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8/5/2024

EPISODE #40 Project 2025—The Presidential Playbook Part 2: Eliminate The US Department of Education

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Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Project 2025 is the 920+ page document that will become the playbook for the Trump Administration should he win the presidency in November 2024. It declares war on the cultural dynamics of American society, including the African-American community, other communities of color, the LGBTQ community, and those whose religious ideologies are left of center.

Today's podcast specifically looks at the second half of Chapter 11, which articulates the dismantling and ending of the US Department of Education. States' rights are the order of the day, and parent power prevails regardless of how qualified mom and dad are in determining the complete direction of their child's education.

This is the second of a series of podcasts on Project 2025. You, the listener, are encouraged to download a free copy of the document before the November 5th election day and read it for your own understanding.

www.project2025.org

Themes Covered In Chapter 11 Include:

States Rights
Parental Rights
White Christian Nationalists
Privatization
Destruction of the LGBTQ+ Community/Trans Community
Anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) esp. Black People

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7/29/2024

EPISODE #39 Project 2025—The Presidential Playbook Part 1: Eliminate The US Department of Education

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Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Project 2025 is the 920+ page document that will become the playbook for the Trump Administration should he win the presidency in November 2024. It declares war on the cultural dynamics of American society, including the African-American community, other communities of color, the LGBTQ community, and those whose religious ideologies are left of center.

Today's podcast specifically looks at Chapter 11, which articulates the dismantling and ending of the US Department of Education. States' rights are the order of the day, and parent power prevails regardless of how qualified mom and dad are in determining the complete direction of their child's education.

This is the first of a series of podcasts on Project 2025. You, the listener, are encouraged to download a free copy of the document before the November 5th election day and read it for your own understanding.

www.project2025.org

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7/12/2024

EPISODE #37 Learn About 5 Ways To Enhance Your Summer Cross-Cultural Collaborations

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Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

Summer is the perfect time of year to sit back, relax, and enhance your cross cultural collaborations.

Whether you're traveling to new destinations, exploring different cuisines, or engaging in cultural festivals, summer provides endless opportunities to immerse yourself in diverse traditions and perspectives. It's a season ripe for forging new friendships, learning new languages, and experiencing the beauty of multicultural interactions firsthand. As the sun shines brightly, let it inspire you to open your heart and mind to the myriad ways people celebrate life around the globe. So, grab your favorite drink, find a cozy spot, and learn 5 new ways to enhance your cross cultural collaborations all summer long!

Read your favorite book, magazine, or article OUTSIDE while enjoying nature.
Explore movies on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, or your local theatre.
Find local ethnic festivals and events.
Explore a single topic or two on YouTube.
Create your own cultural list of favorite topics.

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6/24/2024

EPISODE #36 LGBTQ PRIDE MONTH Religion, Resistance, Relationships

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Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

From LGBTQIA to she/her/hers, the language, descriptions, and ideological frameworks are ever-evolving. Gender identity is separate from gender expression. And these categories are also separate from sexual orientation. I self-identify as a cisgender woman whose sexual orientation affirms my attraction to men. What does all this mean? And how do you use the word "they" when referencing a single person??

It's Pride Month, June 2024, and we will deep dive into the LGBTQ community to understand how Religion, Resistance, and Relationships have defined the strength and resilience of this group despite the attacks aimed at curtailing and destroying their very existence.

Be sure to listen to Episode #35 where I present the foundational platform for the LGBTQ community.

As a diversity professional, I've had my own transformative journey of understanding and embracing LGBTQIA community. It's a process that requires a deep dive into upgrading your language and perspective. I urge you to embark on this journey of self-discovery, to truly 'know the self'. This self-awareness will help you understand your own place on the spectrum before engaging in meaningful conversations with others.

==============

LGBTQ RESOURCES

STONEWALL RIOTS 1969
https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots

REV. DR. JENNIFER LEATH
From Black, Quare and There to Where," Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BA_JpHkb3Q

HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality

FOUR THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT GOD AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/four-things-you-didnt-know-about-god-and-same-sex-marriage/

MASS TRANSGENDER POLITICAL COALITION PRONOUNS GUIDE
https://www.masstpc.org/wp-content/uploads/MTPC-Prounouns-Guide.pdf

UN GUIDE/GLOSSARY (Comprehensive LGBTQ Terms)
https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/documents/IOM-SOGIESC-Glossary-of-Terms.pdf

ACLU MISSISSIPPI
https://www.aclu-ms.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/e-book_defining_lgbtq.pdf

GENDERBREAD PERSON (Illustrates Identity, Expression, & Attraction)
https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/

ASSOCIATIONS

Human Rights Campaign
https://www.hrc.org/

Wikipedia List of US Based LGBT Organizations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_rights_organizations_in_the_United_States

The Trevor Project (Suicide Prevention)
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

PFLAG (Supporting those in the LGBTQ Communities and their families)
https://pflag.org/

Check with your state, federal, county, city or regional agency for additional resources and organizations.

