The Rabbit Hole Just Got Deeper

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. 

Shop Now

Dear Bernie Supporters

Dear Bernie Supporters,

Bernie Sanders is gearing up to announce his intent to run for president in 2020. I’m not surprised, and I understand your enthusiasm. I’ve had it myself for certain candidates over the course of the forty-four years I’ve voted. He is qualified for the position and he certainly has made a positive impression on many voters, which is true of most of the Democratic candidates stepping forward. But I would like to offer a word of caution for your unbridled enthusiasm.

This is not a zero-sum game. We find ourselves in an unprecedented national crisis and our democracy and standing in the world are at risk and have already been damaged, maybe irreparably. Our most important goal is to be united against the evil represented by Donald Trump and the GOP that has put party and power before country for the last fifty years. Only a united Democratic front can fight that kind of ultimate corruption.

This is not 2016. It is not 2008. It’s not 2000 or 2004. It is not even 1972. Our country is caving to authoritarian rule, our democratic processes have been corrupted and dismantled by greed, criminal activity, stupidity, foreign influence, and systemic white supremacy, which  has regained currency and credibility in the mainstream. 

This is not the time to believe that there is only one candidate who represents the singularly correct view of what America can be. It is not the time to support only issues that directly benefit the individual like legalized marijuana or free higher education.

It is time to understand that progress is what the Democratic Party is known for. It is time to take the concept of the greater good out of the closet and dust it off. It is time to understand how the system of government works, and that even if a candidate believes he or she can change an issue or usher in progress, it takes three branches of government and the support of the American people to make it happen. And even then, not everyone is happy. It is time to renew our belief in compromise and negotiation – we can all take a page from Nancy Pelosi’s playbook. The GOP stopped the government from working since 2008 because they believe the country is only for white Americans, particularly those who are male and those who are wealthy. We have to speak out, through our votes, and let them know that is unacceptable.

We did it in 2018. We elected the most diverse Congress in the history of our country. But we cannot stop there, because even the most diverse Congress still is not representative of the demographics of all Americans. The 2020 election may well be the most important election in our lifetimes.

That means our unity is very, very important. Trump won partially because our party was divided. And you have to know that many Bernie supporters were victims of Russian-generated messages pushed into their social media newsfeeds just as Trump supporters were victims. The messages were misogynist and bashed Hillary as a candidate. Why? Because Putin did not want her to be president. She was the most qualified presidential candidate in the history of our country – more qualified than Bill and Barrack! More qualified than the candidates stepping forward for 2020 – including Joe Biden, should he decide to run. She understood the threat Russia poses in world stability and she was respected across the world by our allies and by many of our adversaries.

We still probably would have been okay in 2016, and Hillary would have been elected, since she had 2.8 million more popular votes than Trump, but the work of the GOP in creating voter suppression sealed the fate of the 2016 election. Gerrymandering and voter suppression laws made sure that the election was not fair.

Many Bernie supporters know this. They understand the process. It didn’t stop them from feeling passionate and working hard to get their candidate elected as the Democratic candidate in 2016. When he didn’t win the primary, they voted for the candidate most Democrats believed would best represent the platform, ideas and beliefs of the party of progress. They voted for Hillary.

Others, as mired in the lies spread by the Russian government and the extreme right as Trump supporters, either refused to vote or voted for third party candidates. Their choice to not vote or vote for candidates who had no chance of winning helped get us in this situation. If we had their votes, even voter suppression efforts would have failed.

There are going to be a lot of Democratic candidates coming forward. So far, many of them are very qualified to step into the White House and stop this crazy train on which America finds itself trapped. We have to be open to their messages. We have to make sure we don’t fall back on old paradigms of white and male supremacy. We have to make a pact that all campaigns will be about platforms and issues, and not devolve into negative and attack campaigns. We have to understand that most Democrats, even the more moderate ones, are seeking progress and equality for our country. The issue that often divides us is that white privilege is as alive and well in our party as it is in America in general and in the GOP specifically. We have to check our privilege and bias. Our diversity is our strength!

