In one of the most important and climatic scenes in the 2006 film Titanic, Rose and her beau Jack are holding on as they stand on tiptoe outside the rails of the upside down ship.
As an older white man, I think it imperative that we hear about current events from the perspective of people of color. We are about to feel the pinch of submission that they have lived with and fought against for centuries.
Yes, and we must be as resilient and determined to stand up to white supremacy and fight together. It’s imperative we use our whiteness to show up, stand up and resist the systems that hurt all of us. Happy New Year George.
You remind me that our country needs to pay the same kind of attention to white terrorists as it does to others. I am an older white woman, and I have been wondering what makes whiteness so special, especially since some of the best people I've encountered have been people of color.
AMEN, AMEN. Please be sure to rest so you can stay strong and healthy, Sherrilyn Ifill. Your voice and wisdom are ESSENTIAL for all of us as we head into the storm. I am so grateful!
Thank you Ms. Ifill for engaging with us with grace and the hard truths and actions we need to understand. The unknown is what keeps me up at night and the known keeps me angry all day. I’m ready to fight and do my best to engage in all the ways you suggested. America has been through such worse times and we will prevail.
It is hard living in a red state where the governor is all about razor wire in the Rio Grande, and is fine with letting it kill people. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to sic trump's people on our city which is right on the border and has a population that is 85% hispanic.
With regard to the Panama Canal, if people want to know more about it, it is worth reading The Path Between the Seas by David McCulloch. We may have successfully built the canal (where the French failed - Ferdinand de Lesseps thought he could build another ditch like the Suez Canal…), and we may have run it, but it has always belonged rightfully to Panama. And, having been through the canal multiple times, I can attest to the fact that they run it well.
As I read your article, tears began to roll down my face, and my spirit was lifted! GOD has given you an Indomitable Spirit, Keen Insight, and Courage beyond Measure. Your ability to look intended doom in the face and not shrink but encourage and help others by telling them not to succumb to the forces of hell by giving up is truly remarkable! I've always been inspired by both you and your Sister Gwendolyn! When I would hear either of your names on the television, I always came running to hear 'whatever' you had to say, knowing that there would be pearls of wisdom, encouragement, insight, and a dose of termination for others to remain focused and to be informed of TRUTH! Thank you from the depths of my heart! What a profound scenario of Rose and Jack on the Titanic!! You will remain in my prayers! May God Continue to lift your spirit, give you strength, and shield you from evil! In Jesus Name! Amen!
I appreciate reading your thoughts, Ms. Ifill, and recently quoted a comment you made in your "This is America" post. You urged justice/equity advocates to sustain our bonds across race, sex and religion. I would add age/generation. So many people do not know Ella Baker's persistent organizing across ideology and generation, but there is much for us all to learn from her!
Tim Snyder proposed a shadow cabinet. British government style to have task of reporting missteps of ,say five different Federal departments. Certainly a justice shadow secretary would be a busy person !
Hello again. I wanted you to know that your article has inspired me to try and do something every day to resist and challenge the hideousness and "inevitability" of the incoming regime and inspire others to do the same. Today I sent this essay in to my local paper, in the hopes that they will publish it on or before January 20. Thank you for all you do! Now, here's the essay (about 750 wds):
"January 20, 2025, is Martin Luther King Jr Day here in the United States of America, a day set aside to remind us of the wondrous, courageous contributions Dr. King made over the course of his short life, to our nation and its history; a day that allows us to pause in our routines so we can proudly and gratefully commemorate his uniquely transformative life. As for me, I plan to focus my energy and spirit this coming January 20 on it being MLK Jr. Day.
"But January 20, 2025, is also the day that Donald J. Trump will begin his second term as our nation’s “president.” Of course, the person who will almost certainly be pulling the presidential strings will be Trump’s big-time benefactor, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, a native of South Africa who therefore cannot legally be president himself but who successfully donated over a quarter of a billion dollars of his own money to get Trump and Trump-supporting Republican candidates elected in November 2024. Arguably, Musk now owns a majority share in our federal government and will, under the guise of being “just an adviser,” to a great extent direct our government (as well as our military forces around the world) to do whatever he wants. That sure is a lot of power, purchased with a heck of a lot of money.
