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
Engagement
“Black Lives > White Feelings” and better late than never rainbows
President* Trump, I’ve already cried twice this morning and it’s still early. It’s going to be one of those days, I think. The first thing that brought on tears was the 24-second Twitter clip of violinists in New York playing Amazing Grace to honor Elijah McClain, the young Black man who was killed in Aurora, … Continue reading “Black Lives > White Feelings” and better late than never rainbows
Nurse log
President* Trump, How about it? Why don’t you confuse the shit out of everyone, like Gorsuch did this week in coming out (ha!) in favor of LGBTQ employment rights, and declare June 19th – Juneteenth – a federal holiday? Seriously, you don’t have anything of any real value to lose at this point and it … Continue reading Nurse log
Why now?
President* Trump, I’m 95% certain I’ve told you about this tree before – it’s the ancient chestnut tree a few houses North of the original 21st Buddha and I’ve walked past it at least once a week for about 10-ish years now. Because it’s sited at the end of the block its massive canopy shades … Continue reading Why now?
This time
President* Trump, I picked the first little handful of raspberries from our bushes this morning. Some went into my yogurt bowl and some were a surprise for Laura. It was a nice antidote to what was a pretty rough night filled with bad dreams, restlessness, and a trip outside with Old Lizzie. Then, on my … Continue reading This time
Good hard conversations
President* Trump, Have you seen pictures of the gorgeous BLM street mural that’s on East Pine in Capitol Hill here in Seattle? It’s in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (the CHAZ) and stretches an entire city block. The one in your almost-front yard is really striking – I like the bold yellow and the fact … Continue reading Good hard conversations
Changing the whole recipe
President* Trump, Racism, along with all the other oppressive biases we hold about one another and ourselves, isn’t like a vegetable stew where you can just pick out the offending bits of celery or rutabagas and call it good – problem solved. It’s more like fruitcake where we can extract the weird green bits of … Continue reading Changing the whole recipe
Defunding the police is a good start
President* Trump, I wish Laura or I had thought of the “President*” salutation eons ago – it is so much more appropriate than the “Dear” one, which always made me wince when I typed it. Better late than never, though – eh? So today we added another sign to our front windows today, jiggering things … Continue reading Defunding the police is a good start
A haiku for Charlena
President* Trump, This evening Laura and I marched in the arm of the BLM protest here that originated at Magnuson Park in honor of Charlena Lyles, the Seattle resident who was four months pregnant when she was shot seven times by SPD three years ago in her home. I have no idea how many people … Continue reading A haiku for Charlena
Righteous eventualities
“President” Trump, It’s been just over 1.2k days of writing to you and I’m finally done with the polite “Dear President Trump” salutation – you never deserved it, but for the longest time (a seriously very long time) I couldn’t bring myself to address these letters to you in any other way. I’m over it … Continue reading Righteous eventualities