April 27, 2021 Allen City Council: Racism was the name of the game at the most recent meeting. It started with a delightful man spending his 3 minutes of public speaking time using racist dog whistles to complain about the protest in Allen against the murder of Marvin Scott III. He trotted out oldies but goodies, like protesters being a “public nuisance” comprised of “outside agitators” and that “we” pay for these streets. Just who is this “we” he’s talking about? My business is in Allen, so I pay taxes there but he’s certainly not speaking for me! This upstanding …
Collin County Politics: When Citizens Speak
April 11, 2021 Commissioner’s Court: Last week was the third meeting within a month in which Commissioner Cheryl Williams didn’t attend. If she’s too ill, her employers (aka we the people) need to know. Commissioners make a very good salary for what I can only assume is minimal work (given current commissioner performance), so the least they can do is show up. Any other job would put her on a Performance Improvement Plan. All we can do is vote her out, so please support the campaign of Scott Coleman who’s running against her in 2022. Seven patriotic citizens showed up …
Watching Hillary Helped Me Understand America
Part 3: Lessons from Hillary Part 1: From Bad Ass to Punching Bag Part 2: Candidate Hillary The immediate aftermath of the 2016 election almost broke me. I was a mess watching Hillary’s concession speech. Not only was I upset over the outcome of the election but I was extremely distressed for her. How can she be so strong, I wondered (not for the first time). It seemed so unfair she had to console everyone else when she had to be dying inside. Watching it the second time via the docuseries wasn’t much better. Even though I now know what happened, …
Watching Hillary Helped Me Understand America
Part 2: Candidate Hillary Part 1: From Bad Ass to Punching Bag While I’d been around for the Clinton presidency, I wasn’t as familiar with Hillary’s history prior to that. There were many things I didn’t know. For one thing, prior to Hillary’s candidacy, she’d been perceived as a radical liberal. She’d fought hard against this label as people tend to be suspicious of those of us who want to transform the system (yes, I’m being sarcastic; why do you ask?). That’s why it was ironic when the media painted her as a centrist, establishment candidate. In other words, every …
Watching Hillary Helped Me Understand America
Part 1: From Bad Ass to Punching Bag My preparations to watch the Hulu docuseries Hillary? A box of tissues. Others might’ve brought popcorn but I knew I’d need a different kind of comfort. Although it’s been close to four years since I embarrassingly burst into tears on an airplane as I started to read her book, What Happened, I haven’t picked it up since. It’s still too raw. Sure enough, two minutes into the first episode and I was already in tears. In the docuseries, Hillary was laughing about how she didn’t understand why people felt so negatively about …
Becoming a Splendid Auditorium: How Listening Brings Us Together
In the US, civil discourse has taken a backseat to arguing and hostility. What we need instead is a way of really listening to one another and standing together. The example of the Balkan people can help.
Loving a Good Scandal: A New Look at Race, Gender and Power
Through its’ unique depiction of race, gender, power and relationships, the television show Scandal turns the usual stereotypes on their heads and shows us just how much power corrupts.
What We Can Learn from 9/11
It’s been ten years since terrorists attacked the United States. Much has happened since then, but some of the lessons we learned seem to be the wrong ones. Instead of continuing down our path filled with rage, perhaps it’s time to learn from the examples of others and actually deal with our feelings. Only then we can move forward.