Light in the Darkness

The work that I do as an adviser to the USDA Coalition for Minority Employees, Justice for Black Farmer Group, developing the documentary along with Shoun Hill, and engaging in other ways within the Black Farmer Movement are so central to who I am as a human being that it is difficult to tease them out. My desire is to be a good ally in this work. 

Richard Rohr says that there are six types of liberation: inner, cultural, dogmatic, personal, spiritual, and liberation for "infinite mystery." His note on personal liberation from the "system" rings true, though he and I may see things differently. 

Then, at this time of the year, the season of Advent, we are focusing on light, the light that shines in darkness, the light of the world, the light that came into the world, the light which was the Christ child, and how our world did not understand it, and still has not yet responded to it, yet it is still there for our engagement. Yes, Jesus entered the world, and light shone all around Him, and the light shines on and in us to let us know where we can be cleansed, purified, and made righteous and justice oriented. 

How do these connect is the question of the morning. It is dark here in the neighborhood as I glance out the window. My desk lamp over to my right illuminates this room. Down on the street on the right, the neighbor's Christmas lights have shone all night and they dispel a bit of the darkness. In front of our house, we have a laser light that shines images that move at rapid speed on the outside of our house. Inside, we have various things that attract the grandchildren, the Christmas tree, the little stations that have lights inside them, the music box that they all love and claim for their own, and other displays that capture their imagination. 

The world of injustice in a dark world. Various offices that symbolize institutions of power and privilege overshadow the lives and efforts of Black farmers. The politics of the day is dark and foreboding as we anticipate the transition from one administration to another, and yet within the new administration that we are relatively optimistic about there is darkness. One of his nominees led an agency full of darkness that wounded people, overshadowed people, took the land away from people, left people bereft of their livelihood and identities, protected the brutality of the powerful against women employees. We could go on and on about the darkness. 

For me, there is great symbolism in the moment and the MOMENT of the Black Farmer Movement. I think it is no accident that we are advocating AGAINST a nominee at this particular time of the year. Sure, it is a part of the election and transition cycle of things. I am struck, however, by Advent. Advent shapes the protests in a different direction. We are not just working AGAINST a nominee. We are working FOR people who work for and are recipients of services and programs within that department. 

Not only do I need liberation from various thing like Rohr suggested, including myself, but there are many good people who deserve to be liberated from that which has held them enslaved since 1862. Lincoln's "the peoples' department" has become "the last plantation." The plantation is run predominately by white people appointed or hired by a white government with programs and services designed for white people. 

If indeed Jesus came to liberate us from our darkness, and to bring the true light into the world, then that is the cause of righteousness, the cause of advocacy, the cause of protest, the cause of demanding change at the highest levels of the land. 

So, I do not separate my faith as a human being from my work and engagement as an advocate. As I invite the Christ child into my world here in a week, I invite, no, I demand that institutions of power and privilege change and permit the light to shine in the darkness of their halls and smoke-filled, back room deliberations that marginalize generation after generation after generation of Black farmers and their families. 

That intersection of the light of the gospel and the darkness of institutions is the world in which I reside. It is oftentimes an uncomfortable place and space. At other times, it is one of immense joy and satisfaction. 

I invite both. To do otherwise would be less than human. 

Wright Hits Back with Data on Vilsack Nomination

 

Where we Stand: Justice Act and Vilsack

 

A Few Annotations as to Why Biden's Nomination is a Bad One for Black Farmers

The following links and comments are all pertinent to the Vilsack nomination for Ag Secretary by President-Elect Joe Biden. As much as I wanted trump out and Biden in, and as much as I wanted Perdue out as Ag Secretary, this decision is a clear betrayal of rural America, Black America, and Black farmers. Joe Biden can do better. I am not convinced that he was fully informed ahead of time as to the baggage that Vilsack bore. If he didn't he should have. Those who vetted Vilsack did not do a good job of vetting, or, Mr. Biden simply ignored the obvious. We will not stop even though his nomination is in place. We will fight even if he is confirmed, but we will also advocate for justice until we have no more breath in our bodies.  

https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/12/biden-vilsack-usda-agriculture-shirley-sherrod/

Vilsack is the same guy who worked under President Obama for two terms. He is pro-big ag at the expense of small family farms, his support of corporate interests rather than workers in the meat packing industry, his support of pesticides at the expense of peoples' health, and his woeful narrative around civil rights for Black farmers and women employees is criminal. 

https://thecounter.org/tom-vilsack-biden-usda-civil-rights-betrayal-lawrence-lucas/

This article gets personal. Lawrence Lucas and I have become partners in the effort on behalf of Black farmers. We talk several times a week. I have listened to him, and he has listened to me, and we have supported each other during the heavy days of the effort. He led the way to push back against Elizabeth Warren's support of the heirs property factor as key to land loss. She listened to us, developed an expansive Black farmer policy, and spearheaded The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 before handing it off to Cory Booker. Lawrence was at the helm of that movement. I have watched him work. I have experienced my grief and angst alongside his. You will find his narrative of betrayal deeply compelling. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/09/black-farmers-tom-vilsack-agriculture-usda-biden-cabinet-444077

You'll find several of my friends quoted in this article. You'll find several quoted who will appear in the Black farmer documentary. Yes, we are seething over this nomination. 

https://thecounter.org/usda-black-farmers-discrimination-tom-vilsack-reparations-civil-rights/

This expose by Nate Rosenberg and Bryce Stucki reveals the truth behind the Vilsack administration. No, the Vilsack administration did not settle scores of civil rights complaints. No, civil rights complaints did not fall to an all-time low. No, the USDA did not reduce disparities between Black and white farmers. No, the number of Black farmers did not increase. No, the Pigford Settlement did not close a painful chapter in the USDA's history of discrimination. 

They Kingdom Come in Heaven and in Mississippi and Alabama and Arkansas

On this Thursday morning during the season of Advent, my reflections turn, given my readings, toward Jesus incarnate in my life and work, and the place and space of God in the misguided creation that is our world.

The people with whom I am involved are Black farmers. They know their history and that history is one of oppression and subjugation at the hands of the powerful and privileged. Advocates like me are deeply involved

The stories are full of pain and suffering. They tell of staying up all night and watching lest the sheriffs come and remove them from the land. That has happened. I remember at this moment Eddie and Dorothy Wise. In the case of one in which it did not happen, she had a psychotic break. Loss of land, loss of livelihood, are real to these people. White people, uninformed as they are, come along and insult them by saying, “They must not be good farmers.”

The truth is that all advantages at the county committee level belong to the white farmers in terms of programs and services. When a Black farmer finally gets his operating loan and it is too little and too late, and the white farmer’s crops are already growing, that’s discrimination.

And, as President-Elect Joe Biden goes about the business of selecting his cabinet members, one he is making is strongly opposed by Black farmers and advocates. Vilsack had his chances for eight years, and during those two terms, Black farmers were woefully mistreated. The investigative reporting of Nate Rosenberg and Bryce Stucki confirm what we knew all along. When stories from within the USDA, plus the statistics, all converge with the dominant narrative of marginalization, that seals the deal for me.

So, what of meditation in this world of conflict and rage? I have always been at odds within myself, the part of me that is strongly oriented toward justice and that part of me that yearns for quiet and contemplation. When I am out there, writing, speaking, advocating, researching, attending meetings, and such, is Jesus there? Does Jesus attend with me and through me in those settings? How can I step out of justice and into contemplation? What are the mechanisms and personality traits and spiritual gifts that allow that to happen? Are they perhaps two aspects of the same spiritual gift?

The Christ child is soon to arrive with his parents in Bethlehem. Our children are soon to hear the gospel narrative read from Matthew and Luke. We are already listening to the songs on our XM radios as we travel about.

I want my soul to be prepared for His coming. I want His coming to be transformative in my life. On the day in the near future and on this day, today.

Black farmers deserve justice. I do not want Vilsack to be reappointed. I experience vicariously the rage of the people in these moments. I experience my own anger, disgust, nausea, and bitter frustration and powerlessness over this decision.

So, until I discover something else, my prayer will be “come Lord Jesus into my life and heart and as I work on behalf of your people, shine the light of transformation on me and in me and through me such that your will is done and not mine, and that your Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven, in Washington DC and in Grady, Arkansas, and in Columbia, Mississippi. And, like the persistent widow, I know what I want. I know what the people want and what they do not want. While we protest and write and protest some more, we will plead with you, and we will in the words of the text, ‘wear you out with our coming’ so that your will and ours will align.”

