Skin, bits, issues and voting at Angry Black Woman.  By the most awesome Karnythia

Karnythia is guest blogging at ABW. She has summed up my feelings on the election madness much better than I ever could.  full text of the piece under the cut.

So I have to confess that I was really hoping a front runner for the Democrats would emerge on Super Tuesday solely because then I could stop hearing pundits discuss whether I was voting with my vagina or the skin that covers it. See, I’m that elusive creature in the current political landscape. That’s right, I’m a black woman. *cue gasps from the audience* Want to hear something even more shocking? I don’t vote based on either factor. I’m all about the issues. I don’t think I’m alone in that attitude either after looking at yesterday’s results. Despite the hype from various pundits on demographics and what they’d mean to the election, it looks like Americans voted based on something besides race and gender.

Originally I had planned to analyze the platforms of the two front runners after we knew who was most likely to be facing off in November. But, since I have several more months of hearing “Black women are voting based on race” if Obama wins a primary, and “Black women are voting based on gender” if Hillary is in the lead? I’ve had to change direction in the interests of preserving my sanity. I want to pull aside anyone reading this and break some very important news to you. Black women? Don’t share the same brain. In fact women don’t all share the same brain. Men? Not sharing a brain either.

Shockingly voters (whether male,female, LGBT, black, white, Asian, Latino/a or NDN) are usually capable of deciphering which candidates share their personal belief system. And while that belief system may be influenced by gender or by race, there is no central authority dictating that black men may only experience X or white women may only believe Y. This idea that you’re a traitor to your gender or your race based on voting for a candidate that doesn’t look like you is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been a registered voter since I was 18 and generally candidates don’t look like me. But no one seems to be interested in insisting that voting for the white guy is influenced by race or gender, it’s only when the candidates differ from what we’ve been taught to view as the norm that suddenly our votes can’t possibly be based on issues.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the issues are all that matter, in fact they’re all that should ever matter in an election. Not tears, not spouses, and not the way a name sounds or what’s being circulated in email forwards of dubious provenance. This isn’t a beauty pageant or a popularity contest, this is us choosing a leader that will be in a position to impact the course of the entire world. So if I’m not voting for the candidate you support? Please stop insisting it’s because I’m black or because I’m a woman. It’s because I don’t agree with your candidate’s platform, or I doubt the veracity of their claims that they had no idea that a racist newsletter was going out in their name for nearly 20 years. Respect your neighbor’s right to think for themselves and to choose which issues matter the most to them. Remember when America’s goal was to be a democracy? Maybe we can bring that idea back. This time without the partisan politics.

“Karnythia is a writer, a historian, and occasionally a loud mouth. In between raising hell and raising kids she usually manages to find time to contemplate the meaning of life as a black woman in America.” Her posts on any topic (including a copy of this one) can be found at her LiveJournal.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker.. She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr. She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021. Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press) Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.