On Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and a theory. On Sleepy Hollow, moving forward and Not Going Back

Politics is, to some degree, a game of symbolism. But the phrase “political theater” isn’t an inherently negative one: We all respond to symbols and images that are brilliantly arranged. Under the right conditions, we create real meaning from those building blocks.  

That is all to say, if I were running the Democratic National Convention, I’d be thinking hard about the following sequence of events: In the summer of 2004, a young Illinois politician not many people had heard of gave the keynote address at the DNC. His name was Barack Obama. Maybe you’ve heard of him?

I’m from Chicago, so I knew who he was, but most viewers hadn’t heard his name before that night, which landed Obama on a lot of people’s radar. Four years later, he was president. 

Now, two decades later, the Democratic National Convention will be in Chicago in August. And I’m wondering if Obama, who has not yet endorsed Kamala Harris, will do so at the convention. A full circle moment, and a mighty poetic one at that. 

Picture this scenario: Obama endorses Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate moments before her acceptance speech. There are already photos of the two together, no doubt, but pictures and video of Obama and Harris together on stage at the DNC? As the former president passes the torch to Harris? 

If I’m running optics at the DNC, I’m going to stage that moment within an inch of its life. Obama coming out on a stage in Grant Park, right after he was elected for the first time — if you were living in this city then, chances are you remember that moment as an all-timer in the realm of Chicago images.

Done right, the one between him and Harris could top that.

Events are fast-moving and for all I know, by this time tomorrow, Obama may have endorsed Harris (and we may have been invaded by aliens, because we are just not allowed to live in precedented times anymore). 

A lot of things are still in play, but still, I find it interesting to wonder if he’s withholding his endorsement because a scenario like the one I just described might be in the works. We are in a moment where anything’s possible — sometimes in terrifying ways, but sometimes in good ways. I don’t know about you, but I’d like as much of the latter as possible. In the last few days… well, Sunday afternoon, I was freaking out. Now? It feels like I walked outside on a warm day and just realized how long it’s been since I felt the sun on my skin. 

Back to the unsolicited advice: Regardless of what happens at the DNC, in coming months, we’re probably going to see a lot of pictures of Obama and Harris together. And I hope like hell that Harris’ social media staff posts those images relentlessly on all platforms, ideally with the caption “u mad, bro?”

Because the fascists and/or theocrats and/or rich sociopaths that now control the Republican Party will not be able to be normal about Obama and Harris occupying the same space, or the same stage. Or the same oval-shaped office, maybe. No, already, it’s clear that they cannot be normal about any of that, not even a little bit. 

They are and will be unable to remain calm when it comes to the very idea of a Black and South Asian woman running for the highest office in the land — with a strong shot at winning. Of course, there have been a lot of “mask off” moments in the past decade (and the past 400 years of American history). But even more masks are going to come off in the next few months. It’s going to get ugly.

It already has; this chud just threw a version of the “welfare queen” slur at Harris, accusing this longtime public servant of just “collecting a check.” There will be more of this, much more. Including an ’80s reboot nobody wanted; sigh, of course they are preparing Willie Horton-style attacks on Harris.

I do not endorse or want to see the Discourse once again pervaded by covert and overt sexism, racism and misogynoir (in part because, well, when hasn’t a big chunk of the Discourse shown an affinity for those things?). That said, a lot more people will take their masks fully off and reveal themselves as racist, sexist shitlords in coming weeks. I don’t look forward to that, but for some, the process may be illuminating. Perhaps it will drive more people to vote for sanity and Not Racism in the next election.  

In any case, the vitriol that’s not just coming but already here is one reason to beef up Harris’ security detail, by a lot. And on a slightly less sobering note, watching terrible people try to come up with rationales as to why an intelligent, charismatic, accomplished woman like Harris should not be the candidate is and will continue to be quite the spectacle. 

In coming weeks, there will be a lot of sputtering as the toxically DC-pilled, as well as assorted bigots and dummies, desperately seek reasons why she should not be the nominee and definitely should not win. A lot of people who think of themselves as smart are going to show the world how weak-minded they are, and it won’t be pretty. But it might occasionally be semi-amusing to see them literally grasp at straws. 

She likes Venn diagrams. She rode a school bus. She laughs. Dear Lord, won’t you save us from this woman who laughs?

This ongoing clownshow of sputtering frustration gains steam every day, sometimes in downright comical ways (and thanks for that, I needed the laughs). In all seriousness, though, I don’t mean to imply that folks cannot have questions about the record of any politician — including Harris. Any office holder’s resume can be judged on the merits, and there can be reasonable disagreements when it comes to folks’ honest assessments. 