What About Joseph?

On this Wednesday morning of the season of Advent, I am pondering the story of Joseph, Jesus' father. We know very little about him. He was there for a while and then he was gone. 

Mary was there at the beginning, the middle, and the end of Jesus' earthly life. She is honored among all women, and rightfully so, but what about Joseph? 

Perhaps out of our own fatherhood narratives, we can surmise some things about Joseph. No doubt he was a man of faith. In the Jewish tradition of things, he and his Beloved were engaged to be married. Was it arranged? Did they choose each other? Did they have eyes for each other and request of their parents to arrange the marriage? 

We know that they were "engaged," or "betrothed," to use a Bible word. 

We suspect that he was older than Mary, and we for the most part think that Mary was a teenager. 

We know that out of the blue, Mary gets a visitation from Gabriel who tells her extraordinary news. How then does Mary communicate this extraordinary news to the man to whom she is engaged? 

As a righteous man who did not want to embarrass her, he decided to divorce her quietly when he found out that she was pregnant, but then an angel appeared to him and told him some extraordinary things as well: stay with her, the pregnancy is from the Holy Spirit, name him Jesus, and he'll save his people. And he did not have sexual intercourse with her until after the baby was born. 

And so he honored Mary and the words from the angel. 

He shows up at the Temple when Jesus is eight days old, according to tradition. Then, when Jesus is 12 years old, they both appear again the gospel narrative going to and from Jerusalem when Jesus decides to hang out with the teachers of the law. Later, Jesus is noted as "Mary's son," or "the carpenter's son." 

And then Joseph disappears. Where did he go? Did he die early? Did he pass on to glory after he and Mary birthed several more children? 

We can ponder the influence that Joseph had on Jesus as an infant, a child, a teenager, and then as a young adult male in the Jewish tradition of things. 

Maybe he led by example as to how to be a man, a father, a husband, a productive citizen. 

Maybe there were times in their carpentry business when he showed Jesus how to build, cut, saw, splice, and set prices for his labor. 

Maybe he showed Jesus how to be an honorable husband and father. Maybe he showed Jesus how to be an honorable business person. 

Surely he brought stability into their home. Stability that a man of faith brings into a home with a wife who is a mother of several, and as a father to several children. 

Did he, as did Mary, ponder things and store them up in her heart? Was he prone to making sense out of things, or was he a man who simply went about his business doing what needed to be done without the effort that contemplation brings? 

If the gospel narrative is a stage play, Joseph plays a supporting role. Mary and Jesus are lead actors. Joseph gets a key role for a short duration, and then with no explanation he is gone, though through the words of others we know that he and Mary had other children. 

I wonder sometimes if he understood that Mary would be much more central to the story of Jesus than he would, and if that was ok with him.

I think his influence on Jesus continued all the days of Jesus' life. I think he was a good man, a faithful husband, an attentive father. I think his faithfulness to Jehovah was displayed in the biblical text as he heard the words of the angel of the Lord and then went about doing them.

Without getting much credit, he simply did his job. 

Perhaps that is the ultimate that can be said of any of us, "he simply did his job." 

That will be enough. 

Into the Crises of Our Lives

The Gospel of Luke has a curious pair of accounts of Gabriel entering the world of human beings. Imagine that, an angel bursting in on our human existence. 

Zechariah was an old man, and his wife, Elizabeth, was an elderly woman, and, yet, the angel told him of their coming child.. His response may be typical of a man. Perhaps he was looking for data or information when he asked, "How can I be sure?" So Gabriel told him how he could be sure and to add to it, being mute until the child is born. 

Mary was a young woman, perhaps even a teenager, when the angel appeared to her. Her response may be more typical of a woman, "How will this be?" Gabriel explains how it is to be. 

For both of them, these had to be earth shaking experiences and revelations. 

We admire Mary and perhaps see in her something in ourselves, or perhaps we simply see in her one of the ultimate mysteries of the universe. Seldom do we speak with admiration of Zechariah. Maybe we need to spend more time studying and thinking about him. 

In both cases, the angel of the Lord burst in upon their lives. Were they in crisis? Were they going about doing their routine activities? 

We are in the middle of several crises: health care with the pandemic exploding around us, racial unrest, governmental chaos between parties and the current president and the president-elect, and economic as people cannot go to work because of shut downs. 

And, I am mindful of my friends in the Black Farmer Movement. In 1920 there were approximately 920,000 Black farmers farming roughly 17,000,000 acres. Right now, there are roughly 35,500 Black farms with roughly 4,600,000 acres. Someone deep inside the current administration said recently that there are 17,000 Black farmers on the verge of foreclosure. They are living on the edge, hopeful that The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 will bring them relief. 

How will God burst into our lives with these crises (and perhaps even more, with personal, family, and others) going on around us? Will God ease into our chaotic lives? Will God burst into our lives? 

Or, will we realize that God has been with us all along? 

The coming of the Christ child in the manger in Bethlehem is revealing to us. We have heard it our entire lives. We hear it anew each year. We rehearse the stories of the gospel writers and perhaps finding something new each time, or maybe we find old things made new each time. 

There is no better time for God to make an appearance in the form of a baby than right now. Now is a very good time for God to burst into our world, to rattle our existences, to show Himself to us, than right now.

We are raw, unsettled, troubled, wounded, fearful, and wondering what this time and these events are all about. We could use some good news. In the midst of our friends dying of COVID, we need good news, the birth of a child to give us hope. 

In the midst of our chaos, we yearn for peace and calm and stability. That can come with the baby in the manger in Bethlehem. 

That is when our deepest selves and our deepest yearnings meet up with God's deepest longings for us. 

At Just the Right Time into Our Messiness He Comes

Any number of descriptions could easily fit our world. The place we inhabit is messy. Read any newspaper, listen to any news broadcast, skim through any Facebook page, and there you'll have it. We are a mess. Our world is littered with people impacted by poverty, racism, brutality, utter disregard for whoever is not in the favored group, antisemitism, anti-lgbtq sentiments, anti-women disrespect, and so many others, too many to list. 

And, yet, it is into this world that we invite the Christ child to come. We yearn for His appearing. We long for the story to be told and retold. We eagerly await the story through the eyes of our children and grandchildren. We yearn with hopefulness for our own engagement with the story from Bethlehem, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and the hope that His birth brings. We are touched by the music of the season. 

Yet, our world still groans in its incompleteness. We have not yet become what we are intended to be. Our brokenness displays that groaning. What is not unbroken these days: individuals, families, churches, our understandings of ourselves. And yet, it was into a somewhat similar world that Jesus appeared. While the sacred text says that "in the fulness of time," or "at just the right time," or at a time of "pax romana," Jesus came. That world into which He appeared had its conflicts: Jews versus Samaritans, Jews versus Romans, Romans versus whatever other countries, rich versus the poor, even intra-theological groups within the Jewish population with their conflicts. Yet He came. As a child. In an unpretentious way. He lived for a while amongst us. We, His own people, did not recognize Him. Thankfully some of us did. 

There is comfort in His coming. We long for peace. We long for wholeness. We long for struggle and strife to cease. 

And there are those moments in which we stop, breathe, surrender, and out of that comes the wonder of the new creation. The beauty of the Christ child. The peace that only He can bring. That understanding the God came to us. God came to us in all of our brokenness. God did not come to us because we had our houses in order. No, God came to us even when our houses were in disarray.  We are incomplete. 

Still, God comes to us even as our houses are in disarray. Such is the way we live. Such is the way society unfolds. And, still God comes to us. 

Our world's state of disarray, chaos, confusion, suffering, pain, distress, and all clearly display that the world groans for His appearing. Some day He will appear ultimately and we'll experience the new heaven and new earth. 

Until then, we anticipate His coming in the Christ child, and that eases our pain and suffering, even if just momentarily. Within His coming is hope. Grace. Mercy. Love. 

And we act accordingly. We offer hope, grace, mercy, love, a helping hand to the marginalized, the lonely, the left out, the kicked to the curb, those with whom we disagree theologically or politically, not because we within ourselves have the power to do so, but because it was into our brokenness and chaos that the Christ child came once, and then again, and then again, and He comes yet again. 

Therein lies hope for the world and for all of us who live in it. 

