T he pickup truck had a Confederate flag license plate on the front bumper and a big “Trump 2020 No More Bullshit” flag flying on a pole in the bed. (Trump-Confederate imagery is popular in my neck of the far western Kentucky woods. More on that in a minute.) The
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – II Chronicles 7:14 In hindsight, it seems so
We have a problem. A serious problem. For the first time in the history of our nation, we have a president who continually uses gaslighting to manipulate and control us, the citizens and voters. And it has made it almost impossible for all of us to agree on a basic
American companies have been very successful at preventing their workers from organizing into unions in recent decades, one of the reasons unionization in the private sector is at a record low. What you may not realize is that a handful of little-known law and consulting firms do much of the
Throughout history, many soldiers have died in war with their remains being unidentified. In Arlington National Cemetery, there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which contains the remains of a dead soldier(s) who is unidentified, “known but to God.” The anonymity of the entombed soldier is the key
Every Labor Day I dust off my framed copy of The Toiler. The all-but-forgotten newspaper was published in Fulton by the Knights of Labor, an early union which I’ve often written about, especially on Labor Day. The Knights “tried to teach the American wage-earner that he was a wage-earner
Some of you have heard my story of being one of the first former Trump supporters to denounce Trump after a life-changing dialogue. It took changing my worldview on liberal values, Democratic officials, and marginalized people before seeing the con of Trump. I am going to explain some of the
There’s a story on the KY Health News site, which we will probably cross-post later, about a meeting in Somerset involving Republican legislators and candidates. They were there to talk about all the ways they are going to “rein in” Governor Beshear when they meet in January. That’s
We’ve known for some time that there are two realities in the United States: the right-wing bubble of Fox News, inhabited by most Republicans – and, everyone else. Now a new CBS poll demonstrates those two realities with numbers; and boy howdy, are the numbers revealing. Here’s the top-line
He touched all the bases. In his acceptance speech, Joe Biden was the economic fairness guy; no Democratic presidential nominee since Harry Truman has highlighted unions more in his acceptance speech. He was the Black Lives Matter backer, recounting his talk with George Floyd’s six-year-old daughter. He fused the
Ten Commandments and Trump 2020 yard signs are a common combo in 90-percent-white, Bible Belt western Kentucky where I’ve lived all my 70 years. The former signs are perennials, the latter quadrennials, having first sprouted in 2016. I just spotted a new front lawn variant of rendering unto the
(A guest op-ed by Dean Ridings, the CEO of the organization America’s Newspapers) America’s Founders regarded a free press as so vital to the new nation that they took care to include that right in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Founders spoke glowingly about the press as
As a Black law student, I would love nothing more than to see Derek Chauvin, his conspiring officers, and every bigoted cop brought to justice at the hands of a Black prosecutor, just for the irony. However, unless you are currently reading while Black, I doubt you understand the stigma
There is a lot of discussion across the United States about police work – more specifically, about re-imagining how police work is done. That conversation (and that action) is necessary, critically so, and long, long overdue. As part of that discussion, you may have heard the phrase “defund the police.” You
The term “white privilege” has appeared frequently in our streets, news reports, and commentaries. If we are white, this term can make us feel angry or guilty – or some strange combination of the two. This is especially true when we are told that white privilege is not simply prejudice, but
To all of my white friends, I have believed you to be an ally or believe that you are ready to step up and be an ally in the fight against racism. I also know that many of you already know some of things that I am about to say.
