Day 94....and...Juneteenth!
Jun. 19th, 2020 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatAs previously noted, Crazy Organization, which is a state agency with a Chairman who reports more or less to the Governor of the State, got today off as a holiday to commemorate Juneteenth. We were more or less "ordered" to take it off, the offices were closed, and were informed that we should find ways to commemorate and/or celebrate the holiday.
This blows my mind. A little backstory? In 2010 - I attended a Juneteenth service at a church I'd started attending in the fall of 2009. And directly after it, I attended a Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (the church's Social Justice Organization) meeting - where they explained it to me in depth. Over the past ten years, I've posted on it in my journal and explained it to folks who'd never heard of it. Never in a million years did I expect that this would be commemorated on a state or nationwide level, let alone that I'd get a paid holiday. I wanted one - I thought it should be commemorated over say Columbus Day, St. Patrick's Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving. But I didn't think it would happen. It's like a dream come true. I have whiplash folks. 2020 is giving me emotional whiplash.
Anyhow, can't say I've done much. I slept in. I watched the 60 Minutes telecast on the Tulsa Oklahoma Massacre in 1921 - by the way, the Spanish Flu epidemic was in 1918. The Tulsa Massacre of Black Wallstreet, where over 300 people were brutally slaughtered by police and a white lynch mob...took place in 1921. The Great Dust Bowl that nearly wiped out Oklahoma and most of the Midwestern United States leading to the Great Depression happened in 1930.
When I discussed this with my mother, she brought up the Trail of Tears and the American Indians in the Bear River Massacre of 1863 by US Military and several others including the Trail of Tears in the 1800s.. Our history is catching up with us.
Mother: We talk about how horrible Germany was in the Holocaust and how it could never happen here? But it already has - so many times. It's happened around the world and it keeps on happening.
Me: I know. It breaks my heart. The horrible things people do in the name of power and wealth and fame and fortune and success and acquisition of material things or even legacy? At times I think humanity is not worth saving.
We are better than this, we have to be better than this.
I didn't do my cemetery walk today. I decided to give my allergies a rest, and well...my nerves. There were a lot of people out without masks yesterday. Mostly people under the age of thirty. Although I did see one old woman carrying bags, and her mask was dangling from her ear - so I gave her a pass.
Also watched the Governor of New York's last news broadcast - which he did from his office in Albany, without his team or the reporters in the audience. He said he'd given everyone in the State the day off to celebrate Juneteenth.
I found it to be moving, aggravating, and inspiring all at the same time - which kind of is my relationship with New York's Governor in a nutshell.
He does like to pat himself and everyone else on the back constantly. Lots of New York bravado. It's like he's his own cheerleader - which to be honest, you kind of have to be in this world. That said, he did announce that NYC is ready to move into Phase II. And my hair salon celebrated by sending me a notice that it is re-opening.
As Requiered from NYS Guideline
*We are Limiting in-person gatherings by
Prohibiting non-essential visitors at the salon location.
Client have to come by themself no one can be waiting in waiting area
No young kids or pets will be allowed to the salon.
No luggages or shoopping bags
Only you, your phone/wallet
*No food or beverages will be offered or allowed in salon
*We will ask customers to wait in cars or outside the location at least six feet away until the appointment time.
*Customers will only be permitted entry into the salon if
they're wearing an acceptable face covering
preferebly behind ears,
if not we can provide one at a small extra cost.
A few business updates:
We’re reopening with updated hours and a revised service menu we’ll look at adding additional services in the future
No packages or specials will be sold, customers can still redeem old packages (color packages will have a one time only extra charge of $60)
We’ve staggered our appointments and reorganized our stations. That way, we can minimize contact between each client and allow for 6 feet of social distancing, when needed.
We’ve updated our pricing to cover our additional cleaning, sanitation, and supplies to keep you and our staff safe.
We’re no longer taking walk-ins to ensure our waiting area is safe and social distancing guidelines are followed.
We have a new intake and checkout process. We’ll send you all the details when you book.
I think I'll wait a while. I don't really need a haircut. It's not like anyone is looking at me. I'm considering the Lunchbox Zoom meeting with Linked In - but I don't do video chats, if I can help it.
I sometimes wonder if I'm being crazy about this -- except in the elevator on the way to the basement to drop off the recycling - the posters on the door strongly encouraged "social distancing", "one person only in the elevator at a time", and "masks at all times". I'm glad they put up the signs - since people weren't doing that. Also by the way?
Me: I'm probably being crazy about this..
Mother: No.
Me: Only 380,000 people in NY have it.
Mother: Only 380,000? That's a lot.
Me: And about 80% of that is in NYC, with the vast majority in my area of Brooklyn...
Mother: In your area?