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6/20/2024

Juneteenth Explained

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Celebrating Juneteenth is a relatively new tradition for me. Not because of its significance or historical value but more in alignment with regional awareness. I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and most African Americans who grew up in the Motor City in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s traced their roots to the Southeastern US states. My family hailed from Georgia and South Carolina before migrating to Detroit. Our story was a bit different from those that originated in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and especially Texas. Blacks from those states typically migrated North to the middle of the country and westward when African Americans sought refuge from oppressive Southern racism between the early 1900s and 1970.*

I knew of very few Juneteenth celebrations in Detroit. It would be years later when I fully understood the importance of the day that finally set Texas slaves free. And that recognition has grown to admiration and honor for some 250,000 slaves who heard the news of their freedom two and a half years after President Lincoln freed them via the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth is America's second Independence Day. That phrase was coined by the activists who worked tirelessly to elevate Jubilee Day, now known as Juneteenth, to respectable levels of honor, dignity, and liberation. It took 156 years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. Now is the opportunity to celebrate the "rebirth" of a people whose shackles were finally lifted by General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth is synonymous with celebration. It gives permission for Americans everywhere to barbecue, have fish fries, drink red soda, dance, and spread good news while you party all night. I went to my first Juneteenth community event at Boston's Franklin Park on June 15, 2019. Thousands of Black, Brown, Asian, and White metro-Bostonians gathered at Franklin Park in family groupings, sororities, fraternities, and civic organizations for a daylong love fest in tribute to Juneteenth. It was pure love and fellowship, and now, five years later, I can't wipe that smile off my face. The pandemic prevented the festivities from taking place in 2020 and 2021. However, the Juneteenth celebrations resumed at Franklin Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Heavy rains minimized the June 17, 2023 festivities, and I missed the event altogether. However, Juneteenth was celebrated on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Brockton, Massachusetts, where they've held festive ceremonial events for many years.

This year, the Brockton organizers have hot, sunny weather, and I will attend and participate in their fifth-anniversary event later this afternoon. And this year's Franklin Park celebration on Saturday, June 15, 2024 was spectacular! Warm sunny weather, thousands of party-goers of may ethnicities, and guest appearances from Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
In her book, On Juneteenth, historian, Harvard law professor, and native Texan Annette Gordon-Reed said it this way:

"People of African descent, and to be honest, of some European descent, celebrating the end of slavery in Texas with dishes learned in slavery and a dish favored by ancient Mesoamerican Indians that connected Texas to its Mexican past; so much Texas history brought together for this one special day."

Professor Gordon-Reed says it best. Juneteenth throws off the shackles of slavery and brings all people together with food, fellowship, and fun. That spirit signifies the second Independence Day for all Americans, including those in the Black Community.

Juneteenth represents the freedom of not just Black people but all Americans to live their lives in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding. That celebratory day in Galveston, Texas is as important in our lifetime as it was way back in 1865.

*To learn more about the great Black migration in the United States, read Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns.

The Companion Guide To JUNETEENTH
On Sale Today!!!

Explore the origin of Juneteenth, from its historical roots in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, to the celebrations, parades, and festivities now held in other countries. Juneteenth is considered the Second Independence Day for Black People in the United States! This guidebook will help you understand why Juneteenth is now a federally-recognized holiday throughout the country.

What This Guidebook Has To Offer

Historical records, an authentic timeline, cities, and towns actively commemorating the holiday, and a step-by-step action guide on how you can start a Juneteenth celebration in your city, town, neighborhood, company, organization, or community! The best 20 pages you've ever read!

This book will help you understand why Juneteenth matters and how you or your organization can celebrate it year after year in brand new ways.

For The People

Although based on the historical emancipation of African Americans from slavery, this Guidebook is designed for all people regardless of their ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, or gender identity. Juneteenth can be celebrated by all people!

Great For: Business Leaders, Human Resource Directors, Government Leaders, Community Advocates, Historians, Educators, Students and Those Who Know Very Little/Nothing About Juneteenth!

