This Week's Opening Thought: June 17, 2024

This week's opening thought: Michigan Republican primary congressional candidate Anthony Hudson posted a video on his TikTok account in which an AI-enhanced voice of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr endorsed him.

Anthony is a person of pallor, but I probably didn't need to tell you that. You probably knew it as soon as you read the first sentence above.

Anthony is also uber-conservative in the most dangerous ways, but I probably didn't need to tell you that, either. You probably knew it as soon as you read the first sentence above, or at least knew it by the time you finished the second paragraph.

I'm not going to post the video. I've heard it, and it's not something I'm willing to subject others to. It's triggering as hell. But here's what the AI-generated voice of Dr. King had to say:

"I have another dream. Yes, it is me, Martin Luther King. I came back from the dead to say something. As I was saying, I have another dream that Anthony Hudson will be Michigan's 8th District's next congressman. Yes, I have a dream again. OK, now I am going back to where I came from. Goodbye."

And, of course, Anthony is unapologetic about the whole thing after claiming he would fire the volunteer responsible for creating and posting the video. He's made a complete 180. But I probably didn't need to tell you that, either, if you know anything about white supremacy and how it intersects with self-preservation and pious idiocy.

Anthony believes that if Dr. King were alive today, he would, and I quote, "endorse me and my vision for a better Michigan because he would be disgusted at the complete suffering of Flint, Michigan residents under the current administration's watch."

Yep. You're right, Anthony. Dr. King would be disgusted at the ongoing suffering of the people of Flint under every President's watch for the last 12 years.

He'd also be disgusted with you trying to use his voice to suit your anti-Black, uber-conservative agenda propelled by racism and white supremacy.

What a way to prove you know nothing about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his work, or civil rights in general, Anthony.

One day, some person of pallor will read Dr. King's work, absorb its contents, and understand what he's talking about so they can check every other person of pallor around them using Dr. King's words to suit their own hateful agendas and beliefs. I probably won't be here when that day comes, but I hope someone from the Black delegation is there to witness it.

Like I needed another reason to loathe the application of AI in our daily lives.