The Places and People We Write Off

In the clip above, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke is getting a haircut in a Black barbershop while on the campaign trail to unseat U.S. Senator Ted Cruz in 2018.

Discussing Harris County, Texas and the 3rd Ward, Beto says, “There are some places that Republicans have written off, and so Democrats have been able to take them for granted, and have not been showing up and listening those who deserve every bit as much as anyone else to be heard, to be understood, to be fought for, and to be served. So we wanted to make sure that literally the center of our campaign universe is in the 3rd Ward – that we hold town hall meetings here, that we knock on doors, and that we just take the time to get to listen to those that we want to represent in places like this one.” I know he was referring to certain districts, but my first thought was of strip clubs because of my trip to Atlanta a few months ago.

After a girls weekend, I took the MARTA to the airport. My friend lives at the farthest stop north, and the airport is the last stop south, so I planned to just read over a paper and do some planning for the week. But right after I got on, another woman sat down across from me, and introduced herself. Her voice was bright and loud and simultaneously a little flirty and a little churchy in that special Southern girl way. We struck up an easy conversation of small talk. I told her I was in school and on my way home to South Florida.

When she said she was a dancer, it took me a second to realize what she meant. She told me she’d visited Miami to audition at a club down there but it hadn’t gone well so she spent a lot of time walking Ocean Drive and looking for “dates”. We talked about random things like places we’d lived and traveled. As we talked, I remembered that I needed to switch my voter registration online that night in order to vote in the primary. I told her that and then mentioned how impressed I was with Stacey Abrams’ campaign in Georgia.

With just those few words, I’d put a mountain between us. I won’t project or assume what she was feeling, but I could feel how the air between us had changed. I was struck by the look on her face and the expression I could also feel on mine. 

There I was sitting on the train, rocking a t-shirt with Outkast lyrics, tweeting about social justice, editing a paper about state racism toward Black colleges, headed back to my doctoral studies. I felt so many things.

I felt convicted. I felt out of touch. I felt seen. I felt fake. And more than anything, I felt a tangible disconnect between us as Black women. And I felt just how far we had to go to bridge that gap.

I love that Beto was in a Black barbershop, but truly that, Black churches, Black schools, and well known soul food restaurants have always been safe, respectable places to see and be seen by politicians on their campaign trails. Since that MARTA ride, and Stacey’s appearance at Atlanta Pride, I’ve been wondering just who we want to engage in the “Blue Wave”. Between Houston, Atlanta, Miami, and Baltimore, the states of Beto O’Rourke, and unsuccessful but promising gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum, and Ben Jealous all have well known strip clubs and culture. Over the last few decades, we’ve seen the LGBTQIA community and issues on sexuality move out of the shadows and into mainstream conversation. In states like California and New York, members of their communities are important parts of the political process from advocates, surrogates, volunteers, donors, staff, and the candidates themselves. Will the same happen for sex workers?

I’m still learning when it comes to sex work, and won’t pretend to know enough about the issues to recommend solutions. What I do know is as Beto says- sex workers have been written off, and taken for granted- not just as voters, but as people who deserve every bit as much as anyone else to be heard, to be understood, to be fought for, and to be served. Will we show up and listen to them? Or will we allow respectability to dictate who’s included and who’s left out? The former means we are actually the inclusive, empowering movement we purport to be. The latter means we are comfortable with alienating those we claim to care about and represent.

The last time I went to King of Diamonds in Miami, I was ran into a ran into a city commissioner, so it’s not like the educated, elected, and enlightened don’t be up in there for entertainment purposes. And as a former fundraiser, I feel the need to point out the missed campaign revenue from a group of women- and men- we might otherwise consider as potential donors with disposable income.

Part of getting out the vote is giving voice, but there are clearly still people even our most liberal candidates have not tried to hear. Because if we’re really trying to be about the people, we have to meet many of them where they are, especially those places we don’t “agree” with, or won’t admit to being 👀