The John Mason Talk-Walk, June 16, 2023

I speak about the celebration of Juneteenth, and the need to support LGBTQ+ rights. 

Transcript

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Hello, hello, hello, hello, John Mason. How is everybody? This weekend we are commemorating and celebrating Juneteenth. That is the holiday commemorating the time in June of 1865 when Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19th, 1865 to inform slaves in the Galveston area that they were free, that the war was over, the Civil War was over, and they were free. It took them a while to be uh for them to get the mess, get the news because slaveholders made damn sure they didn't know they were going to be free. Make damn sure their slaves would never hear about being free. If they had a rice, they damn sure made sure they didn't know about them. Not knowing a rice is uh the same as not having any. And I expect that there's gonna be harangues and whines from the furthermost rights, from complaints from Fox News and Newsmax and OAN, about uh about critical race theory and uh and dividing the country and all that. I mean the racism is a reality in this country. It's baked into the cake of this country. All of our institutions, financial and commercial and and government and academia and the military, and and and the justice system, are all contaminated with racism. That is the premise of critical race theory, which is a science, a study, taught in law schools, not in pre-K. As not to uh make white kids hate themselves or or anything on any of that nonsense. So we can learn from history and undo the damage that terrible history in our country has uh caused for us. And of course, this is LGBTQ Pride Month. And I encourage celebration before everyone. And of course, there's been howls around that. About the about the uh Tucker Carlson going on Fox News and whining about how unsexy uh the green MM is. And she set chachayed over to the Tony's and bumped into the Kellogg's mascot, Tony the Tiger. And that went all over Instagram and now so many right-wing people are refusing to buy Kellogg's. They're trying to make under the banner of woke, trying to make it a shameful thing to be woke. Woke just means it comes from a long line in the African American tradition of paying attention to the situation around you, paying attention to the racism, paying attention to the sexism, paying attention to the homophobia going on. That's what woke is. It's a way for them to cop out of it. See, they don't want to talk about it, they don't want to hear about it. Mostly because uh they're they've caused they're part of the homophobia, racism, and sexism. The hell with them. It is our task, should we choose to accept it, to make our stand against homoph be as woke as all get out. Pay attention to the racism and the sexism and the homophobia and the antisemitism. And let's shout about it. Let's complain to the highest heavens about it. Let's complain to our elected officials and in the streets, let them know that we ain't taking it. And definitely not attacks on workers. Along with homophobia, racism, and sexism is attacks on workers. Workers trying to organize unions like the workers at Amazon and Starbucks, and and now Trader Joe's. Let's back them up. And I must remind everyone that from June the twenty-ninth through July the second the st or the Astroturf organization called quote Moms for Liberty, unquote, is having a conference at the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia on 12th and Market. And we have to let them know that we ain't taking their crap. We're not apologizing for who we are and what we are as a labor labor unionist, proud of it. Uh our trans brothers and sisters, our gay brothers and sisters, our lesbian sisters, no, and our African Americ and our brothers and sisters of color and our sisters to stand behind them, be with them, support them, let them know we got their back. Let them know that their struggle is our struggle, and it is. Because these homophobes and racists and sexists and anti-Semites are also anti-worker and anti-union. The same people who who in earlier times used violence, physical violence, including death, to repress all efforts by workers to organize. So let them know we ain't taking it. Let's stand behind uh our our LGBT LGBTQ brothers fellow citizens. Okay. That's my rant for now. And it's damn sure not the last. I plan to celebrate a couple of Juneteenth uh events over the weekend. I hope you you're able to participate in it some too. Go out there, enjoy, and learn. Okay, that's my rant for now. And now, advertisements. My novel, Soldier of the Cross, is available on Amazon.com. It's the story of David Lucas, who as a young man in the early 60s, is a drunk and a whore chaser and a schoolboy, gets in trouble in the army, a chaplain visits him at a stockade, and he becomes a fanatical, zealous, born-again Christian, simply trying to be a manly man for Christ. But it leads him into some serious trouble. Please purchase it. Amazon.com Soldier of the Cross. And also, Hamperific is a lovely, lovely little CBD product store located on Snyder Avenue, near 15th Street in South Philadelphia. There you'll find some of the finest, finest cannabis infused products. Gummies and candies and lip balm enhanced sanitizer and dog treats. Look them up please. Hemporificlc.com. And also my beloved career and business coach Michelle Snow. Michelle is excellent in helping you develop your small business or professional career, let you know what you're doing right, where you need work, and help you network with other professionals and small entrepreneurs. Look her up, please. Grow with snow dot com. Okay. So as we enjoy our weekend of celebrating Juneteenth, let's get ready to stand up for ourselves against these fascists. Yep, call them fascists. Call them fascists. And I don't use that term lightly. Our ancestors crossed an ocean and landed in other nations to defeat fascism. All we gotta do is go downtown and protest en masse. We can do it and we will do it. Okay? That's it for now. For now, thank you. Have a good weekend, Shabbat Shalom. Bye.