BOLOGNA BETWEEN TWO PIECES OF MARBLED RYE

BOLOGNA BETWEEN TWO PIECES OF MARBLED RYE! by Contributing Writer, Dr. Monica Crooks

Well isn’t it amazing that we have had the first Black President of the USA, arguably the most noble, moral, upstanding, elegant, highly educated, Constitutional Scholar ever to fill that role. He would have done great things had envy, jealousy, hatred, partisanship and flagrant racism not gotten immediately in his way. Obama was followed by the most unqualified, immoral, obnoxious, arrogant, ignorant…there are not enough negative superlatives to describe the madness of Chump. And now as President elect we have the other half of the Obama team plus the first female VP; first Black VP; first Asian VP! Historic is an understatement!

We need to dissect what this is saying. For one, our country language and general BADASS gravitas. Rock, Blues, Jazz, Funk, RAP, HipHop, Gospel; Break Dancing are worldwide and

needs us! Strong, resilient, beautiful, brilliant Black people! Secondly, it says that 74 million, mostly white people, feel they is nonsense! There are wolves in sheep’s clothing. White Supremacists no longer hide themselves behind hoods and

are losing something they feel is uniquely and fundamentally theirs. FOX’s propaganda narrative, “The Browning of America,” has stoked irrational fear that “Brown-skinned” people are going to usurp the power position in America away from “White-skinned” people. Well let us remember that this land ultimately belongs to the “Red-skinned” people. ALL the rest of us had our ancestral beginnings somewhere else. But that is water under the bridge. It is high time for us ALL to stop thinking of ourselves in terms of where our ancestors came from, and embrace the fact that we are ALL from here! This continent. This country. This nation. Our nationality is US American. That’s it! (Read Isabel Wilkerson’s CASTE. Understand the cloth that the USA is woven from.)

Together we must fight against the widening wealth divide. Make sure your children learn a trade that cannot be taken over by artificial intelligence/robots, which will be the next wave of job loss in this country. Make sure your children excel in high tech skills, computer science, engineering, math, proper, wellspoken English. Teach them the importance of proud, elegant, confident posture, gracious, intelligent presentation, eye

Of all the others who found their way here, we, people of African ethnicity whose family history is multi-generationally of the Americas, are the most truly American. Why do I say that? Because our ancestors were human trafficked for 246 years throughout the collective American continents. We alone were stripped literally of everything: clothing, name, family, language, culture, religion, cuisine. We alone were trafficked in every sense of the horrid term…rape, abuse, forced labor, cruel sport, discrimination, and debasement in every way. Yet we survived and we thrive in anything and everything we put our minds to. OUR culture is AMERICAN culture; because WE created whatever we call “culture” right here on THIS continent with no possible knowledge of what culture our ancestors came from. Americans of African descent continually contribute to American culture in art, music, dance, fashion, hair style, African American in origin.

This is our homeland now. Our ancestors built it, fought, struggled, were tortured and died for it. We have a right to be here. And again our country needs us. We have been selfsufficient before in the past. (Look up Black Wall Street.) We can do it again. Support Black-Owned businesses. Be helpful to one another. Be appreciative of our non-Black supporters who want to see success and justice for all. Unite with them. They are our allies; our brothers and sisters regardless of ethnicity. Be cautious however. Chump has vastly emboldened those who wish us harm. Do not trust easily or too quickly. Travel in groups. There have been a number of lynchings of late that have been passed off as suicides, but no Black man or teen is going to hang himself from a damn tree. That contact and hopefully soon again…a firm handshake.

sheets. They wear suits and ties.

Most of us can’t leave the US and live anywhere else easily. We must defend our homeland. Biden and Harris will need help from all of us. Let’s work together to make this country what it professes to be. United we stand. Divided we all fall! n

Dr. Monica Crooks, DDS drmonicacrooks@gmail.com 916) 922-2027 www.facebook.com/drmonicacrooks www.drmonicacrooks.com

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE’S A PLUS SIDE TO COVID-19

By Contributing Writer, Michael P Coleman

Yes, I write my own headlines. No, I’m not losing my mind. Yet. Hear me out.

The coronavirus isn’t so novel anymore. It was new when it hit us early last year. If you were like me, you thought we’d hunker down, wear our masks, keep our distance, wash our hands, and have that puppy behind us by Memorial Day.

Instead, at press time, we’re mourning the deaths of over 300,000 Americans. Almost 17 million people have contracted the virus, and just today, over 1,500 Americans have died.

Those numbers could bring even the most optimistic of us down, as will the inability for family and friends to gather safely any time soon. Luckily, I saw the dark cloud coming last spring, and decided to look for the good in a world that has kept me, a lifetime extrovert, largely shut in for the better part of the year.

While I’m in no way suggesting that impacted families should have an easy time with things (my own niece contracted the virus last fall, and scared us all to death), I do think that there’s strength in reshaping the narrative, and not letting COVID-19 run the show.

For example, instead of bemoaning the fact that movie theaters had been shuttered, thereby denying me from a beloved, twice monthly pastime, I decided to bank the $200 that my family had been spending at the movies each month. Just before Christmas, I took the $1,500 or so I’d saved and had a new flatscreen installed in my great room. CineMike Theatre is now open for business, and the Super Bowl is going to look GREAT on it!

And it wasn’t just my movie tab that was shrinking last spring. I quickly surmised that with the bars closed, my cancelled weekly Friday evening happy hour and almost every Sunday afternoon cocktail in downtown Sacramento were showing up in my bank account. Also, I was eating out far less, since take out has never really been my thing. Even after restaurants opened up for dining (being shut down again just two weeks before Christmas), I decided not to be one of the first to head back out to them. Frankly, I was enjoying cooking more from home. And I was really enjoying the extra cash in my checking account each month. My coffers were also being bolstered by the gym membership that I wasn’t spending.

Instead of saving that, too, I decided to escalate the payment of a few bills. I paid off a car last summer, a few months early. With that windfall and the money saved from my restaurant bar and gym tabs, I paid off all credit card debt just before Christmas.

Happy Holidays, indeed!

I’ve always tried to find the good in even the worst of situations, and needless to say, it’s been more difficult that ever during the last year. In lieu of a New Years resolution that you’ll probably abort anyway, I challenge you to find something good in this COVID situation, instead of wallowing in it. It won’t be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but when we all emerge from this season, it may well be one of the best decisions you ever made.

Now that the coronavirus has improved my financial situation, and while we’re continuing our social distancing and mask wearing, awaiting the vaccine and the eventual return to something that resembles a life we called “normal,” I’m going to try to whittle off the rest of my COVID belly before next summer. Wish me luck! If COVID can give me that elusive six pack, that’ll be another “plus” to this virus! n

Michael P Coleman is a Sacramento-based freelance writer who, as a kid, used to talk to strangers and get punished. Today, he talks to strangers and gets PUBLISHED. Connect with him at MichaelPColeman.com.