President* Trump, This morning I read the WP Retropolis piece by DeNeen L. Brown entitled “Frederick Douglass Delivered A Lincoln Reality Check At Emancipation Memorial Unveiling” since there’s currently so much conflict over whether the Emancipation Memorial should be removed and I hadn’t known about this particular monument before. Seeing the pictures of it, I … Continue reading The Emancipation Memorial and coverture
Learning
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
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
Perception
“President” Trump, This morning I went to visit the “new 21st Street Buddha” – the one that lives on the porch on the west side of 21st between 73rd and 75th Avenues NE. This Buddha is super cute; it’s one of the little ones that looks like a bald toddler. It stands upright and wears … Continue reading Perception
Signs of inclusivity and generosity
Dear President Trump, We decided to mix things up this morning and instead of Laura coming out to the market on her own, the dogs and I piled in with her and I’m sitting in the car with them while she does the shopping (she’s older but my heart condition puts me at higher risk … Continue reading Signs of inclusivity and generosity
“Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Dear President Trump, This morning I had nada for you. All I could muster was the date and the salutation – I was so blank I thought I’d probably end up just writing a haiku. Well, you’re in luck because that was the then but now I have not one thing to tell you about, … Continue reading “Fixing” curves and bringing history into focus
Putting down the hot coals – very reluctantly
Dear President Trump, Our church service was super brief today, lasting all of 30 minutes – I think they set a service-speed record. There was no offering time or contemporary voice, and when combined, the two youth-led sermons maybe lasted eight minutes. Given what folks have going on, I think this is all for the … Continue reading Putting down the hot coals – very reluctantly
Piecing together connection and being
Dear President Trump, For about the last year I’ve closed my walking lovingkindness meditation with the following: May we all have the courage and the resolve to be peace and kindness. May we all have the resolve and courage to accept kindness and peace. Maybe I’ve told you about this before – I’m not sure … Continue reading Piecing together connection and being
Degrees of freedom
Dear President Trump, It isn’t often that I choose a title for a letter to you before the letter is written, but this afternoon I decided today’s title needs to be Degrees of Freedom, which really, is kind of ironic since by choosing the title ahead of time, I boxed myself in to talking about … Continue reading Degrees of freedom
May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Dear President Trump, Kathleen Parker challenges her readers (WP editorial) to consider whether what one does in relation to the covid-19 crisis is helpful. I agree this is a worthy question, but she actually frames it through the lens of doing no harm, which is really a lower bar than whether something is helpful. And … Continue reading May we not capitulate to a stupid and dangerous patience
Daily Trump Letters 