"Holy One of Israel, as we await the coming of the Christ child at this holy season, lead us out of our chaos, confusion, and mistreatment of our sisters and brothers. Lead us and guide us toward respect for all humanity for even as we differ, we are much the same. Come into our disordered world, lives, spaces and places. May your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We eagerly away once more the coming of the Christ child who will ease our suffering and sooth our prejudices and grace our lives so that we can offer grace to others. Amen." 

It's Friday Here in the Land Before that Great Gettin' Up Mornin'

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that too many Christians think about Heaven and not as much time about doing right here on the earth. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against going to Heaven, I'm just like the song, "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now." I am not drawn theologically to think much about Heaven. It'll take care of itself. 

I do think a lot about what's going on in the world and about the varied responses of Christians to it all. 

Richard Rohr in his book, Dancing Standing Still, addresses "three basic levels of social ministry," as comparable to a flood. At the first level, we rescue people from drowning, giving them food, lodging, clothing, funds for their rent. At the second level, we show people how not to fall into the river, providing education and support and healing. Therapy is one of those gifts. At the third level, we address the problems that prompted the flood in the first place by shoring up the dam, reforesting the landscape to avoid runoffs and the like. Advocacy and legislation fit here. 

He says that these things could be analogies for doing good in the world. We all have different gifts, and our obligation is to do something for the world, at least in one if not more of those levels. Feed the poor, teach and heal the wounded, and develop policies that prevent such from happening. 

All of this is laid alongside what Paul and Peter the Apostles have said about the second coming in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Peter. Perhaps put a different way, some of us remember singing the song, "There's a Great Day Coming," with its lyrics, "There's a great day coming, there's a great day coming by and by, when the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left, are you ready for that day to come?" and then there's a bright day coming and a sad day coming, both with the question, "are you ready?" 

Then, there is that wonderful song, "In That Great Gettin' Up Morning." You've heard it. Maybe by Mahalia Jackson? "Let me tell ya 'bout the comin' of judgment; (fare ye well, fare ye well); let me tell ya 'bout the comin' of judgment; (fare ye well, fare ye well), God goin' up and speak to Gabriel...." Mahalia was the best, but Jim Chester of Memphis Harding Academy also does a stirring rendition. 

How to place all of this during this season of Advent is the question. The Christ child is coming, so how should I live? The Christ child is coming, so how shall it shape my engagement with the world? 

Here at this house, we do social justice stuff. My Beloved cooks food and serves people. She loves her grandchildren with a grand sort of love. She sews masks, yes, those kinds of masks, to keep us safe and others safe in this pandemic. She sews fidget blankets for alzheimers patients and she sews fidget squares for restless children in elementary schools. 

Here at this house, I write and I consult. The invitation to serve as "advisor" for the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and the Ag Coalition is important to the cause of justice and to my soul. Working alongside Shoun Hill as "co-producer" of "I'm Just a Layman in Search of Justice: Black Farmers Fight Against USDA" is a heart touching, soul shaking, and, hopefully, change making effort. Engaging with staff members of Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker around The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 has been an amazing experience for a whole bunch of reasons. Serving on the board of BFAA is important to me. Collaborating with people like Jillian Hishaw of F.A.R.M.S. is important to me as well. 

So, I'm not really worried about going to Heaven. I'm not really living my life because of Heaven. I'm living my life in a way that flows out of the gifts God has given me in a variety of efforts to serve people here in this life. 

Heaven will take care of itself. It is earth and its people that I am concerned about. It is those people who have been kicked to the curb for centuries, whose stories go all the way back to the shores of Africa, it is farmers who can trace their ancestry back in clear, precise ways to slavery and then to freedom. Those are the people and that is the movement for which I pour out my life in this life. 

I hope and pray that we all do the same. I know some folks who do: Spencer Wood, Gary Grant, Lawrence Lucas, Lloyd Wright, Marti Oakley, Michael Stovall, Richard Chowning, Basil McClure, and many, many others. 

Yes, there's a better day a comin', and I want it to be in this life and in the life to come. 

Jesus coming. He is coming soon. The stable is just over the horizon. 

Praying in This In-Between Place and Space

In this peculiar day of the Advent season, I am pondering “living in between.” We are living within several “in betweens.” We live in between creation and the ultimate redemption. We are living in between now and the coming of the Christ child. We are living in between normalcy and the return to normalcy, if there is to be such a thing.

Some of God’s children live with a strong eye toward the end times. Some even say that the madness of the world includes multiple signs that we are living in the end times. If we read the book of 2 Peter, then perhaps we can realize that we have always lived in the end times. The living part just gets stretched out.

If indeed we are living in between, especially in between now and the coming of the Christ child, how would the Holy One of Israel have us live? Live and do what? Live and think what? Live and reflect upon what? Live and dream of what?

The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020 was submitted earlier this week by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Some people are huge fans of Senator Booker and some are repelled by his name. For me and my house, we honor and respect him because he has his heart in the right place. That place is recovery of the Black farmer from decades after decades of discrimination, heart break, and land loss.

So, this morning in the spirit of Advent, and in the reality of living in between now and when the Christ child is born, and in that in between space of when the Bill will be signed into law, I offer this pray:

Lord, lead me to see people who will vote for or against this bill, those who are about history of discrimination and those for whom it is a non-entity.

Lord, lead us to understand the depth of the pain of those families who struggled and lost their farms, and those who are living in fear that even now, they just might lose their farms.

Lord, lead me to a greater sensitivity of what it means to be Black in America.

Lord, lead us to a great sensitivity of what it means to be a Black farmer in America.

Lord, lead me to see the log in my own eye before I point out the speck of racism in the eye of another.

Lord, lead us to be instruments of peace in a polarized world and to reach across whatever isles are created.

Lord, lead me to see the humanity and goodness in people with whom I have many philosophical and theological differences.

Lord, lead us to speak with courage in these perilous days, and to back up that speech with action.

Lord, bring forth hope upon our land that we may live and celebrate as a united people.

Lord, bring forth honesty and faith and resilience to all people so that we can live in harmony with one another.

Lord, prompt all of us to see the coming of the Christ child as a pivotal moment to grab hold of hope.

Lord, prompt the season of the year to bring about all manner of acts of kindness and generosity upon all of us.

Lord, prompt us to respect all of your children, every color, dark or light, because we are all precious in your sight.

Hope for Perilous Times and the Holy Spirit

This morning, my Advent readings ventured into two spaces: the role of the Holy Spirit in the Civil Rights Movement and the apocalyptic language of Jesus in the gospels. As many who follow me here, know that Charla and I have been involved for years in the Black Farmer Movement. This "church" to which we belong is composed of God-fearing, God-loving women and men who believe that all of God's children should be treated fairly and equitably. They, in my opinion, and we, in my opinion, are prompted by the movement of the Holy One of Israel. Therein lies our hope for change which is stirred these days by The Black Farmer Justice Act of 2020.

On the other hand, out of the darkness of captivity, God's people developed an "apocalyptic language," which Jesus used in three of the gospel narratives. Looking deeply into the meaning behind this type of language lies the "death" so to speak of "optimism," as optimism is pitiful in the face of pandemics and deaths and destruction and all, this according to one theologian this morning. On the other hand, in the midst of the storms of life, we can engage hope, live in hope, live through hope, and have a hope that transcends and rides with us through life's challenges which can be overwhelming.

So, this morning, I engage the power of the Holy One of Israel, and I engage in hope. Therein lies the ability to live and be productive for another day. The Holy Spirit and hope. I love those two notions.

I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Coming Soon

 

The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020

Yesterday was a good day in DC as far as my friends and I were concerned. Those of us who have been in the Black Farmer Movement were thrilled with what happened. Please allow me to weave a few threads for folks who follow my writings here.

I first entered the world of Black farmers in 1994 at the request of James Myart, Counselor at Law, who was representing Black farmers in their complaints against the USDA. I did so very much as a novice. That led to a number of things that shaped my personal and professional life. As cases were settled, and as I saw the inequities of the settlements, soon to be revealed in this documentary, other things became clear. Farmers needed debt relief, and few got it; farmers wanted the USDA to be reorganized such that discrimination would stop. They didn't get that either. 

