Image by John A. Carlos II. Talk presented at the September 9, 2019,”Students for Elizabeth Warren Back to School Bash” rally in Columbia, South Carolina. .. . A few weeks ago, on a blazing hot August morning, I found myself chauffeuring and chaperoning a tween and two teenage girls to an amusement park. . “Amusement.” Consider the word—so carefree. So cheery. . It was my birthday, and I was happy. My idea of the perfect birthday present for myself is taking my daughter and some of her friends somewhere where smiles and joy abound. Roller coasters and water slides, cotton candy and limitless pink lemonades, totally fits the bill. . Best of all, I was prepared to enjoy a day completely devoid of politics. Not even Donald Trump and all his vicious narcissism could pop the bubble of tilt-a-whirls and wave pools. . Which, of course, is a perfect setup for a superlative political enlightenment—even if entirely against my will. . As we drove to Carowinds, my daughter and her two friends were flipping through a book of questions—a sort of conversation-starter book. Here was the question that ended up turning my world upside-down the past two…

image: D.N. Woodrow . Speech presented at the March 23 “Make SC Care Again!” rally at the South Carolina State House. . It is my distinguished privilege to welcome you on this fine March day. We are, in fact, now three days in to Spring. . That means the days are getting longer now. And that there is burgeoning life. . For some, my friends, for some. . But not for thousands of others, slain, under the barbaric regimes of former U.S. Ambassador and Governor Nikki Haley and current Governor Henry “Hank” McMaster. . Join me in a chant, will you, please? . Blood. On. Their. Hands! . Blood. On. Their. Hands! . Blood. On. Their. Hands! . Murder. . Is it not? Truly, is it not? . For if one, placed in a position of elected power, has the knowing opportunity to save lives, yet forfeits this opportunity, what else shall we call it, but MURDER? The intentional taking of innocent human life? Institutional MURDER. . By the way: Congratulations, Boeing! On hiring a Medicaid Expansion-Denying, Institutional MURDERER to your Board of Directors. . Here I quote Boeing’s Chairman, Dennis Muilenburg:…

  They do what they do because they are wounded and broken and bleeding and overwhelmed with pain and misery—and for some reason, you’re the one person upon whom they feel safe dumping all that suffering. The bile of hate splatters all over you; it burns like acid. Yet with enough reflection, through enough prayer, by God tenderly shoving your nostrils into the ick to force you to understand the wounds of others—which are so similar to your own—one day you lift your head and finally mean the words that you have mindlessly chanted for years: “…as I forgive those who trespass against me.”   Sometimes you’re the target because no one else can be. The wounded person simply cannot manage the pain. They literally don’t know how. But they do suspect you won’t hurt them back—a lesson my dear friend recently discovered parallel to me. Sometimes you’re the most obvious receptacle during the convulsion of sickness.   On paper, there’s no justification for their actions. But grace reminds us, through gentle kicks to the shin, that each of us has done the exact same thing to others. Heaving bile is a rather universal behavior, as it…

With great enthusiasm, I ENDORSE SEAN CARRIGAN as the 2018 Democratic Party candidate for South Carolina District 2 in the race against “Status Quo” Joe Wilson. Read below to find out why!   …     Voters, Friends & Neighbors:   I cannot thank you enough for your support—be it your vote, your financial contributions, your volunteer efforts—during our 2016 campaign for South Carolina’s Second Congressional District. As you know, I signed up to run for U.S. Congress just one day before the filing deadline. Why? Because no one else was willing to stand up for our community of 700,000—no one else was willing to stand up to “Status Quo” Joe Wilson.   They said I had no business running for federal office—that I couldn’t even get Joe Wilson to debate me once. They were right—I debated him twice. I cleaned his clock both times, and our campaign won the hearts of well over 100,000 Voters. We responded to your individual and community needs, not the needs of special interest groups. We took a bold stand for women’s rights, improved infrastructure, healthcare for all, and increased educational and…

  On April 2, 2017, I presented a TEDx Talk at TEDxHammondSchool on the subject of political revolution, entitled “To Be Revolutionary, or not To Be Revolutionary.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMlFJlOWvUA   Below is the prepared draft of my presentation:   … Slide 1 | image by John A. Carlos II   Hi, my name is Arik Bjorn. That’s Arik with an “A” and a “K.” And “Bjorn,” which means “bear” in several Scandinavian tongues. Very revolutionary-sounding, right?   Slide 2   I was the 2016 Democratic Party and Green Party congressional candidate in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. More on that in a bit.   First, though: BJORN is not a particularly common name in these here Southern parts. Good Lord, what is that “J” doing next to that “B”?  Total consonant inappropriateness!   Let’s say “BJORN” together: Bjorn. Bjorn. Bjorn.   My apologies. BJORN is now “imprinted” upon your mind. If I had an actual product to sell you—like hair gel or a robotic vacuum—you’d be hooked. Instead, I’m here to convince you…