Month: June 2020

Read The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic)
Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
I’m both glad and terribly sad to see this six year old article trending in the top 10 articles in The Atlantic right now.

I’m reading it for the reasons that most may be. I’m also specifically reading it (in the dead dark of night) in commemoration of of the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre today.

We definitely need to start a broader discussion about our social and moral conundrum or we’re doomed to continue the same stupid cycle we’ve been experiencing for centuries now. We’re America. We’re better and smarter than this.

This was definitely a long read, so for those who may not have the time, there’s an audio/podcast version you can listen to:

debt peonage ❧

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peon

Annotated on May 31, 2020 at 11:51PM

In Cold War America, homeownership was seen as a means of instilling patriotism, and as a civilizing and anti-radical force. “No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist,” claimed William Levitt, who pioneered the modern suburb with the development of the various Levittowns, his famous planned communities. “He has too much to do.”But the Levittowns were, with Levitt’s willing acquiescence, segregated throughout their early years. ❧

I’d never heard of the background of these Levittowns, but I’m not super surprised to recall that Bill O’Reilly’s family apparently moved to Levittown, Long Island in 1951. It explains a missing piece I had in his background.

Annotated on June 01, 2020 at 12:53AM

But I believe that wrestling publicly with these questions matters as much as—if not more than—the specific answers that might be produced. An America that asks what it owes its most vulnerable citizens is improved and humane. An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future. More important than any single check cut to any African American, the payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the childhood myth of its innocence into a wisdom worthy of its founders. ❧

Annotated on June 01, 2020 at 01:46AM

Vox headlines a post on reparations with “Whitelist”

Dear Vox, It’s bad enough that you’re actually using the word “whitelist” but to have it headlining this particular article seems especially egregious. Maybe you could use better framing like “allowlist” or “denylist” instead?

Screencapture of a Vox article about reparations with a pop up ad warning that reads “HERE’S HOW TO WHITELIST VOX”.
Watched PBS NewsHour June 1, 2020 from PBS
Monday on the NewsHour, unrest spreads across the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Plus: What reporters are seeing on the ground, the role of law enforcement during protests, systemic issues of race and privilege in the U.S. and the long roots of racial tension in Minneapolis.
Replied to a thread by Katherine Moss and geonz (Twitter)
These could be good reasons to join a Homebrew Website Club meeting coming up. Help, support, and brainstorming conversation within a group to make it easier? Everyone’s welcome!
Watched "I Love Lucy" The Business Manager from CBS
Directed by William Asher. With Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley. After Lucy gets several months behind in all the bills, Ricky hires a no-nonsense business manager who puts her on a strict budget. Lucy comes up with a scheme to get some extra money that soon has her rolling in cash.
Episode included a reference to Diamond Jim Brady who I’d never heard of. Interesting that he had died in the late teens and was well enough to earn a mention in this episode.
Watched "The West Wing" Bartlet's Third State of the Union from Netflix
Directed by Christopher Misiano. While a live TV show is broadcast from the West Wing following the State of the Union, the staff must covertly deal with a hostage situation in Colombia. CJ learns that a special guest at the state of the union has a black mark on his record that could taint the administration. Ainsley Hayes is afraid to meet the President in person.
Watched "The West Wing" Ellie from Netflix
Directed by Michael Engler. The surgeon general makes some controversial comments about marijuana, leading to an attack by family values groups and an unsolicited comment by Bartlet's middle daughter, Ellie, to Danny Concannon that her father wouldn't fire the s.g. The president summons Ellie from med school in Baltimore to the W.H., and we learn that she, unlike her parents and sisters, is shy and reticent, and has always ...
Watched "The West Wing" Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail from Netflix
Directed by Jessica Yu. On this year's "Big Block of Cheese Day", a college friend of Donna's asks Sam to help her get her late grandfather, accused of being a Communist spy inside the U.S. government, a presidential pardon; dealing with the recent revelation that his father had been having an affair for the past 27 years, Sam faces off with an F.B.I. agent, and later with Nancy McNally, over the pardon. Elsewhere, a ...
Always one of my favorite episodes for some reason…
Watched Every Little Step (2008) from IMDb
Directed by Adam Del Deo, James D. Stern. With Bob Avian, Justin Bellero, Michael Bennett, Jay Binder. Follows the plight of real-life dancers as they struggle through auditions for the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line". Also investigates the history of the show and the creative minds behind the original and current incarnations.
I’m reminded of days full of crazy actors… Some interesting tidbits of broadway history hiding in here though.