Sunday, November 22, 2020

Revisiting November 22, 1963 / Murder Most Foul (with accompanying translation into Spanish) / Context


Despite the elation after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, a fear arose in me that he was in danger of being assassinated.  Something in the air felt too much like the 1950s (note: regarding link, expect deeply disturbing content and jarring commercial interruptions) and early 1960s.  What happened during his presidency and what has happened since his eight years as president ended has been most foul, an attempted assassination of democracy, of human rights, of human decency.  

Murders most foul throughout U.S. history in all contexts have come to light in the past four years.

"OK, what now? What should I be doing now? What should our country be doing now? What should I be striving to be now?"

"You have to believe you can change in order to bring it about. I can't engage in something when I think it's impossible for that thing to actually happen. So I think, philosophically, that gives me hope."

 -- Ibram X. Kendi

On November 22, 2020, the Bellingham Public Library has 62 holds on 22 copies of How To Be An Antiracist.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for reminding me of this haunting song. We will listen to it today and remember that day, that loss, that murder most foul.

Sabine said...

My father reminded over the phone today that the very first word I read out loud was usa, pronounced yousaaa, the day after JFK was shot and I looked at the papers on the breakfast table, asking him what's a usa? I was five years old.