"As I think about this coming January 20, I cannot help but be struck by the stark and profoundly distressing contrast between Donald Trump and Dr. King, as human beings, yes, but even more important, as leaders with expansive goals for our country and, by extension, the world as a whole.
"On the one hand, we have the vulgar, immoral, bigoted, kleptocratic, bullying cruelty the incoming Trump/Musk regime plans to inflict on the rest of us for their own benefit and the benefit of their wealthiest supporters. To them, the rest of us—including the vast majority of the 77 million Americans who voted for them—are expendable… except in as much as our labor can be harnessed to feed their greed, and our differences can be inflamed to keep us from joining forces against them.
"On the other hand, we can recall the local, national, indeed global Beloved Community Dr. King gave his precious life encouraging us to build on the foundation of our flawed democracy and our deeply imperfect past, a community where racism, poverty, militarism, and injustice in all its forms are eradicated and, as a song I love says, “we are all neighbors, and we all have enough.”
"Dr. King once wrote that “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” If Dr. King was right, then it is clear the selfish, supremely self-centered, incurious, predatory kleptocrat and felon who will return to the White House on January 20 has yet to start living. It bears noting that Dr. King warned us, too, “that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
"What to do in these dark times? Dr. King advised us that, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Well, goodness knows that even in my mind’s eye I am having a hard time picturing the steep and winding staircase we will need to climb—as a nation, a world, a species—to escape the dark and gloomy hole January 20 will cast us into, so we can see the sun again.
"But on the premise that the person “who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it” (as Dr. King observed), I will try and take a single step every day to climb that staircase out of the abyss, bringing as many others with me as I can. I hope that you will too. In doing so, I will remind myself daily of Dr. King’s wise cautions: that “human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable,” that “every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle,” and that “the time is always right to do what is right,” even when doing so is “neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.”
"And I will cling to Dr. King’s promises that, “Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant,” and that “a man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” May it be so."
I admire Ms. Ifill's determination, intelligence, humanism and patriotism. I appreciate the encouragement she has energetically detailed in this piece. Having said that, all who read this newsletter know that bad times are ahead. Control of all branches and agencies of the Federal Government, along with several statehouses, confers enormous power on the MAGA regime. Of course we should not be silent with respect to the terrible policies and behaviors that MAGA will now unleash, but we cannot expect to stop most of them from delivering their tragic consequences. Moreover, efforts to quell dissent, to pressure media to cower and comply and to control what students learn in schools at all levels will be a hallmark of this movement, and to me, the one that requires the greatest resistance of all. We may not be able to stop deportations, but we absolutely must insist that journalists not cower or be muzzled, that public schools dedicated to truth and not a MAGA agenda be supported and that public demonstrations are not squelched by state police violence or unwarranted arrests and detainment. The cruelty and incompetence and destruction will come, but as long as we maintain the freedom to speak and write of it, to badger our media to tell the truth and to keep the minds of our children free from thought control, we will have maintained a spark of liberal democracy that will one day hopefully rekindle into a major blaze of enlightenment, compassion and collective humanistic purpose.
Thank you Sherrilyn. You are a continuing source of strength, humanity and rightness in this troubled world. I will try to follow your excellent advice as I try to pull myself back together to face this frightening new reality.
Thank you for our marching orders. The first thing that came to mind was the Biblical story of the walls of Jericho collapsing. I have already made commitments to several civil rights organizations because I know that legal battles are forthcoming. Writing letters to my legislators and supporting social justice petitions has been an ongoing effort. I will also include some of your other suggestions in my daily routine. We are not strangers to this fight, but we cannot do this alone. This battle is overwhelming and requires divine intervention and thus, we need to strengthen our commitment to prayer.
Thank you, Retired Midwesterner, for your acknowledgment! I had no idea that others would be touched by my heartfelt post/comment to Sherrilyn's Newsletter. It is great to know that others received my sincere remarks and appreciation for Sherrilyn Iffill's Newsletter "This Is It: Facing Trump 2.0!" I felt compelled to respond to Sherrilyn's post! Thanks again!
As an older white man, I think it imperative that we hear about current events from the perspective of people of color. We are about to feel the pinch of submission that they have lived with and fought against for centuries.
