What if voter suppression impacts voting trends?

On By MezzoSherriIn Politics and Policy, Topics of Study3 Comments

The second third one of my series of election post mortems. Still don’t know how long the series will be, but here’s more links:

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[CW: white supremacy, prison-industrial complex, sexual assault]

I’m still wondering my way through the demographic trends among Presidential voters this year. Tonight, it’s the seeming paradox that more black men voted for Cheeto POTUS this year than in 2016—and this is after 4 years of overt white supremacy from the Oval Office.

It’s the kind of data point that I certainly found unexpected, in my bubble of Caucasian naivete. Taking the time to get myself a little more educated, I’ve found out that fewer Black men have been voting for the Democrats in every presidential election since 2008. The downward stair-steps go like this:

  • Obama 1: 95%
  • Obama 2: 87%
  • H. Clinton: 82%
  • Biden: 80%
Looking down a long concrete and cobblestone staircase between two rows of houses.
Down, down, down we go.

And that got me curious.

Continue reading “What if voter suppression impacts voting trends?” →

Let’s call a thing a thing

On By MezzoSherriIn Politics and Policy, Pop Goes the Culture, Topics of Study4 Comments

This is not the second election post I was planning to write: the post focusing on the “second lens of analysis” I had in mind on Sunday is still in process. However, more current events are demanding attention today.

As the post-election post family is built, I’ll put the cross-links here:

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A friend of mine texted me this morning with a brief question:

Can we call it a coup now?

Yes. Yes we can.

I mean the jury is still out about how successful this coup will be, or even how whole-heartedly Cheeto POTUS is really working towards this goal. Nevertheless, the appropriate language to describe the administration’s obstructionist behavior around the presidential transition is to call it—at bare minimum—an attempted coup.

Close-up of a protest sign reading "Error 404: Democracy not found."
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Raindrops on acid

On By MezzoSherriIn Meta-Blogging, Pop Goes the Culture, The Voices in My HeadLeave a comment

I’m taking a frivolity break tonight: my political posts take an embarrassingly long time to write, so I need to get something quick and low-effort up now so I can use tonight and tomorrow’s writing time crafting something that is more substantial and better researched.

Early in COVID, when everyone was opening up the vaults to various cultural programming in order to lift our collective spirits, I watched part of a Live from Lincoln Center broadcast with Annaleigh Ashford. Now I’ve had a bit of a girl-crush on Ashford since I first noticed her in Masters of Sex. After that, I learned what an incredible musical theater talent she is, from being the absolute best part of that TV remake of Rocky Horror, to Kinky Boots, to her revelatory interpretation of Dot in Sunday in the Park with George.

I didn’t watch the whole concert (episode. whatever-you-call-it.) during the spring. I’d been kicking myself over that carelessness, but preparing this quick post has brought me the happy discovery that the whole thing is still online—and not behind a subscriber paywall!

Celebrate good times!
Continue reading “Raindrops on acid” →

White women, do better

On By MezzoSherriIn Flagrantly Feminist, Politics and Policy, Pop Goes the Culture, Topics of Study4 Comments

[CW: gender binary, racism]

Preface: I’m not sure how many posts I’ll make analyzing the 2020 elections through various lenses. I have at least 2 such lenses rattling around my brain, but it may unfold into a longer series. We’ll see. I’ll just keep cross-linking this little family of posts together as it takes shape. So: watch this space for more.

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Here’s my first, unfiltered, thought upon seeing the demographic breakdown of Presidential votes by race and gender:

Good grief. America does not deserve the goodness that Black women do.

A medium shot of approximately 30 people at a protest. In front and in focus are four Black woman in a variety of clothes, hairstyles and skin tones.
Leading the way. Again.
Continue reading “White women, do better” →

Winner winner cheesesteak dinner

On By MezzoSherriIn Gratitudes and Thank Yous, Memoir, Pop Goes the Culture2 Comments

So the race has been declared: Joe Biden is our president elect and Kamala Harris is the vice president-elect.

Closeup of a young woman's hands holding a lit sparkler.
Thank Gaia!

Honestly, I’d been cautiously optimistic about this outcome since I first thought through the vote counting trend lines mid-Wednesday. Of course, I had no desire to jinx anything, which is why I didn’t say anything here about that prediction/expectation.

I did, however, share that assessment with a few select friends and co-workers—basically as a way of explaining why I was able to focus on work Wednesday and Thursday and wasn’t feeling undue stress about things.

(Ah the hubris!)

Once the call was finally made late this morning, a friend of mine asked on Facebook,

Did everyone else just unclench muscles they didn’t realize they were tensing?

Yup. #ItMe

Continue reading “Winner winner cheesesteak dinner” →

Wasting time wisely

On By MezzoSherriIn Gratitudes and Thank Yous, Memoir, Self-Acceptance, The Pressure to Fix Myself, The Voices in My Head2 Comments

(Yes, I’ve been tracking the election count, and yes, I’ll have more to say here about that. Later. ‘Cos every time I think about commenting before the race is called, I hear Toby Ziegler in my head: “You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?” So mum’s the word—for now.)

Anyhow, on the domestic front, I’ve got a day off today. In fact I have a few 3-day weekends coming up during November and December. We can thank COVID for that: Mr. Mezzo and I were planning two fun getaways during the spring (1 to DC in March and 1 to Boston for May) but neither of those happened—of course—on account of the world shutting down.

Those 2 cancelled trips add up to more than a week of vacation time I didn’t cash in, and since my company has a strict policy regarding how many days you can carry over from year to year, I’ve got some time to burn. So: 3-day weekends galore!

Close-up of a mirrored disco ball.
Celebrate good times, come on!
Continue reading “Wasting time wisely” →

Keeping a tight grip

On By MezzoSherriIn Be Your Own Beautiful, Self-Acceptance, The Voices in My HeadLeave a comment

I’ve written before about sometimes using home manicures as a small gesture of self-care—both during COVID and in the before-times.

Though let’s be really real: my skill level, as far as the application of nail polish is concerned, is low enough that calling my efforts a “manicure” is giving myself WAY too much credit.

Nonetheless, I have, in other times, enjoyed painting my nails. It helps me feel pretty and expressive. And it helps me keep from biting my nails—a lifelong habit.

Key modifier here: in other times. Nowadays, I have begrudgingly made peace with the idea that I am not likely to paint my nails until after we have election results.

So: December some time.

Continue reading “Keeping a tight grip” →
Picture of Sherri, a Caucasian human, with a snarky smile pointing to herself with both thumbs.

Where has the time gone?

On By MezzoSherriIn Memoir, Meta-Blogging, Pop Goes the Culture, The Voices in My Head2 Comments

Yeah, I was gonna do this whole COVID Diaries thing, wasn’t I? If you’re a writer who knows you’re living though history, it would be a good idea to capture some of that daily history along the way, am I right? ESPECIALLY if you’re a blogger who kinda specializes in doing lightweight socio-cultural analysis.

(Here’s the place where I’d usually hit the “read more” command to put the rest of this post behind the jump.* Of course, I can’t find that command in the new editor, nor can I find a way to get back to the classic editor. 2020, why you gotta do me like this? I am seriously gonna step away for a bit to regain my composure before continuing.)

Picture of Sherri, a Caucasian human, with a snarky smile pointing to herself with both thumbs.

Continue reading “Where has the time gone?” →