9/14/2020

Dear Friend, DJT,

            You are coming to my neck of the woods this morning. It’s too bad that I can’t make it over there to McClellan to say, “hi.” You’ll be very close to the school I’ve been visiting for the past 2 years to do geometry with 5th graders. It’s in a very diverse neighborhood with lots of new housing. That’s what I love about working with the students. Diversity makes us stronger. Kids bring so many different ideas to the table & have so much to learn from one another. It makes for a vibrant learning community. I have heard you say similar things about your administration – that you like to have diverse opinions. I encourage you to consider hiring more women and POCs so you can have even more diversity & get an even broader range of ideas to draw on.

            I’m sure you’ve been briefed on just how bad the fire situation is. But just in case you missed some of the details, here are the ones that stand out to me: 3.3 million acres burned. 400 structures destroyed. 24 people dead. Cost $1 billion. Gov. Newsom says you two have a productive working relationship so I hope you can figure something out to ameliorate the situation. Please don’t mention cleaning the forest floor. If you go to our dense forests, you’ll see why that’s an intractable solution.

            I was sorry to read that you called the person who shot the officers in Compton an “animal.” We are all human, with a spark of the divine. You are. I am & so is the shooter. We are all capable of evil deeds & huge mistakes. We all have our flaws. I am not suggesting that the shooter remain free, but he has rights. I do not want to live in a world where we treat humans as if they were animals. I’m sure you don’t either.

            Mask up,