My theory on momentum is that the best way to produce it is through small, hard-fought victories that lead to bigger battles and bigger wins. Winning builds momentum.
Shaun King
We are living in tumultuous times, and our focus should be fighting against the oppression and injustices that are against us - not battling those who are on the same side of seeking justice and peace.
We loathe mass incarceration. We loathe police brutality. But most of us have absolutely no idea how to address the critical flaws in our justice system.
When the primary people who have influence and power in our communities are not even really allowed to educate you on who to vote for and against, we're in trouble.
Young people, throughout history, have always been the lifeblood of every movement for civil and human rights.
I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In a dream world, the bread is super soft, like the Wonder Bread of my childhood, and the sandwich will have crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jam, and a cup of cold milk to go with it.
It takes guts in this country to refuse to be a Democrat or a Republican.
For about a year, I worked for 'Daily Kos.' They were great. I mean, they allowed me to write whatever I was thinking about and feeling. 'The New York Daily News' saw it. They were making some pretty big changes. They hired a new editor in chief. I was his first hire.
I've always loved technology - not gadgets so much... but I've enjoyed using technology to connect people to people and connect people to opportunities to do good.
I refuse to allow the excuses in my mind to grow into giants that keep me from living up to my full potential.
Having come so close to death, I now value just how precious life truly is and want to ride what God gave me until the wheels fall off.
When Trump was elected, it gave white men - particularly white men in power - full, unfettered permission to say or do whatever they want without consequence.
People with momentum can get so much done. Momentum is easy to lose and almost impossible to fake.
While I fundamentally reject the notion that anyone who owned other human beings was either good, moral, or decent, Francis Scott Key left absolutely no doubt that he was a stone-cold bigot. He came from generations of plantation-owning bigots. They got wealthy off of it.
I reject this idea that who Bernie Sanders was in the 1960s is irrelevant. Who you are and what you do, what you fought for, and who and what you fought against, is always relevant.
Politicians and lawmakers are willing to watch us take us a knee, watch us march, watch us picket and protest - and wait us out. They are willing and prepared to outlast us - and, in most cases, to do absolutely nothing about the problems we highlight and amplify.
I was raised by a great single mother. I grew up in rural Kentucky, and she's just a really compassionate woman.
Some of the most destructive forms of racism - like being denied a home loan or being passed on for a job where you are the most qualified candidate - are hard to measure in real time.
Very few police officers are ever held accountable for even the most egregious shootings and acts of violence.
Justice, particularly for the oppressed and marginalized in our society, never comes without great effort and sacrifice.
I was in high school when Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his relationship with Lewinsky. We didn't have social media back then - hell, we didn't have a computer with the Internet in our home - so the details of it all escaped me.
I think what irritates both conservatives and liberals alike is when news outlets pretend that they don't have an agenda but then clearly do, be it in the editorial decisions they make and the guests they have and the material that they cover.
Much of the foundation of our criminal justice system is derived from slave patrols and was created when African Americans could still be bought, sold, and traded.
Here's what I know for sure: every single vote counts. That's not just a saying.
To defeat Donald Trump, the Democrats must run a stellar cast of all-stars in their primary.
It doesn't matter if I've been wronged - I still have a responsibility to use my influence in a way that never causes harm.
When people meet me or hear me in person, they quickly learn that I am much more than a tweet and a profile picture.
When I travel and speak across the country, I often tell college students that we are making a significant mistake when we say to each other that this criminal justice of ours is broken. To say it's broken would be to suggest that it was well designed and had good intentions from the start.
I've made tons of mistakes over the past years, but if there's anything I've done well, if I see an opportunity, or if I see God moving or going in a direction or opening a door for me, I try to take it; I try not to hesitate.
Conservatives will fight hard to preserve the institutions of mass incarceration and police brutality. Because they don't see themselves as victims of these things, but as benefactors, they will fight hard to preserve the status quo against a reform candidate.
When 63 million people voted to elect Donald Trump as the president of the United States, it opened up the floodgates for toxic white masculinity in America.
Every day I walk down the street or hop on the subway, I am reminded that I am a citizen of a very big, incredibly diverse world.
I've come to understand that awareness and momentum, while necessary and valuable, are just two of the dozens of essential ingredients required to actually make change happen.
'Go vote' is a not a political strategy. It's hardly a slogan. Hell, it's not even a good tweet.
There is a movement we call Afro-Futurism, where we imagine a black way of life free of white supremacy and bigotry. 'Black Panther,' I think, is the first blockbuster film centered in the ethos of Afro-Futurism, where the writers and directors and makeup and wardrobe team all imagined a beautiful, thriving black Africa without colonialism.
It's always important, when we experience injustice in this nation, that people in power understand that we will not take that injustice quietly.
Anne Marie Schubert is one of the most horrible district attorneys in the state of California. She represents Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions. It's no wonder she continuously refuses to hold the police accountable for violence against people of color.
There are many great outlets that we love and respect, but 'The North Star' really is going to be a hard news outlet with reporters and journalists, White House correspondents. I think we'll be hard news with some cultural commentary.
When you turn 18 in the United States, you should be automatically registered to vote. Ideally, this sensible reform would be a federal law affecting all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and American territories, but our federal government stopped being sensible a very long time ago.
When you are a coordinated partner, you are, in effect, on the campaign staff. You can talk to the whole staff and have virtually no limits on what you can discuss and strategize around. When you are an independent friend of the campaign, you are not allowed to strategize with the campaign on their political decisions.
It's hard to understand a moment in history when you are in it.
I grossly underestimated the gravitational pull of America's justice system toward white supremacy.
'The Star-Spangled Banner' should've never been made into our national anthem. That President Woodrow Wilson, widely thought to be one of the most bigoted presidents ever elected, chose it as our national anthem, is painfully telling as well.
I used to think this notion of preaching to the choir was a problem, and we kind of use it in a bit of a pejorative sense... but I've actually grown to adopt that perspective that the choir needs good preaching - they need good information. They need good tools and insight.
A tweet is fast. But everything about policy change is very slow. And a lot of us are impatient.
When 3 million more people vote for a presidential candidate, but that candidate still loses, the system sucks. Period. It's broken. I think it's broken if the candidate loses by one vote and still wins. Losing by 3 million votes, but still winning the election, is preposterous.
We live in a country where movies, music, and sports are more important than God to a lot of people. It's why Colin Kaepernick's protest rocked the nation and got the whole world talking. Taking a knee is a simple act of defiance. Had Colin done it anywhere other than the football field, it might not have even made the news.
Politicians can and should be held accountable for their choices.
Before I ever endorse a candidate, I meet them, interview them, interview their colleagues and evaluate their competitors, study their positions and ideas, look at their campaign... then make a decision.
'Black Panther' had a whole cast of beautiful black brilliance. Black scientists. Black presidents. The style. The technology. The color.