Between 2018 and 2020 while Shoun and I were working on the documentary, some remarkable things happened. Several of us were invited into the arena of campaign policy by Elizabeth Warren. She had publicized an opinion that heirs property laws were the predominant factor in Black land loss. We disagreed and told her so. She listened. We were invited to connect with her policy team, one meeting of which she actually attended, and, thus, her policy on behalf of Black farmers was developed. I am very pleased to have had a modest hand in the development of that policy. Hit some of the hyperlinks and you'll see what I mean. 

Then, when she withdrew from the presidential race, we engaged with Senator Sanders, and then with Michael Bloomberg, and then with former Vice-President Joe Biden's campaign. The least satisfying, and the most frustrating was that of Joe Biden's policy team. I'll write more later, but for now, suffice it to say that they called our requests "unconstitutional" and actually ended the conversation long before we knew it, with a policy that we found inadequate. You can read it here. Scroll down until you see "Advance Racial Equity in Rural America." 

By comparison to Senator Warren's plan, the policy that Joe Biden's policy team developed was inadequate. We told them so. And, if you read both, you can see what we meant.

Then, during the presidential campaign, before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected by we the people, we got a call from the offices of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Cory Booker. They were writing a plan that would lead to what is now called The Black Farmer Justice Act of 2020. We engaged them and met with them via teleconference on several occasions. We had the feeling that something big was going to happen. We were honored and excited to be at the table of development of the Bill. 

So, yesterday we thought that the Bill would be introduced in the Senate, but with the Thanksgiving holidays being upon us, the introduction will occur on November 30. In the meantime, Senator Booker released his press release about the Bill. You can read that here.  You can read the entirety of the Bill here. You can read a summary of the Bill here. You can read the endorsers of the Bill here. When you see the Black Farmer Documentary group, that's the folks Shoun and I interviewed. When you see USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, that's where I land as an "adviser." 

Or, if you want to read just one article that pulls together many of these things, try this one by Tom Philpott of Mother Jones. 

But what does the Bill contain? It contains many things that Elizabeth Warren included in her policy document. She did not forget us. You read that right. She....did.....not....forget....us. 

Within the Bill are a number of things: reorganization of key offices of the USDA and its Office of Civil Rights, debt relief, a moratorium on foreclosures, support for HBCUs, land purchase opportunities, a bank that would lend to farmers of color at reasonable interest rates, an equity commission, and processes that insure fairness and equality under the law. 

So, now we wait. It'll be rejected by this Congress. It will then be marked up and resubmitted before the new Congress in 2021. Then, we pray, and we will work, for it to be passed into law. 

In a conversation with Lawrence Lucas, as mentioned below, my comment was "I think this is the most compelling piece of legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964." While that sounds like an ostentatious thing for me to say, I was pleased to hear him say the same thing in his interview with Tom Philpott. Yes, friends, this is huge. 

That's the short verse to a long, long story, and it is only my story. There are more details and more people than could reasonably be mentioned in this short article. Let me mention two. Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, and Lloyd Wright, former Director, Office of Civil Rights, under President Clinton. I am honored to walk in the shadows of these two men, both of whom are legends in the fight for justice. 

Who is in Charge of This Place?

Dear Lord:

What will this day bring

What lies ahead

What secrets lie beneath the sky 

Is today the day that more people die

Is today the day that we all dread

The day that the Man comes

And takes their land away

And there sounds the beating of the drums

There are 17,000

Or so I am told

The story grows unabated

Does the truth not make you cold

The Book says you are sovereign

And over all you do reign

And if that's true

Why do people live in so much pain

People come and people go

Reaping that which they did not sow

While others work and strive

Trying to make their living from the soil

Yet those in power

With titles and pen

Ignore insult shame change

Documents again and again

With such power

There comes much dread

And some I knew

Are now entombed buried dead

They died too soon

Is my own frail thought

They labored and labored

Only justice they sought

Now we're hearing their stories

All of which are true

Tears in their eyes grief in their souls

They always looked to you

Payday some day

Said one on a warm July day

Now he's gone to the ancestors

And with You is what I pray

Yes we say that you are sovereign

And that you control it all 

But what about their justice

Why do you forestall

Maybe we have it all wrong

Our understanding so meager

But for justice we yearn

And them still so beleaguered

Someday we'll get it right

Righteousness will be in sight

And those who did the wrong

Will wind up as lyrics of a song

I'll keep on asking questions

And answers will surely come

It won't be for lacking of trying

While we toil till the setting of the sun

Making Sense Out of the Chaos: Analogy of a Marriage

Frankly, I have not been sleeping well this past week. While insomnia is a life-long torturous battle, these days of chaos of the election have only exacerbated it. Fact is, I have gone to sleep and awakened with the question, "So how did we get here?" I have a few random ideas. 

When I put a relational spin on what is happening with the current president and his followers, along with those who have "fired" him or "divorced" him, I find some relevance. Here's what I mean by that. Every narcissist needs someone with whom to dance, or relate, or to marry, someone to carry his fragile sense of self, someone to bind his wounds. That person is generally dependent. The narcissist feels no empathy, organizes his own world, sees things in limited ways, uses rage or the threat of it to control others, gaslights, and never apologizes. We know these people. We have seen them and, yes, we live with them. The dependent person is one who out of anxiety or depression or whatever sadly enough, sells herself or himself to someone who will take care of her or him. "I am who I am because I'm with you. You give me meaning. I look good on your arm" are some meta-messages. 

That dynamic forms an abusive relationship. Power and control dominate, validation doesn't occur, and the violence can be overt or covert, and it wears one out. The typical pattern of hostile attacker and anxious retreater is often seen. The dependent one has a choice ultimately, to stay and sell out or experience the pain of divorce. There is always the delicate balance of reasons to go and reasons to stay. There is also always the dynamic of the pain of leaving and the pain of staying. We stay when the pieces align. We go when the pieces align. Leaving means to rebuild one's fragile sense of self that has been trashed by the narcissistic partner. 

Many in America have divorced the president. America has been abused for four years by this narcissistic president. Our partners around the world have left us because they see what is happening. It's like friends and family of the abusive partnered relationship. They may quietly say things in support, or they may stay completely silent. Nobody really wants to hang out with people in this sort of relationship or with this type of human being. Their nonverbals speak loudly to us. 

As strange as it will sound to those who still are emotionally and philosophically hooked to this president, there are some of us who experience various forms of PTSD. Yes, PTSD. Traumatic event after traumatic event after traumatic. When you add that trauma of the pandemic, and when you add those to the harmful rhetoric to the lies to the deceit to the gaslighting, it's all pretty clear. 

America is divorcing this president. We see a better day. We know that the days ahead, the months, the years, will all demand work and effort. We are regaining our sense of self. We stepped out and voted across the isle. Some switched sides of the isle months ago. 

We have seen and felt how he treated us. We have stood by and watched how he treated others, and we watched while he listened to others who only fueled his narcissism. They have been dependent upon him, and we have experienced the abuse that such a relationship engenders. 

Want evidence of this? Simply watch the president's speech last night. He displayed a quiet, controlled rage, as he blamed the numbers on a concerted effort to steal the election from him. This is one face of the narcissist who is being divorced, who doesn't take divorce well, and who wants to blame others for his failed "marriage." There is more evidence, and it's been with us for four years. 

That's why he is embarrassingly fighting the election results and lying to us. It is his modus operandi. We are not surprised. It's merely what we've seen for four years.

That's why we have filed for divorce. 

And, of course, we must figure out some way of being at peace with those who have not now or will likely never "divorce" him, but will continue to defend him. 

We need not feel obligated to defend the reasons for our divorce. We can feel confident in what we did because it was in our best interests, our children, and the community in which we live. 

Every analogy has its flaws or holes. This is only an analogy of what's happening at a national level. 

Every analogy contains some truth, not all, but some. 

We will sleep better soon. 

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My Vote Has Been Cast and Why I Voted the Way I Did

My wife and I voted via mail-in this week. We'd pondered it long and hard, studied the options both for us here in North Texas and other places, and decided that it was a safe option. There was much energy as I opened the big blue envelope, read the instructions, pulled out the ballot, filled in the bubbles, placed it in the yellow envelope, sealed it, signed it, and then put it in the mailbox for our mail person to pick up.

We have discussed things long and hard around my house. We have watched CNN and MSNBC and tried to watch FOX. We watch the evening news religiously and that includes a daily dose of Lester Holt before a deep dive into "Big Bang Theory." Then we wrap up the evening with a dose of Chris Cuomo at 8:00 pm. We obviously have our biases. 

