From the New Yorker story:
“One of the things Helen’s story really showed us is that the Trump Administration never stopped separating children from their families,” Morales Rocketto said. “In fact, they’ve doubled down, but it’s even more insidious now, because they are doing it in the cover of night.”
This is what Republicans have created, a nation that willfully destroys the lives of families with young children. The GOP stands profoundly against life.
Roxane Gay writes thoughtfully about what justice would look like for cases of sexual abuse in Louis C.K. and Men Who Think Justice Takes as Long as They Want It To.
We need to have a continuing public debate about what justice looks like for victims of sexual abuse. It does not look like whatever the offenders think it does.
I found this lesson fun, clever and thoughtful. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it too.
Humans at their best. Thank you to these women for bringing some much needed beauty into the world.
Refusing to help refugees or treat immigrants well is a declaration that your life matters and the lives of the vulnerable don’t, solely because you had the fortune to be born in the US and they did not. It’s an absurdly lazy and unjustifiable reason for hating or excluding someone, so you’ll see evil people justify it by declaring the entire group of people to be morally corrupt and a threat to our way of life while those who want to think of themselves as good people will do all manner of mental gymnastics to convince themselves and others in their tribe that there are good reasons for not helping the vulnerable.
The wisdom in this graphic seems obvious, but I’m guilty of violating it and I know from experience it’s common for others to do so. It’s worth tucking this observation in the back of your mind to help you encourage someone who’s struggling when they take a step in the right direction.
It’s wonderful to see this young woman speaking from a place of strength and wisdom. She and those like her will create a better world for all of us.
Source: The story behind 11-year-old Naomi Wadler and her March for Our Lives speech
Harriet Tubman is a true badass woman and enduring symbol of greatness.
The Washington Post notes that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has apparently decided not to replace the portrait of slave owner and mass murderer Andrew Jackson with that of the great Harriet Tubman on the US $20 bill. Mnuchin and the rest of this racist administration are part of a dying ideology, and great human beings like Tubman will overcome this hatred and have the last word.
Toxic Masculinity is a very real and dangerous problem in the United States. This comic explains the idea and provides a compelling example of the effects of toxic masculinity on the author’s life.
I appreciate the symbolism of the United States flag and national anthem, and I do my best to respect them because I love the ideas and values they represent, but we’re often guilty of mistaking the symbol for what it represents. The United States is full of people flying and wearing the American flag, treating it with reverence and demanding that others do the same, while their hearts are full of hatred, selfishness, and a refusal to recognize anyone outside their tribe as American.
Respect for flags, anthems, and other symbols neither ensures nor prevents respect for people. We can certainly respect both, but we should teach our children that respect and support for human life is the goal of these symbols. I’ve noticed that regressives tend to obsess on symbols to the exclusion of actual human beings, and that this is likely a mechanism that allows regressives to revere an object (the symbol) while avoiding the much harder task of engaging with and supporting subjects (human and non-human life). This focus supports the objectification of people considered outside the tribe and thereby enables tribalism itself.