To: The Supreme Abuser of US A long, long time ago when I was a graduate student, one of my jobs was to conduct group and couples’ therapy with heterosexual couples that had experienced domestic violence and who had children in common. Some of the couples were attempting to reconcile while others splitting, but they … Continue reading Some thoughts on conditions needed to get entrenched behavior to change
Domestic Violence
Rotten apples fall especially close to their trees
President* Trump, Was your hand too gross and sweaty for Melania to deign to hold it for the walk off the debate stage or is she really, terribly not into you these days? It’s been a while since I’ve seen a clip of her pulling away from you like that and last night’s retaliatory little … Continue reading Rotten apples fall especially close to their trees
Gaslighting (or he keeps looking straight into the camera without blinking)
President* Trump, I learned today that not everyone knows what “gaslighting” means so because it’s such an important weapon of yours I thought it would be a good idea to define it (and don’t worry, I know you know what it is so this isn’t for you): verb gerund or present participle: gaslighting manipulate (someone) … Continue reading Gaslighting (or he keeps looking straight into the camera without blinking)
Let’s let go of gendered notions of strength ~ now!
President* Trump, So I know that I’m probably supposed to want to focus on the wonderful, powerful parade of women last night during night 3 of the Democratic convention, from the domestic violence survivors who testified before Congress in 1990 ahead of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act to Harris herself throwing shade … Continue reading Let’s let go of gendered notions of strength ~ now!
Idolizing rights and ignoring responsibilities
President* Trump, This is going to be short because the day got away from me and I’m toast. I read an article in the WP (Meagan Flynn & Marisa Iati) this morning about Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, and his executive order voiding all mask mandates in the state and the lawsuit he’s bringing against Atlanta … Continue reading Idolizing rights and ignoring responsibilities
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?
Words matter, a lot
President* Trump, Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I realized that I closed out yesterday’s letter to you in a highly problematic way, one that betrays my implicit racial biases that, unfortunately, run parallel to the WP editors I called out earlier in the week. Here is the offending text: “This tree … Continue reading Words matter, a lot
A sign of the times
Dear President Trump, Early last week on a long-ish walk I saw a sign affixed next to someone’s front door. It’s not one of the sweet homemade signs thanking essential workers or encouraging passersby to hang in or spread love. Nope. It’s pretty much the antithesis of those sorts of signs as it’s a purchased … Continue reading A sign of the times
Corrections, rages, walk-backs, and tulips
Dear President Trump, The WP ran an article this morning by Katie Shepherd about the abortion bans some states have imposed. It contains information about specific states that I wasn’t able to glean from my far less professional journalistic efforts and I want to set the record straight. First, yesterday evening the 5th Circuit Court … Continue reading Corrections, rages, walk-backs, and tulips
A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion
Dear President Trump, You probably know better than most that domestic violence often doesn’t stop with psychological and physical abuse; it frequently includes sexual violence. And we all know that when perpetrated in the context of heterosexual relationships, sexual violence can lead to unwanted pregnancies and such pregnancies serve to keep women and their children … Continue reading A heavy letter about sexual violence and lack of access to abortion