I was really looking forward to going. Not even rain could have kept me away. I wanted to protest the current situation, to affirm my rights and freedom against a would-be fascist dictator who would make America into a religious theocracy, to express my revulsion for the creepy nationalists and their Biblical nonsense, and to defend my status as a Gay man in America.
The Oakland crowd was huge, massive. It felt bigger even than our NBA Championship parades when the Warriors won. It was fantastic knowing we were part of a gigantic historic event in America. The weather was brilliantly cooperative, there were music, wonderful signs, and costumes aplenty. By the time we got to the Amphitheater, I was tired and hot, but looking forward to the speeches. And then Lateefah Simon came on, and reminded me of everything I loathe about the wokes.
She literally screeched hysterically, her voice drenched with hatred and vituperation, and the loudspeakers amplified the noise and hurt my ears. Here’s what she said: “From Palestine and Gaza to Sudan and Haiti, the power of the people will not be defeated.”
I thought, WTF? Sudan? Haiti? Really? Is that why we’re marching? I mean, the message of No Kings is a good one. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, Black or White, Gay or straight, old or young: We don’t want an authoritarian regime that flushes the Constitution down the toilet. We can all agree on that, I should think. But here comes Lateefah and her racialized screed. Racialized? Yes. It sounded like every woke Black protest cliché of the last 50 years, recycled from the dumpster.
That’s what I mean when I criticize wokes for making everything about race. The struggle against Trump has nothing to do with anyone’s skin color. But for Lateefah and people like her, skin color is all there is, whether it’s the brown of Palestine or the black of Africa and Haiti. Skin color is all she sees. Of course, if you happen to be White, Lateefah doesn’t care about you so much. But if you’re Sudanese, she’s fighting for you!
What a drag that Oakland elected this freak. But then, that’s Oakland for you. If you desire power in this progressive city, you have to wave the Black Liberation flag (with its clenched fist), utter the racial bromides of the past, pepper spray the audience with anti-White winks, and appeal to an increasingly intolerant, uneducated minority. You have to take every issue—garbage, parks, roads, the classroom, public holidays, crime, the police, history, taxes, real estate, raising kids—every facet of life, and allege that race is at the bottom of everything, and that nothing can be understood except through the lens of racism.
For most of us, this is insane. It’s what always gets us into trouble; it’s why we can’t solve anything, because the wokes keep throwing this sludge into every debate, thereby stifling the debate and further dividing the people. Listen to public comments at City Council meetings or the Police Commission and you can appreciate how deeply this sickness has sunk into the bone marrow of Oakland. This cancer is what got Lateefah Simon elected, it’s what keeps her in power, and it’s what will continue to corrupt Oakland until it’s no longer a city where anyone wants to live or conduct business, unless it’s a nail parlor or dispensary.
It’s sad that Lateefah Simon hijacked No Kings Day. It was nauseating. She was followed, by the way, by Barbara Lee herself, who tossed out her usual word salad of gibberish: my God, the woman sounds demented as she approaches her eightieth year. I’m still really glad I went to No Kings Day, and I’m super-proud it turned out to be nationally the biggest protest in American history. But no thanks to Lateefah Simon. She’ll probably be in Congress for the next thirty years, due to Oakland’s well-oiled and corrupt political machine, but she’ll never evolve beyond her stunted 1970s-style midget politics and its corroded vision that the only people that count are Black.