the largest inauguration day crowd in history, period.
• I’m a very stable genius.
• I know nothing about Russia.
• No one has been harder on Russia than me.
• I know nothing about David Duke.
• Crooked Hillary won in 2016 only because of millions of illegal immigrants who voted for her.
• Where is my African-American?
• Barack Obama gave millions of dollars to Iran.
• The Obama Administration spied on my campaign.
• We will repeal and replace Obamacare. We will provide great health care.
• We will protect people with pre-existing conditions.
• Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.
• There is a lot of blame on many sides, on many sides. There were very fine people on both sides.
• Ukraine should investigate the Bidens.  China should investigate the Bidens.
• Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV.
• No one has done as much for Black people as I have.  With the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
• You never talk about terrorism from the Alt-Left, Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
• This (CoVID) is their new hoax.
• This (CoVID) will decrease to zero, it will just go away.
• You just want to wear that mask so you can be politically correct.
• No one could have known how difficult it was to deal with CoVID.
• I had CoVID, now they say I’m immune.
• No one could have seen this coming.  It’s a situation no one has seen before. It’s unimaginable, unique.  No one could have been prepared or known what to do.
• Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.
• We have won this election.
• We won Florida. No one thought we would win Florida. And then we won Texas.
• If you count the legal votes, we won this election easily.  If you count the illegal votes, the Democrats are trying to steal the election.

The people of the United States of America held an election on Tuesday, November 4.  Because of a combination of the CoVID-19 pandemic and the resultant concerns that sprang from the inevitability of long lines of voters in close proximity and with limited personal protection in a time of a deadly contagion, two key provisions were made: early voting in person (a week or more in most states) and voting by mail.  The result was an unprecedented voter turnout which, through the combination of early voting, mail-in ballots and heavy Election Day voting from the country’s urban centers and moderate-to-liberal enclaves, appears to have turned out the sitting president, Donald J. Trump after five days of frantic ballot tabulation and counting.  While several states were close enough to trigger review and recounts of the votes, and the Electoral College must meet in December to officially declare a winner, the results as of Saturday, November 7 seemed to clearly award 273 electoral votes to Democratic Party nominee Joseph R. Biden to 214 for Trump, with several states still undecided but leaning toward Biden as well.  When the counting is finally complete, Biden could exceed 300 electoral votes, far surpassing the 270 needed to claim the White House.

Trump, predictably, objected to this result, threatening to demand recounts and to file lawsuits against the conduct of the election.  After having claimed victory halfway through the vote count when he was leading in most states but had not yet secured the required 270 Electoral College votes, his boasting turned to angry accusations and rage-tweeting when the urban centers of many of these states, notably Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia, reported their vote counts and his advantages in these states were reversed, insisting that this turn of events must be due to voter fraud, which of course served his purposes since he had accused the entire process of corruption, from the mail-in ballots to alleged computer glitches in these key “battleground” states.  By Saturday, November 7, as the major media outlets were anointing Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President-elects and their backers packed the streets of major cities across the country in jubilant celebration, Trump was fuming in the White House, refusing to make the traditional concession speech, and his son Donald Jr. was urging him to wage “total war”.  Trump backers on the streets, in the press and on social media furiously vented their anger at the corruption of the system in denying this transformative president who was “sent by God” to save the nation from the godless liberals of his rightful place as the Leader of the Free World.  The vote totals were once again, as they had been in 2016, due to the votes of illegal immigrants, or dead people, or votes that were stolen from the rightful recipient, the Heroic President Trump.  Because, who wouldn’t vote for such a Great Man who is Making America Great Again?

But what does one make of a public figure who, as he craves and accumulates power over his perceived subjects, is regularly described (and often documented) as the following …

• serial liar
• tax cheat
• authoritarian
• race-baiter
• misogynist
• xenophobe
• proud ignoramus
• grifter
• science-denier
• anti-environmentalist
• self-dealer
• petulant child and
• apparent sociopath

… who makes a habit of these behaviors?

