Visitors to this blog know I opine about all sorts of stuff. The list on the right confirms that. But sometimes I switch to a single topic and stick with it even when other things are on my mind. Ferguson, Missouri is on my mind at the moment. Its not far from my son and brother who both live in St. Louis.
My brother actually lives in Clayton and I’ve just heard that Clayton and Ferguson are polar opposites in terms of family income. This post from the Daily Dish shows how impoverished the folks in Ferguson are and how black.
I’m broaching this subject because it ties into one of my long term concerns about Duluth and its schools – the condition of the minority, especially the black, community.
Its ironic that our brave School Board has libeled Art Johnston by accusing him of racism. The District and some of the personalities accusing Art of this have a pretty dubious past themselves on this score which I’m more inclined to write about every damn day they continue harass Art and Jane Bushey. I sent a roughly written four-page discourse on this subject, including examples, to attorney Mary Rice a couple weeks ago. She’s the one sniffing out all the evil details about Art. I send out a lot of roughly edited stuff now. I’m busy. The last post,r break in continuity.Its ironic that our brave School Board has chosen to libel Art Johnston as a racist. The District and some of the personalities accusing Art of racism have a pretty dubious past which I’m more inclined to write about every damn day they continue harass Art and Jane Bushey. I sent a roughly written four-page discourse including some examples of the hypocrisy to attorney Mary Rice a couple weeks ago. She’s the one sniffing out all the evil details about Art. I send out a lot of roughly edited stuff now. I’m busy. I should have reread the “Whereas” post once before uploading it but I took my chances that my readers aren’t too fussy about typos and the occasional awkward sentence or break in continuity.
Mary Cameron, who didn’t much like Art, at least appreciated his generous spirit when it came to his racial judgments. Today her brother drove past my house as I was making magical totems with my grandsons to hang from a tree in my front yard. He rolled down his car window and gave me a cordial greeting and told me who he was when I couldn’t squint hard enough to catch his identity. I’m set to have coffee with a young black man that I met when I saw him talking with Art a couple weeks ago. He told me that he had recently been pulled over in Duluth for a DWB, driving while black. (Drat but that doesn’t seem like the right acronym) Last year during the school board campaign I was invited to a remembrance of the murdered Trayvon Williams by Art’s young black campaign manager. Two weeks ago I went to a meeting headed up by one of Duluth’s young black up and comers at Art’s recommendation. No other school board member to my knowledge, including me, has gone to such lengths to cultivate friendships across races in Duluth. Ah, but there is one black school administrator who I’ve seen give Art a tongue lashing so its not all unqualified love.
I keep getting three and four hours of sleep at night and full days with grand-kids. That’s my excuse for not uploading the dozens of blog posts I’ve had half a mind to write up. Until school starts and I get Claudia off to seminary again I’ll only have half a mind for the School Board. As much as I’ll miss so much time with my boys I’m looking forward to giving our schools my full attention, especially with all the magical charms I’ve got hanging in my front yard to give me courage.