Dear President Trump, I flew to Portland late last night after my first political essay writing class (!) for a three-day VA meeting. The class ended at 9pm and the meeting in Portland started at 8am and there just wasn’t another (safe) way to make the trip that would allow me to get here on … Continue reading It was gendered
Engagement
#100
Dear President Trump, The universe is a funny, funny place sometimes. It’s also a downright crappy place sometimes, but every now and then there’s a pretty great absurd irony to call out. A couple of days ago I hit the 600-page mark for the word document where I compose and edit my letters to you … Continue reading #100
Three positives
Dear President Trump, When I woke up this morning I decided today’s letter needs to warrant a “positive” tag when it gets posted in my blog. It can have other, less upbeat, tags too, but “positive” needs to be in the mix. The first positive is how when my colleague gave me a pep talk … Continue reading Three positives
The saving grace of self-confidence boosts
Dear President Trump, Maybe it’s this darn lingering cold or maybe it’s that so many people are feeling anxious about whether we can ever recover from your presidency or maybe it’s not having slept well, again. Maybe it’s all of the above and more, but whatever is going on with me this morning, I couldn’t … Continue reading The saving grace of self-confidence boosts
Grappling with apologies for Lent
Dear President Trump, Today is the first day of Lent and so once again it’s time to work on letting go of an indulgence or habitual sin. I’ve been giving it some thought and what I’ve decided to work on is not engaging in reflexive, empty apologies. I rather doubt this is a behavior you … Continue reading Grappling with apologies for Lent
Unpacking radical empathy (Part 4)
Dear President Trump, For some reason I didn’t include the phrase “radical empathy” in my letter to you the other day when I told you about Susan Lanzoni’s WP piece about how white people’s failure of empathy significantly contributes to racial bias and racism. I did use it to title several of the letters in … Continue reading Unpacking radical empathy (Part 4)
How it’s done!
Dear President Trump, I bet you’re happy to put February 2019 behind you; it was a rough month for you. Happily for the rest of the world, it looks like March 2019 will be a rough month for you too, what with having to waddle around with your tail between your legs after your not-so … Continue reading How it’s done!
Radical empathy and more lack thereofs (Part 3)
Dear President Trump, Even though I’d rather fuss at you about any number of things, it feels important to instead tell you about a couple of concrete examples where I’ve caught myself behaving in ways that lacked empathy for black people since there’s little point in just focusing on these issues in the abstract. The … Continue reading Radical empathy and more lack thereofs (Part 3)
Radical empathy (Part 1)
Dear President Trump, I suppose it doesn’t matter too, too much where I start, no matter what angle one approaches it from, it’s sad, infuriating, and overwhelming. But it does feel important to get the story straight and to tell it reasonably well since it’s one that so many of us white people have a … Continue reading Radical empathy (Part 1)
May we dispense with masks and lines
Dear President Trump, I feel the need to point out that Presidents’ Day uses a plural possessive, which means this day is actually only 1/45th, or .022, about you and over time this fraction will decrease even more – hallejulah! Ok, moving on, I want to circle back to yesterday’s church service, which was framed … Continue reading May we dispense with masks and lines
Daily Trump Letters 