| From the Villa ge of Brook ly n |
OUR TIME PRESS THE L OCAL PAPER WITH THE G LOBAL VIEW
| VOL. 23 NO. 29
July 18 – 24, 2019 |
Since 1996
“Our Sisters” United Against Racism From Oval Office
Washington, DC, U.S – From left Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). These four progressive Democratic Congressmembers and women of color, held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, responding to President Trump's outrageous remarks via Twitter and his doubling down in the Oval Office telling them to “go back” to their home countries. The U.S. Reps. called Trump out, characterizing his remarks as “blatantly racist” attacks. On the 16th the House passed a resolution to condemn Trump’s Twitter rant as racist during a dramatic and contentious session where Republican Congressmembers sought to censor Speaker Nancy Pelosi, preventing her from entering the word “racist” into the record in regards to the President’s speech. They were unsuccessful. Photo: Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire)
View From Here ■■
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By David Mark Greaves
ast Sunday’s report on CBS’ “60 Minutes” about artificial intelligence removing 40% of the current job market means that economic survival will be dependent on creativity and making new connections that only the human mind is capable of. Rather than thinking about these humankind life-changing forces, we are called to confront the littlest of men, Donald J. Trump and his white mob, all of them deathly afraid of four strong women of color and what they represent. The president is a walking obscenity and beloved by millions who now have someone in the White House speaking for them, the true “Forgotten Americans.” Until now, mostly hidden, except for the occasional swastika painted overnight on a wall or like in Charlottesville, where they paraded with torches. The ones with a lingering ache for the white supremacist world gone by where
they ruled without question, and now they are angered that they will be a minority on land they stole from the indigenous people and used Africans as slaves to improve. And in Trump, they have found a man who feels their pain and revels in it like a pig in mud. And now precious time of our national consciousness in 2019 is spent arguing with an Oval Office-led racist mob chanting, “Go back home! Go back to where you came from!” at Black and Brown people. There is no use calling him any more names. “He’s been called everything but a child of God” is what used to be said about men like him for whom words are inadequate to describe. And if there is a Hall of Heroes at Russia’s KGB headquarters, then Vladimir Putin will be honored with statuary and flowers for his wildly successful operation against the United States. With effects such as Supreme Court appointments, gerrymandering, tax code writing,
international fiascos and a coarsening of national civility that will harm the nations for decades. And yet, to the individual, all of the above pales in significance when compared to the immediate problems of securing food, clothing and housing for self and family on a stable and long-term basis. And answers to questions like, “Are the children being prepared for this very dangerous world that is evolving?” and “How can I stay healthy and how will I get care when I’m not?” or “Can I believe you can beat him?” The Democrat who talks about these problems and answers these questions will be the one left standing to face Donald Trump and the polls indicate there are several who would win that contest. Personally, at this very early moment, if I were asked to quick-pick a ticket, I’d say
➔➔ Continued on page 2
Heirs to a Legacy
A powerful conversation across continents and through time, with scholars Graham Weatherspoon and William Wade, 1997. Page 6