President* Trump, Exactly a month ago today a friend from church introduced several of us in our neighborhood group to the work of Meera Mohan-Graham, who describes herself as a QPOC photographer, artist, coach, and writer focusing on “giving voice to complex identities and journeys.” He shared a link to a blog post that Mohan-Graham … Continue reading Do no harm
Antiracism
Signs and perspective taking
President* Trump, Two mornings ago I came across a unicorn sign, as in a very cool one-of-a-kind sign (at least to me). It looks like a purchased or manufactured sign as it’s professionally done and has the same basic structure as all the BLM and “In This House We Believe…” yard signs, but it doesn’t … Continue reading Signs and perspective taking
Grains of salt and seeds to water
President* Trump, I was talking with a Black friend today about her dismay over so many white people coming out of the woodwork wanting to hop on the antiracism bandwagon now when the exact same life and death issues were happening for Black and brown people four months ago, four years ago, etc. Her “Where … Continue reading Grains of salt and seeds to water
Aspiring to “always make new mistakes”
President* Trump, I don’t know whether what I’m going to try and articulate today will end up being coherent enough to send you (which, really is sort of silly given how low the bar is to match your coherence when you’re at your absolute best, but I do have standards for myself and I’m not … Continue reading Aspiring to “always make new mistakes”
Constraints and breaking free of them
President* Trump, I’ve been back to visit the huge maple (turns out it’s not chestnut after all – not sure how I made that mistake, their leaf shapes are super different) that has the way too tight bench constricting it a bunch of times since I wrote to you about it last month. The residents … Continue reading Constraints and breaking free of them
Taxes, death, and bad karma
President* Trump, Paying taxes has always been fraught given how much of our national budget goes to support the military, the pittance that goes to support the real, practical needs of our people and our planet, and the paltry share that’s provided by corporations and wealthy people. Most years I’m able to focus on the … Continue reading Taxes, death, and bad karma
The Queer Eye lottery and reparations
President* Trump, I seriously doubt it, but it’s possible you’re a closet Queer Eye fan. If you are, then you’ve probably seen Season 5, Episode 2 featuring Rahanna Gray, a dear 27-year old African American Philadelphian who owns a dog grooming business. Just so you know, I’m pretty much going to explain how the show … Continue reading The Queer Eye lottery and reparations
It’s our leaders who have to do better
President* Trump, This morning on our way to the grocery store (where I would eventually sit in the car with the dogs, waiting for Laura to do the shopping because it still isn’t safe for me to pick out my own vegetables), we stopped in the neighborhood we call “Swale-land” to take a walk. It … Continue reading It’s our leaders who have to do better
History keeps repeating itself; will we finally act this time?
President* Trump, I finished all of the material in the 10-minutes-a-day section recommended by the Justice in June website (https://justiceinjune.org/#10-minutes) and moved on to the first podcast recommended in the 25-minute section yesterday, “A Decade of Watching Black People Die” (https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865261916/a-decade-of-watching-black-people-die). Ironically, I got interrupted about 10 minutes into it and didn’t come back to … Continue reading History keeps repeating itself; will we finally act this time?
Stories can change the course of history
President* Trump, As I was not falling asleep last night, I realized that part of why I felt so dang tired at the end of the day yesterday was because I didn’t have work to distract me or to help me feel like I was doing something instrumental that was tilting things in a positive … Continue reading Stories can change the course of history
Daily Trump Letters 