Missississippi and Texas Lift the Mask Mandate and… IDGAFWGRSISWMMFM

Picture it. Mississippi. March 2021.

Me. Minding my Black ass business, scrolling on Facebook and receiving a Live video notification from one of the local news platforms I follow. The title of the live reads, “Watch: Gov. Tate Reeves talks about rolling back restrictions in his next COVID-19 executive order”.

Bear in mind, before I even clicked on the link, the first five words indicated some possibly dangerous and undoubtedly ill-advised bullshit was about to spew from Tater Tot’s lips like the liquid cod liver oil my daddy tried to make me take one time when I was a kid. (He had the best intentions. It has great medicinal properties. But that’s neither here nor there. The shit was disgusting. Lol) But, I clicked on it anyway because, the possibly dangerous and undoubtedly ill-advised bullshit still affects me and my people, so I gotta be informed.

With that being said, I can’t say what people in other states experience during a Facebook Live from their government officials, but what Black, Mississippi Sr. (Texas) and Little Afrika (Mississippi) residents experience is gross distraughtness. Even if the government officials themselves aren’t on some absolute ridiculousness, which they probably will be, like say, lifting mask mandates or using terms like “Raw Boo Boo”, the comment section bout to put some stress on your chest off the strength of ignorance and misinformation.

The live ends. I don’t return to my original minding my Black ass business activities because my mind is now focused on how they got my Black ass messed up. I took a sip of my wine poured halfway through the circus act and shook my head with vigor. Don’t get me wrong, I am hardly surprised nor am I unsure of how I will behave moving forward, but still, there was some “What the hell” and “These folks wild” deep off in my spirit. And I think that sentiment ran deep for many of us.

One year following the initial outbreak of COVID-19 and we are still unprotected and being forced to flex our autonomy with impunity. The concensus previously reached by the collective, as I understood it, is that “The Rona” and its effects are the new normal. We have made peace with this reality. Most of us have thoroughly enjoyed the modifications. I personally never want to stand closer than six feet from anyone at a grocery store ever again. Period. We have created and revised entire businesses and platforms with this reality in mind. And we have rocked the hell outta these masks in true Blackity Black form.

We, the collective, have not changed our minds. At least I hope we haven’t. This virus is still very real. These folks still don’t know wtf to do, now or in the future. And our Black asses still can’t trust anyone outside of us (sometimes including us), with our lives. Our safety and well-being has always rested in our hands, whether we realize it or not. We must govern ourselves accordingly.

Long, but short coming from me, nod to Estelle Getty aka Sophia Petrillo because it’s Women’s History Month and I love Golden Girls, story shorter…

IDGAFWGRSISWMMFM and also IYCNMWNMIWCVR*

*The last word is Respectfully. 😂

P.S. I am not the mastermind behind Texas being dubbed Mississippi Sr. It was said in a conversation yesterday and I was like, “Oh, I’m using that.” Lol

P.P.S. This is your source citation sir. We good? 😂

💚 Goddess

Dora the Goddess is a life experience, my damn thoughts and opinions writer/storyteller for Black With No Chaser. She is a lover of God(dess), Black life, Black words/thought, Black love and food, in no particular order, but food is bomb af. Follow along. The Black Way.