3/6/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            How are things in DC today? According to the WP, the cherry blossoms will be out soon & then, you can bask in the glory of nature’s beauty. Our crab apples are bursting into bloom right now. I get to admire them out my window in my upside-down house where the windows are at the same height as the top of the trees. I’m so lucky!

            My luck runneth over these days. I’ll be getting my second Pfizer shot on St. Patty’s Day, the puppies in my house are thriving & my daughter’s CV case was mild. While I have my challenges, my good fortune humbles me.

            Our nation is fortunate, too. Don’t you think? While we have had our troubles of late, we are overcoming them. When I see what’s going on in Burma, our Jan 6 coup attempt pales in comparison. When I see the people struggling with the flood this fall in Guatemala, the winter storm in TX seems minor. When I worry about the poor health care that BIPOC receive, I see that the people in un-developed countries don’t even have hope of a ventilator or a dose of Remdesivir.

            While we are fortunate, that good fortune is not equally distributed among the people of our nation. I know that concerns you. While remedying the inequities will take a long time, we could start right now by making sure that BIPOC folk are getting the vaccine. Rhea Boyd reminds us in today’s NYT that of the myth that Black folx have  “vaccine hesitancy’ which is used to explain why the rate of vaxing for the BIPOC community is lower than the White community. She provides data to refute the myth & then argues “health care must name, challenge and eliminate anti-Black racism” and provide “convenient access to vaccines.” Mayor Lucas would appreciate that for the BIPOC in KC. He’s mad that the rural areas of MO have better access than urban areas & at recent events 16% of the vax in rural vaccinations events has gone unused. He says “ain’t nothing getting wasted” in KC so let’s send more his way.

            BYBS,