2 for $25
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Click Below To Learn More and Purchase

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR JUNETEENTH GUIDEBOOKS

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6/16/2024

LGBTQ 101 & Words and Terminology You’ve Never Explored Part 1

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Episode #35
Find The Show On Your Favorite Podcast Platform
or Logon at www.conversationswithcarole1.com

From LGBTQIA to she/her/hers, the language, descriptions, and ideological frameworks are ever-evolving. Gender identity is separate from gender expression. And these categories are also separate from sexual orientation. I self-identify as a cisgender woman whose sexual orientation affirms my attraction to men. What does all this mean? And how do you use the word "they" when referencing a single person??

It's Pride Month, June 2024, and we will deep dive into the LGBTQ community using the words that matter most to them (plural!). Use the handy references below to further research topics that have systematically changed over the last 25 years.

Embark on a journey of self-discovery, where you can explore your own gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. This exploration will equip you with the knowledge of your own pronouns, empowering you to confidently express your identity when asked. Remember, your journey is unique and valuable, and it's time to start embracing it.

As a diversity professional, I've had my own transformative journey of understanding and embracing LGBTQIA+ terminology. It's a process that requires a deep dive into upgrading your language and perspective. I urge you to embark on this journey of self-discovery, to truly 'know the self'. This self-awareness will help you understand your own place on the spectrum before engaging in meaningful conversations with others.

==============

LGBTQ TERMINOLOGY GUIDE BOOKS - FREE

MASS TRANSGENDER POLITICAL COALITION PRONOUNS GUIDE
https://www.masstpc.org/wp-content/uploads/MTPC-Prounouns-Guide.pdf

UN GUIDE/GLOSSARY (Comprehensive LGBTQ Terms)
https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/documents/IOM-SOGIESC-Glossary-of-Terms.pdf

ACLU MISSISSIPPI
https://www.aclu-ms.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/e-book_defining_lgbtq.pdf

GENDERBREAD PERSON (Illustrates Identity, Expression, & Attraction)
https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/

ASSOCIATIONS

Human Rights Campaign
https://www.hrc.org/

Wikipedia List of US Based LGBT Organizations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_rights_organizations_in_the_United_States

The Trevor Project (Suicide Prevention)
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

PFLAG (Supporting those in the LGBTQ Communities and their families)
https://pflag.org/

Check with your state, federal, county, city or regional agency for additional resources and organizations.

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8/27/2023

Tribute To Professor Charles Ogletree, Jr.

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August 19, 2023, marked the sad farewell homegoing celebration of a great American. I was privileged to be honored with Professor Charles Ogletree during a Boston Red Sox game in August 2016, along with other community and civic activists. In March 2017, I honored Professor Ogletree during my Black History Empowerment Breakfast. He was a great lawyer, Harvard Law School professor, social justice advocate, and adviser to President Barack and Michelle Obama. Most importantly, he was the treasured husband of Pamela Ogletree, father, grandfather, and longtime member of St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge before Alzheimer's caused his family to move to Maryland.

Charles Ogletree, Jr. was the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.
Professor Ogletree was the author and co-editor of several books, including The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (June 2010 Palgrave MacMillan), When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice (2009), From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America (2006), and All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education (2004).

Ogletree was born on December 31, 1952, to Charles Sr. and Willie Mae Ogletree, the first of their five children. He grew up in a rural northern California community called Merced, with a small African-American population living south of its railroad tracks. His maternal grandparents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, were an essential influence on the young Ogletree. With his grandfather, he would fish for hours, and from Big Mama, he learned how to cook and, thus, learned self-sufficiency.

He would later credit both grandparents as profoundly influencing his demeanor and tactics as a trial lawyer. However, Ogletree's parents' marriage was plagued by periodic violence, and they eventually divorced, although they remained on good terms.

A bright child who spent free hours in the public library and brought home good grades from school, his first brushes with the law—especially watching his father being taken away in cuffs after incidents of domestic violence at the Ogletree house—instilled in him a deep distrust of and feelings of powerlessness toward the law enforcement community.

Professor Ogletree graduated from high school and earned an M.A. and B.A. (with distinction) in Political Science from Stanford University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He also held a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He also received honorary doctorates from several universities and colleges, including Cambridge College, Wilberforce University, the University of Miami, the New England School of Law, Lincoln College, Tougaloo College, Mount Holyoke College, and Amherst College.

May his legacy be remembered by us all forever. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done.

(Biographical sources from Harvard University, the family, and https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2366/Ogletree-Jr-Charles.html.)

