2 June 2020

A light day at the day job. More work on the new novella coming out in July for mailing list subscribers. Pruned roses, planted seeds.

The country is burning down all around me, and I feel like all I have to fight the fire with is a damp sponge. A daunting task. Here’s the thing, though: a damp sponge may be small, but it can be reused again and again. If you don’t even have a damp sponge, friend, it’s time to start spitting.

I observed yesterday that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Here’s where my first steps are going. It’s a thoughtfully cultivated list of resources to help white people understand the lived experiences of people of color, African-Americans in particular. Some of these things I have read, seen, or listened to in the past, but lots of it is new.

Today I watched this. I hope you will, too.

“This is us. If we’re going to get past this, we can’t blame it on him [Trump]. He’s a manifestation of the ugliness that’s in us…Either we’re going to change. . .or we’re going to do this again and again. And babies are going to have to grow up without mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, friends, while we’re trying to convince white folk to finally leave behind a history that will maybe, maybe—or embrace a history—that might set them free from being white. Finally. Finally.”

Eddie Glaude, Ph.D.