7/17/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Are you a math person? When I googled “Biden math,” I got: “Biden's Math of Just Taxing the Rich Doesn't Add Up,”  “Joe Biden Has a 'Math' Problem That He Can't Solve” about your low approval rating, & “Bottlenecks and Bad Math: Biden's FY24 Budget Request.” The last one is an American Friends Service Committee ‘virutal teach-in’ with info to persuade congresspeople, “We must divest from weapons, war, & abusive policing & immigration systems that separates families & dehumanize our neighbors. Instead, we need to expand economic assistance for necessities like childcare, housing, food, health care, & climate protections.” 

                       Do you think “math identity” could be a focal construct for teachers’ professional development? We need to transform the position math holds in American culture as the purview of a few nerdy guys. That’s why it’s so important that you talk about people like Evelyn Boyd Granville. This is a revolutionary idea, requiring critical consciousness to see how math contributes to white supremacy. Tall order!

            Since you are having a mellow schedule, please call MO Gov Mike Parson & tell him to stay the execution of Johnny Johnson, who has spent a lifetime of being haunted by invisible demons who speak to him. A traumatic childhood exacerbated his challenges. Death Penalty Action Network points out, “we cannot stand idly by while a system that fails to adequately address mental illness executes a person who does not rationally understand the reason for his sentence & is unfit to be executed.”

            I met some lovely Burmese activists on Zoom yesterday. They are training in Alternatives to Violence. Please provide words of encouragement to folks in Burma trying to address the situation there with loving kindness rather the hate-filled aggression.

            BYBS,