Bernie Sanders promised not to conduct a negative campaign in 2016, and I believed him. I’ve been a Bernie advocate since the early 1990s. I’ve watched his rise as an independent Senator who caucuses with the Democrats. He and I agree on many of the issues and we both sit pretty far left. We old, lifelong progressives are idealistic and believe in equality, and we fight hard for it. But something happened to Bernie in 2015 and 2016. He could taste the power, just as Trump could taste the power. Neither one originally expected to win. Bernie threw in his hat because he felt Democrats should have a choice. As the primary got closer to the finish, he did engage in negative campaigning, and I found it hurtful personally and to the unity of the Democratic party. Of course, Hillary did the same in 2008. And I felt both Bernie and Hillary were late in conceding defeat. Both threw their support to the winning candidate, as they should have. Most Hillary supporters moved their support to Barrack, but some Bernie supporters didn’t care that he supported Hillary. They were never-Hillary voters. We can’t do that again. It hurt us. It aided in dragging us fifty years backwards into our history, not helped to push us forward.

So when twenty-four or thirty candidates step forward to run in the primary, do your research, listen to them speak at rallies, listen to the debates, read their white papers on issues, make sure you only read articles from the real and unbiased media, pick your best candidate, and vote for him or her. That is your inalienable right as a citizen of this country. But if your candidate doesn’t win, do the right thing. You can still fight for progress. You can still look to reach your ideal. Vote for the candidate that will defeat the GOP. And that is true for Senate seats and Congressional seats and state legislature seats and governor seats and municipal seats. We can only progress when we agree that equality and unity are our mandates – every American has the inalienable right to experience America like white male Americans do now and every American should have access to a living wage job, fair and decent housing, safe neighborhoods, affordable healthcare, good and safe schools, and affordable higher education – and  the GOP has clearly shown they believe in neither equality nor unity; they believe in the power of the dollar and in the myth of supremacy. 

Everyone deserves a voice in America, even the individuals we don’t agree with. There is plenty of room and resources for all of us. Letting everyone have a voice sometimes means we don’t get what we think is best or we don’t like the way policy is implemented, but if we remember equality and unity at all times and use them to guide us, we might understand that the process and the path to progress may look different but we can still arrive at the same place in the end.

And here’s the other thing: we older progressives fought hard won battles for equality in school, in the home, in the workplace and out in society. We served as, in my case,  a union steward, a lobbyist for affordable childcare, and an advocate. Our hard work and ability to make change make it easy for a young woman today to say that feminism never did a thing for her. That young woman doesn’t know the history and doesn’t realize whose shoulders she stands on when she makes a statement like that. The statement doesn’t make me angry, it makes me believe we need to educate our young Americans so they know the full story of our history of equality in this country and across the world – the truth really does hurt, but we can learn from it and vow not to repeat it, as we are doing today when babies are snatched from their mothers’ arms and put in detention centers.   

I would have proudly cast my vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016 had he won the primary, and I will proudly cast my vote for him if he wins this time or for whoever else garners the most Democratic votes and support. I don’t have a favorite yet, and I am excited about the level of possible candidates stepping forward. I hope you feel the same way, because the candidates are qualified and the field is strong, and though we have our personal favorites, we have to remember what is at stake. Use your vote and your voice thoughtfully.

Sincerely,

A lifelong progressive and Democrat

PS These are just two of the letters I have written to newspaper editors in my adult life. I often use the written word as my instrument of advocacy. The second letter urging for a change in the city school district gifted program selection process prompted several anonymous phone calls that bordered on threatening. It wouldn't be the first or last time my message of equality was received negatively, but I won't give up, and I hope you won't, too. There are many ways to advocate for progress and there is no shortage of issues in our country that require hard work, enthusiasm, and passion to make them better.

Letter to the Editor, The Daily Orange, circa 1978

Letter to the Editor, Syracuse Post Standard, circa 1990