IANA Blog- September 2025

 Blog

Happy September,

I was actually gonna talk about something different, maybe even talk about the death of former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari. But, you know what, I want to talk about something that happened this September 10th. I wanted to talk about the death of right wing “activist” Charlie Kirk and the US media circus that is happening around it.

I know what you’re thinking. What does Charlie Kirk have to do with IANA? He doesn’t, but I feel like I have to say something about this.

For those that don’t know who Charlie Kirk is, like I mentioned, he is a right-wing political “activist,” author and media personality. He co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, a right-wing, conservative political organization that advocates for conservative politics in high schools, colleges and university campuses across America. Kirk became one of the most prominent voices of right-wing politics in the last couple of years. He also held debates on college/university campuses which he would post online, hosted his own radio talk show and was a die-hard supporter of Donald Trump.

As a right-wing “activist”, he spoke out against gun control in America, abortion, LGBTQ rights, civil and human rights including his criticism of the Civil Rights act of 1964 and of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. along with promoting Christian nationalism, promoting misinformation about COVID-19, promoting the theory that White Americans are being “replaced,” and making controversial views on minorities in America, especially Black and Latino people. I seen him say stupid things about DEI, about black-on-black crime, about Muslims, about immigrants, ignored the genocide of Palestinians and of course, has continued to say stupid things about George Floyd. To keep a long story short, his “activism” consists of racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, misinformation, disinformation and straight up “bulls**t,” and only in the U.S. is this guy considered an “activist.”

On September 10th, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Kirk was on a campaign tour with Turning Point USA, getting ready to have one of his “prove me wrong” debates, and it sounded like he was about to talk s**t about Transgendered people and Black people. Someone in the audience was asking about how many transgendered people commit mass shootings, in which Kirk said, “Too many.” Then the audience member asked how many mass shooters have been in America over the last ten years, and Kirk was going to respond by bringing up “gang violence.” He was probably going to talk s**t about Black people. After that interaction, a gunshot was heard and Kirk was shot in the neck. 3,000 people were at his event and they saw the whole thing. After the incident, the campus was closed and Kirk died on his way to the hospital.

Here’s my opinion on Charlie Kirk. I never liked him from the start. I never liked his shows. I never liked the fact that the media pushed his racist rhetoric. I never liked his views…obviously…and because he pushed this dangerous, racist rhetoric and supported gun rights, I will not show any empathy for him, I will not show any sympathy for him, I will not mourn him. The only time I ever enjoyed seeing Charlie Kirk was when he was being parodied on the legendary cartoon, “South Park.”

This is the same Charlie Kirk that has said stupid things about George Floyd, mocked his death multiple times, called him a “scumbag,” and defended Derek Chauvin, the police officer that killed Floyd. Floyd isn’t the only death he has disrespected, he has disrespected multiple Black deaths. He has disrespected Black women multiple times. During the Palestinian genocide, he has said that there are “No Palestinians.” The same man who said that African nations are inferior to the West. The same man who cared more about his gun rights than the rights of others affected by gun violence. He literally said he hates the word empathy. He thinks it’s a “new age made up term”, whatever the hell that means. To quote from the movie Major Payne, “You’ll get no sympathy from me! (Do) you want sympathy? Look it up in the dictionary between s**t and syphilis. That’s where you’ll find my sympathy.”

After checking out some memes online on Kirk, I started to notice how the media was going to portray Kirk. Like I expected, Charlie Kirk was being depicted as some type of “hero,” or some type of “martyr,” in the media, from CNN, to MSNBC, to Fox News, to social media. NFL teams held moments of silence for Kirk, even though he has never played football, and this is the same NFL that has “blacklisted” former quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick for his political beliefs. All week, I’ve been seeing Trump, Republicans, Conservatives and the Right blame Kirk’s death on the Left, Liberals, Democrats, Black people and LGBTQ people and wanting to have a civil war. Speaking of which, I also saw plenty of “democrats” and “liberals” showing empathy and paying tribute to him, from Barack Obama to Bernie Sanders. Someone on CNN said that she may have not agreed with him, but she brought up the fact that they’re both Christian and she mourned him. Seeing all these “tributes” made me want to vomit…not to mention that so many family members and people I knew (I’m not gonna call anyone out) were also paying tribute to him and I had to shake my head.