Yes, and we must be as resilient and determined to stand up to white supremacy and fight together. It’s imperative we use our whiteness to show up, stand up and resist the systems that hurt all of us. Happy New Year George.
You remind me that our country needs to pay the same kind of attention to white terrorists as it does to others. I am an older white woman, and I have been wondering what makes whiteness so special, especially since some of the best people I've encountered have been people of color.
Dr. Robert P Jones wrote a pair of books that might have some answers - or at least offer some context
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PUpcx80mw&t=65s
"The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and a Path To A Shared Future"
https://capitalbnews.org/ is one way I've found to address this in my life - check it out!
Thank you! What a great suggestion. I have signed up.
Yay!!!
AMEN, AMEN. Please be sure to rest so you can stay strong and healthy, Sherrilyn Ifill. Your voice and wisdom are ESSENTIAL for all of us as we head into the storm. I am so grateful!
Thank you Ms. Ifill for engaging with us with grace and the hard truths and actions we need to understand. The unknown is what keeps me up at night and the known keeps me angry all day. I’m ready to fight and do my best to engage in all the ways you suggested. America has been through such worse times and we will prevail.
It is hard living in a red state where the governor is all about razor wire in the Rio Grande, and is fine with letting it kill people. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to sic trump's people on our city which is right on the border and has a population that is 85% hispanic.
With regard to the Panama Canal, if people want to know more about it, it is worth reading The Path Between the Seas by David McCulloch. We may have successfully built the canal (where the French failed - Ferdinand de Lesseps thought he could build another ditch like the Suez Canal…), and we may have run it, but it has always belonged rightfully to Panama. And, having been through the canal multiple times, I can attest to the fact that they run it well.
Sherrilyn,
As I read your article, tears began to roll down my face, and my spirit was lifted! GOD has given you an Indomitable Spirit, Keen Insight, and Courage beyond Measure. Your ability to look intended doom in the face and not shrink but encourage and help others by telling them not to succumb to the forces of hell by giving up is truly remarkable! I've always been inspired by both you and your Sister Gwendolyn! When I would hear either of your names on the television, I always came running to hear 'whatever' you had to say, knowing that there would be pearls of wisdom, encouragement, insight, and a dose of termination for others to remain focused and to be informed of TRUTH! Thank you from the depths of my heart! What a profound scenario of Rose and Jack on the Titanic!! You will remain in my prayers! May God Continue to lift your spirit, give you strength, and shield you from evil! In Jesus Name! Amen!
Gwendolyn
Amen, for God's protection!
Ms Ifill thank you for giving voice to the darkness so that we may see the light. Your generosity of spirit is good-contagious and it shall spread!
I appreciate reading your thoughts, Ms. Ifill, and recently quoted a comment you made in your "This is America" post. You urged justice/equity advocates to sustain our bonds across race, sex and religion. I would add age/generation. So many people do not know Ella Baker's persistent organizing across ideology and generation, but there is much for us all to learn from her!
Thank you.
Continuing thanks, Sherrilyn
Tim Snyder proposed a shadow cabinet. British government style to have task of reporting missteps of ,say five different Federal departments. Certainly a justice shadow secretary would be a busy person !
Thank you for your clarity and inspiration
Hello again. I wanted you to know that your article has inspired me to try and do something every day to resist and challenge the hideousness and "inevitability" of the incoming regime and inspire others to do the same. Today I sent this essay in to my local paper, in the hopes that they will publish it on or before January 20. Thank you for all you do! Now, here's the essay (about 750 wds):
"January 20, 2025, is Martin Luther King Jr Day here in the United States of America, a day set aside to remind us of the wondrous, courageous contributions Dr. King made over the course of his short life, to our nation and its history; a day that allows us to pause in our routines so we can proudly and gratefully commemorate his uniquely transformative life. As for me, I plan to focus my energy and spirit this coming January 20 on it being MLK Jr. Day.
"But January 20, 2025, is also the day that Donald J. Trump will begin his second term as our nation’s “president.” Of course, the person who will almost certainly be pulling the presidential strings will be Trump’s big-time benefactor, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, a native of South Africa who therefore cannot legally be president himself but who successfully donated over a quarter of a billion dollars of his own money to get Trump and Trump-supporting Republican candidates elected in November 2024. Arguably, Musk now owns a majority share in our federal government and will, under the guise of being “just an adviser,” to a great extent direct our government (as well as our military forces around the world) to do whatever he wants. That sure is a lot of power, purchased with a heck of a lot of money.
