Dear President Biden, If you are keeping up with what’s going on in the world, you probably did check out the clip of The Linda Lindas’ performance of Racist, Sexist Boy that I told you about yesterday since it was splashed all over the place, from NPR to the Washington Post. If you did, then …
Hummingbirds and girl rockers
Dear President Biden, I know there are dozens and dozens of scary, weighty things going on in the world and maybe I’ll feel like treading into some of that territory later today, but this morning I just want to tell you about the hummingbird I saw yesterday. Hummingbird sightings are fairly common around here, especially …
Biden needs to stop mollycoddling Whites and gaslighting Blacks
Dear President Biden, I saw in the Washington Examiner that Friday morning you said the following on NBC’s Today show: “I don’t think America is racist, but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow — and before that, slavery — have had a cost.” What a shitty dance you all are doing. …
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Strides aren’t enough; we need to hold out for leaps
Dear President Biden, I’m rather in a funk today. It’s not a big deal at all – it’s just what happens when I need to buckle down and start drafting a paper that doesn’t feel straightforward to frame. I spent much of the day picking through Google Scholar trying to get a better handle on …
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The brilliance of “Tired” by Langston Hughes
Dear President Biden, I didn’t think the Chauvin verdict would come so quickly and rather than pivot now, I’m going to go with what I drafted this morning before work. But please know, I am relieved and grateful for Chauvin’s conviction on all three counts. At the same time, please know, I grieve for young …
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Braids and hearts
Dear President Biden, The center panel of the above-the-fold section of the online WP this morning holds three stories about Black men who were killed or brutalized by police. From top to bottom they include: 1) the story of Anton Wright, a 19-year old mentally ill young man who died under the weight of three …
Tons of opportunities for harm reduction
Dear President Biden, A fairly quick perusal of various articles in the WP this morning doesn’t just suggest, it definitively demonstrates that there are vast urgent opportunities to apply the harm reduction lens to our collective and individual choices. These opportunities run the gamut from police outside of Minneapolis having shot and killed 20 year-old …
Easter haiku
Dear President Biden, Our pastor, the Dr. Reverend Kelle Brown, gave one of the best sermon’s she’s ever given this morning. If you want to check it out, you can find it on our YouTube channel (go to about minute 49). Her sermon title this morning was Alive! and it inspired the following Easter haiku: …
A thriving wage for everyone
Dear President Biden, So the issue that keeps poking through and grabbing my attention when I have a quiet moment is the press conference you all had on Tuesday about equal pay for women. I read several articles about it and came away feeling a mix of emotions – hopeful, grateful, disappointed, frustrated. The genesis …
He who does not name
Dear President Biden, I’m not quite done with the alumni magazine photo spread I brought up the other day. I neglected to tell you that all of the photos are credited and the apparent genders of the photographers add another layer to the Anonymous is Still a Woman story. Again, I am only focusing on …
