A Timely Recommendation

Just finished watching James Baldwin's I Am Not Your Negro again on Netflix. In this pivotal time of societal change and collective reckoning, Baldwin's words echo with a clarion call for genuine understanding, thoughtful reflection, honest assessment of our troubled past, deep compassion, and a thoughtful recognition of our need for authentic reconciliation.

A Study In Contrast

While listening to President Obama's stirring tribute to civil rights legend John Lewis earlier today we were reminded of the eloquence of his oratory, the clarity of his thought, the sharpness of his intellect, the quality of his character, the depth of his feeling, the scope of his historical vision, and the warmth of his humanity. These perceptions stand in obvious and stark contrast with the Current Occupant's hateful and divisive speech, the discursive nature of his thought, his utter lack of intellectual curiosity, the corrosive meanness of his demeanor, his conspicuous lack of compassion, his appalling ignorance of history, and his inability/unwillingness to make genuine human connection. Today's speech by Obama revealed the duel realities of how far we have descended in terms of national leadership and also what is possible in terms of the expression of authentic American values.