“Yes, I was beaten, left bloody and unconscious. But I never became bitter or hostile, never gave up. I believe that somehow and some way if it becomes necessary to use our bodies to help redeem the soul of the nation, then we must do it.”
In Memoriam: John Lewis, 1940 – 2020
Filed under History
A school principal shared some thoughts with Betsy Devos, U.S. Secretary of Education, in a video shared by Bored Teachers. The 2-minute video synopsizes the heroic efforts that teachers took on when the pandemic hit and how Devos needs to “sit down somewhere” and just listen. In fact, that’s the best advice we can give to any political figure – especially those like Devos and others in the Trump Administration who sit in their gilded cages in the ivory towers of wealth and privilege; far removed from the chaos and drama of REAL lives.
Teachers like this gentleman stand at the front lines in the brutal world of education and are now faced with the very real threat of illness and death, as the Trump gang threatens to pull education funding from states that don’t open their schools next month for the start of the new academic year.
Filed under News
Ironically, this line of Goya products on Trump’s Oval Office desk is the only Mexican wall Trump has successfully built.
Filed under News
After an erroneous tweet doubting COVID-19 infection and death rates, former game show host Chuck Woolery revealed his son has tested positive for the virus. He has since deleted his entire account.
Filed under News
“I mean, why would Soros pay for DAs, other than to undermine our government?”
– Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney for President Donald Trump, blaming the billionaire Democratic donor for the ongoing Congressional investigation of Trump’s tax returns.
Giuliani had essentially admitted Trump was no longer under audit, as the president had claimed for years. “There should be some finality in tax returns,” Giuliani added. “In other words, we get audited, we make a deal, we pay the government, you don’t come after me forever for that.”
Filed under News
“What a terrible question to ask. So are White people. More White people, by the way.”
– President Donald Trump, in response to a question by Catherine Herridge of CBS News of why African-Americans still dying at the hands of law enforcement in the U.S.
Statistics show that while more white Americans are killed by the police overall, people of color are killed at higher rates. A federal study that examined lethal force used by police in 17 states from 2009 to 2012 found that a majority of victims were white, but the victims were disproportionately Black. African-Americans had a fatality rate at the hands of police officers that was 2.8 times as high as that of white people.
Filed under News
“In the midst of a global pandemic, states were forced to play some sort of sick ‘Hunger Games’ game show to save the lives of our people. Let me be clear: This is not a reality TV show. These are real things that are happening in the United States of America in 2020.”
– Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), condemning how states have been forced to compete for vital resources amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filed under News
Most straight women will agree with this title.
One of my best friends, Pablo, and I have one of those unique friendships. I think he’s think; he thinks I’m built like a Greek god.
But, like most men, we consider ourselves dogs. I do tricks, and he sits up and begs for it.
Filed under Wolf Tales
Age has its ramifications. Earlier today, as I left a store and approached my truck, I tripped on a dead cockroach – the summer Texas is merciless on all of God’ creatures – and slammed head-on into the front of my vehicle. It’s a sturdy, high-level 2006 Dodge Ram. So the damn thing hurt!
A young man rushed over and asked if I was okay.
“Sure”, I told him. “Not baaaaad.”
Filed under Wolf Tales
It’s finally happening! The Washington Redskins national football team has decided to change their name by eliminating the term “redskins”. This is a moment for which the Indigenous American community has been striving for years. It comes at a time of national soul-searching for the United States – a period nearly a quarter of the way into the 21st century where we are at long last coming to terms with a lifetime of racial injustice and inequality.
The alteration didn’t come from a moment of sudden spiritual enlightenment from team owner Dan Snyder who had said many years ago that a name change was out of the question; adding: “NEVER – you can use caps.”
Never say never, Danny boy!
Snyder bowed to social and economic pressures. Several major corporations that have sponsored a variety of professional sports teams in the U.S. for years had vowed to pull their support if Washington didn’t change its name. When you grab someone by the financial gonads, they’ll follow you with hearts and minds.
But society is also changing. Despite the old guard claims that it’s “just a game”, American consciousness has seen that proverbial light in the darkness and gone towards it. NASCAR, for example, recently banned Confederate flags from its events; a move that has upset many White southerners. Again, the old guard is losing its grip on cultural relevance.
The word “redskin” is equivalent to slurs like nigger, gook, spic, fag, or politician. It’s seriously debasing and relegates the Western Hemisphere’s native peoples to a skin tone (which many don’t actually have) as well as to a sub-human category. In all fairness, some people of Native American ancestry don’t care either way. They don’t view the term as derogatory or racist. It’s just a word. Of course, it is! So is genocide.
Washington is now at a moniker crossroads. Obviously, they’ll keep the name Washington. But what to add to it? Some have suggested “Warriors” or “Red Tails”; the latter a reference to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) servicemen during World War II who went disregarded and underappreciated for decades.
I recommend the term “Monuments”. It’s a direct recognition of the Washington Monument, but it’s also a reference to the structure’s form and size. You know – a large, tall, long, hard, phallic-shaped emblem. Since football is such a macho sport, I feel it’s appropriate.
Regardless of whatever name Washington adopts, the time is way past due. And there’s simply no turning back. Time doesn’t stop and it doesn’t retract. It always moves forward. So should we all.
Filed under Essays
