Dear President Trump, Following on from yesterday’s letter about history and privilege and how we are finally getting some traction with new, corrective history, today was pretty much a banner day. First, earlier today the US House passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act 410-4, making lynching a federal hate crime (for the record these four … Continue reading Righteous prohibitions
Human Rights
In death as in life
Dear President Trump, A few months ago I told you about having devoured all of the biographies in my K-8 library about women generally and men of color as a kid, but I don’t think I’ve told you how much I enjoy reading the WP obituaries about people from these demographic groups (along with a … Continue reading In death as in life
May we vote as if our lives depend on it
Dear President Trump, Last night at about 8 Laura went to the grocery. There weren’t all that many items on the shopping list, but chief among them was Kozy Shack Tapioca or some other Kozy Shack pudding product – it had been a long, fairly rough day and some caloric comfort was a priority. Well, … Continue reading May we vote as if our lives depend on it
One-man mess maker
Dear President Trump, How is it for you when you travel or you are on vacation (or both)? Do you stick with your routines – get up at the same time as usual, eat the same stuff, get the same amount of exercise? I’m guessing that for you, the answers are largely “yes”, though you … Continue reading One-man mess maker
Symbols
Dear President Trump, I took today off to have a breather between the Christmas holiday week and starting back to work tomorrow and it was definitely a good call. We got some computer stuff figured out this morning (really, Laura got it figured out – I just lent a bit of moral support), we got … Continue reading Symbols
Locked away in a manger
Dear President Trump, We all got up way too early this morning. The dogs get to lounge around all day so they’ll be fine, but it’s probably going to be rough for Laura and me. I did take a walk first thing and that may help; mobilizing for an early morning walk usually lets me … Continue reading Locked away in a manger
Layers of existential threat
Dear President Trump, This morning as I headed home near the end of my walk I saw a coyote loping down the street. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you about previous coyotes sightings so the fact of coyotes roaming the streets around here isn’t brand new news. What is new is that this one was … Continue reading Layers of existential threat
Abuse of power, abusive power
Dear President Trump, I know a fair bit happened with the impeachment process today and that you made an ass of yourself in Europe this week, but I’m not going to focus on either of these things today. Instead I want to tell you about three recent encounters with sexism. The first was yesterday on … Continue reading Abuse of power, abusive power
History lessons
Dear President Trump, In the midst of all my imagining of a democratic society that finally fully embraces empowerment for all of America’s diverse peoples, it occurred to me that I needed a better historical handle on what motivated White men to enfranchise Black men and then eventually men to enfranchise women. All I knew … Continue reading History lessons
Revolutionary evolution
Dear President Trump, The Poem-a-Day this morning is by Todd Fredson and is entitled [Erratum: Found Ecology Piece], the brackets being part of the title (you can read it here if you want: https://poets.org/poem-a-day/ for today’s date). It’s a short poem and seems simple enough, but it’s had me thinking hard all day. It’s nominally … Continue reading Revolutionary evolution