Kanye West Is Really Running for President

^{The information in this blog is based on my research and receipts are included.}

First, until recently, Kanye West had never voted, and actually became a registered voter a few weeks ago. Read. I won’t shame a person for registering to vote but when you expect to participate in the political process by running for office, being an active voter is helpful. It seems he is asking for support from the same system he, himself has never supported.

He first claimed he would run for President back in 2015. He then actually announced via Twitter that he is running in the 2020 race on July 4th, 2020. This sparked a lot of support and backlash on social media, but at the time, he hadn’t filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

“An individual running for federal office must register and file financial reports when he or she raises or spends more than $5,000 in contributions or expenditures.” (FEC Website) So technically, he didn’t have to file until he crossed that $5,000 threshold. Well, he filed on July 16, 2020. He is running as an independent candidate (meaning separate from the 2 dominant parties in this country) and has chosen to list his party as BDY, which is an abbreviation for “THE BIRTHDAY PARTY.” According to him, “when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.” See the filing for yourself here and read more about his filing on the FEC site here.

Okay, so as I’ve been teaching/explaining, states have more individual power to make decisions than we sometimes recognize. What I mean by this is that EACH STATE has their own guidelines on what an independent candidate must do in order to appear on the ballot in their state. (Should this be a federal thing so that all states are the same? Maybe. Actually probably. But that’s not the issue at hand).

Some states require you to apply by a certain date. A couple states’ deadlines have already passed. For those states whose deadlines have not passed, he has to either pay a fee or collect signatures by their deadline. And some states require that these signatures meet certain requirements, such as in Arizona, the signatures have to be 3% of all registered voters in the state. Some states require thousands of signatures, for instance, California requires 196,964 signatures and some require small fees, for instance Louisiana requires a $500 fee. For his home state of Illinois, he needs 25,000 signatures by July 20th.

In Oklahoma, he paid the $35,000 registration fee to appear on their state’s ballot as an independent candidate. (Chileee, yes $35K is crazy, but again not the issue at hand right now).

He held his first rally in South Carolina on Sunday, July 19th. South Carolina requires him to have 10,000 signatures by noon on Monday, July 20th.

So what states has he missed? I searched and searched and found this information from Ballotpedia.org. Here’s the link. Now, due to COVID-19, some of these dates MAY have changed (South Carolina) but this gives you a gist. So, here's the list of states he cannot be on the ballot in: Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas.

Chileee. Here is his campaign website: https://kanye2020.country/

At the time of this blog, his website doesn’t have the policy plans listed right now. Just the sign up form to have him on the ballot in South Carolina.

At his rally in South Carolina, there are a few issues he addressed:

• He is Pro-Life but also Pro-Choice. He thinks abortion should be legal but also thinks that any mother who has a baby should get $1 million, “or something in that range.” He also would get rid of Plan B.
• He believes marijuana should be free.
• He addressed police brutality
• He also implied that gun violence stems from using guns that were planted in black communities as he discussed gun laws
• He believes that the time is now for God’s people to be free

I thought about making this post nonbiased only (all that is listed above is straight facts). But THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA is too precious for non biased views when it comes to Kanye.

NAH WE AIN’T SUPPORTING HIM.

• “Listen to/watch the entire rally.”
• “You have to put what he’s saying into context.”
• “He ain’t lying though.”

How many more times are we going to justify the subtle and blatant demeaning comments and actions of Kanye? His talents behind a microphone and lyrical pen does not translate into being a viable candidate to lead this country or even the black community. I mean, as I previously stated, he doesn’t even sell clothes and shoes that majority of black people can afford but we believe he is for US. (And nahh he ain’t the only one).

Kanye wants you to use your voting power for him when he never used his own until now. So no, I’m not supporting him. The only thing his race is revealing is:

• The Presidential Election has a lot of loopholes, issues, and confusion and it’s understandable why many black people question the authenticity of it. Clearly money talks.
• The people who support Kanye don’t trust the entire system but yet seem to trust Kanye.
• Celebrity status gives you a political platform.

We play with our ancestors too much.

P.S. if you live in Harris County, Texas and you're not registered to vote. Send me a message.