5/19/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Have you heard about the burning of the town of Buthidaung in Burma? VOA notes that 200,000 Rohingya who were seeking refuge there in houses, government buildings, a hospital, & schools, had to flee & now the town is in ashes. No one knows for sure who did it. It could be the Arakan Army or it could be the junta. Either way it’s more evidence that WINTA!

            How was the speech at Morehouse? I hope the Men of Consequence who heard your speech today got to know you. According to Jamal Simmons (JS), most black youth do not know you lost your 1st wife & 1-year-old daughter in car accident & many think you are from a rich family. JS opines that you can provide the black youth of today someone to believe in.

            Did you notice any watermelon symbols in the crowd? Journalist David Love explains, “the symbolism lands quite differently for Black people in America & for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Jim Crow America weaponized the watermelon against Black people as a backlash against emancipation & Black empowerment. Palestinians adopted the watermelon as a symbol of empowerment & solidarity. But we must acknowledge these differences & hold both realities at the same time.”

I didn’t have time to watch the whole graduation ceremony, so I focused on Valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher’s remarks. I was excited to hear that he plans to work with children with autism while he studies for the MCAT. His comment about the red cardinal who has been visiting his family since his brother’s passing moved me, & his observation, that Black men in America have to be excellent or else, was all too resonant.  I noticed you clapping when he evoked MLK Jr & called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

            BYBS!