Donald, The Anti-racism Daily newsletter that pops into my inbox every morning around 3am provided excerpts from and links to five of Dr. King’s speeches: Letters from a Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963)Beyond Vietnam (April 4, 1967)The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement (September 1, 1967)The Other America (March 14, 1968)I’ve … Continue reading On this MLK Day most Whites are still only scratching the surface of racism
Prejudice
May we stop accepting half-measures
Donald, One of the things I’ve learned to do since Laura and I’ve both been working from home is to listen to music using my ear buds when she’s either teaching her class or in zoom meetings. Previously I wasn’t one to listen to music while working, but it turns out that it’s really helpful … Continue reading May we stop accepting half-measures
The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
To: The Disgraced Leader of US Well, of course the jury will be out for quite some time on whether the bones of this place, this pseudo democracy (messed up as it is by mega-money and abuses of power) are good and strong enough to bother rehabilitating around. The answer to that overwhelming question almost … Continue reading The MAGA-merica fever dream is breaking
Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
To: The Wrecking Ball This morning our good friend sent me of Maggie Smith’s wonderful, hard, sobering poem “Good Bones” in response to yesterday’s letter. Here’s a link to the poem on her blog: http://waxwingmag.org/items/Issue9/28_Smith-Good-Bones.php. I’m 99% sure I’ve told you about this poem before, but it was a long time ago so I’ll remind … Continue reading Maybe the bones aren’t so good after all
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it still doesn’t lead to just indictments of killer cops
To: The Race Baiter I’m still reading Jill Lepore’s tome “These Truths: A History of The United States.” I’m all of 24% through it and have about 31 hours left to go. It’s fascinating and devastating, in equal measure. I keep coming across quotes and circumstances from 150 or 200 years ago that feel like … Continue reading A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it still doesn’t lead to just indictments of killer cops
Federal executions
To: The Executioner Ok, so the Electoral voters have spoken – you are out, Biden is in. You are out. Biden is in. It’s tempting to just repeat those two huge little sentences over and over for the entire letter – I bet it would look kind of cool from a graphic standpoint. Unfortunately, though, … Continue reading Federal executions
The power of apology
To: Jacinda Ardern’s Opposite The last couple of weeks I’ve been noticing an uptick in typos in the WP. I noted the issue about a year ago when there was a flurry of them and then they went away (at least in the articles I read), but they’re back. Here’s this morning’s example: “Ardern acknowledged … Continue reading The power of apology
Anti-historical America
To: The Anti-historian Supreme Since the calendar has finally turned to December, does that mean you only have 14 more days to cash in on your peeps, what with the final Electoral College votes set to be cast on the 14th? Or are you going to somehow keep the charade going up to 1/20/21? Or … Continue reading Anti-historical America
So many types of fancy houses and so little diversity
To: The Big League Champion of White Privilege Since I’m finding that however it is that I decide to greet you ends up driving what I write about, I’m going to jump in to the stuff that’s been on my mind – and heart – the last few days and will circle back later to … Continue reading So many types of fancy houses and so little diversity
Tubman $20’s
President* Trump, Yesterday Laura came back from her walk with the biggest apple I’ve ever seen. It looks like a Honeycrisp on steroids – I think it’s about 50% bigger than a big one of those apples. She found it on the ground and somehow it isn’t bruised and there aren’t any worm holes or … Continue reading Tubman $20’s
Daily Trump Letters 