flummery

“We cannot afford your stupidity.” – Joshua Doss I try to avoid calling people stupid. Especially people I disagree with. Particularly Black people I disagree with. At least “publicly.” But what else can you call Black support for the GOP at this point? From the Google: [“Stupid” describes a lack of intelligence, common sense, or good judgment, often characterized by slow i or foolish,…

(Text of a talk given in February of 2021 to The Livingston Diversity Council) With calls again for “going back to normal” I think it’s time for a repost. The very real concerns for public health aside, I’m making the case to move forward – away from “normal” – not back. In large due to fact that we really don’t have a true accounting of how we go here. After 4 explosive years under our last…

Matthew 6:34 NIV[34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Romans 15:1-2 NIV[1] We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. [2] Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. The last 3 years have been a constant litany of things that I did not…

My first recollection of Rev. Jackson is some version of this speech Not so revolutionary now but a big deal to a child who really didn’t see himself reflected in the larger culture. It taught me that my worth didn’t depend on where I was born or who I was born to but rather on the mere fact that I was alive. That I didn’t “earn” basic respect. That it was due me. By the same token I had to…

Both of my parents were incredible storytellers. My mom spins parables, wringing insightful meaning from the most mundane circumstances. My dad was a fantasist who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I loved the tales he told but I took them with a grain of salt. So when he asserted that “You know that the Lone Ranger was a Black man, right?” I rolled my eyes. Even though I’ve…

One of my favorite pieces of family lore revolves around my great-grandfather, Robert, called Shack, who purportedly was one of the most successful bootleggers in West Tennessee during Prohibition. His son, my great uncle, also called Robert, loved to brag that Shack was never caught plying his trade. Shack often boasted that he never worked an honest day in his life, supporting his family in…

The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you. Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.” – James Baldwin In November of 2021 10-year-old Isabella Faith Tichenor, a Black middle schooler enrolled…