Dear President Trump, Yesterday on our Saturday dog walk we were in a neighborhood we frequent pretty often and we saw one of those Little Libraries. They sometimes look like the houses they belong to, but are always smallish wooden boxes with shelves that are perched atop a post. Each one has a glass-paned door, … Continue reading ‘Blessing Boxes,’ tent encampments, and our messed up priorities
Engagement
Fighting for big dreams
Dear President Trump, Last night Laura and I were stopped at the light right by our house, waiting to turn left and we noticed a modest sized poster in the window of a house that reads “Dream Big / Fight Hard.” Neither of us knew who or what it was referencing, but we both liked … Continue reading Fighting for big dreams
Beginner’s mind
Dear President Trump, The big news flashes from my neck of the former woods is that today is my mom’s birthday and this morning Laura left for Atlanta to visit her brother over the holiday weekend. Our daughter will be housesitting over the weekend so it’s going to be an odd few days for the … Continue reading Beginner’s mind
Sometimes less really is more
Dear President Trump, So here’s another huge topic that I don’t really want to tackle but won’t leave me alone – how the hell do we not consign millions more people to poverty when we finally come around to the reality that we can’t keep generating stuff at a break-neck pace if we are going … Continue reading Sometimes less really is more
Birds, trees, babies, and screeds
Dear President Trump, Last night Laura and a dear friend of ours were talking with me about my letters to you and they let me know (again) that the letters have been feeling long and didactic-y for a while now. They stopped short of calling them pedantic, which was nice of them, but that word … Continue reading Birds, trees, babies, and screeds
Pinky swears
Dear President Trump, Of course Elizabeth Warren knew when she knelt down to talk with the little white girl at the Iowa State Fair the cameras would be flashing and the pictures would make their way out into the wider world. I doubt, though, that she knew ahead of time she would be doing a … Continue reading Pinky swears
Sexism = Sexual/Gender Prejudice + Power
Dear President Trump, In addition to wondering what it might be like to adapt some of the People’s Institute’s Undoing Racism workshop exercises to a workshop on undoing sexism, I’ve been thinking about using the framework of the UR racism definition for sexism. You surely won’t recall that the PI’s definition of racism is as … Continue reading Sexism = Sexual/Gender Prejudice + Power
A long, heavy list
Dear President Trump, How’s your Sunday been? You’re back from vacation starting tomorrow, aren’t you? Lucky us. Not. Ok, on to way more important things. I want to develop the idea of vantage points further and tie it in with the next part of the People’s Institute’s Undoing Racism workshop that I think you need … Continue reading A long, heavy list
Long letters, fatigue, and overwhelm
Dear President Trump, I’m not sure what’s gotten into me the last few weeks (months?) with the much longer letters. I know they can be a drag and you’re probably even less likely to read them when they are longer rather than shorter, but since you don’t read them at all, I’m not going to … Continue reading Long letters, fatigue, and overwhelm
The numbing down of America
Dear President Trump, Apparently you didn’t get the memo, or the Constitutional law lesson (duh), that it’s not ok for US Presidents to “joke” about cancelling elections. You also apparently don’t know (yeah, right) that elected officials aren’t supposed to turn official gatherings, addresses, or meetings into campaign events. You’re like a child who’s constantly … Continue reading The numbing down of America
Daily Trump Letters 