They Can’t Kill Us and We Won’t Die

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A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC

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November 7, 2020

Illustration for article titled They Cant Kill Us and We Wont Die

By Michael Harriot, TheRoot.com

Twenty-nine presidents ago, America kicked the state of Georgia out of the United States for killing Black elected officials and the Black voters who put them in office. Ten presidents ago, this country was still killing Black voters. This morning, an entire country sat in suspended animation waiting to see if there were enough Black votes to save America from America.

Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States.

Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States because the best President of our lives was a Black man (Who was better? Nixon? Ford? Reagan? The Bushes? Clinton? Trump? Stop playing.) Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States, in part, because he chose a Black running mate. Joseph Robinette Biden will be the 46th President of the United States because of Black people.

“Magic” did not make Joe Biden the president-elect, nor did some existential combination of thoughts and prayers.

We did this.

Us.

If it is true that faith without works is dead, then Black people have provided the back-bruising labor while the rest of this country folds its hands, closes its eyes and wishes upon a star. At every turning moment of this country’s short history, we have been the answer to this nation’s prayers…

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