Sometimes life feels like a lawn tractor mowing me down. I feel it now, and it is painful! Life gets complicated! The news of the Mueller Report and other trump administration missteps and blunders keeps me awake at night.
But I also worked hard into the evenings and early mornings for many months, despite some personal life issues, to release a new version of my book. It has a new title, updates, new personal stories, expanded stories, and questions for discussion so that readers really can join the conversation about race in America. Look for it on Amazon. It should be on Barnes & Noble soon. It is now titled Another Day in Post-Racial America: To the Mothers of the Black Lives Matter Movement, With Love. With hope, it will no longer be placed among books about motherhood and parenting, but where it belongs, among books that talk about racism in America. But, so far, it is slow going. People who reviewed the first edition don’t want to reread it (I understand, and I thank the readers who did), and with all that is going on in people’s lives, finding new reviewers has been difficult. Independently published books live and die by the number of reviews (whether positive or negative), so if you do order my book, and I hope you will, I also hope you will give it an honest review to make sure it appears in search lists. Thank you in advance, and thank you for joining the conversation about race in America in this time of mainstream white supremacy. I would be honored to facilitate a book club or classroom discussion via Skype. Contact me in the comments section if you are interested.
The Mueller Report was released, kind of. Attorney General Barr did his best to obstruct, acting as the president’s personal lawyer and not in his role as the people’s lawyer. Finally, he released a redacted version, but we need to know ALL the details and see ALL the documentation as well as the president’s tax returns. Our government is so corrupt under this administration, we are at risk of losing the very foundation of our country: democracy. The Democrats are infighting over whether or not to proceed with impeachment, worrying it will hurt the results of the 2020 election. The GOP can only clap their hands at how many conservative judges they are placing on benches, so they have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to all of the president’s grift and criminality. So, we are left with the most corrupt president in the history of our country, who now feels there is no consequence, no matter how far he strays from the rule of law. The consequences to our country may be irreparable.
I believe we are on the path to impeachment, but I also agree that we should not be hasty. We must have all the documentation and the testimony of Mueller and many of the witnesses named in the report. The country must understand the severity of this man's actions. 2020 will be here sooner than later, and the Russians and other foreign adversaries are ready and able to repeat their flagrant election interference. The president is unfit for the job, and, honestly, his lack of a moral compass should land him jail time. I still have hope our government system will work as originally designed.
I also believe we must pass laws that ensure election districting is nonpartisan, and we need to eliminate voter suppression through the reenactment of and recommitment to the Voter Rights Act, where the Federal government can intervene if states suppress the vote. We must encourage every person to register to vote and to get out and vote. Otherwise, our voices will be silenced. And, finally, we must look closely at the Electoral College and investigate its possible closure and rely on the popular vote. It will be a lengthy process and cannot hope to impact the 2020 election.
As of April 22, 2019, nineteen Democratic candidates have thrown their hats into the primary ring. Joe Biden is expected to join them this week. The field may still grow even after that. The pool is full of qualified, dedicated individuals who have committed their lives to public service. The youngest and least qualified may be Pete Buttigieg, but he has shown courage in the face of truth, brought other relevant experience to the table, and I haven’t discounted him. He has captured the interest of millennials, too. But I am hoping that all the white males who are running understand that even if they are equal in qualification, as a country, it is important to look most closely at women and ethnic minority candidates. It is past time, decades past time, where all Americans can feel fully represented by our elected officials, particularly the position of president. We are not just a country of white men, and our elected officials should look like the citizens they represent. I know, people will jump on me for even mentioning this kind of thought process. It won’t be the first time. But our government should reflect our populace. Even with the election of the most diverse Congress in the history of our country, it is still not reflective of who we are. We should not, as I say in my book, be a majority minority country ruled by a wealthy, white male ruling class. That is not what we aspire to when we speak of our greatest ideal, that we are all equal, so I hope voters will recognize the importance of having our elected officials look like our citizens and be individuals who can understand the unique needs of different constituents and be able to honor their narratives that are so often smothered beneath the white male patriarchy. If we succeed at that, we can all experience equality and enjoy a better quality of life.
So, yes, the rabbit hole has gotten deeper, and darker, and scarier, but I haven’t given up yet, and I hope you won’t, too. Write to your elected officials about the issues that matter to you and about whether or not you support impeachment or some other action like censure, make sure you are registered to vote, watch the town hall meetings and debates, and make your best, most informed decision. Then support whoever the candidate ends up being. We need to change course in 2020.
And, please, learn about race in America and the way it impacts citizens of color. It is so important that the country understands the systemic racism and sexism under which our governance is operating. Joining the conversation means that, together, we can change the narrative and climb out of the rabbit hole.