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6/17/2023

JUNETEENTH EXPLAINED

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Celebrating Juneteenth is a relatively new tradition for me. Not because of its significance or historical value but more in alignment with regional awareness. I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and most African Americans who grew up in the Motor City in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s trace their roots to the Southeastern US states. My family hailed from Georgia and South Carolina before migrating to Detroit. Our story was a bit different from those that originated in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and especially Texas. Blacks from those states typically migrated North to the middle of the country and westward when African Americans sought refuge from oppressive Southern racism between the early 1900s to 1970.*

I knew of very few Juneteenth celebrations that happened in Detroit. It would be years later when I fully understood the importance of the day that finally set Texas slaves free. And that recognition has grown to admiration and honor for some 250,000 slaves who heard the news of their freedom two and a half years after President Lincoln freed them via the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth is America's second Independence Day. That phrase was coined by the activists who worked tirelessly to elevate Jubilee Day, now known as Juneteenth, to respectable levels of honor, dignity, and liberation. It took 156 years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021. Now is the opportunity to celebrate the "rebirth" of a people whose shackles were finally lifted by General Order No 3 on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth is synonymous with celebration. It gives permission for Americans everywhere to barbecue, have fish fries, drink red soda, dance, and spread good news while you party all night. I went to my first Juneteenth community event at Boston's Franklin Park on June 15, 2019. Thousands of Black, Brown, Asian and White metro-Bostonians gathered at Franklin Park in family groupings, sororities, fraternities, and civic organizations for a daylong love fest in tribute to Juneteenth. It was pure love and fellowship, and now, four years later, I can't wipe that smile off my face. The pandemic prevented the festivities from taking place in 2020 and 2021. However, the Juneteenth celebrations resumed at Franklin Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022.

Today's activities in Boston on June 17, 2023, will sadly be minimized by heavy rains that saturate the region. However, Juneteenth will be celebrated on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Brockton, Massachusetts, where they've been celebrating the event for many years. Undoubtedly the, Juneteenth will be celebrated throughout the country for the rest of the weekend and beyond.

In her book, On Juneteenth, historian, Harvard law professor, and native Texan Annette Gordon-Reed said it this way:

"People of African descent, and to be honest, of some European descent, celebrating the end of slavery in Texas with dishes learned in slavery and a dish favored by ancient Mesoamerican Indians that connected Texas to its Mexican past; so much Texas history brought together for this one special day."

Professor Gordon-Reed says it best. Juneteenth throws off the shackles of slavery and brings all people together with food, fellowship, and fun. That spirit signifies the second Independence Day for all Americans, including those in the Black Community.

Juneteenth represents the freedom of not just Black people but all Americans to live their lives in the spirit of cross-cultural understanding. That celebratory day in Galveston, Texas is as important in our lifetime as it was way back in 1865.

*To learn more about the great Black migration in the United States, read Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns.

Learn more about Juneteenth in Carole's Juneteenth Guidebook. Click Below to Learn More.

JUNETEENTH GUIDEBOOK CLICK HERE

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5/11/2023

Understanding Critical Race Theory: What It Is And What It's Not

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I have worked with or known some of the best diversity professionals in the industry. After 36 years of crisscrossing the country and the world, I should know a thing or two about the concepts, terms, and ideologies of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and multiculturalism. That includes the years I was a member of the Diversity Collegium co-founded by the late great Dr. Roosevelt Thomas and Dr. Price Cobbs. Dr. Mary Frances Winters, Kay Iwata, and Julie O'Mara were also my colleagues in the Collegium for many years. We traveled the country meeting on key issues and paved the way for the current crop of DEIB professionals in the US.

And throughout the years, during my Collegium days and beyond, we NEVER designed a training module focused on Critical Race Theory! It may have been discussed but it was NEVER a part of our strategic design.

So…What is the Critical Race Theory?

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is an academic and legal framework created by law experts and scholars in the 1970s and 80s that has blown up into a controversial hot topic around the country. CRT is now tied to educational efforts as either an ideological concept or a threat to the "freedom" of our nation. Despite the naysayers, CRT has never been used as the educational foundation for public school systems around the United States, nor has it been the principal framework used by diversity experts in the country.

Who are some of the "framers" of CRT?
The late Attorney Derrick Bell, while on the faculty of Harvard Law School, was one of the early framers of CRT. Civil Rights advocate, attorney, and academician Kimberlé Crenshaw was also an early scholar who helped shape the concept. They were academic leaders looking at systemic racism from an institutional perspective. They had NO reason to roll out a CRT course for elementary school students.

