An Abiola Digest

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Hello Digital Community Members!

As promised, I'm creeping in your inbox again, making progress. A lot has happened since those of you on the mailing list have had an update, but we'll take it one step as a time.

The last week I have spent a lot of time talking about farmers, rural voters, and attitudes towards the South online. While it isn't abnormal for me to do so, this week specifically came with some intense callouts and new numbers. The last few years being a Texan that people may not see as a "Texan" has made me more privy to many of the very dangerous and lazy attitudes that exist in left spaces toward southerners or anything thought to be rural. I was honored to spend two full days in Indiana learning about the food system, big agriculture, and how deeply impacted we all are by what happens in rural America. There are some things I was aware of but I walked away with way more knowledge than I anticipated (in a good way!) and plan to use it. After making one educational post that I was proud of, a few ignorant comments (mostly from white folks) flooded in. "They voted for Trump," "rural voters keep betraying us," "why doesn't the south change then," and things that quite frankly sent me through the roof.

While anger towards Trump voters is something deeply feel at times, a few other things become important to consider.

1. They never actually check if these people are Trump voters. I have seen the "they voted for this" response directed at any conversations about the South or about voters talking without them being declared anywhere as Trump voters. Some of the farmers I were with were very publicly not Trump voters, but if you looked without asking, you may have assumed otherwise.

2. Even if people in an area voted for Trump, no area did 100%, meaning there are people there that objected. Why should they be punished and what does it mean when we write off their stance as being worth discarded with the rest?

3. Children are always involved, and no child deserves to be subject to harm because they are around adults who did not care.

I don't think someone should die just for voting for Trump. This doesn't mean people shouldn't get their ish rocked, I just don't think death is something that can be applied indiscriminately.

Now, when it comes to people FAFO, I think actions have consequences. Trump voters who get deported and are shocked, voters who are going out of business because they can no longer afford to run their companies with higher costs, people who are hurt that Trump is being ... Trump. There are adults who have made actions and supported policies and rhetoric that have led to their own bodily harm and even death, and I don't grieve for those people, especially those who have led mass waves of harm. Actions. have. consequences. Even with that being said, there are people who can learn, and unfortunately if we want things to look different there are some of these people (especially the followers) that need to be taught. They don't need to be babied, they need to be brought to face their actions but that goes alongside doing the work. Some are just now beginning to see the problem, and those wavering people are up for a game of ideological grabs. There is a difference between an ambivalent voter, and the leader of the ideology that swayed that voter. I will take down the leader, the follower is someone I am hoping to pull from that.

(Again, I feel like I have to say this a million times to not be taken out of context but this does not mean marginalized groups should shoulder the emotional burden of handling these people.)

This looks VERY different from peddling into the idea that we should make ourselves "appealing." I am going to talk about racism and the harms of policing, but I am going to do so while answering their questions and with the intention of teaching. We don't owe them this - but if we do nothing all that happens is they stay put. I have spent hours talking to people like this without ever compromising my stances by getting them to understand and explain it to them in a way no one else has.

This also doesn't mean immediately throwing them into the center of a space that holds marginalized people. These people must be placed in the beginner classroom - a space where they get to ask potentially off putting questions with good intent, use the wrong terms, and make mistakes without putting others at risk. This is dirty work, work for our white counterparts especially but still necessary work. This to me is what many leftists and liberals with these overarching angers towards the South miss.

When it comes to farmers, regardless of their vote their demise is our demise. If our food system doesn't change, we all suffer. This is one of the things that is unfair. All farmers didn't vote for Trump, and from what I've learned the way those numbers are calculated are debatable. I think it is safe to say at least 60% did, but beyond that I have questions. Even with this, there are concentrations in some places of those who are blue versus red. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter because we lose if we don't help, but for Black people at least we have been saving everyone from their own asses forever. It's high time everyone else steps in. This is where praxis and practice become divorced for many. I could write more on this, and I will. Hopefully none of you will tire of me from it. You can scroll through my post on Instagram for my fact carousel on farmers and food systems.

This past week, I am so excited to announce that I was accepted into the News Creator Corps Rural Creator Fellowship program. News Creator Corps is an organization that I have been watching the last year. NCC helps content creators develop better fact-checking skills, production skills, and more as we become more central to news access. The Rural Fellowship is their newest program addition.

On the other announcement side, this Thursday, July 9th, my Intro to Resistance class returns. In this moment I am really excited for folks to dive into the history of this work. I don't want to email all of you every update for the class, so if you want the frequent class updates please sign up for free! You can also gift the class to someone else.

Thank you all for rocking with me, be back in your inbox soon!