Oh Hillary…
You’d think Hillary Clinton’s campaign would back away from trying so hard to be down with communities of color after Latin@s clapped back when the Clinton campaign said the candidate was “just like your abuela,” or when she switched her logo to honor Rosa Parks by putting her back on the bus and Black folk were none too pleased.
Still, in an effort to show a bit of cultural competency, Clinton’s camp incorporated the Kinara and the seven candles representing the Nguzo Saba, or principles, of Kwanzaa. While Clinton’s campaign may have been attempting to show how inclusive they are, the whole thing backfired.
If Team Hillary doesn't stop it with this logo… #Kwanzaa pic.twitter.com/rr4f4C9vxT
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) December 27, 2015
Of course, it also spawned a hilarious hashtag: #NewHillaryLogo.
https://twitter.com/Philosavery/status/680989581966229504
https://twitter.com/awwwchris/status/681019111565045760
https://twitter.com/ParkerAtiba/status/681006959483465728
@IntergalacticQ #NewHillaryLogo pic.twitter.com/gd20BfLtP7
— Future Super-Villain (@IntergalacticQ) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/KristyT/status/681003316566978560
This leaked #NewHillaryLogo shows absolutely no restraint. Smh. pic.twitter.com/O4mi7qbeV9
— 𝙍𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮 (@TheRileyWilson) December 27, 2015
It wasn’t all fun and games, though. Writer and anthropologist Victoria M. Massie broke down why Clinton’s Kwanzaa logo was so problematic.
https://twitter.com/vmmassie/status/680919537030705152
To be clear, @HillaryClinton‘s appropriated the classic RUN DMC logo, put Rosa Parks on the back of the bus & made a kwanzaa candle holder.
— Victoria M. Massie (@vmmassie) December 27, 2015
Maybe in 2016 @HillaryClinton will reach out to me through policy like an intelligent voter rather than pop culture & social media pandering
— Victoria M. Massie (@vmmassie) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/vmmassie/status/680932614925107201
Also, @HillaryClinton‘s past support of mass incarceration is fundamentally against the first principle of kwanzaa, umoja, or family unity.
— Victoria M. Massie (@vmmassie) December 27, 2015
Hopefully Clinton’s camp was listening.
December 28, 2015 -
People should know that Black Twitter doesn’t play. The Kwanzaa display over the Hillary campaign logo was blatantly patronizing, disrespectful, and mocks the intellect of black people. Too many people like politicians and other folks insult our intelligence as black people. We don’t want to be patronized. We want honesty and the outline of real political policies. Our issues have value. We want an end to the system of mass incarceration. We want a stronger educational system where our real history is shown and where STEM subjects are fully shown to black people irrespective of income level. We want Africa to not be controlled by Western imperialists. We abhorred the devastation in Libya (which was caused in part by NATO and by her political views). We want health care to be available for all, not for some. We abhor terrorism, but we reject terrorism done from anyone (that means that ISIS is wrong and drone strikes killing innocent civilians are wrong too).
It is obvious that both major parties are funded by the same corporate interests. That is why many of these Presidential candidates will not condemn Wall Street, they will not condemn the system of capitalism, etc. The American mainstream political system is an outright oligarchy. Even on one poll found that 66 percent of Americans think that the distribution of money and wealth should be distributed evenly in the U.S. Power is best used when it is grassroots, independent, it includes the masses of the people, and it exists from the ground up. Organizing and mobilizing on the ground is needed. The test to how just a society is deals with the status of women, the poor, the elderly, minorities, and the disabled (including the vitality of the environment). By that metric, we have a long way to go. Yet, we don’t lose hope. We will continue to fight. That is found in the DNA of our ancestors and in the DNA of us. We fight from shores of Africa to the lands of the States. We fought the Maafa, workers’ rights violations, and other forms of bigotry. We oppose imperialism. We believe in political independence and we believe in tranquility. That is our mindset and that is our sacrosanct goal as black people.
Umoja
December 29, 2015 -
Kwanza should insult your intelligence as black people.
December 29, 2015 -
Tons of black people know about the history and the composition of Kwanzaa. Also, Umoja is a universal word meaning Unity in the Swahili language. So, I use Umoja to promote Black Unity. So, this is my clarification. Also, black people will continue to oppose xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism, and any injustice. So, we, as black people, will keep on doing our things and advocate for justice.
December 28, 2015 -
What a blunt disrespect to the black community from Hilary. Wow, but again not shocked at what the white woman would do for attention. Terrible.
December 28, 2015 -
Cringeworthy. I’m getting second hand embarrassment. Some heads need to roll in her PR department.
December 29, 2015 -
Maybe her logo should be a P with a down arrow for her habit of pandering to the lowest common deniminator.
December 29, 2015 -
Hillary speaks Ebonic?! Who knew!
December 29, 2015 -
Kwanzaa is Marxism with a black fist (“Ujima”). Naturally Hillary would associate with it. Of course, Today’s RADICAL Democrat/Progressive Party doesn’t give a rat’s patooty about the 7 Principals as long as Black Americans keep destroying their families and aborting their children to remain on the Democratic Plantation.
Principal #1 of “Umoja” – Strong Families/Unity – is completely ignored by the Democrat Plantation “Massah.” The Communist who invented “Kwanzaa” wrote the 7 principals in 1966 when Black out-of-wedlock birth rate was under 10%. Thanks to the Democratic Party, that rate has grown to today’s ….. 72%. Holy Crap!! The Democratic/Progressive Party has managed to DESTROY THE BLACK FAMILY !!!
Democrats want No “Umoja” for Black Americans.
And yet … Black Americans continue to leave the whip in the hands of the Democrat Party. (Can you say “Chicago is a Democrat town”?)
BLACK AMERICANS: STOP KILLING YOURSELVES AND TELL THE DEMOCRAT PARTY TO TAKE A HIKE !!!
December 29, 2015 -
And yet, she’ll still get a super majority of black votes come November. Blacks know their place on the Democratic planation and refuse to acknowledge how badly they have been duped by the Dems for the past 50 years.
If and when they finally do, it will be too late, as they will have already been supplanted by the new Dem 3rd world voter of their choice.