We read the newspapers. I read from a variety of sources including my friends and my not-so-good friends. Sometimes my friends on the right will venture over onto my page with uninvited stuff. I generally read those and either response or delete them. I never venture onto other friends' pages without being invited to do so. Kind of like coming into someone's home without being invited. That's a story for another day. 

As an aside, sadly enough, it seems that some of my friends read very little outside of their political preferences. 

You and I are four years into the trump administration weary. It has come to be same song, umpteenth verse. Maybe a few new players, but the same messaging. I am weary of the vitriol and the conflict between people, family, and friends. I have a wide variety of friends, on the left, on the right, and somewhere betwixt and between. Some are hard core Trump followers. Some are hard core Biden followers. Some once were Republicans and now are not. 

Posts about Buddy the Boxer get the most hits, second to my wife and the grandchildren. 

So, what I have to say here will be of no surprise to those who know me and my background. I was once a Republican, card-carrying and all, and even a member of NRA eons ago, but once I became involved in civil rights and Black farmers, I could no longer in all good conscience follow that path. 

At another big picture level, I am voting Biden/Harris because they are pro-choice. I am not pro-abortion, but I am pro women, and hopefully their spouses and partners as well, making difficult decisions for themselves and their futures. Sadly enough, no one size fits all here. I am pro-life up and down the spectrum, from before birth to death at all points and that includes birth, programs for young families, and prisons.  The Republican party is focused more on being pro-birth. If you want fewer abortions, vote Democratic, because the stats are clear that fewer abortions occur during Democratic administrations because of a greater emphasis on health care, birth control, and support for young mothers. The stats are there, check them out. 

Therefore, I am not a single-issue voter like many of my friends. All issues are important, and lives of babies, mothers, and families are important, from the cradle to the grave. And, no, I am repulsed that some would call Democrats, "baby killers." That is just not anywhere close to reality. 

So, here I am by the grace of God, living another year. Here is why I voted for the Biden/Harris ticket. Here is the link to their policies if you wish to read further on his ideas for rural America. Here are his larger, more global plans. These personal reasons are in no particular order. 

1) I am ready to return to civility, a return to across the isle conversations in the House and in the Senate. Biden/Harris show the best way forward. Trump has shown that he despises all of those who not agree with him. 

2) Biden/Harris' campaign policies make a lot of sense while Trump's are non-existent or reworks of rhetoric from four years ago. Trump's platinum plan for Black Americans looks insulting to me, especially his notion of making Juneteenth a national holiday. 

3) Biden/Harris offer the most in terms of an economic recovery with promises for middle class as well as those on the poverty line. 

4) Biden/Harris promise tax increases for businesses and for those who make more than $400K, not for the average person like you and me. Trump's tax plan benefited the rich and the corporate structure, not people like you and me. 

5) Biden/Harris will fight to strengthen ACA while Trump wants to dismantle it. Watch very closely the Supreme Court hearings and rulings in a few weeks. Trump says he wants to ensure that those with pre-existing conditions are covered, but his weak executive order did nothing but amount to his name in bold writing on a piece of paper. 

6) Biden/Harris will work hard to return America to a place of respect in the world while Trump will continue to behave in such a way so as to bring derision and pity upon us. 

7) Biden/Harris' civil rights policies for Black farmers, though weak at best, is much, much more substantive than that of Trump. Trump's policies have led to more bankruptcies than ever while only the large, white, corporate farms are getting subsidies all of which make up 40% of farm income, per a recent investigative report. While Trump says nothing about Black farmers, Biden's policies include an examination of the inequities in farm loans and all when comparing minority farmers versus white farmers. As I have said several times, the Coalition with which I work has encouraged Biden/Harris to adopt the Warren Plan. They have not as of yet, but we will keep pushing because it is the best plan out there. 

8) Biden/Harris will address historically egregious lending policies that marginalized people of color such that generational wealth when comparing white families to Black families shows an incredible disparity. 

9) Biden/Harris will make inroads and innovations into rural America in terms of jobs and infrastructure such as internet, roads, and other matters. 

10) Biden/Harris will maintain Medicaid and Medicare and programs that strengthen families. They will also push for Medicare for all with two major options. 

11) The Biden/Harris ticket will support economically the historically underfunded HBCUs. It's about time. 

12) Biden will undo all of the executive orders that are harmful to people and to the environment. 

13) Biden will get us back into the Paris Accord and return to the table in sanctioning Iran and its nuclear weapons buildup. 

14). Biden will return to the table of negotiations with our allies and begin to repair the damage done by four years of Trump policies and behaviors. 

15) Biden will call out Putin and put an end to bounties on the heads of our troops. 

16) Biden/Harris will get the runaway spending under control.

17) Biden/Harris will nominate key leaders for the myriad of positions that are still unfilled by the trump administration. 

18) Biden/Harris will have an administration and cabinet that looks more like America rather than primarily white men. 

19) Both Biden and Harris are people of faith and have known to be so for quite some time, not just of late. He is a practicing Roman Catholic and she is a Baptist. Numerous Roman Catholics and Evangelicals support Biden/Harris. 

20) Biden/Harris believe in science and will follow best practices as spelled out by the scientists in overcoming the coronavirus. They have followed best practices from the beginning of the outbreak despite being taunted for doing so by trump. They will respect NIH, CDC, and HHS. They will return us to membership in WHO. One report I read said that they will reinstitute the pandemic response team that trump disbanded. 

21) Harris responded well in her debate with Pence. She will make a formidable VP in her own right. Her career as an AG for California and as a Senator give her immense experience, especially given the committees that she currently serves on. Much more could be written just about her. 

There are likely more that I'll add later, but for now, here I stand. 

You Order the Days, and We Are Willfully Blind

You order the days, the seasons,

You provide all of the reasons

For living beneath this sun

Toward you we all do run

(Sometimes)

And long to be with you

While upon the ground the dew

Still glistens and shines in the morning light

While all the world and all in it seem right.

(Where we live)

We all know, O Heavenly Father,

That some of your children are cruel and do not bother

To make things right and good and warm 

Especially for those who have received much harm.

(We are willfully blind)

Our sisters and brothers are still oppressed

By the oppressors still obsessed

With the best seats of honor and fame

Giving pretend glory to your name

(Our biases intact)

While the poor and the broken

Are seen by the world as a mere token

Of those that you long ago said

Would be with us always, even when we lay our heads

(Out in the margins they)

Upon the clean sheets and pillow cases

Of those of us who are higher than other races

Claiming that which we did not earn

Clutching that for which people yearn

(We do sleep well)

To be loved, honored, and respected

To feel stomachs full and no one neglected

While we trod upon this earthly sod

Until we face our eternal God.

(Forgive us if You please)

So, You Voted for a President Who.......(And I Hope You Will Reconsider This Time Around)?

Refused to praise the FBI and voice concern for Governor Whitmer and the threats against her and her family? 

Has led an administration that increased the US debt by $7 trillion? 

Continues to say that the pandemic is over even as the death toll climbs? 

Talked about his own issues with COVID, but said little to nothing about his wife and son? 

Suggested that the Osama Bin Laden raid and killing was a hoax, that he is still alive?

Tweeted that the team that Obama and Biden may have had Seal Team 6 killed, one of several OAnon conspiracy theories? 

Says that he is pro-life, but received treatments which utilized an aborted fetus from the 1970s?

Has refused to acknowledge the rise of white national groups and others that threaten the safety of Americans, per the former secretary for Homeland Security? 

Refused in the last debate to distance himself from white nationalists? 

Has continued to tout a tax relief bill that advantaged the rich corporations, but did very little, if anything at all, for the middle class or poor people?

Is conflicted about whether or not to push for another stimulus package despite many families being economically desperate?

Is planning to prematurely exit the bubble of protection following his battle with covid?

Is pitching a fit about the likelihood of the final debates being held virtually, despite the ongoing problems with COVID, even his own personal battle with it? 

Blames his meeting with Gold Star families for where he contracted the virus, without proof, whereas the data confirms that the event to announce the new supreme court justice was actually the super spreader?

Hides details about his health, makes decisions while on steroids, and insists on campaigning, when normally people who are infected with stay home and recover?

Enjoys the support of radical groups such as the one that was planning on kidnapping the governor of Michigan?

Continues to stoke the fires of violence with his refusal to exit peacefully if he loses?

Told one white supremacist group to “stand by and stand down?”