But the truth is, an enormous amount of the ugliness that has been — and will be — aimed at Harris is going to come from genuine mediocrities — many of them white — who cannot stand the undeniable fact that Harris stands on the precipice of the pinnacle of power in America. 

It is absolutely not for me to say how any person on this planet spends their time. If there’s one lesson that's been driven home in the last few years, it’s that I don’t know what kind of bandwidth anybody else is working with. For a lot of us, the tank has been empty or near-empty for a some time — which is why it’s so encouraging to feel like people are starting to feel energized by recent events. 

For those of us who do not have an empty tank and are beginning to feel fired up (a weird feeling! But let’s go with it!), I have something to say: I really, really hope a lot of my fellow white people, especially white women, spend part of that energy doing the absolute most to combat the stupidity, racism and sexist garbage we’re going to come across in the virtual and real spaces we occupy. That work is on us.

Basically, what I really hope we do not do — again— is ask a Black woman to save us, and then sit back and do little to nothing to protect her from the hordes of jackals out to get her. We’ve already run that play way too many times in our nation’s history. So let’s really and truly get to work, because the desire to deny or destroy Harris for ugly and bigoted reasons will crop up in obvious ways and less obvious ways. It’s going to be everywhere and take many different forms.

Of course among the rabid, frequently rancid weasels that now infest the Republican Party, the vileness Harris has been subjected to was kicked into a higher gear by this past week's events. But those dynamics will also — I’m sad to say — percolate through a large chunk of the Beltway press, that brayingly unreflective segment of the dying American media industry (one that continues, in the year of our lord 2024, to put out pieces about the new, “serene” Donald Trump. I would scream what the actual fuck if I had any energy to spare for that).

Unfortunately, I am sure some in that dangerously dopey pack of pundits and hacks are incredibly horny to create a “but her emails” narrative for Harris. Not that they’ll be able to admit that’s what they’re doing, of course. They’re Just Asking Questions. Sure. 

Combatting gross people, lazy reporters and brain-wormed pundits who come after Harris with rickety coverage and specious arguments will be exhausting, because most of the folks deploying that crap will no doubt cloak themselves in righteousness, patriotism and a Commitment to the Truth or some such nonsense. And that will pretty much be bullshit. As evidence, I present: Sleepy Hollow. 

What does a cancelled Fox drama have to do with any of this? Well, in my 2023 book about Hollywood, Burn It Down, I wrote nearly ten thousand words about how a lot of people who absolutely did not believe themselves capable of even a little bit of racism drove a promising show starring a Black woman into a ditch. When it debuted, Sleepy Hollow was a bona fide hit, but Nicole Beharie left that program three years into its run — a show that could have continued indefinitely, given the promise of its cast and the potential of its premise. 

But the treatment of its Black star was awful, what occurred on-screen and off-screen devolved into incoherence, stupidity and offensive nonsense, and the kinds of monstrous things that were said about Beharie in industry backchannels were reprehensible. A studio and a network left a ton of money on the table — Sleepy Hollow died within four seasons — and the talented Beharie didn’t work for a long time after she left the show. I spent a decade, on and off, digging into all that, and it remains one the most infuriating industry sagas I’ve ever delved into.

What occurred at Sleepy Hollow was a confluence of events that was so complex that I will not fully reiterate it here. Not all of it was about misogynoir — but in my opinion, a good chunk of it absolutely was. I wrote that chapter — the longest one in my book — because if we don’t talk about this shit, we’re just going to keep reflexively doing it, allowing it, endorsing it through our inaction. And if that’s what happened in an industry where everyone constantly talks about how they couldn’t possibly be racist or engage in misogynoir, what do you think is going to happen among those who’ve long pushed a white nationalist agenda?? 

My friends, we gotta talk about this stuff. We must name it and take it apart and make plain what people want to use euphemisms for. Those of us who can safely do so: We need to make people, in the media and in our regular lives, uncomfortable when they do racisms. I get that it can be challenging, I do. I know from very hard-fought experience that writing about race and power, and bringing up uncomfortable truths about both, is very difficult to do in the modern American media landscape. 

Listen to me on this, please listen to what I’ve learned in decades of covering Hollywood (an industry full of people with quite a bit of power over imagery, archetypes and storytelling): If you say or imply that someone powerful misused that power, they get mad. If you say or imply that someone powerful was sexist or harassed people, they get very mad. If you say or imply that someone even slightly powerful — or very powerful — did or said something racist, they absolutely lose their goddamn shit.

I have witnessed this happen again and again behind the scenes in my reporting career: People tend to push back the hardest on charges of racism and misogynoir – even when the evidence and receipts backing up those claims are solid, if not overwhelming. For some, the "I'm one of the good ones" narrative is unassailable within their own minds. Those of us who have the bandwidth to do so: We have to point out when that's not true.

