originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
We’ve been glued to the news on TV and internet day and night. Definitely time to take a break from holding my breath. What to do? We decided to go to the riverfront, become one with the river’s flow and check out the replicas of Christopher Columbus’ Nina and Pinta. This history buff was fascinated by the ancient boats that sailed the seas. And they brought back fond ocean memories of my island girl youth.
Every year, we struggle to resist the temptation minute to minute to over-sugar ourselves. It begins with Halloween candy and proceeds to Thanksgiving dinner, exploding with holiday eating extravaganzas with the year’s tastiest foods. By the New Year, the scale shows our over-indulgence. It’s no coincidence that 12% of gym members join in January. And it’s discouraging that 80% of New Year’s resolutions disappear in February.
As the Trump transition moves forward at a frenetic pace, the knives are out in the Democratic Party over who to blame for Kamala Harris’ stunning loss on Election Day.
Democratic leaders — from Nancy Pelosi to Bernie Sanders — have been publicly backstabbing one another, rather than speaking out about why Vice President Kamala Harris lost so badly to Donald Trump, and how the party plans to resurrect itself going forward.While there’s certainly plenty of blame to go around in Democratic circles, it’s President Biden who should be held the most accountable.
Always a fan of international projects, I eagerly attended the recent reception marking Chattanooga’s new collaboration with Ukraine’s city of Trostyanets. What a pleasure to meet its mayor, Yuriy Bova! Mayor Tim Kelly had formalized a cooperative agreement with the war-torn Ukrainian city that’s only 20 miles from the Russian border.
Speaking with Mayor Bovaand his interpreter was a real pleasure. I was delighted when he mentioned his desire to be online. I told him about my podcast and asked if he’d like to do an interview. Never imagining that he would say yes, I held my breath as his staff made the arrangements to connect my office in East Ridge with his in Ukraine. Would this actually happen?
Call it stealing shamelessly, opportunism or laziness, or whatever you choose to accuse me of after reading this narrative. Okay, I plead guilty.
You see, when the unexpected results from the recent election settled into our imaginations, reactions were immediate, passionate and all over the place.
Now like the opportunist you may accuse me of, like the hungry grizzly bear wading into the cold Alaskan waters with her pick from hundreds of spawning salmon, as a writer I got to pick and choose kernels from an assortment of writers who poured out their heartfelt reactions to the results.
In 1999, Malcolm Gladwell weighed in with his praised and criticized bestseller, The Tipping Point, a provocative exploration of the process of social change. A quarter century later, in 2024, Gladwell revisited the topic via Revenge of the Tipping Point, a meditation on where he had been right and where he had gone wrong with his broad thesis.Musing about his personal journey, Gladwell observed: “Maybe it would be a good idea for anyone who writes a book that tries to make sense of the world to be forced every 25 years to go back and revisit the original thesis.”
Reporters should have dumped on Donald Trump this week over his pathetic PR ploy in a garbage truck.
The embarrassing episode exemplifies Trump’s declining physical health, in addition to his phony portrayal as someone who gives a damn about working class Americans.
Unfortunately, the news coverage stunk to the point of being garbage itself because the stories failed to emphasize Trump’s physical limitations and questionable cognitive acuity.
Donald Trump has made no secret about his disdain for a free and independent press, as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
During his 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent time in the White House, Trump castigated the mainstream media as the “enemy of the people” regarding any coverage he deemed critical of his own political viewpoints — or which he simply did not like for whatever reason.
Trump’s animosity toward journalists is well documented. He’s been raging against the news media unabated for the past decade.
An email I received from a fellow named “Pedro” led to this co-authored piece, an exchange between Elwood Watson, PhD and yours truly.
“Pedro”wrote: “I read, reread – and will read again – your piece, “ Bad boys. Bad boys. Whatcha gonna do when they (Project 2025) come for you?,” the context of which if Trump returns to office. Hard as I tried, I just couldn’t shake the thought of the project’s plan to cut Social Security benefits given that my retired parents depend on their Social Security checks as their sole source of income. My hope is that you’ll consider publishing something on what actions folks can take if their preferred candidate loses the election.”
In PART 1, “Near Medgar’s Desk – Mound Bayou,” we chronicled the little- known history of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the first all-Black town in America founded by ex-slaves. The person who arranged to get us there was Bernard Strong who was born and raised in Mound Bayou. In PART 2, Mr. Strong shares more about our recent trip along with his innermost thoughts about growing up in Mound Bayou.
As a native of Mound Bayou, what were a few thoughts that ran through your mind as we approached, spent time in and left Mound Bayou?
