The Audacity of Dope

Well, that escalated quickly.

A lot of eloquent words by folks more intelligent than I have been written this week, plus I’m burned out from the emotion of it all and traveling from Australia to New York (24 hours straight on the move is no joke), so I’ll keep it as brief as I can.  There are three points I want to stress to everyone:

1. Almost 50% of the eligible voting population sat this one out.  Voter suppression occurred both via laws (reducing early voting windows, requiring additional identification, etc.) and by killing all enthusiasm for being a part of the process.  In such a close election (where the Electoral College has failed the will of the people for the second time in my life), every vote is crucial and we simply couldn’t afford so many people to stay at home.  Shameful, in my opinion, especially with local races and propositions on the ballot too.  It’s interesting watching this happen while I’ve been in Australia, where voting is required by law.  Sure, that gets abused too, but it definitely looks like a better system to me.  The Republicans have decided not to update their platform to move with the changing world, so they know their best chance to win is to have as few people vote as possible.  Credit to them, it worked this time around.  It’s on us to ensure more people, from all parties, get out to the 2018 midterms.
2. Trump won just 25% of the vote.  I would hope that the hardcore racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia he based his campaign on is only embraced by a small percentage of that group, say up to 10%.  Perhaps we’ll never be able to reach those people.  Maybe they’re just stuck in their ways.  But the rest of his voters amazingly decided that all of this nonsense was NOT a deal-breaker, which, at best, tells all the targeted people, “I don’t hate you…but I don’t care about you.”  These are the people we need to have conversations with, to ensure they understand that they have just emboldened and validated this rhetoric by putting him in the White House.  Those values are NOT shared by the vast majority of America and we cannot let a small few hijack the narrative in attempts to normalize this.  Speak up and stay vocal, shouting this down at every turn.
3. We gon’ be alright (c) Kendrick.  Sound Session has been here during the Bush years, the Obama years, and we’ll be here during the Trump years too.  So will you.  You are valued.  You matter.  You are loved.  Be the change you want to see at the local level and control what you can control.  Progress is not a straight line and we’re going to continue on our path to a more perfect union, one day at a time.

And now, some music for your soul:

Show #576 (11/13/16)

1. ASAP Mob ft. ASAP Nast & Onyx – “Nasty’s World”
2. Common ft. Bilal – “Home”
3. The Game – “Grew Up On Wu-Tang”
4. Like – “Diamond”
5. Mibbs ft. Blu – “Tell Me ‘Bout It”
6. Notorious B.I.G. ft. 112 – “Sky’s The Limit” (Throwback of the Week)
7. Meek Mill – “Blue Notes”
8. Khalid – “Hopeless”
9. Alicia Keys – “More Than We Know”
10. Mickey Factz & Nottz ft. Phonte – “Treat You Right”
11. Jay Prince – “Smile Good”
12. Dame D.O.L.L.A. ft. Lil Wayne – “Loyal To The Soil” (Local Music)
13. TYuS – “Shapes and Sizes” (Local Music)
14. Jalen Santoy – “Foreplay”
15. Big Sean – “No More Interviews”
16. Mayer Hawthorne – “A New Love”
17. JAHKOY – “Don’t Beg”
18. Solange ft. Sampha – “Don’t Touch My Hair”
19. Ray BLK – “5050”
20. All-Star Opera ft. Warm Gun – “Lifeline” (Local Music)
21. starRo ft. Masego – “Yams”
22. Childish Gambino – “Me and Your Mama”
23. Daniel Caesar ft. Kali Uchis – “Get You”
24. Nas – “I Can” (Throwback of the Week)
25. A Tribe Called Quest ft. Andre 3000 – “Kids”

Link to download – https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B72U-rgJjvmWaFdjcjJNQTV3Q2M

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