Author: Pamela E Ice, MA

Educator; freelance writer; TX Master Naturalist; birder; @profpice; MA, Humanities, U TX, Arlington; BA, English, Fisk U, Nashville TN; lives in North Oak Cliff , Dallas, Texas; blogs at http://speakingfreely.blog.
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Luminaries

Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 11.15.08 PMI had planned to tout Yamiche Alcindor and Washington Week, the PBS news and public affairs program of which she was moderator as “The Best 30-Minute Television News Program You’re NOT Watching.”  However, last Friday, 24 February 2023, Alcindor relinquished her position as moderator of the venerable PBS news and public affairs program. Her plans are to “focus fulltime on her commitments to NBC news,” where she is a Washington correspondent and “finish [her] upcoming memoir.

It has been a joy to watch her as she developed into a fine moderator of the program. As happy as I am to see her advance in her career, she will be missed on Washington Week where she had held forth since replacing Robert Acosta in May 2021. Her replacement has yet to be announced.

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The 54th NAACP Image Awards honorees were feted Saturday, 25 February at a star-studded, gala celebration hosted by Queen Latifa at the Pasadena (CA) Civic Auditorium.Recognizing people of color for acScreen Shot 2023-03-02 at 12.24.27 AMcomplishments in the arts, entertainment, social activism, and culture, in more than 80  categories, the awards program was broadcast this year by CBS.

The Chairman’s Image Award went to Mississippi Congressman Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 11.07.44 PMBennie G. Thompson who so ably chaired the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack “for his continued commitment to public service.” Dwayne Wade and his wife, past Image Award honoree Gabrielle Union, accepted the President’s Image Award for their social activism in many areas over many years. Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 11.17.49 PMThey have most recently advocated against bullying of LGBTQ+ school kids in support of their Trans daughter Zaya Wade. Accepting the Social Justice Award with a a soul-stirring speech was Attorney Benjamin Crump.Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 11.05.23 PM

 

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 10.50.45 PMHonored with several Image Awards was Angela Bassett, Entertainer of the Year, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (9-1-1).

Also racking up the awards was Quinta Brunson named Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (Abbot Elementary)

Screen Shot 2023-03-01 at 11.02.03 PMwhile her Abbott Elementary was named Outstanding Comedy Series and took top honors for Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, Tyler James Williams and Janelle James, respectively.

The NAACP Image Awards were established in 1967. See all the awardees on this NAACP website, www.naacpimageawards.net.

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A Critique

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President Biden delivering the State of the Union.

 

President Joe Biden shone bright during his 8 February 2023 State of the Union message. He was vibrant as he outlined ten or more of his Administration’s numerous accomplishments over the previous two years. He stood and spoke for a little over an hour without any difficulty, even bantering with far right-wing Republicans led by Q-Anon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Green as they shouted insults at him.  He then spent another 20 minutes or more on his feet as he greeted well-wishers while leaving the chamber.

The Republican response delivered by Sarah Huckabee Sanders was simply, to use her own word, “crazy,” and not a response at all.  Rather than responding in any way to the invitation to bipartisanship that was at the core of the President’s State of the Union message, Sanders harkened to the “crazy” messages of the Republican MAGA ultra-right and their conspiracy theories. Sanders accused the President of leading “a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.” Those aren’t Biden’s words, they are hers. What do they even mean? Crazy.

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders

According to Sanders, “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal and crazy,”  implying that the Republicans are “normal.” Crazy, right?

Sanders’s allusion to the “Little Rock Nine,” the brave students who integrated Central High School forty-plus years ago and who now have been memorialized in bronze at the Arkansas capitol came out of nowhere and seemed designed to align herself with them. Crazy, crazy, crazy!

I could go on, but why? In a mere 14 minutes and 37 seconds, Sanders revealed her true colors, her ignorance, and her disdain for every Democrat, moderate Republican, and Independent in the country. Many of the things she said about the Biden Administration fly in the face of the truth. It makes me wonder if anyone vetted her speech. It is sad and hard to believe her crazy rant really is how the Republicans want to portray themselves.  PEI

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Uvalde Massacre: Too Much to Bear

The twenty-seventh U.S. school shooting of 2022 occurred 24 May 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. It is too much to bear. I am tired of politicians talking about praying for the families of the victims. It is high time we – they – DO something.

