Nov 19, 2022SURJ Bay Area Shows Up for Voter Mobilizations in Arizona and GeorgiaAs SURJ members who organize around racial justice, we knew there was a lot at stake in the 2022 midterm elections. We witnessed the gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts especially targeting Black, Indigenous, and Brown voters. We knew that reproductive justice, civil and human rights, and democracy itself were under…Elections6 min readElections6 min read
Jan 19, 2022My 2022 To Do ListPROLOGUE In January 2020, I made a To Do List, setting out my intentions for the coming year. Sadly, I abandoned it — or did it abandon me ?— when mid-March’s shelter-in-place waylaid most of my plans. For 2021, I didn’t even bother. For 2022, I’m like, what the hell? So…8 min read8 min read
Jan 14, 2022On the Road to Retirement (in Baby Steps)I’ve been working since age 16 — taking care of kids (my mom did daycare in our home), farm work, teaching horseback riding, working the counter at KFC, on the line at a Hickory Farms facility and later doing retail in one of their stores. I was a groom at…Retirement2 min readRetirement2 min read
Published inSpeakOut Voices·Jun 15, 2021The Latest Culture Wars: The Censoring of Teaching About Race and RacismThe Latest Culture Wars: The Censoring of Teaching About Race and Racism Attempts to censor discussions of race and racism are underway nationwide. GOP lawmakers in at least 21 states are either introducing legislation or have already passed bans that impact K-12 classrooms and in some cases, colleges and universities…Racism6 min readRacism6 min read
Published inSURJ Bay Area Blog·Aug 16, 2020“Neither snow nor rain nor heat…”But will Donald Trump Destroy the Postal Service? For most of my life, like most people, I pretty much took the post office for granted. …Postal Service5 min readPostal Service5 min read
Published inSURJ Bay Area Blog·Jun 7, 2020How White People Can Show Up to Support Black LivesAs thousands of white people join protests nationwide, it’s important to look at not just why people are showing up but also how. Given this nation’s history of racism, we, as white people, want to make sure we are part of the solution, not the problem. Learning from the 2014…Protest6 min readProtest6 min read
Apr 13, 2020Pandemixtape #2 — High Risk (Oldies)Due to the massive popularity of my Pandemixtape #1: It’s Global — World Music (a whooping total of 9 Likes (2 of them my sister) and 1 share (by my daughter (because she felt sorry for me))), I’m rolling out my second in the series, aptly named Pandemixtape #2. The…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
Mar 30, 2020Pandemixtape #1 — It’s Global!I’ve been finding lots of solace in music while sheltering in place. It began when I watched quarantined Italians taking to their balconies in collective song and Iranian doctors and nurses dancing to music in between treating patients. Then I fell down that rabbit hole that is YouTube, where the…Música3 min readMúsica3 min read
Mar 16, 202020 Things to Do in this Time of CoronavirusBinge-watching TV or finally picking up that book you’ve been meaning to read are both wonderful ways to pass the time as we find ourselves in this new reality of physical-distancing and quarantines. Here are some other ideas if you find yourself solo at home. …Social Justice6 min readSocial Justice6 min read
Published inSpeakOut Voices·Feb 17, 2020Suppressing the Student Vote: How the GOP is Making it Harder for Young People to Cast their BallotsBy Felicia Gustin “Energized by issues like climate change and the Trump presidency,” writes Michael Wines in The New York Times, “students have suddenly emerged as a potentially crucial voting bloc in the 2020 elections.” Their numbers are definitely growing — millennials and gen Z voters now make up 37%…Voting4 min readVoting4 min read
