President* Trump, This morning I was reading a WP editorial by Colbert King about the covid-19 small business grant debacle when I noticed that the embedded video offering was an interview with Nell Irvin Painter about the importance of capitalizing the word “White” when referencing “White” people. Even though I’ve lately gotten more used to … Continue reading Whiteness and white freedom
History
It’s a new day in the People’s House
President* Trump, I’m so grateful the event that occasioned the unprecedented hour in the House of Representatives this morning calling out misogyny was not AOC’s murder by a crazed, bigoted misogynist (or Ayanna Pressley’s or Ilhan Omar’s or Pramila Jayapal’s or Rashida Tlaib’s or Debbie Wasserman Schulz’s or Barbara Lee’s or Nancy Pelosi’s) – so, … Continue reading It’s a new day in the People’s House
POTUS is public enemy #1
President* Trump, Well, I just finished reading a too-large handful of articles and editorials all about how dire the covid-19 situation is and how jacked your leadership (and you) are. Serious downers, all. It doesn’t even help to see the jeer-worthy material about you boasting that you could answer the last five questions on the … Continue reading POTUS is public enemy #1
Grains of salt and seeds to water
President* Trump, I was talking with a Black friend today about her dismay over so many white people coming out of the woodwork wanting to hop on the antiracism bandwagon now when the exact same life and death issues were happening for Black and brown people four months ago, four years ago, etc. Her “Where … Continue reading Grains of salt and seeds to water
Taxes, death, and bad karma
President* Trump, Paying taxes has always been fraught given how much of our national budget goes to support the military, the pittance that goes to support the real, practical needs of our people and our planet, and the paltry share that’s provided by corporations and wealthy people. Most years I’m able to focus on the … Continue reading Taxes, death, and bad karma
The Queer Eye lottery and reparations
President* Trump, I seriously doubt it, but it’s possible you’re a closet Queer Eye fan. If you are, then you’ve probably seen Season 5, Episode 2 featuring Rahanna Gray, a dear 27-year old African American Philadelphian who owns a dog grooming business. Just so you know, I’m pretty much going to explain how the show … Continue reading The Queer Eye lottery and reparations
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?
Stories can change the course of history
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
Declaring independence
President* Trump, I told you some months back that I planned to embroider the Declaration of Independence so that I can print from it and today seems like an appropriate day to give you an update. I still have about another week’s worth of work to do but I’m finally at the really good part … Continue reading Declaring independence
Harriet Hosmer ~ marble maker and trailblazer
President* Trump, Yesterday’s letter meandered quite a bit more than I anticipated and so I decided to hold off on telling you about Harriet Hosmer (b. 1830, d. 1908), whose design for the Emancipation Memorial was strongly considered but in the end lost out to Thomas Ball, he of the towering Lincoln over the kneeling … Continue reading Harriet Hosmer ~ marble maker and trailblazer