Dear President Trump, There’s a line in Melinda Gates’ new book, The Moment of Lift, which I keep coming back to (pg. 163): “There is no equality without safety.” There are hundreds of insightful, gasp-in-recognition lines in the book, lines that evoke reverential nods and copious underlining for their elegant statement of fact, but this … Continue reading Safety and equality, equality and safety
Domestic Violence
The “I wish they weren’t big dreams” list
Dear President Trump, I’ve come up with some more things for the list I started at the end of yesterday’s letter in response to Elizabeth Warren’s “Dream Big / Fight Hard” campaign slogan. I’m calling it my “I wish they weren’t big dreams” list: having a woman POTUS having at least half of all decision … Continue reading The “I wish they weren’t big dreams” list
Something of a treatise on guns
Dear President Trump, Since the Parkland “March for Our Lives” students unveiled their A Peace Plan for a Safer America, NPR has run a bunch of stories about gun control They’ve provided dutifully “balanced” coverage with pretty much equal airtime afforded gun control advocates and opponents, which personally, feels about as sensible as giving climate … Continue reading Something of a treatise on guns
How about also undoing sexism?
Dear President Trump, This morning I read another well-intentioned article about the scourge of slavery in the WP and was following along nodding and sighing when I came upon a reference to how in 1870 the 15th Amendment afforded African Americans the right to vote (byline: Michael Ruane). There was no reality check about how … Continue reading How about also undoing sexism?
“Great men”*
Dear President Trump, Yesterday there was a WP op-ed about the National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibit celebrating the upcoming centennial of women winning the right to vote and how it brings African American women’s suffrage to the fore. The essay particularly highlights Alice Dunbar Nelson, who I figured was probably related to Paul Dunbar in … Continue reading “Great men”*