Is CRT designed for elementary students?
NO! It has NEVER been designed with elementary, middle, or high school students in mind. It principally was confined to exploration in the legal and social justice arenas.

Why is CRT such a controversial topic?
Sadly, right-wing conservative groups have latched on to CRT and are now using it as a wedge issue as they wage culture wars across the United States. They have flipped it and now use messaging to denounce it as a racist ideology promoted by left-wing progressives.

When did the CRT controversy start?
It started under the Trump administration. On September 22, 2020, at the end of his term in office, President Trump signed Executive Order #13950 banning diversity training, CRT "training," gender identity, and sexual orientation training within federal agencies and contractors. I lost business because of that order.

Although the Executive Order was reversed by President Biden, various state legislatures across the US continued to push to ban CRT, diversity, gender identity, and sexual orientation educational efforts, primarily in public schools. Again CRT has never been taught in public schools, yet it has been targeted in various legislative bills across the United States.

What states are targeting anti CRT legislation?

To date, more than 44 states proposed or passed anti-CRT legislation impacting public school systems and job sites in New Hampshire, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, and several others. It started with Florida's ruling called the "Don't Say Gay" law, impacting grades Kindergarten through Third Grade, and bans any specific discussion about gender identity or sexual orientation in the classrooms. It passed the state Senate and was signed by the Governor of Florida on Monday, March 29, 2022. The law went into affect in July 2022

Florida continues to lead in anti CRT legislation that now targets public/state colleges and universities. As of February 2023, Florida House Bill 999/SB 266 is pending in their state legislature. It states the following:

Requires public college and university governing boards to review their institutions for violations of HB 7 or programs that are "based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities." Colleges and universities are also prohibited from expending any funds, regardless of source, that promotes or supports a program that violates HB 7, espouses diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promotes political or social activism. All general education courses must be "based on the fundamental truth that all persons are equal before the law and have inalienable rights and may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics, violates [HB 7], or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities."

In New Hampshire, a pending law prohibits specific discussions about race or sex as mandatory student or employee training. Teachers can lose their license if caught teaching about race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The bill was slipped in under the state budget without the benefit of the full range of discussion or hearings.

So, where can I learn more about CRT and the fight to reverse the legislation designed to kill it?

Start with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund document about CRT.
Download it here: https://bit.ly/3r7V5QQ

The NAACP Legal Defense Funds articulates it this way:
Critical Race Theory recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual bias and prejudice. It is embedded in laws, policies, and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities. According to CRT, societal issues like Black Americans' higher mortality rate, outsized exposure to police violence, the school-to-prison pipeline, denial of affordable housing, and the rates of the death of Black women in childbirth are not unrelated anomalies.

Here is an entire webpage I created to help you understand CRT:
http://www.tellcarole.com/understanding-crt.html

Good Book To Read:
Race, Rights, and Redemption: The Derrick Bell Lectures On The Law And Critical Race Theory
Edited by Janet Deward Bell and Vincent M. Southerland

LIVE State by State Update on Anti-CRT GAG Orders

https://bit.ly/3r8TQBd

Good YouTube Video To Watch on Right-Wing Groups and Why They Are Fighting Against CRT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJ3s6YECAc&t=7s

Now do your homework, make up your OWN mind and talk to your friends, students, colleagues, or neighbors about WHY you support or denounce CRT. The choice is YOURS.

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4/28/2023

Rinse and Repeat Racism

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Rinse and Repeat Racism

I was always perplexed when a dear friend of mine, a well-known social justice advocate, would become angry and upset with the racism she clearly saw that I did not. Back in those days when we had just elected our first Black president, there was a clear expectation that our country would move forward and race relationships would simply get better.

What I saw from a superficial perspective, my friend saw as the naked truth. You see, racism merely turned the corner and became less obvious to most who were still celebrating the triumphant success of Barack Obama. Now I fast forward some 15 years later and have new insights that my friend had seen years ago.

Racism, sadly, is alive and well in 2023 and, in some respects, has graduated to a new insidious level. If you don't believe me, let's go through just a few incidents that happened in 2023.

A Black man is tortured and killed slowly in the South, compliments of the Memphis Tennessee Police Department. They even videotaped part of their execution. The incident happened on January 7, 2023, and the police department released the video while I was on a cruise. I made the following remarks on my social media pages following the death of Tyre Nichols:

"This was extremely difficult to watch because of the inhumanity and brutality of these evil individuals who call themselves police officers and EMT workers. They have now stained the reputations of this innocent young man, his family, and their families alike. Sadly, these incidences will continue unless there is massive federal and state reform to curb the power of the police. Tragic and only verifies the vulnerability of young Black men everywhere. The fact that the police officers were Black makes it doubly difficult and tragic."

