Myths of Ability

Professor Butch Ware T. Ware aka Bilal Ware is a professor of history at the University of Santa Barbara . He is also a member of the Green Party (USA) where he ran for vice president, with running mate, Jill Stein who ran for President in the 2025 federal election. Currently, Prof Ware is running for governor of California for the 2026 election. Ware's mandate includes a bold vision of affordable housing, health care and education for Californians. Ware's campaign for Governor election site is refreshing.

I first became aware of Prof Ware from an episode of Bad Faith, hosted by lawyer/ journalist Briahna Joy Gray. Gray has one of the best interview/debate shows on the internet and is more rigorous with factual analysis than most mainstream shows. It was on the February 13, 2025 episode of Bad Faith where I first heard the searing cultural commentary and illuminating political views of Prof Ware. How he eviscerates current mainstream hip hop in its obliviousness to contemporary issues is informative. Listening to Ware speak on political issues is like being offered a glass of water when all prior options to quench thirst are some pop variant. The USA Green Party is nothing like the Green Party in Canada. For one thing, the former has a far more advanced and coherent platform than in Canada. Most notably, the Green Party USA condemns the ongoing genocide in Gaza against Palestinians whereas the Canadian variant barely acknowledges it or avoids addressing it altogether for elections. This was one of the reasons Jill Stein picked Ware as a running mate, for his unflinching views on justice and the shared goal of dismantling the American Empire in favor of using the vast war budget to restore the necessities of life for all Americans.

For a deeper dive of Wares' political views and how he would govern if elected, there is a great interview with him on the June 26 2025 episode of the The Thinking Muslim hosted by Muhammad Jalal. It is both sad and heartening to express that people like Ware is what is needed in the current political climate, not just for the USA and Canada, but the world--sad in that there are not many like him running in elections. Ware observes that the Green Party (USA) is neither left nor right, but 'centrist' and all other parties, including the duopoly, have moved far off course.