"As I think about this coming January 20, I cannot help but be struck by the stark and profoundly distressing contrast between Donald Trump and Dr. King, as human beings, yes, but even more important, as leaders with expansive goals for our country and, by extension, the world as a whole.
"On the one hand, we have the vulgar, immoral, bigoted, kleptocratic, bullying cruelty the incoming Trump/Musk regime plans to inflict on the rest of us for their own benefit and the benefit of their wealthiest supporters. To them, the rest of us—including the vast majority of the 77 million Americans who voted for them—are expendable… except in as much as our labor can be harnessed to feed their greed, and our differences can be inflamed to keep us from joining forces against them.
"On the other hand, we can recall the local, national, indeed global Beloved Community Dr. King gave his precious life encouraging us to build on the foundation of our flawed democracy and our deeply imperfect past, a community where racism, poverty, militarism, and injustice in all its forms are eradicated and, as a song I love says, “we are all neighbors, and we all have enough.”
"Dr. King once wrote that “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” If Dr. King was right, then it is clear the selfish, supremely self-centered, incurious, predatory kleptocrat and felon who will return to the White House on January 20 has yet to start living. It bears noting that Dr. King warned us, too, “that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
"What to do in these dark times? Dr. King advised us that, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Well, goodness knows that even in my mind’s eye I am having a hard time picturing the steep and winding staircase we will need to climb—as a nation, a world, a species—to escape the dark and gloomy hole January 20 will cast us into, so we can see the sun again.
"But on the premise that the person “who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it” (as Dr. King observed), I will try and take a single step every day to climb that staircase out of the abyss, bringing as many others with me as I can. I hope that you will too. In doing so, I will remind myself daily of Dr. King’s wise cautions: that “human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable,” that “every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle,” and that “the time is always right to do what is right,” even when doing so is “neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.”
"And I will cling to Dr. King’s promises that, “Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant,” and that “a man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” May it be so."
Fantastic. Thank you!
I admire Ms. Ifill's determination, intelligence, humanism and patriotism. I appreciate the encouragement she has energetically detailed in this piece. Having said that, all who read this newsletter know that bad times are ahead. Control of all branches and agencies of the Federal Government, along with several statehouses, confers enormous power on the MAGA regime. Of course we should not be silent with respect to the terrible policies and behaviors that MAGA will now unleash, but we cannot expect to stop most of them from delivering their tragic consequences. Moreover, efforts to quell dissent, to pressure media to cower and comply and to control what students learn in schools at all levels will be a hallmark of this movement, and to me, the one that requires the greatest resistance of all. We may not be able to stop deportations, but we absolutely must insist that journalists not cower or be muzzled, that public schools dedicated to truth and not a MAGA agenda be supported and that public demonstrations are not squelched by state police violence or unwarranted arrests and detainment. The cruelty and incompetence and destruction will come, but as long as we maintain the freedom to speak and write of it, to badger our media to tell the truth and to keep the minds of our children free from thought control, we will have maintained a spark of liberal democracy that will one day hopefully rekindle into a major blaze of enlightenment, compassion and collective humanistic purpose.
Thank you Sherrilyn. You are a continuing source of strength, humanity and rightness in this troubled world. I will try to follow your excellent advice as I try to pull myself back together to face this frightening new reality.
Thank you for our marching orders. The first thing that came to mind was the Biblical story of the walls of Jericho collapsing. I have already made commitments to several civil rights organizations because I know that legal battles are forthcoming. Writing letters to my legislators and supporting social justice petitions has been an ongoing effort. I will also include some of your other suggestions in my daily routine. We are not strangers to this fight, but we cannot do this alone. This battle is overwhelming and requires divine intervention and thus, we need to strengthen our commitment to prayer.
Thank you, Retired Midwesterner, for your acknowledgment! I had no idea that others would be touched by my heartfelt post/comment to Sherrilyn's Newsletter. It is great to know that others received my sincere remarks and appreciation for Sherrilyn Iffill's Newsletter "This Is It: Facing Trump 2.0!" I felt compelled to respond to Sherrilyn's post! Thanks again!