We have to talk about these dynamics; we have to be cringe and awkward if necessary (and I may well be providing an example of that in this post). We have to be honest about what is going on, and intentional in our responses. The goal is not to add more unproductive vitriol to various communities. The idea is to ensure that those engaging in stereotyping, racism and other forms of bigotry consistently face the consequences they've earned through their words and actions.

Speaking for myself, I do not think the news media should use bland euphemisms like the ones in a recent story about Republicans being told to not make “race comments” about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Race comments? “DEI attacks”? Many of the most powerful people and media institutions in the land remain terrible at taking on racism, let alone misogynoir, I am sorry to say. So I am hoping we name it, do something about it, and ask those folks and institutions to do better.

“I feel like it’s taken me the last few years to really see clearly that it wasn’t personal, it’s about the way that these structures are set up.” Nicole Beharie said that just a few years ago — once her career was on the upswing again. By the way, after well-received turns in feature films, Nicole Beharie booked a role on The Morning Show — work for which she got an Emmy nomination the other day. Someone said to me online, “I hope those who tried to keep her down choke on it.” Damn right. 

But none of what transpired is ancient history. Those Sleepy Hollow events occurred less than a decade ago. We would do well to keep in mind that many of the structures in America are still set up the same way. Especially for women of color in high-profile positions.

For Black women in particular, the goal posts are constantly moving, when it comes to how — and if — they are allowed to exist. I cover Hollywood, but even within that supposedly crunchy granola world, I have heard of innumerable instances of Black women being gaslit, undermined, isolated, micromanaged to an insane degree, silenced and unjustly attacked. When my book came out, I cannot tell you how full my inboxes were of stories that could well have come from Sleepy Hollow, but came from dozens of other productions, some of which won awards in recent years.

But sure, let's just call that "harsh instincts."

Kamala Harris is a human being with the combination of good qualities and possible or actual flaws all human beings have. She is also moving into an arena in which various structures and stereotypes will ensure that she’s in a no-win situation six times a day. While multiple reporters and editors at Very Important Publications continue to run interference for a fascist con man and his followers. These are the structures. This is the set-up.

And yet... something has shifted. I hope. We have a chance to begin the process of changing the message, to genuinely start to rearrange the structures on which our society rests. Many of us, because we care about the future, are going to participate in different kinds of political narratives in the next few months. Ideas, images and words are going to be tossed around, and we don’t have to accept how people with awful intentions or uninvestigated biases use them to create narratives that don’t move our society forward. 

When someone tells you that they think Harris is a DEI candidate, ask them to spell out in detail what they mean by that, and ask them why a former prosecutor and district attorney is less qualified than the felon/con man/rapist the Republicans have at the top of their ticket. When the press finds some minor mistake she made years ago and does the absolute most to nuke her from orbit with it — as she runs against a racist felon who cannot put together two coherent sentences in a row — some of us may find the energy within us to push back, demand better, or failing that, cancel subscriptions.

As much as humanly possible, we’re going to have to resist or ignore the river of bad faith, stupidity and dog whistles that will pervade the rest of 2024. On social media, there will be such a festival of blocking. There’s a lot of work to be done, not just at the top of the ticket, but down the ballot and well beyond this election. 

The past few weeks (months… years)...  they’ve been a lot. Just this weekend I experienced every human emotion, nearly all at once.

And now… is this… hope? Is it possible that I’m … experiencing optimism? A day ago, a friend and I agreed with exhausted laughs that “it’s the hope that kills you.” But damn if I’m not enjoying this feeling while it lasts. 

On Monday, I watched a video of people a hundred miles to the north, in Milwaukee, spontaneously chanting “NOT GOING BACK” at a Harris rally (start around minute 41). I got chills. It is very weird to feel hope, but I think that tiny seed is starting to grow.

Like a lot of folks, I’m tired of the insulated, powerful DC gerontocracy and their billionaire enablers, all of whom seem intent on driving this whole country into a ditch. It is time for the next generation of politicians to take center stage. Literally. 

The good news is, the DNC organizers are going to have a lot to work with. By August, I hope folks are even more excited. Come the convention, let Uncle Joe Biden cook one last time.

Let rising generations make the case for the kind of America that the creepy, joyless freaks on the other side can’t begin to imagine. Let that guy from Chicago — a nobody two decades ago — usher in the next Democratic presidential candidate. That picture alone will be worth ten thousand op-eds.

One thing is for sure… the convention scenario formulated above is better political fan fiction than Aaron Sorkin is capable of these days. Fixed it for ya, Aaron!