so am using a cane these days after being unable to walk a few steps w/o fatigue or vertigo. am happy as it's what i need to get better from #cancer.
but the excitement of walking to my new oncologist's office, which is at a subway entrance, was squashed by Hochul deploying armed Nat'l Guards in our subways. that means cops are everywhere in the area.
cops kill the disabled at alarming rates. am now a disabled BIPoC.
am not the enemy, fascists are.
so push Democrats away from fascism.
here's the thing:
since 9/11 am almost always stopped on account of either looking Arab or having an incorrectly sounding Arab name (Sabater is shoemaker in Català).
so now that i have no hair thanks to #cancer, i wear a head scarf. so not only am i looking MORE Arab. now that i use a cane thanks to #COVID19 and #chemo, am also being surveilled for a potential weapon.
that's exactly what happened when i went to a store next door my oncologist.
fascism is here NOW and affects me daily.
partisan Democrats really have the gall to tell BIPOC, LGBTQI, disabled people to calm down, that WE are the problem.
you are calling us, the victims of the fascism that is already here, the enemy.
you have the fucking gall because it's easier than doing the work of fighting fascists.
guess what? they won & you let them win.
the elites have so normalized fascists, you look at me, a BIPOC woman, disabled by cancer & COVID, as the enemy and not actual fascists.
so stop attacking us.
and let me just say this:
at no point have i said, do not vote for democrats. at no point whatsoever.
what i have been saying is: VOTE WITH YOUR PROTEST BOOTS ON.
because 2024 is the year you have to push back against the corrupt #cartelization of the party.
the oligarchs pushing the party into fascism are the same funding the loudest of nazis taking over the Republican party.
the more billionaires fund Democrats, the further into fascism the party goes.
PUSH BACK.
oh! very last thing:
i came of sexual age during the middle of the #AIDS #pandemic.
had it not been for ACT-UP many of us GenXers would have been dead by now. they FORCED the mainstream to reckon with the virus's devastation and the Reagan and Bush policies that were nothing but #eugenics served over "kinder, gentler" platitudes.
AND YET, i'd cringe when Larry Kramer would talk about USGov's fascist health policies.
Larry, you were right. fascism been here for a long ass while.
@blogdiva btw, I'm 99% certain that jacketed person is the artist / photographer / writer / musician / etc David Wojnarowicz.
His book _Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration_ is incandescent in how it lights up Reagan-era eugenics. Really a formative book for me that I can't recommend highly enough.
Also, since it can't be said enough: fuck cancer!
@ryanrandall OMG thanks for the heads up. will try to get my hands on that book. just got a new library card.
@blogdiva ffs, same. I had some serious bullshit to fight through before I could see how right he was.
@blogdiva I’m forever grateful to Larry Kramer, the GMHC and everyone from Act Up. They did incredible work. I wish more people knew their history and were interested in that kind of activism & social justice.
@blogdiva thank you for persevering
FUCK THIS SHIT
@blogdiva Too true. Recognize it and speak out whenever we can. Thanks for the inspiration and motivation
@blogdiva You can't push back against a major political party by voting. That has to happen either from the inside, or via ranked choice voting, preferably both. It's hard, slow work and we're way behind the R's. But until every D understands the importance of their county central committee, and either runs themself or gets a reasonable neighbor to - until we're advocating for RCV by ballot initiative if needed - we're just pawns of the oligarchy.
@blogdiva thank you, for speaking your truth, for connecting the dots.
I'm going to talk about these toots irl with ppl tomorrow.
@blogdiva It appears possible that the two-party system is undergoing a transformation similar to ones in the past, in which the Republican Party will self-destruct and disappear, while a new "center-right" party will siphon off conservative/corporate/establishment Democrats and the Democratic Party will become a more purely progressive party. OTOH, Trump could be re-elected and then all bets are off.
@blogdiva
By whining about "polarization," they have identified who they consider part of the in-group, and who is not.
Hint: Nazis in, marginalized groups out. They literally prioritize the feelings of fascists over the lives of marginazlied people.
@blogdiva They're effectively chasing us away TO the third party candidates or even to Trump.
@blogdiva Which Dems are saying this?
@blogdiva Being publicly brown is ok as long as you're mowing someone's lawn or cleaning their house - all other activities (like going to the doctor!) are suspect
@blogdiva Totally unsurprised yet still sorry you have to deal with that. If you were living in my neighborhood (or the reverse) I'd offer my services as extremely boring/plain-looking, out-of-shape middle-aged white guy as an escort when you have to go out. Cops tend to ignore me and whoever is with me.
@blogdiva This is wrong in so many levels! I’m so sorry you had to endure this. *hug*
I'm so sorry. Keep on fighting Liza, we need you!