Donald, This anxious waiting for whether/when the next big surge of violent insurrection is going to hit seems pretty similar to what it’s like when there are hurricane warnings. ~ Is it going to make landfall?~ Will it hit where I am?~ Will the winds really be THAT strong?~ Will the levies hold?~ What’s the … Continue reading And he led his people astray
Humility
Robert Trump and rocky ground
President* Trump, I wish I could be unreserved in extending my condolences to you in the wake of your brother, Robert’s death. I do feel sad for you and for the rest of your family and his friends. We’re coming up on the two-year anniversary this week of my brother-in-law’s death and I still think … Continue reading Robert Trump and rocky ground
Spanish language breakthroughs, very tall flowers, wonder, and bird drama
President* Trump, Maybe I’ve missed bunches of other such WP articles, but this morning is the first time I noticed an article presented in Spanish. It’s the editorial by Dan Balz about how Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his VP running mate is both historical and the safe one, which appeared (and I read) … Continue reading Spanish language breakthroughs, very tall flowers, wonder, and bird drama
Two small things
President* Trump, Just two small things for today’s letter…. The first has to do with what happened on my way home from my morning walk. I was coming up alongside the high school down the street when I saw a construction worker coming towards me on the sidewalk about a block away. I knew he … Continue reading Two small things
Getting to know our discomfort zones
President* Trump, I’ve been toggling back and forth between two books on my Kindle – Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be An Antiracist and Glennon Doyle’s Untamed. So far it’s been a pretty invigorating pairing as both authors are strong writers and they are adept at using first-person narrative and family stories to illustrate their … Continue reading Getting to know our discomfort zones
Do no harm
President* Trump, Exactly a month ago today a friend from church introduced several of us in our neighborhood group to the work of Meera Mohan-Graham, who describes herself as a QPOC photographer, artist, coach, and writer focusing on “giving voice to complex identities and journeys.” He shared a link to a blog post that Mohan-Graham … Continue reading Do no harm
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
Aspiring to “always make new mistakes”
President* Trump, I don’t know whether what I’m going to try and articulate today will end up being coherent enough to send you (which, really is sort of silly given how low the bar is to match your coherence when you’re at your absolute best, but I do have standards for myself and I’m not … Continue reading Aspiring to “always make new mistakes”
This is not the best we can do
President* Trump, So my starting-out typo tonight is that I accidentally entered 3030 for the date, which occasioned a very quick string of very conflicting feelings and thoughts; a spike of angsty adrenaline signaling that I’m not very confident that humanity is going to be around in 3030, a brief “serves us right” thought, chased … Continue reading This is not the best we can do
Words matter, a lot
President* Trump, Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I realized that I closed out yesterday’s letter to you in a highly problematic way, one that betrays my implicit racial biases that, unfortunately, run parallel to the WP editors I called out earlier in the week. Here is the offending text: “This tree … Continue reading Words matter, a lot