Has been chaotic since getting out of the hospital?

Tweets rather than leads?

Insulted the dead by asserting that covid is not that bad, that we don’t need to be afraid?

Has called the VP candidate a “communist” and a “monster,” and the latter twice?

Refuses to endorse the notion that he’ll participate in a peaceful transition of power if he loses? Has been, according to two studies, “the nation’s single greatest spreader of disinformation” about a plethora of things including voting and covid?

Have Secret Service agents who know that he does not care for them?

Encourages America not to be afraid of COVID?

Has an office that continues to multiple with covid-19 infected people?

Did a drive-by with his Secret Service personnel exposed to the virus, from his infection?

Scoffed at and insulted mask wearers, including Mr. Biden, and then contracted the virus himself?

Exposed the virus to others around him for the sake of a campaign speech and fund-raising event?

Leads a party that actively suppressed voters as in Texas as in the governor placing only one collection box for every county for early voters?

Cannot bring himself to renounce white supremacy?

Who calls on a known white supremacist group with “stand down and stand by?”

Taunts Mr. Biden during the “debate,” not only at the beginning but throughout?

Insulted the sacred memory of Mr. Biden’s deceased son and his son who has recovered from drug addiction?

Has weaponized various governmental agencies for his political gain such as Homeland Security?

Refuses to say that he’ll participate in a peaceful transition if Biden wins the election?

Continues to cast doubt on the validity of mail-in voting despite there being no evidence of fraud?

Threatens not to accept the results of the presidential election?

Continues to cast doubt on the validity of the election?

Continues to cast doubt on vote by mail despite there being little to no indications of corruption in those states that have done this for years?

Calls for law and order, but minimized the police efforts that killed Breonna Taylor?

Continues to politicize the coronavirus?

Is asking for more money to bail out farmers, most of whom will be corporate farms, spending tax payer dollars on a bail out that could have been thwarted had he not gotten into a trade war with China?

Has not worn masks despite the obvious aid they are in stopping the spread of the virus?

Leads an administration that softened requirements of the meat industry despite warnings?

Has a lead of the coronavirus task force who has a diminished role in favor of someone whose opinion matches trump’s?

Leads an administration in which 50% of the funding for farmers goes to 9% of the farmers?

Appointed a neuroradiologist to a lead role on the coronavirus task force?

Leads an administration that no longer allows the CDC and FDA to act independently?

Knew about the severity of the coronavirus very early and decided to minimize it?

Does not address the growing number of covid-related deaths in America, now over 200K?

Has several tell-all books written about him, and some from the famous Nixon years?

Forced the public agenda for covid-19 from science to his own personal agenda?

Moved $1B from covid recovery to the defense department for non-covid relief efforts?

Applauded Minnesota for their good genes, a dog-whistle to white supremacists, in a very white state, that they have “good genes?”

Delighted in a reporter being hit by rubber bullets during a peaceful protest?

Within administration, immigrant women had their uteruses removed without approval?

Waited three years to provide recovery funding to Puerto Rico?

Shifted his language from “downplaying” the virus with Woodward to “up playing” the virus before the undecided voters?

Keeps talk about getting a third term?

Disparages things related to science?

Encourages his supporters to dismiss common practices for stopping the spread of covid?

Meets with his supporters in both airport terminals and closed buildings without masks or social distancing?

Boasts that now he’s going to be very “nasty?”

Leads an administration that has attempted to alter the data coming from the CDC because it conflicts with his message?

Blurts out top secrets on multiple occasions?

Deceived the American people about the severity of the coronavirus situation?

Blames others for his failures with the virus?

Has his cruelties, corruptions, collusions, and crimes catalogued, and it’s still growing?

Insulted our courageous war veterans interred in France as losers?

Encouraged NC voters to vote twice, once in person and once by mail?

Pals around with the leader of a government that poisoned a dissenter?

Cannot say words of encouragement or say the name of Blacks killed by police?

Violates The Hatch Act in all sorts of ways, especially by holding the RNC event on “America’s Lawn?”

Lied about sending in the national guard to Kenosha, WS when the governor had sent them in the day before?

Perpetrates lies such as the plane loaded with people in black with “gear.”

Refused to work to stem the tide of the pandemic, even as the numbers climb to over 183K?

Has followers who are radicalized towards violence and extremism?

Has children who have benefited economically from his position?

Has children whose travels for their own business purposes have cost tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Uses such incendiary language that white nationalists and others such as the 17 year old from IL who killed the two people in WS follow him, quote him, and act upon his speech?

Had his acceptance speech on the WH lawn in clear violation of the Hatch Act?

Was found to have 21 lies in his acceptance speech?

Claimed victory over the coronavirus and that he was led by science?

Has supporters who are turning a blind eye to his policies and his ineptitude?

Has a past that would make any of us cringe?

May be indicted once he leaves office?

Has had his closest supporters charged in courts of law?

Led a RNC that does not have a platform for the 2020 election other than Trump himself?

Is guilty of nepotism in the WH and beyond?

Leads a white America to the neglect of Black America?

Is the president of the Republican party but not all of America?

Does not have a clear policy for Civil Rights?

Does not have a clear policy for small family farms, but does have one for corporate, white farms, many of which are transnational?

Has failed us in the battle with the virus by failure to use medical personnel, lying to us about it, misusing resources, disbanding the pandemic team, and avoiding responsibility?

Refuses to support the USPS, a constitutionally prescribed entity that serves the American people?  

Casts doubt about mail-in voting despite states doing it for years?

Waffles on issues like mail-in versus in-person voting?

Is losing his base?

Finally paid the lawyer expenses for one of the porn stars with whom he had an affair?

Has numerous former federal employees and soldiers lobbying against him?

Lacks the temperament for this complicated work?

Has no identifiable, organized, coherent foreign policy?

Has alienated our country’s friends?

Has wrapped his arms around our adversaries?

Has insulting terms for everyone except for Putin?

Dabbles with conspiracy theories and theorists?

Refuses to listen to the scientists?

Has ignored the pandemic and is now stumping for re-election in part on his handling of it?

Refuses to lead by example, i.e., occasionally talks masks but is seen not wearing them in public places in the White House?

Refuses to share his favorite Bible verses despite being an avid believer?

Now has had seven of his team either indicted or serving prison terms?

Has not built a wall that he promised?

Donated to the entity allegedly building the wall whose leaders have been indicted for fraud?

Basically has disbanded intelligence hearings?

Has never answered the question of Russian paying bounties for our soldiers?

Has more tell-all books coming out with things that we’ve suspected?

Started the birther thing about Kamal Harris?

Refuses to support the USPS as we enter election season during a pandemic?

Has given up on helping to solve the pandemic?

Is opposed to mail-in voting except for himself and Florida?

Indicated that COVID-19 ended WWII?

Did an interview with an Axios interviewer which showed that he is terrifically uninformed about COVID-related issues amongst others?

Says that if Biden is elected, he will “hurt the Bible?”

Paints Biden as a liberal who is “against God” despite the fact that Biden is an active Catholic and a man of faith?

Treats women reporters who asks hard questions with derision?

Raised the possibility of his face being added to the other presidents at Mount Rushmore?

Used the power of his Executive Order to preempt Congress on the COVID recovery financial situation?

Has informed us that he is fighting for pre-existing conditions to be included in the health bill when it was in the ACA from the beginning?

Mispronounces commonly used words such as Yosemite (Yo semite) and Thailand (thighland)?

Campaigns as pro-life when 161K plus have died under his watch?

“Leads” a country that is now viewed as a failure given its hyper-individual focus?

Suggests that given the pandemic and all, that we postpone the election?

Is putting his eggs in the basket of voting only in person despite the fact that some states have been doing it for years?

Has a failed foreign policy?

Has led America to be held in derision by other countries?

Has so alienated other countries that they pity us?

Sent unidentified soldiers into Portland to fight against other Americans?

Appears to be setting the stage for a fascist regime?

Know little about the law, the Constitution, or even American history?

Has dismantled The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) program, a clearly racist action?

Says about the increasing number of deaths (155K and counting), that “it is what it is?”

Insults key COVID-19 professionals including Birx and Fauci?

Called the coronavirus a hoax?

Downplayed the coronavirus despite knowing that it was deadly?  

Led a process that insured that tariff money landed in the hands of corporate farms, and not in the hands of small family farms or Black-owned family farms?

Has two systems of justice, one for his cronies and one for the rest of us?

