America has seen true darkness; the COVID-19 outbreak catapulted the nation into a new way of operation, with many lives lost. The escalated climate during the leadership of the 45th president, Donald Trump, coupled with unjust behavior fueled by racism, created a hemorrhage in the country’s unity and applied pressure to a new awareness around the minds of society.
The National Board of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union took a major step today toward possibly disciplining or expelling President Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and also endangering the lives of fellow union members — journalists.
During President Obama’s administration, congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner had fostered an atmosphere for the Tea Party, and the GOP became known as the “party of ‘no’.” It seemed everywhere Obama turned he was met with a brick wall when it came to bipartisanship. Because Obama was the first Black man to become president of the United States, it was hard for some White Americans to accept.
President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time Wednesday, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.
It has been a tough week in social justice in America. On January 5, Kenosha County Wisconsin District Attorney Mike Graveley announced that he will not charge the officers involved in the Jacob Blake shooting. The next day, a hoard of pro-Trump extremists broke into and raided the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.
David G. Brown Cartoon
Gun violence spiked across the country in 2020, the most violent year in decades. 19,000 were killed in shootings, the highest death toll in 20 years (and that does not include gun suicides). Mass shootings — defined as four or more shot in an incident — also rose drastically to over 600.
David G.Brown Cartoon: December 10, 2020
“I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better,” Biden said in a statement.
David G. Brown Cartoon: December 3, 2020
In every oppressive society, there are the seeds and signs of its own self-problematizing and self-destruction. It makes problems for itself by its hypocritical, dishonest, and oppressive practices. And it becomes self-destructive in that it produces unresolvable contradictions which divide it against itself and signal it can no longer exist in its current form.
On Jan. 5, Georgia will hold a run-off election for both of its Senate seats. The races capture national attention because control of the Senate is at stake. If the two Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, both win, the Senate will be effectively split 50-50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking the tie. If one or both lose, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell will retain his ability to obstruct the incoming president.
It is said that the defeat of Donald Trump signals that the country is ready for a change, but we have not been given on the nightly news, on social media or by mail, anything that resembles a comprehensive view of what the change might look like. Nor have we heard from the academy, Congress, or the corporate world anything beyond convenient confessions that Black lives do indeed matter. And the question of how that works out in public policy and social practice is still to be determined with no definite or proposed dates in sight. But we know from the ample evidence of history and the lived experience of our daily lives that whatever it means and promises for White folks and others, it will not mean or promise the same for us.
In our rightful celebration and valuing of our victory in saving ourselves and America from its Trumpian self, we must remember and recommit ourselves to continuing our larger struggle. For although we removed Trump, the monster side of America from office, the millions of people who support, enable and voted for him for a second term offer ample evidence the system itself is deeply flawed and in need of radical reconception and reconstruction. And so, at the outset, we must not harbor any Americana illusions of “we’re better than this or that,” as if “we” was all of us, doing wrong.
With these words, the president-elect, Joe Biden, set a new tone and a new mood in Washington. No longer will the bully pulpit of the White House be used to spew lies and insults or to fan division and hatred. The White House will once again call on the “better angels” of Americans and not our “darkest impulses.”