By Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq.
There’s an old joke in journalism: if both sides are mad at you, you’re probably doing your job. Good thing there’s no taxes on overtime anymore, because that’s what I’m putting in.
The trolls on the right are furious because I gave Rod Bray credit for outmaneuvering Donald Trump in the Indiana Senate primaries. The trolls on the left are furious because I pointed out that Destiny Wells has now lost four consecutive races, that Blythe Potter is bringing a resume to a delegate fight against a Bayh, and that Andrea Hunley launching her mayoral campaign while publicly attached at the hip to Jesse Brown is, charitably, a curious strategic choice.
Apparently this makes me a RINO sellout and a misogynist. Simultaneously. I should probably get a plaque.
And there’s a third category I want to flag up front, because it deserves its own treatment: the trolls of color who think my last name came with a political loyalty oath I’m now violating. I’ll get to you in a minute — and just so we’re clear, I remember when The Final Call used to be called Muhammad Speaks, I know what Bean Pie and Omar Juice are, and I know exactly what’s at 7351 South Stony Island in Chicago. But first, let’s handle the two flanks.
Let’s take the right first. The complaint is that I’m “defending the establishment” by noting Bray went two-for-two in the fights he chose to engage, spent $4.5 million in caucus funds protecting his guys, and walks into the 2027 session with the gavel, the calendar, and the committee assignments still in his desk drawer.
So let me save the right-wing trolls some typing. Yes, I am pro-establishment. I do not apologize for it. I am a Daniels/Lugar/Holcomb/Ballard Republican. I believe in free markets, free people, school choice, efficient government, and leaving people’s private parts alone. Deal with it.
But here’s the thing — defending Bray on the merits isn’t establishment apologetics. It’s arithmetic. Trump spent nine million dollars to take three clean scalps. Bray spent less to save two senators Trump specifically targeted. If those numbers offend you, your problem isn’t with me. It’s with a calculator.
I get it. The MAGA crowd wanted a coronation narrative. Except the maps aren’t coming back. The December vote was 31-19 against, and removing five no votes doesn’t create a yes majority. It creates a slightly different no majority. The math doesn’t care about your feelings or mine.
Now the left. The accusation is that pointing out Destiny Wells is 0-for-4 in actual electoral contests — Secretary of State 2022, Attorney General 2024, Indiana Democratic Party chair 2024-25, IN-7 by forty points last week — makes me a misogynist. Let me try this one more time, slowly.
When I ran for mayor, my campaign manager was a woman. So was my chief fundraiser. I trusted them with my political career and my checkbook, in that order. And for the record, they sought me out. The two toughest, most accountability-demanding people I have ever met are my mother — the original Mrs. Shabazz — and the current Lovely Mrs. Shabazz. If I were the kind of man who hated women, I would not have survived breakfast in either of those households.
Treating Destiny, Blythe, and Andrea like serious candidates means evaluating them like serious candidates with serious campaigns. That means looking at the record. If I went easier on them because they were women, that would be the actual misogyny. The respect is in the equal treatment. You don’t get a participation trophy from me because the office you’re seeking is hard.
Now in fairness, neither Hunley nor Blythe attacked me on social media. Some of their zealous advocates (i.e., trolls) did. But the candidates did not. Ms. Wells, on the other hand, is a different story.
Destiny essentially announced on Facebook that she’s considering suing me. I assume for defamation. I’m honestly not sure what the cause of action would be. The closest I can get is that she might object to being called a perennial candidate. Although on reflection, that’s probably offensive to actual perennial candidates. (Sorry, Bob Kern.) In Indiana, truth has always been an adequate defense against a libel claim, and so has substantial truth — meaning whether Ms. Wells’s electoral record is 0-for-4, 0-for-5, or something in between depending on how you count, I’m pretty sure we’re covered. Four straight losses is what it is. If that’s how she wants to spend her time and her money, far be it from me to talk her out of it. I’ve always been pro-choice.
Now, as promised, the third category. The folks who couldn’t beat me on the math, so they went for the melanin. “Uncle Tom.” “Toe-tapping cuck on the alt-right pipeline.” “Candace Owens.” “All skin folk ain’t kin folk.” My personal favorite: “Imagine being named Abdul Hakim Shabazz and still being…” whatever the insult of the day was.
For context, the receipt being waved around is a column I wrote for the Indianapolis Recorder twelve years ago. The Recorder. Indiana’s oldest Black-owned newspaper, founded in 1895, still serving the Black community today. At the time, the Recorder wanted to add a new voice that would challenge the audience and engage the readers. Mission accomplished. Twelve years later, people are still arguing about that column. That’s not a scandal. That’s the column doing exactly what it was hired to do.
Let me explain something to the cheap seats. My name is Abdul-Hakim Shabazz. I know what it means. I know who I’m named after. I know my history better than most of the people lobbing this stuff online, because I actually studied it. Most of these guys were running around looking like cast extras from Good Times — or a bad Richard Roundtree film — when I was already paying attention. The idea that disagreeing with the political conclusions of certain commenters constitutes racial treason is exactly the kind of intellectual laziness, and borderline shiftlessness, I’ve been calling out for thirty years. You don’t get to assign me a worldview based on my last name. I do that.
As for the actual content of that column — read it. Read the whole thing, not the headline. The piece argued — and still argues — that when career criminals shoot each other, the city’s homicide reduction strategy can’t treat those deaths the same as the deaths of bystanders, kids, and working people caught in the crossfire. Triage isn’t endorsement. Pretending an eleven-year-old column is a secret window into my soul is just a way to avoid arguing this week’s column, which is what’s actually bothering you.
A couple of trolls also went after my appearance. The haircut. The mustache. One charmer suggested I look “demented.” First, don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Second, that photo is from 2004. Update your files.
And the AI angle. Yes, I use AI — thank you, data center. It’s a tool. Does it make mistakes? Yes. Because it’s designed by people, and people make mistakes. But when you look at the entirety of my use, my batting average is a lot better than 0-for-5. Or 2-for-5, if you count Ms. Wells’s precinct committeeman and delegate races — which, as I noted in the most recent Cheat Sheet, is the political equivalent of bragging about being valedictorian in summer school. I use AI the way I use a legal pad, a phone, and a decent scotch — to do my job better. The analysis is mine. The conclusions are mine. The snark is definitely mine. And as Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Bloch put it in the Indiana Supreme Court’s own guidance to trial judges on AI use: “It doesn’t replace doing the work. It doesn’t replace honing your craft. It’s not the end result. It’s a tool to get you there. Ultimately, I’m still responsible for the output at the end of the day.” If that’s good enough for the Indiana judiciary, it’s good enough for me. (See: https://indypolitics.org/indiana-supreme-court-offers-ai-guidance-for-trial-court-judges/.) And for those who want the full disclosure, our editorial standards on AI use are public and have been for some time: https://indypolitics.org/editorial-standards/. If that bothers you, I’d gently suggest the next decade is going to be a long one for you.
Here’s the deal. I write what I see. The trolls on the right see a betrayal. The trolls on the left see a race traitor. The rest of you, hopefully, see the math.
Not bad for a misogynist RINO named Tom who is an Uncle. I’m off to enjoy this nice day.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is the editor and publisher of Indy Politics. He is also an attorney licensed in Indiana and Illinois.
