By Tami Warren
In the midst of humbly watching coverage of the sheer devastation left by hurricane Michael in Florida, there was news coverage of a celebrity visit to the White House. That celebrity was Kanye West. In a rather bizarre speech, West delivered a vacuous soliloquy covering West’s affirmation on his opinion of the 13th amendment, Trump saving the planet and, Trump being a superhero. One note of value stated by West was the acknowledgement of mental illness and mental illness treatment. I would be remiss in not recognizing the need for mental health access and education to be more than a mention in relation to Black people. Removing stigma surrounding mental health is a fundamental requirement for not only the Black community, but all communities. Mental illness does not serve as a pass or a cover – it didn’t for Rosanne Barr.
The visit to the Oval office today was not a Hollywood version of Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, depicted by James Stewart in the 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Instead it was reality show feast of narcissism, in which the word “love” and the phrase “good energy” were tossed around, completely out of alignment with the actual statements and actions of Trump. Let us not forget Trump’s equivalence of Nazi white supremacists and protestors against hate and bigotry. Nor can we forget his dismissal and denial of women’s voices on sexual assault. Given the immediate repudiation of any statement that does not glorify Trump, and the personal discrediting and attack on the character of any person who has the vagina to speak against omnipresent Trump, I can only imagine that I will end up in Room 101 (a reference from the novel 1984 by George Orwell) or heckled out a restaurant.
We witnessed an anomalous full circle moment, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, West condemned President George Bush, in the aftermath of hurricane Michael, West commends Trump.