I don’t want to hear about mental health, candle-light vigils, the second amendment, or anything else except commonsense gun laws. President Biden says he’s tired of these massacres, well so are we all. And I can’t imagine how the people feel in every city in which these massacres have occurred.

Screen Shot 2022-05-25 at 11.27.03 PMTexas Governor Greg Abbott was disingenuous when he talked about gun laws in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York not reducing gun violence. Sure, there is gun violence in those cities, but not mass murders in elementary and high schools, churches, and Walmart, for goodness’ sake. Since 2009, there have been over four mass murders in Texas’ schools, churches, and stores. I’d say there’s something bad wrong here that the Texas legislature can do something about. But I’m not counting on them.

For since 2009, the legislature has done nothing but loosen restrictions on guns. Rather than improving the “wild West” ethos in our state, we now have open carry laws, and gun buyers are not required to be trained on firearm use. People carry long guns openly. And who needs a semi- or fully automatic machine gun? They only are used for killing people.

It is a travesty that Governor Abbott, Senator Cruz, and others stood before us today and talked about improving mental health care when Abbott and the legislature refuse to expand Medicaid. Texas has more uninsured folks than just about any state. But I digress.

The Texas Governor and legislature need to ACT. Immediately. Abbott can call a special session and show Texans and the nation that he is serious about reducing gun violence in our schools, churches, department stores and other public places. If the governor and the legislature do not act, and soon, I say we, you and I, take our discontent to the streets as many did in 2020 over the murder of George Floyd. This time, it’s for 19 dead children and two dead teachers that we protest.

Yes, WE must do something, too.

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Permitless Carry: A Not So Stellar Idea

The Texas legislature has passed a permit-less gun carry law. Who thought this up? The only good news about this for the rest of the country is that these permit-less gun-toting Texans probably can’t bring their guns into other states because they have NO GUN PERMIT! Another tidbit of good news is that guns remain prohibited in Texas schools, courthouses, and bars.

Who thought this up: According to Rep. Matt Shaefer who introduced the bill in the Texas House, “the ordinary citizen is the first responder” and the ability to defend oneself is a “God-given right.” In keeping with Shaefer’s wishes, the bill was not amended before it finally passed.

The Firearm Carry Act of 2021, allows a person 21 years or older to carry a handgun either concealed or in a holster. Schaefer clarified that the bill only applies to handguns, not AR-15s, or rifles. “I think it is a bill that is the strongest bill I’ve seen in my legislative career regarding the rights of our Second Amendment,” Republican Senate sponsor Charles Schwertner said.

The major problem with the new law – it passed the Senate 17 to 13, before Governor Abbott signed it into law – is that no permit means no gun use or safety training, either.

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Who’s against the For the People Act?

You guessed it: the Republicans! The vote on S1 yesterday was 50 in favor. Fifty Democrats. Not one Republican voted yes! In the face of this, I am proud to say that the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association had something to say about it:

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association [my religious denomination] released the following statement: 

“I join faith leaders across the country and demand that the United States Senate vote yes to debate and then pass the For the People Act. As a Unitarian Universalist minister, I call on all senators to follow their elected duty and moral conscience to maintain the integrity of our democracy and voting rights. And I decry any use of the filibuster to block this critical legislation. We must protect everyone’s fundamental right to vote—especially Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-income communities that have been disenfranchised for generations.

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“In fact, we must end the procedural filibuster because it renders our government ineffective and obstructs the will of the people. The filibuster has historically been abused and wielded to prevent vital civil rights and voting rights legislation from being passed. Conservatives must stop retelling the Big Lie as a false reason to shut down this legislation. They fear the For the People Act because it will nullify their state bills that thwart free access to the polls—through throw-back Jim Crow legislation. The UU faith tradition upholds democratic principles and the inherent worth of all people and we believe that every voice matters, every vote matters.