Me: Yes, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn have the most cases. With Brooklyn having the most deaths of any county in the US at the moment.
Mother: You aren't being crazy. You are being smart. And you've never been a lemming, you question everything. You don't follow what others do. I didn't either - that's why high school was so hard for both of us. You wait until you have all the information, analyze it, and act.
I was basically born a critical and stragetic thinker. It's deeply embedded in my DNA.
My mother feels trapped too. They have an ice cream truck coming around next week. And "Memory Matters" is opening up again. But my mother said when she went out the one time to pick up groceries and go to the bank - she felt like she was doing something wrong, that she was putting her husband, herself and everyone in danger. And she doesn't really want to put herself through the stress of it again.
I get that. The Food Town is also most likely safe - except they don't limit the number of people inside, and not everyone was wearing masks all the time. I liked Union better. But I actually prefer just ordering food online at the moment - the cost is about the same, and I can get more interesting items and more of it. (I don't have a car and can only carry so much home with me.)
I checked COVID MAP OF DOOM and the numbers are steadily climbing across the US. Florida is starting to spike. Be careful Floridians. Apparently various counties have run out of ICU beds. I worry about my parents in South Carolina - it's spiking there as well.
To date the only person or group of people that I've seen take a leadership role regarding this is the State of New York and Cuomo and his team. No one else has appeared to. (If I'm wrong about that - feel free to show me. It would be reassuring actually.) New York did it because it was either step up to the plate or die. And it become abundantly clear that no one could or would save New York but New York. If it were up to the CDC and WHO, NY wouldn't have started testing until March 30. Mainly because NY's cases came from Iran and Italy, not China. And WHO and the CDC stated you should only test people who had any contact with China. (Dumb.) NY thought, fuck that, we're developing our own tests and doing this ourselves and what they discovered scared the stuffing out of them. The Governor and Mayor were pale when they popped on the television screen in early March and revealed what they had discovered in New Rochelle. What did they discover? One man, one, managed to spread the virus to over 300 people in the space of four days at various events of various sizes and localities.
Also the only accurate and consistent information and facts provided - were from the New York State Department of Health and Johns Hopkins University. Both have up to date tracking systems. Also, New York Times - is the only publication that I've found that is consistently tracking it and has been since November.
I don't trust anyone else right now. When it comes to my health and those of others - I'm ridiculously careful.
I leave you with a picture of the sky and trees....as I go off to make myself dinner. Happy Juneteenth - the Day Slavery Finally Ended in the US.
This blows my mind. A little backstory? In 2010 - I attended a Juneteenth service at a church I'd started attending in the fall of 2009. And directly after it, I attended a Weaving the Fabric of Diversity (the church's Social Justice Organization) meeting - where they explained it to me in depth. Over the past ten years, I've posted on it in my journal and explained it to folks who'd never heard of it. Never in a million years did I expect that this would be commemorated on a state or nationwide level, let alone that I'd get a paid holiday. I wanted one - I thought it should be commemorated over say Columbus Day, St. Patrick's Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving. But I didn't think it would happen. It's like a dream come true. I have whiplash folks. 2020 is giving me emotional whiplash.
Anyhow, can't say I've done much. I slept in. I watched the 60 Minutes telecast on the Tulsa Oklahoma Massacre in 1921 - by the way, the Spanish Flu epidemic was in 1918. The Tulsa Massacre of Black Wallstreet, where over 300 people were brutally slaughtered by police and a white lynch mob...took place in 1921. The Great Dust Bowl that nearly wiped out Oklahoma and most of the Midwestern United States leading to the Great Depression happened in 1930.
When I discussed this with my mother, she brought up the Trail of Tears and the American Indians in the Bear River Massacre of 1863 by US Military and several others including the Trail of Tears in the 1800s.. Our history is catching up with us.
Mother: We talk about how horrible Germany was in the Holocaust and how it could never happen here? But it already has - so many times. It's happened around the world and it keeps on happening.
Me: I know. It breaks my heart. The horrible things people do in the name of power and wealth and fame and fortune and success and acquisition of material things or even legacy? At times I think humanity is not worth saving.
We are better than this, we have to be better than this.
I didn't do my cemetery walk today. I decided to give my allergies a rest, and well...my nerves. There were a lot of people out without masks yesterday. Mostly people under the age of thirty. Although I did see one old woman carrying bags, and her mask was dangling from her ear - so I gave her a pass.
Also watched the Governor of New York's last news broadcast - which he did from his office in Albany, without his team or the reporters in the audience. He said he'd given everyone in the State the day off to celebrate Juneteenth.
I found it to be moving, aggravating, and inspiring all at the same time - which kind of is my relationship with New York's Governor in a nutshell.