Has only recently started wearing a mask and not all that often?

Continues to insist that kids go back to school?

Had a key leader within the West Wing who advised another key person, not to leave him alone for five minutes?

Said he would throw out a pitch at Yankee stadium despite not being invited?

Said he would not be able to throw out the pitch in August because he would be busy fighting the virus and getting the economy up and running?

Ignores the increasing death of Americans and instead focuses on the economy?

Dismantled the Pandemic Office?

Is the object of several revealing tell-all books by reputable writers and politicians?

Wishes well the woman who helped Epstein abuse young teenage girls?

Boasts about his scores on a simple screening inventory?

Continues to cost family farms their livelihood via the China trade war?

Led an unnecessary trade war that has cost the American people more for essential items?

Offered peanuts to small family farmers in exchange for the trade war debacle?

Developed a COVID-19 recovery plan that benefited the wealthiest of Americans?

Boasted about throwing the first pitch out at Yankee Stadium when he hadn’t even been invited?

Refused to go to Representative John Lewis’ viewing in the rotunda?

Has refused to assume responsibility for and develop a plan for the pandemic?

Pulls the RNC out of Jacksonville because it is too dangerous but yet wants kids to go back to school?

Threatens to withhold federal funding to schools if they do not open, despite the fact that it is Congress that appropriates funding for schools?

Commuted the sentence of 7-time felon Roger Stone?

Refused to apologize for his blatant racist attitudes, as seen in the full-page newspaper article, toward the Central Park 5 despite their exoneration?

Has become known now as the most corrupt president since Richard Nixon?

Wastes his time defending himself and not taking care of business of the coronavirus?

Boasts about passing a simple screening test that most of us would pass with 100%?

Will not answer the questions about bounties on the heads of our soldiers?

For the sake of votes became pro-life?

Has been told now by the SCOTUS that he is not above the law?

Whines and complains that the SCOTUS does not like him?

Shelved the Coronavirus Task Force for two months or so?

Is making the southern cause his cause despite growing up in the Queens in a wealthy home?

Has chided Wallace for not making an apology despite the fact that it was Wallace’s team that found the noose? 

Talks in word salad (a phrase to describe speech of people diagnosed with psychosis) when asked about his plans for a second term?

Talks in word salad (a phrase to describe speech of people diagnosed with psychosis) when talking about immigrants?

Blames the CDC and Fauci in particular for the problems?

Commutes the sentences of his cronies and vilifies good people?

Whines and complains about he is being victimized?

Labels anyone against him as fake news?

Labels for his own purposes anyone anywhere as the Left Wing that is trying to destroy our country?

Said that 99% of the COVID-19 cases are harmless?

Has insulting names for all world leaders except for Putin?

Blocked the Coronavirus Task Force from speaking publicly for two months?

Says that the virus will someday suddenly disappear?

Asserts that teaching history in American classrooms teaches kids to hate America?

Dismantled the diversity training programs despite clear needs for them, including over at the USDA where the FSA officials often mistreat Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and women farmers?

Refuses to mask up and demonstrate safety to America?

Compels you via your own sensibilities to say, “I don’t like the way he talks or lives but…..”

Has a VP who only of late has begun to speak CDC’s language of health?

Ignored the growing coronavirus, wanting to keep the numbers down lest it effect his re-election?

Says in early July that the US has turned the corner on the virus despite numbers escalating rapidly in numerous states?

Holds rallies that fly in the face of CDC recommendations about social distancing and wearing masks?

Developed policies in the war with China that severely wounded farmers across the country, especially minority farmers?

Incites you to believe that he is pro-life when he has always been pro-choice and that he can do something about it during his presidency?

Spends millions of dollars on a wall, and from sources that federal judges say is inappropriate, and has only completed about 3 miles of it thus far in his presidency?

Has mishandled the racial and civil unrest issues of the day and times?

Incites division by saying that left wing extremists are trying to destroy America?

Incites division by saying that left wing extremists are trying to rob America of its culture?

Asserts that American culture is also his (meaning the south and monuments)?

Makes fun of those who wear masks as weak?

Insults others who are deemed his opponents such as Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe?”

Proclaims his response to the pandemic while people died?

Explained the pandemic as not a big deal, one that would mysteriously go away?

Thinks he informed the American people about Juneteenth?

Will risk the health of thousands of people by going to a state that has numbers of infections and climbing?

Is increasingly creating tension with our military?

Is so upset about the bunker thing that he intends to sue whoever provided that information?

Allegedly tried to get China to help him get re-elected?

Supported China building prisons for Muslims?

Is disappointed that the Supreme Court does not like him?

Was clueless about June 19 and scheduled a rally in Tulsa?

Was clueless about June 19 and scheduled a rally in Tulsa, a city that is just now reckoning with its history of the Massacre of Black Wall Street?

Used a Nazi symbol in his campaign materials until Facebook caught it.

Had a rally in Arizona with no social distancing nor masks and made fun of testing.

Fully intends to defund the very federal programs that are producing matters related to COVID-19?

Said nothing about the history of Tulsa or Black Wall Street and the massacre of 300 innocent citizens?

Has fired or lost to quitting more administrative persons in this history of the presidency?

Is ignoring the COVID crisis and focusing totally on the economy and his re-election campaign?

Touts a non-existent AIDS vaccine?

Is shunned by the majority of leaders in the world?

Has led the US into moral bankruptcy?

Lacks empathy?

Has failed at rallying America amidst the deaths of George Floyd and others?

Adds fuel to the already smoldering tension of racism in our country.

Makes this day of COVID about economics and jobs and the stock market while 118,000 and counting have died?

Plans to hold a campaign rally in a state that continues to spike upward in infections and deaths?

Was angry that so few showed up at his rally on Saturday, June 20?

Blamed the “liberal media” and protesters on lowering the attendance rate?

Failed to understand that people in Oklahoma care about their health even when he doesn’t?

Continues to use racist language to make his points?

Makes things about himself, even his shoes on slippery surfaces?

Had planned to hold the rally on June 19, a slap in the face of Black Americans?

Signed an Executive Order that is as weak as pond water at a time with American needs better leadership from the White House?

Continues to show his litigious nature by suing John Bolton as his book is coming out?

Is the object of a variety of tell-all books about his ineptness in the white house and his erratic personal style?

Appears to be exhibiting physical traits that are troublesome: difficulties walking and even holding a glass of water in one hand?

Slurs his words in various speeches, which may be indicative of a neurological disorder?

Has us in the deepest in debt ever?

Disbanded the very office that served as an alarm system for worldwide medical problems?

Struggles to explain why he disbanded that office?

Refuses to take responsibility for the debacle around the coronavirus, testing, and dissemination of kits?

Who raises the Bible, holy scriptures, as a prop?

Has his troops gas, fight back with shields, and other measures so he can have a photo opt?

Is mad because of the press’ report of him being on lockdown for those two nights?

Refuses to follow best practices before our very eyes, as in refusing to get tested and shaking hands with people while medical field is saying don’t?

Weaponizes the pandemic?

Called the coronavirus a hoax?

Refuses to wear a mask even when all others are masked up?

Refuses to acknowledge Dr. Fauci’s expertise?

Calls Dr. Fauci a fraud?

Refuses to follow the guidelines from the CDC and Dr. Fauci?

Appeared before a manufacturer of swabs, without masking up, and they had to throw those out?

Wants to sue a major network for reporting unfavorable polling numbers (CNN)?

Used George Floyd’s name only for economic purposes and not for moments of grief over his family?

Will begin his campaign even in COVID-19 days?

Will make a campaign appearance on June 19, a holy day for Black Americans?

Will make a campaign appearance on June 19, a holy day for Black Americans in the city of the Black Wallstreet Massacre?

Who is more concerned by our country’s economics than the lives of people?

Who says about the murder of Ahmaud that “there may some other things that come out?”

Has tried to put barriers up for veterans, social security recipients, the disabled, and others who do not file tax returns?

Abdicates leadership on the world stage by pulling us away from other nations?

Who de-funded the US’ contribution to the WHO as punishment?

Who knew from his many briefings that a pandemic was coming and ignored them?

Who denies responsibility for the deaths of Americans?

Whose administration would shelve CDC guidelines for re-opening and he would leave them in the dark?

Who would appoint a guy to be a leader on the voter fraud area who had been sued for voter fraud four times?

