19 Comments
User's avatar
jane O'Reilly's avatar

The author is the smartest person I have ever heard speak, or read. a Privilege. I can always feel my brain cells waking up and straightening out after confronting her thoughts.

jane O'Reilly's avatar

True… it was most notably at the Radcliffe award a few years ago. First heard you… paid attention ever since

Timothy Morton's avatar

SAME HERE. Well said.

Carole Ferguson's avatar

Agreed. The fire hose of dreadful is at every turn and distracts us from a clear, singular response. Not defending that but giving a thought as to why we aren't in the streets daily. Yet.

Paula's avatar

I wonder that, too! We have a small group that protest in town, but we need more than beeping horns!

Wade Baynham's avatar

Thank you very much for this timely warning and clear assessment. We have much to get to work on.

Timothy Morton's avatar

Thank goodness for you Sherrilyn Ifill. I thought i was going to go mad in November 2024 and my Jamaican wife couldn't even eat for a week...and your writing here got us back up on our feet.

Aaron Simmons's avatar

You are right on point Miss Ifill. The conservatives on the Supreme Court are reminiscent of the court during the Dred Scott Decision. States such as California must endeaver to give us some equal action in this fight for our 14th amendment rights. Also, we must vote in record numbers during the midterms. Thank you for your dedication to our freedom.

Holland's avatar

Amazing commentary.

Thank you.

Laura Evans Durant's avatar

You are speaking truth to power, Sherrilyn. I had goosebumps reading your words. Thank you for your fury and your dedication to the law, to what is ethically just and to rallying "our better angels"

andrew ninestoriesfurniture.com's avatar

This rings especially true for me in our moment - "We warned of the dangers of militarized law enforcement in communities. But politicians weaponized calls to “defund the police”. And now this is exactly what we are living through on a national level. Raids conducted by masked men, randomly sweeping up innocent hardworking people, all under the guise of eradicating an amorphous "illegal" element. As if due process is now passe. A total farce.

(side note. sin the email version of the essay in the first sentence of the 19th paragraph, this is cut off "..and cowardice, are what is driving Republican Party policy.")

Mary d's avatar

As we approach the close of this first year, his second term, a “what if” thought occurs to me: “what if “all the daily life-energy demanded of the people of our country, the globe was gathered around love instead of fear, ”what if“ white supremacy and its damning history of dominance was exposed through education and leveled by The Law. “what if” all this gathered time and energy around the globe followed these lyrics of John Lennon:

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Livin' for today

Ah

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too

Imagine all the people

Livin' life in peace

You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Mary's avatar

Thank you. This perfectly encapsulates the threat. Now we must continue to support emergence of the solution.

George Boccia's avatar

IMHO, this is a White America problem. I write this as a White American. If it weren’t for food or gas prices, White Americans wouldn’t care what the federal government does. Look around you. If you are White… has anything changed? Cars still bustle off to work or wherever, just as many cars in every big box store parking lot. No it’s only the poor and the marginalized who feel it now, who are losing their health insurance, who can’t afford anything beyond basics. White America just sails along ignoring the pain of those being downtrodden by ICE, police brutality, and the hatred being stoked by Trump and his racist cabal in our government. Time to wake up White America, it’s coming to your theater soon.

Bob Hinton's avatar

Thank you for your excellent insights and advice.

Stacey H.'s avatar

We need an economic boycott!

Carla Gates's avatar

Thank you for your clarity!