I’m gonna break character here and tell y'all something. Normally, I try to remain positive and affirmative and gentle, bordering on Pollyannaish, but some days I feel different, discordant … broken. The something I want to tell you seems obvious to me. These are dark fucking times. You may quote me. The news, honestly, breaks me often. The pain and suffering. The jingoism and economic imbalance. Pleas for money so our kids can fucking eat. Campaigns that say nothing of weight or promise and only attack with a ferocity that shears my soul. I go on Facebook -- the only social network I … [Read more...]
Mental Terrorism Threatens Reform Coming from Floyd’s Death
The following is an edited transcript, used by permission, of blog contributor Mike Dorsey's most recent episode of his podcast "Black Fathers, NOW!" He prefaced his podcast by saying it was "a quick message to encourage brothers NOT to allow 'Mental Terrorism' to set in" in light of George Floyd's death by police. He continued, "Carter G. Woodson said it best, 'When you control a man's thinking, you don't have to worry about his actions.' Let's NOT let systemic white supremacy, bias and hate terrorize our minds. Use it as fuel to MAKE CHANGE!"
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The … [Read more...]Bringing Children into Post-9/11 World a Bet on a Better Future
Others can give you a more riveting account of that day. What they saw. What they felt. What they smelled. Stories that are breath-taking and heartbreaking in the same sentence. Someone living out a surreal real-life action movie. Nothing extraordinary happened to me that day – Sept. 11, 2001. I was just one of the millions of spectators. But as I cut through Union Square in Manhattan on my way to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village to give blood, I do recall one lightning bolt of a thought flash across my mind. There is no way I’m bringing a child into this world. I was … [Read more...]
A Good Talk and the Constant Search for It
The conversation started over breakfast, a thread to a tangent passed with pepper and more coffee, but it stuck like syrup in a mustache (it happens). Eventually it moved from a stranger-coveted empty table in an increasingly busy restaurant to another prolonged standstill in the parking lot, two family members dancing a tango of societal and political opinion while everyone else kicked leaves and waited for car doors to open. Then it continued in the front seat for another 20 minutes, me in the back with a 5-year-old on my right. His toy made a loud, electronic shriek, apparently forever, … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Conversations to Avoid at Family Gatherings
Thanksgiving can be a stressful holiday for many reasons, but the elections and politics of the past few years makes it more taxing than usual. Keep your sanity intact this holiday by avoiding the following Thanksgiving conversations and topics: Blue wave: Unless you are talking about your plans for a beach vacation. “Make _____ Great Again” jokes: “Pass me the gravy so I can Make This Turkey Great Again!” We get it, Grandpa Republican, we get it. Fight Club: IT'S THE FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB! Don’t talk about Fight Club. Safe spaces: Exception -- You may say, just once, "No … [Read more...]
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