Lies about simple things like was he in a bunker (disputed by his AG)?

Led armed forces to shove away peaceful protesters so he could have his photo op?

Uses the Bible for the photo op and then upside down?

Who repudiates common sense and science by not masking up along with his VP?

Boasts when the stock market is high but blames it on others when it is low?

Presides over the presidency during the time of the worst DOW drops ever?

Cannot handle a crisis except to lie, divert, and blame?

Appoints people who have little to no experience other than loyalty to the president?

Feigned medical competence when he has none?

Made the coronavirus issue about himself?

Politicized the coronavirus threat?

Allowed a disastrous start to addressing the coronavirus threat?

Golfs while the threat is growing?

Fires Inspectors General at will, and on Friday nights?

Blames, blames, blames, all others but himself?

Has a growing cadre of military people who are negatively critiquing his policies?

Had his people disband with force a group of protesters who were standing in the way of his photo op?

Who divides us all?

Gets extremely reactive when someone criticizes himself?

Whose co-author on his biography from several years ago says that he has no conscience and that he doesn’t care that people are dying?

Lies to the people about voter fraud and mail-in votes?

Attends campaign rallies while the coronavirus threat is growing?

Insisted that he would work and not golf while actually he is golfing more than the previous president?

Invites physicians to his meetings and then undercuts them?

Proposes the use of light and disinfectants to rid the human of the coronavirus?

Fires whistleblowers left and right?

Fire Inspectors General when they disagree with him?

Makes the coronavirus update meetings about him?

Appears more concerned about ratings than deaths across the country?

Boasts of giving away his salary as president while it is a drop in the bucket to his billions?

Attacks Hunter Biden when own family soaks the federal government for millions of dollars?

Plays into Putin’s hands? 

Mocks the disabled?

Verbally insults women?

Was more concerned about votes than tackling the pandemic that was coming?

Verbally assaults women of color in briefings?

Boasts about his popularity on Facebook in a coronavirus hearing?

Lies daily to the tune of over 16,000 since taking office?

Makes up insulting names for whoever opposes him?

Uses vengeance as a ploy?

Makes decisions impulsively?

Puts the US military at risk daily?

Talks in sexual language about his own daughter?

Verbally assaults heroes of American politics?

Insults Gold standard families?

Politicizes intelligence?

Lies about availability of tests, ventilators, and PPE?

Who sent ventilators to Russia while Americans were dying for lack of them?

Is careless with intelligence?

Attacks those who testify under oath?

Attacks government prosecutors?

Attacks federal judges?

Attacks jurors?

Interferes with the judicial system?

Claims to be a Christian but does not know its sacred text?

Insults women with coarse, locker-room language?

Delivers tax dollars to the wealthy and none to the middle or lower classes?

Uses twitter to hire, fire, and determine governmental policies?

Insults our closest allies?

Buddies up with our enemies?

Who recklessly tweets at all times of the day and night?

Inflicts vengeance and retaliation against those who oppose him?

Frees criminals based on his liking them and feeling persecuted like they were?

Frees criminals without a stated process and policy?

Mocks a career soldier like Vindman?

Comments about peoples’ looks?

Interferes with judicial decisions and processes?

Has a huge vindictive streak against those who are not loyal to him?

Insults people with various names he invents?

Mocks the words of Jesus?

Has the evangelical in his hip pocket but seems to know nothing of the faith of our fathers?

Mocks and denigrates all manner of governmental agencies?

Initiated a tax bill that only favors rich people like his friends?

Signed a bailout program for farmers but only the rich conglomerates get the money?

Curried the favor of Russia who helped him win in 2016?

Provides top secret information to a middle east country that murdered a writer?

Has appointees and staff leave almost weekly?

Throws metaphorical “bones” to minorities and them claims to be helping them?

Has more associates indicted and jailed than any president ever?

Seemingly governs in a “versus Obama” style?

“Bailed Out” farmers due to his own flimsy tariff war with most money going to conglomerates?

Asserted that China would pay for the tariffs when we actually do?

Sends troops to a foreign country to protect their oil fields?

Tells us that we don’t have the documents to impeach because he has them, and won’t hand the over to the House?

Who changes polices related to water quality that will impact America for years?

Appointed an Ag secretary who would insult small farmers?

Disparages legitimate science and scientists?

Insults soldiers (now 109) who experienced TBIs following an Iranian bomb?

Is so offensive in his rhetoric that the military demands an apology?

Is angry about voter suppression that hurt him when Republicans actually hurt Democrats?

Is vindictive and wrathful if you disagree with him (see John McCain)?

Is working to make cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare?

Is eliminating the student debt, loan forgiveness programs?

Has numerous confidantes charged with crimes and in prison, and more on the way?

Is so unruly that the PM of Britain canceled his official trip here?

Lies about his surrogates doing dirty work in Ukraine and then admits it after the impeachment hearings are concluded? 

Labels the press as the enemy?

Blocks outlets that he does not like from the White House?

Gets his policy material from Hannity and Fox?

Takes hours to get “made up each day,” i.e., his orange make up and his hair?

Has hours per day when he is not doing government business?

Isolates and pits one side against another?

Uses language of violence in his speeches?

Lies and lies and lies, to the tune of over 16,000 after three years, and climbing as we speak?

Developed trade policies that hurt farmers?

Who appointed a secretary of agriculture who doesn’t care about any but the corporate farms?

Developed trade polices that we the people will pay for?

Has started a trade war with China that has bankrupted many farmers and has shifted purchases of commodities to other countries such as Brazil?

Has appeared, as has his current wife, in pornographic movies and magazines?

Is isolating America from the rest of the world?

Uses caustic language for anyone who disagrees with him?

Horses around during the national anthem at his own super bowl party?

Spends an inordinate amount of time and thus America’s tax paying dollars at his clubs golfing?

Will go down as American’s worst president in history?

Does not read?

Who rambles when he speaks?

Speaks in such a way to empower White Nationalists and other racist groups?

Speaks in such a way to empower angry people to attack people in other ethnic groups?

Touts his intelligence?

Who has led a coronavirus effort full of chaos and contradictions?

Who trumps the scientists on his team?

Touts his intelligence such that he does not digest thick reports of his people at briefings?

Hides his tax returns yet touts himself as the most transparent president ever?

Who appeals to the SCOTUS to allow him to hide his taxes and other documents from Congress?

Who touts his transparency, but who hides behind threats of law suits?

Who led a for-profit “university” which stole money from students?

Whose leadership style allowed him to hire craftsmen, obtain their work, and then deny them adequate pay which led some to close their businesses?

Threatens his university with a law suit if they release his transcript?

Been found guilty of fraud in Trump University?

Paid huge fines for misuse of donors’ money to his charity?

Has adult children who must attend school to learn how to run a charity in New York?

Has had multiple marriages and multiple children by those spouses?

Curses in public settings?

Has paid off porn stars so that they will not speak publicly of him and their relationship?

Insults his team including NSC staff and others?

Is impulsive in his decision-making?

Who spends little time in the oval office?

Who tweets upwards of 100 tweets per day, and even more in complicated times?

Who has marginalized the Congress?

Who ignores the Constitution?

Vilifies an entire people?

Chooses not to confront White Nationalism and its diseases upon America?

Demonizes whomever he wishes?

Attempting to make America white again?

Has been impeached?

Has been found guilty by the Senate though not badly enough to be removed?

Apparently believes that he would have won the popular vote if not for voter fraud?

Watches one primary news source and a couple of key television reporters?

Does not think through implications of decisions?

In the past has insulted Republicans as dumb?

Is allegedly creating an enemies list of those who have not supported him?

Is saying that he is not sure that he can work with Democrats who impeached him?

Insults others but retaliates when they insult him?

By all accounts is president* of a white house in chaos?

Has his family as key advisors despite their lack of experience?

Fodder for all manner of tell-all books by insiders who leak information?

Moves money around that is obligated to the military for his border wall which is totally not necessary?

Makes ostentatious claims such as making Mexico pay for the wall?

Takes money away from military schools to pay for his wall?

Divides children from their parents?

Puts children in cages?

Sends migrants back to El Salvador where they are murdered (138 and counting)?

Is considered to be God’s anointed, His chosen one?

Who says insulting things like “there is my African American” as he points out a person of color?

Whose rhetoric is harmful to kids and adults even?

Who now admits that there was no imminent danger before sending a drone to kill the Iranian guy?