He does like to pat himself and everyone else on the back constantly. Lots of New York bravado. It's like he's his own cheerleader - which to be honest, you kind of have to be in this world. That said, he did announce that NYC is ready to move into Phase II. And my hair salon celebrated by sending me a notice that it is re-opening.
As Requiered from NYS Guideline
*We are Limiting in-person gatherings by
Prohibiting non-essential visitors at the salon location.
Client have to come by themself no one can be waiting in waiting area
No young kids or pets will be allowed to the salon.
No luggages or shoopping bags
Only you, your phone/wallet
*No food or beverages will be offered or allowed in salon
*We will ask customers to wait in cars or outside the location at least six feet away until the appointment time.
*Customers will only be permitted entry into the salon if
they're wearing an acceptable face covering
preferebly behind ears,
if not we can provide one at a small extra cost.
A few business updates:
We’re reopening with updated hours and a revised service menu we’ll look at adding additional services in the future
No packages or specials will be sold, customers can still redeem old packages (color packages will have a one time only extra charge of $60)
We’ve staggered our appointments and reorganized our stations. That way, we can minimize contact between each client and allow for 6 feet of social distancing, when needed.
We’ve updated our pricing to cover our additional cleaning, sanitation, and supplies to keep you and our staff safe.
We’re no longer taking walk-ins to ensure our waiting area is safe and social distancing guidelines are followed.
We have a new intake and checkout process. We’ll send you all the details when you book.
I think I'll wait a while. I don't really need a haircut. It's not like anyone is looking at me. I'm considering the Lunchbox Zoom meeting with Linked In - but I don't do video chats, if I can help it.
I sometimes wonder if I'm being crazy about this -- except in the elevator on the way to the basement to drop off the recycling - the posters on the door strongly encouraged "social distancing", "one person only in the elevator at a time", and "masks at all times". I'm glad they put up the signs - since people weren't doing that. Also by the way?
Me: I'm probably being crazy about this..
Mother: No.
Me: Only 380,000 people in NY have it.
Mother: Only 380,000? That's a lot.
Me: And about 80% of that is in NYC, with the vast majority in my area of Brooklyn...
Mother: In your area?
Me: Yes, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn have the most cases. With Brooklyn having the most deaths of any county in the US at the moment.
Mother: You aren't being crazy. You are being smart. And you've never been a lemming, you question everything. You don't follow what others do. I didn't either - that's why high school was so hard for both of us. You wait until you have all the information, analyze it, and act.
I was basically born a critical and stragetic thinker. It's deeply embedded in my DNA.
My mother feels trapped too. They have an ice cream truck coming around next week. And "Memory Matters" is opening up again. But my mother said when she went out the one time to pick up groceries and go to the bank - she felt like she was doing something wrong, that she was putting her husband, herself and everyone in danger. And she doesn't really want to put herself through the stress of it again.
I get that. The Food Town is also most likely safe - except they don't limit the number of people inside, and not everyone was wearing masks all the time. I liked Union better. But I actually prefer just ordering food online at the moment - the cost is about the same, and I can get more interesting items and more of it. (I don't have a car and can only carry so much home with me.)
I checked COVID MAP OF DOOM and the numbers are steadily climbing across the US. Florida is starting to spike. Be careful Floridians. Apparently various counties have run out of ICU beds. I worry about my parents in South Carolina - it's spiking there as well.
To date the only person or group of people that I've seen take a leadership role regarding this is the State of New York and Cuomo and his team. No one else has appeared to. (If I'm wrong about that - feel free to show me. It would be reassuring actually.) New York did it because it was either step up to the plate or die. And it become abundantly clear that no one could or would save New York but New York. If it were up to the CDC and WHO, NY wouldn't have started testing until March 30. Mainly because NY's cases came from Iran and Italy, not China. And WHO and the CDC stated you should only test people who had any contact with China. (Dumb.) NY thought, fuck that, we're developing our own tests and doing this ourselves and what they discovered scared the stuffing out of them. The Governor and Mayor were pale when they popped on the television screen in early March and revealed what they had discovered in New Rochelle. What did they discover? One man, one, managed to spread the virus to over 300 people in the space of four days at various events of various sizes and localities.
Also the only accurate and consistent information and facts provided - were from the New York State Department of Health and Johns Hopkins University. Both have up to date tracking systems. Also, New York Times - is the only publication that I've found that is consistently tracking it and has been since November.
I don't trust anyone else right now. When it comes to my health and those of others - I'm ridiculously careful.
I leave you with a picture of the sky and trees....as I go off to make myself dinner. Happy Juneteenth - the Day Slavery Finally Ended in the US.
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Date: 2020-06-20 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 03:07 pm (UTC)