Dear President Trump, Happy Juneteenth! Are you doing anything to commemorate the day this year? Like maybe watching the House subcommittee hearings about setting up a panel to study reparations (H.R. 40; sponsor: Sheila Jackson of Texas)? It would surely be educational for you and it would sure be a more useful way for you … Continue reading Some good things are growing up through the manure
Race
“Don’t knock at my door, little child”
Dear President Trump, Remember how the other day I told you that Nichole Phillips’s next project is a book on black motherhood and mourning? Probably not. Ok, definitely not. I’m certain you don’t track what I tell you at all, which, if you were another sort of president I would think is fine because if … Continue reading “Don’t knock at my door, little child”
A boatload of racist crap
Dear President Trump, Today is Laura’s birthday. Last night after work I purchased a lovely bouquet of flowers for her that I hid until this morning. She was so sleepy first thing that she missed seeing them on the dining room table, but her smile when she did see them was wonderful. It’s not easy … Continue reading A boatload of racist crap
Clogged filters
Dear President Trump, I’ve probably told you before about my favorite introvert workday lunch routine, but in case I haven’t or it was a long time ago, I’ll tell you really quickly that it involves eating a lunch I brought from home while studiously ignoring email and reading NPR for about 20 minutes. This is … Continue reading Clogged filters
“No one breathes”
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t going to stay for service at all yesterday. The plan was to go to choir practice at 9 and leave right afterwards because there was a choir potluck later in the afternoon and I didn’t want the whole day given over to churchy stuff. The plan was going just fine … Continue reading “No one breathes”
Our increasingly fraught relationship with reality
Dear President Trump, I found it! The badge button I was telling you about yesterday was in my pocket the whole time and I found it this morning when I put on that jacket again to take the dogs out. My hands were cold standing there waiting for them and so they (my hands) went … Continue reading Our increasingly fraught relationship with reality
“Peace is Patriotic”
Dear President Trump, I generally like to set a walk or a run route in my head before I leave in the morning and usually I try to make sure it includes at least one pleasant thing to see, like a favorite tree or a Buddha statue. Well, today the plan was to go by … Continue reading “Peace is Patriotic”
Memorial Day, surrender, and “The Flag We Should Know”
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I saw the following below-the-fold-headline in the WP: “The contested Confederate roots of Memorial Day” and although I didn’t make time to read the article then, the title lodged in my brain and wiggled loose the memory of another Confederate story of a very different sort. That story appeared this past … Continue reading Memorial Day, surrender, and “The Flag We Should Know”
Marginalized voices
Dear President Trump, I told you yesterday that Laura and I took the dogs on a walking tour of the University campus to see the heron rookery. We tagged on visiting a couple of the newer buildings on campus that Laura wanted to show me with the idea that I could go in and check … Continue reading Marginalized voices
An evil, stubborn legacy
Dear President Trump, After having read her autobiography about getting both a BFA and an MFA in painting while in her 60’s, I decided to read Nell Irvin Painter’s tome “The History of White People.” I’ll admit that the other book was way more my speed. Her observations on age, gender, and race (since I … Continue reading An evil, stubborn legacy
