Day 94....and...Juneteenth!

As 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.
( eh...looks very complicated )

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. ( Read more... )

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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1. I've been trying stand-up comedians on Netflix...Michael Che - Matters, was really good for a bit - but then it got insanely misogynistic, and I had to jump off. I'm not sure he likes women all that much? Although the first half was really good, and I may just be in the wrong mood or over-reacting or triggered. It's hard to tell.

Wanda Sykes is alot better, not misogynistic. Still prefer Trevor Noah and Hannah Gatsby.

Wanda Sykes does go after racism - much more so than Michael Che, who kind of okays it and shrugs off Trump as a comedy routine, and then shoves off into misgoyny. But Che did his in 2016, which was before Me#Too and before Trump became President. During the early portion of the year. And he didn't think Trump would be President, Sykes is in 2019...she's in the middle of it. I can't help but wonder what routine Che would do now - and how much his comedy has changed. My guess is a lot. The media and the comedians kind of underestimated Trump's particular brand of evil and they underestimated the racism that is deeply embedded in our country and world. The last four years, no wait forget the last four years - the last four months, have ripped the wool off their eyes.

Sykes states at one point - more or less the same thing Che does - which is if we don't address "Racism" in this country now, we're doomed. So true. I think the reason the Governor decided to go the direction he did, is that the vast majority of the deaths in New York have been African Americans and Hispanic.

At another point she says..."Get a black friend, you learn some shit. Like do not touch the hair, and do not state that your skin is getting dark. Also, that we aren't the same, we're different, but we also equal."

And she has a riff on Menopause that is hilarious. I'd recommend Wanda Sykes routine on Netflix, if you haven't caught it yet.

2. Regarding COVID, my friend and former ATPOBTVS member (aliera aka anjeya) who works in the New York State Department of Health - told me that they know COVID-19 isn't done with us yet and its far from gone. Be careful folks, it's still out there, lurking.
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3. They did clean up more of the backyard. The bags and wooden debris are gone. I'm waiting for them to clear the rest.

And computer is happy that I've given it a rest from my workplace.