How's everybody doing out there? It has been an exciting two weeks for me. I went to Denver for my line sister's birthday the week of Halloween and had a blast! Of course, traveling during Mercury Retrograde meant anything that could go wrong did as my phone stopped working before I could even board my flight (eeek!). However, my girl Taylor had libations ready as soon as we got to the hotel, and it was up from there! Marissa's birthday shenanigans went off without a hitch despite Me willfully pushing against her itinerary. I probably drove her crazy, but crazy works for us. Of course, all fun must come to an end, so after missing our flight and finally getting home, the realities of the impending election started to set in. I don't know about you all, but I have been on pins and needles ALL WEEK!
The upside is I FINALLY launched my podcast. Every step of this labor of love has taught me nothing but patience, and I am proud to birth this passion project. It is now available on all streaming platforms. Take a listen at your leisure and get ready for a season of purposeful dialogue with women in my ecosystem.
Women had another win this week... well... Not the 55% of white women who voted for trump but the women and men who could elect a real leader for the next four years— Joseph Biden! While I took a social media break on Tuesday, that lasted all 24 hours because in hour 25, I was back high on the hog absorbing all things election 2020. The memes, interviews, constant news felt like a train wreck I couldn't turn away. After listening to The Daily podcast by the New York Times, I expected a delay in results and hoped for their predictions about mail-in ballots would be correct. If you have been living under a rock the past week, maybe you missed it, but Biden won in record numbers by popular and electoral votes. No thanks to my good sis Nevada because she reclaimed her time by delaying results until the twelfth hour. Pennsylvania pulled through with their results Saturday to earn Biden a WIN. Quite a few states flipped blue— my home state as one thanks to the work of Stacey Abrams and the New Georgia Project registering 500,000 voters!
Now the work isn't done as we have two key run-offs to happen in Georgia, but I'm going to revel in this moment because my VP is a black woman! Kamala Harris is making history as the FIRST black woman Vice President-Elect. A child of immigrant parents—Indian mother and Jamaican father— the HBCU graduate AND member of the FIRST historically African American Greek-letterEd sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Incorporated is yet another example of why representation is so important. Both Harris and Abrams prove that defeat is not the final decision, and your purpose may be hidden in the path of re-direction.
This year has felt like a beating that would not end for black women, especially as we heal from the shooting of Meg The Stallion, deaths of Breonna Taylor, and Oluwatoyin Salau added to disparities in healthcare that leave countless others dead and underserved. I needed this win. Humanity needed this win. Albeit traumatized from the past four years under the leadership of an uneducated, tactless, narcissistic racist lunatic, I can have hope for better days ahead. COVID-19 IS STILL KILLING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT TO BELIEVE MEDICINE OVER OPINION. I am hopeful and continue to will live life cautious but not fearful.
Thank you to the poll workers, logical elected officials, and most importantly, black women. No shade to any other demographic, but it is and will always be the resilience for me.
Until the next post, thank you for reading.
xo, Mia Shantel
cover art by Tyler Simien/@beyeditz on IG