Reggie Blogged

Image from the Boston Globe Opposing the President Joe Biden nomination Kiran Ahuja for director of Office of Personnel Management, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) took to the floor of congress and like most members of his party does, proceeded to say some really stupid ish. Hawley said that the America he sees and knows is not systemically racist. I don't think I can find a single GIF that would properly convey the flat, blinking expression I have on my face as I look at the plate of nonsense he just served up.  Hawley is a white man. Of course he sees a different a America. He lives in an American that black people and other people of color do not. Because he is white, he gets to move through life and the country without experiencing the systemic racism that non-whites encounter on a regular basis. He doesn't have to fear that police are going to harm him over some trivial garbage like vaping on the sidewalk, or fear that his life may be in danger during a routine jog. He doesn...

Image by MP&F Juneteenth, or June 19th. I'd never heard of it until the civil unrest that swept the country last year (and is still going on). There's been push for years to make it a federal holiday. On June 17th, 2021, Juneteenth was at long last made a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed it into law. "So what is Juneteeth?" I hear those of you not in the know asking. Why, it commemorates the end of America's original sin, chattel slavery. Slavery was abolished in 1863 but despite the Emancipation Proclamation, word that slavery was over was withheld from those in confederate states, meaning many were not aware of the newfound freedom others were granted. On June 19th, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, Major General Gordon Granger came through on horseback to inform the remaining slaves in the state that they were free.  I'd like to say it was all sunshine and roses after that but that was not the case. And yeah, we still got a long ways to go becau...

Photo by Ted Eytan via flickr 2020. A year to remember if ever there was one. Though the COVID virus that would sweep across the world and turn our lives upside down was discovered in late 2019, in early 2020 the pandemic ball really got rolling and in many ways, it shaped the course for what turned out to be an incredibly difficult year. Even during a global pandemic, life, under very unusual circumstances, went on. People worked remotely, kids did school from home, restaurants only did take out or door dash. As positive COVID cases grew, hospitals were overrun, taxing staff to their limits. Due to how gravely the pandemic had (has) affected the world and our very way of life, people turned to the news to stay updated. Naturally, COVID dominated the news hours but a once in a century pandemic was not gonna stop white people from killing black people.  Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog while he was shot and killed by delusional, white supremacist clowns. Breonna Taylor had her life t...