Just want to make this clear…to those I know that paid tribute to him or felt any empathy or sympathy…Charlie Kirk would not piss on your ass if you were on fire. All the racist things he said, the misogynistic things he said, the homophobic and transphobic things he said, and you still feel bad for him. Bringing up the fact that he was a father…so was George Floyd…so was Eric Garner.. so was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who he has disrespected…so was Fred Hampton, who never got to see his son. He had a family…so did Trayvon Martin…so did Breonna Taylor…so did the many Palestinians whose lives have been taken away because of the genocide…so did the kids who were killed in the school shooting in Colorado that happened on the same day Charlie Kirk got shot…which barely had any media time…so did Minnesota congresswoman Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated, but never received any tributes.

What really annoyed me about the people who not only had empathy or sympathy for Charlie Kirk, but were also “concerned” about political violence in this country. Hello, where have you been? This is America. Political violence has always been a problem in this country and it shouldn’t take you the murder of a bigot to realize that. I mentioned this before, but this country committed genocide of it’s native and indigenous people and stole Black people from Africa and violently forced them into chattel slavery. This country spent the whole year allowing ICE to destroy immigrant families. This country lets the police get away with harming and killing innocent people every year. This is the same country that assassinated leaders here like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party and former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and leaders abroad like Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara and Congolese revolutionary Patrice Lumumba, as mentioned in my July blog, and Libyan revolutionary Muammar Gaddafi. So, whenever I hear someone now say that “political violence is a problem,” I'm just like, “Thank you captain obvious!!!”

The same people who spoke out on political violence after Kirk’s didn’t have anything to say about America’s involvement causing political violence in other countries. They’re quiet about the multiple wars America starts with other countries, they’re quiet on America’s involvement with the Middle East, they have said nothing about the genocides happening in The Congo, or Sudan, or in Palestine. Don’t even get me started on the Vietnam War. If you’re one of those bringing up political violence in the midst of Kirk’s death, but say nothing about political violence the US has forced on other countries, please don’t try to lecture me about it, because it sounds hypocritical.

Luckily, I have also seen people call out Kirk’s controversy and choose not to mourn him. I’ve also seen plenty of people choose not to turn him into some “hero” or “martyr”. I’ve especially seen videos from multiple pastors, especially Black pastors who also call out other Christians for mourning him and using his Christianity for covering up his racism, bigotry and hatred. One of the best responses I’ve seen came from Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley of Alfred Street Baptist Church in Virginia. Here is what Rev. Wesley had to say. “Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be assassinated, but I’m overwhelmed seeing the flags of the United States of America at half-staff, calling this nation to honor and venerate a man who was an unapologetic racist and spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land. 

And hearing people with selective rage, who are mad about Charlie Kirk, but didn’t give a damn about [Congresswoman] Melissa Hortman and her husband when they were shot down in their home, tell me I ought to have compassion for the death of a man who had no respect for my life.

I am sorry, but there is nowhere in the Bible where we are taught to honor evil. How you die does not redeem how you lived. You do not become a hero in your death when you are the weapon of the enemy in your life.”

I pretty much agreed with everything Rev. Wesley had to say. Some of my friends said it best, “He spoke his beliefs into existence.” A man who said that some will have to die in order to make sure his “gun rights” were protected. As far as mourning, I will continue to mourn the victims of the Colorado school shooting. I'll continue to mourn the victims affected by gun violence every year. I'll mourn for the people affected by the genocides happening. You will not see me mourning a man who has disrespected Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I think it’s a crime that people are trying to compare Kirk to him. 

Technically what happened to Kirk was assassination by definition, but I won’t call it for two reasons. 1) It’s an insult to actual leaders who have fought for change in the world and were assassinated like Dr. King, Malcolm X, and more. 2) An assassination also involves a person of significance or importance. Kirk was never that important to me, he was just a typical right wing puppet, influencing division among people. 3) Like I mentioned, those leaders who were assassinated became martyrs. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to martyr him or make him a hero.

As far as Charlie Kirk, I think this is another perfect example of what Malcolm X said in which, “the chickens coming back to roost.”

But, that’s all I got to say. Let me know what y’all think IANA.

Link to Howard-John Wesley's speech-

https://www.newsweek.com/howard-john-wesley-charlie-kirk-sermon-viral-2130614

Link to Malcolm X's Chicken Coming Home to Roost speech- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD6aX3dHR2k

Link to the film version of Malcolm X's Chickens Coming Home to Roost speech- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjOopVs60F0