“Pass the For the People Act, end the filibuster, and let the voice of the people be heard.

I completely agree with Rev. Frederick-Gray’s statement. Let the people say, “Amen!”

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GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!

Derek Chauvin is found guilty on all three counts against him in the murder of George Floyd.

I am overjoyed, relieved, and at a loss. Though a guilty verdict has been rendered against Derek Chauvin, we must wait nearly eight weeks for the judge’s sentencing decision.

Meanwhile, there are many other murder cases in which police (and others) are culpable; and we don’t even know if those former police officers or others will be indicted, much less tried in a court of law.

As a result, my joy over Chauvin’s verdict is overlayed with frustration: imagining, worrying about what comes next. Will Chauvin’s sentence satisfy the millions, like me, who think he should get the maximum on all counts and serve them consecutively? Will any other former police officers have to stand before a jury of their peers and be tried for murder? Is this verdict a victory?

This verdict is, for me, bittersweet at the moment, because there are many others gone in recent memory for whom we have not had anything like justice.

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Trump Incites Riot; That’s a Felony. Lock Him UP!

Donald J. Trump’s most recent spiral away from reality began just after 3 November 2020 when it became apparent that he was losing the presidential race. From that day forward, he began agitating his followers by repeating over and over again the lie that he, not Joe Biden, had actually won and that the election had somehow been stolen from Trump.

For two months, Trump peddled this lie and similar nonsense to his gullible minions, and by Wednesday, January 6, when he returned to Washington with thousands of his followers in tow, the pot was at the boil. His tweets had become more and more provocative and incendiary: Come to Washington D.C. January 6! It’s going to be WILD! he told his 88 million Twitter followers. In D.C., not only did Trump stir the pot, he poured gas on the roaring fire: “Fight like hell,” he urged as he told them to make their way to the Capitol.

We all watched in horror as his handiwork was realized in the desacration of the Capitol complex.

Trump attempted a coup. He incited thousands of his followers to riot, and as a result, five people are dead, and the Capitol’s House and Senate chambers are in shambles.

However, his attempted coup failed.

Donald J. Trump should be detained and charged with inciting to riot and insurrection, because incite is exactly what he did. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and all the other members of Congress who supported Trump in his lying and agitation should also be charged. Though they were successful in starting a riot that defiled the capitol building and traumatized the people who work there, Trump, Cruz, and their followers were unable to prevent the Congress from certifying the Electoral College ballots.

So, in spite of Trump’s misguided, felonious efforts, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States on Wednesday, January 20, 2021!

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I Will Miss Voting on Election Day

I VOTED at the Dallas County Elections Department on Round Table Drive in Dallas  TX about 15 to 20 minutes from my home around 5:15 this evening. I drove into the parking lot, was directed to a parking space, showed my photo ID, signed and printed my name and wrote my voter registration number in space 8 on a sheet of paper on a clipboard.
Jacqueline checked my signature with that on my driver license and returned my ID and brown envelope containing my ballot to me. I said, “What do I do with this, go inside?” And she answered, “Now, you vote!” She then lifted up a large blue satchel with white (or gold?) embroidered writing on it and an open zipper just wide enough to accept my brown carrier envelope into which I pushed it.
I had voted!
 
Jacqueline gave me my “I Voted in Dallas County” sticker, we bid each other goodbye, and I drove back home. The whole enterprise took barely 40 minutes. There was no one in front of or behind me. If Jacqueline had not been so cheerful, it would have been a sad affair.
 
I like to vote in person on Election Day; but since I voted absentee in the primary, the Elections Department sent me an absentee ballot for the November 3 election as well. When I found out what a Federal Case it would be to vote in person now that I had the absentee ballot, I resigned myself to voting in absentia. And it was a breeze. I don’t know how to get off of the absentee voting list, and I’m not sure I want to. It looks like the Election Day polls have seen the last of me . . .
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