• takes credit and never takes blame
• demands loyalty and is himself loyal to no one
• uses the official levers of power for his personal promotion and enrichment
• reinforces his negligence in response to the CoVID pandemic (“It will go away, like magic”) with malignant interference (super-spreader rallies) and propaganda (“You’re wearing that mask to be politically correct”) against the advice and efforts of those fighting for people’s lives
• manipulates meteorological data with a sharpie (“The hurricane will strike Alabama”) so he will appear to be factually correct
• pioneered the term “alternative facts” to cover the 20,000-plus lies he has been documented telling in office
• demonizes the press (“the enemy of the people”) in an effort to turn the populace against the last true watchdogs of the powerful
• shoves heads of state aside (Prime Minister of Montenegro) to take a place in the front of a group of world leaders for a photo op
• uses public facilities (White House, Fort McHenry) for partisan campaign rallies
• directs his military to alter their accommodations, at greater expense to them, so they can use his corporate facilities at increased profit for him
• suggested injecting bleach at a coronavirus task force press conference
• hires an unqualified Postmaster General to kneecap the postal service to discredit it as an option during a deadly pandemic
• bullies, threatens and rage-tweets to manipulate others and then whines that no one loves him
• even to this day refuses to admit defeat or that he ever, ever made a mistake (“I take no responsibility”)
• has the nerve to say, to a Black Woman’s face (NBC’s Kristen Welker), that he is “the least racist person in this room”, a claim he has made several times, usually to a person of color
• assails Black Lives Matter and Black protesters as “thugs”, “socialists”, “communists” and “terrorists” while he encourages right wing White vigilantes that run over protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, that gun down protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin and that plot to kidnap, put on trial and execute a sitting Michigan governor for her efforts to stop the spread of CoVID, and
• leads chants of “lock her up” and tells his attorney general to arrest 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama for treason as more members of his own Cabinet, organization and inner circle are tried, convicted and “locked up” in prison than any president in history, including Nixon.

The tragedy here is that the person I just described is considered by close to half of the voters of the United States (and too many “Melanated Non-Afrikans”) to be a worthy “leader of the free world” and representative of their values in spite of, or perhaps because of, all of the above.

And this point has nothing to do with Biden.  His history as a legislator, which includes a number of bills that, in retrospect, are considered to have done great damage to the Afrikan-American community (the 1994 Crime Bill was a major one, though many Black officials, business and spiritual leaders and voters backed it as well), has been repeatedly cited by his critics and those who still cling to the possibility of a successful Trump challenge to the 2020 election results.  Biden has apologized for those policies that he supported that have caused damage to the Black community, though he has yet to reverse that damage; meanwhile, Trump admits to no mistakes and doubles down on even his most cruel policies.  Trump makes his intent clear with both his words and his deeds.  And close to half of the voters in the United States still want more of the same, and angrily cry foul when the election results seem to deny them four more years of Trumpism.  Regardless whether their post-election vote challenge is successful or not, this is the essential fact of the 2020 presidential campaign.  And it is a damning indictment of the “soul of the nation” the battle for which Biden and Trump have engaged.

America nominally passes the test of “democracy” only because the winner of the popular vote (Biden, by 4.2 million and counting) also appears to have won the slave-era, landowner-centric “Electoral College” (273 electoral votes, and counting) and with it the office of President of the United States.  But in the intelligence test of “American Exceptionalism” and the morality test of being the “greatest country in the history of the world”, the nation that has inspired its harshest critics to call it the “United Snakes of Amerikkka” fails miserably.  Here, regardless who wins the White House in the end, it has brought back the title of Ugly American, and while the election of Biden and Harris may marginally reverse or slow the worst descent into fascism of recent memory and forestall the harsh judgement of history, the voice of some 47% of the electorate clearly shows that too much of this country still embraces that title, and the venal racism and cruel mendacity that go with it, enthusiastically.