I'm calling it "Rinse and Repeat Racism."

It didn't take long for Tennessee to affirm its Rinse and Repeat Racism. A few weeks ago, we witnessed the removal of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two brilliant Black state representatives who were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives because of their peaceful activism for gun reform following the Christian school massacre in Nashville. There have been so many shootings this year; let me refresh your memory. This shooting was the school where the 28-year-old killed three children and three adults in Nashville. Students, educators, parents, and three legislators protested in the Tennessee State House, demanding gun reform laws be adopted to keep citizens safe.

Instead of the GOP lead leaders responding to the protesters as a group, they turned their attention to the three Democratic legislators who were peacefully a part of the protest. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both eloquent and charismatic speakers, were expelled from the State Legislature. Their White counterpart, Gloria Johnson, was saved from expulsion by one vote.

If it looks like racism and smells like racism, it probably is racism. Even Representative Gloria Johnson suggested that fact during one of her interviews.

The public outcry about the expulsion of these two Black leaders was so loud it shook the giant redwood trees in California. The hypocrisy and mean-spiritedness of the GOP house speaker, Cameron Sexton, were on full display. Fortunately, it didn't last more than a few days with endless television and web interviews.

Within days, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were reinstated to the State Legislature. The outside voices prevailed. The practice of Rinse and Repeat Racism, at least in this case in the State Legislature in Tennessee, was thwarted.

And as if these two cases were not bad enough, we come to the ultimate case of racism in Kansas City, Missouri, when an honest mistake could have cost a teenager his life.

We're talking about 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who followed his mother's instructions. She told him to pick up his younger twin brothers and bring them back home. He did so but unfortunately made a mistake and went to the wrong house. He rang the doorbell and was immediately shot in the head by an older white man who took one look at his black face and assumed the worst. The homeowner shot him through the screen door, never even asking what the young man was doing on his doorstep.

To make matters worse, after young Ralph fell to the ground, this racist homeowner shot him again. By the grace of God, neither bullet ended Ralph's life. Young Ralph had enough strength to run for help. He didn't run to one house. Institutional racism caused him to knock on three doors before one homeowner would help him. And that homeowner made him lie on the ground while they called for help.

I'm not making this up. This is how rinse and repeat racism works in America.

Ralph Yarl was unarmed. He was an honor student. Played multiple instruments and led his band section at school. You couldn't ask for a more model student, regardless of his skin color. But because one old White guy was stuck in the past and only saw Black people as worthless creatures, he intended to kill this brilliant young black man in "self-defense." How pathetic! A disgusting representation of believing stereotypes and using unwarranted fear as justification for shooting a 16-year-old in the head. PATHETIC!

Ralph's Aunt, Faith Spoonmore, immediately came to the defense of her nephew. She started a Go Fund Me campaign that quickly became a blockbuster success. She successfully raised over $3.5 million in a matter of days. And yes, I gave to the cause. (https://gofund.me/b68601b2)

Ralph has had surgery to remove the bullets from his body and is recovering at home. He is alive but has a long way to go. He has been traumatized, as well as his family, his classmates, and his community. The white homeowner was finally arrested on two felony counts. He needs to serve a long prison sentence.

Rinse and repeat racism knows no boundaries. I referenced two of our 50 states: however, these outrageous acts of death, expulsion, and wrong doorbell shootings can happen anywhere at any time and any place in this country.

This is why my dear friend was so mad years ago. And the anger is now justified by the outrageous acts of racism that become breaking news every 25 minutes.

Gun violence is completely out of control in the United States. Racism is out of control in our country. And too many elected officials are either silent on these injustices or moving closer to fascism.

I am recommitting my efforts to call out these injustices and to make it plain that our country still has much work to do. Rinse and Repeat Racism needs to be silenced and ended for good. If we say nothing, we normalize these injustices, and they will most certainly continue. If we stand up and speak out like the citizens of Nashville who took their protest to the State Capital, we may have a chance for legal changes that will get guns off the streets and force White homeowners to stop and think before they shoot.

We can do better. We must do better. And if we don't, some senseless act of violence or legislative hypocritical theatrics will come to your town in the not-too-distant future.

Stand up. Speak out. And let's extinguish Rinse and Repeat Racism for good!

-cct

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Rinse and Repeat Racism

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