5/28/2023

JRB,

            Isn’t it disconcerting that the NYT has two mentions of Succession & no mentions of you?  IN the WP, it’s 7 to 6. Ironically, it’s the British paper where you come out on top, 5 to 2. I would think that your success in resolving the debt debacle would garner more attention.

            Speaking of which, E.J. Dionne Jr. notes work requirements for the recipients of public benefits as a point of contention with the GOP concocting an appeal to racist tendencies & greed. He writes, they “harvest votes from less affluent social conservatives & pursue policies that benefit well-off economic conservatives.”

            In other news, the junta continues to suppress free speech. The BBC reports that they just detained Byu Har, a famous rapper who “used incendiary language to refer to the junta's leaders (in a FB post) & also included his home address in the video's caption, inviting them to arrest him if they took issue with the post.” The guy is gutsy. I hope he is ok. Please check on his status.

            Did you read about the new Oxford Dictionary of African American English that Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is editing of words invented by Black people? He points out that enslaved folx developed double-voiced discourse, molding the English language to “protect themselves & also keep a morsel of autonomy in a world that would have them have none.” It is “a coded way of speaking English that would allow you to voice your feelings without being killed, whipped or - worst-case scenario - without being lynched.”

            Dr. Ijeoma Ononuju (IJ) provided a fascinating example of this in his article, “Ya Feel Me,” where he translated a story told by an 18-year old about the lengths he went to help his grandmother. I had no idea what the teen was talking about until IJ unpacked it. IJ is a genius & you should tap into his wisdom about educating Black youth.

            BYBS,