August 1, 2021 (Sunday) Last Sunday, educator and civil rights leader Dr. Robert Parris Moses died at 86. Born in New York City in 1935, the son of a homemaker and a janitor, Moses was working on a PhD at Harvard when his parents’ health brought him back to New York City. There, he began to teach math in 1958.
I remember back to my school days, and my history and government classes both in junior/senior high and college, and am struck that my takeaway about the difference between our “democracy” and communism was that our system was “representative”. I believed/understood that our lawmakers actually represented the will of their constituents, and would not face retribution for doing so. I felt extreme pride about our wonderful system, and profound sadness to know there were countries where people who spoke out against those in power were punished in various ways. I felt peace in my soul to know that that would not/could not happen here.
But, here we are. In the years since the 2016 election, I have watched as any appointed official who dared to appear disloyal to dear leader was demoted/ reassigned/fired. I watched good men like Alexander Vindman, who believed as I did that in America doing the right/honest thing would not mean that I would lose my job and my career, lose his job for speaking truth. I watched Alexander’s twin brother also lose his job for no other reason that that he was Alexander’s brother; both of them escorted out of the White House in “shame”. I watched as Liz Cheney lost her position of power in the House because she dared to speak/seek truth about an attempted coup and insurrection against our government for the sole purpose of keeping dear leader in power. Now I learn that state governments are purging those members of leadership roles who voted faithfully with the will of their constituents, but went against what the majority members (Republicans) want. It feels like every day there are good, honest people being punished for not being sufficiently loyal to dear leader and his cabal of minions. I’m sent right back to my school days and the feeling of sadness for those poor people in countries where they dared not speak out against their dishonest and tyrannical rulers out of fear, and I realize that this is now us, this is now our America. 😢
What if the exemplary life of Dr. Moses had been facilitated by our society rather than frustrated? What gifts we squander through our systemic racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc.
And in the meantime, Good Ol' Joe, who can't bring himself to believe that the racist scum running the GOP in the House and Senate aren't like the good ol' segregationist scum he went along to get along with when he was there and why can't we all just get along and have some bipartisanship? And that fucking moron Rahm Emmanuel - a better candidate for being taken out and hanged as an example to the rest of the Professional Dimocrats I can't think of - tells everyone that the voting rights problem is going to take "several cycles" to solve and the way to do it is to out-organize them and solve the elections problem that way - as if the political history of this country from 1876-1965 never happened, and the 60s didn't prove national action had to be taken.
One would think even the Dims like Sinema and Manchin would figure out that if they don't deal with this now, they won't be getting elected next time. If we don't deal with it now, then Qevin McQarthy will be the Speaker after next year of a GOP House, that will fail to certify the vote on January 6, 2025, throwing the election into the House where Trump will become President on a 27-23 state-by-state vote, regardless of what really happened in the election because of what was done in those 18 states now. That's the future these damn fools are guaranteeing with their moron stupidity.
You would think even Dim-o-crats like the professional idiots who lost their way when they moved to DC could figure this out.
And yes, I am damn mad, watching fools, idiots and morons who claim they're on my side piss away what my family has worked to create her for the past 340 years along with everybody else who came after.
“A new study estimates that nearly 300,000 voters in Georgia are affected by their new voter suppression legislation. And what color do you think those voters are? Biden won by 12,670 votes. You do the math.
So the Senate is taking up a revised voting rights bill. Not a moment too soon. This is critical. As many have said this week “you can’t out-organize extreme gerrymandering.” The Democrats can’t fall into the trap that they will just outwork everyone next year and win. Math is math. They have to pass something taking on voter suppression and gerrymandering or next year WILL be a bloodbath.“
Reminds me of the Flint Michigan catastrophe because the state Republican officials usurped the Democratic city officials. I keep thinking of something a Native American said to me -- "Wait 'til they (meaning all of us) find out what it's like to live on a reservation."
🌿💚Bob and Janet Moses and their children are Dear and Beloved Friends and Extended Family. It is also wonderful to see my daughter Professor Noliwe Rooks and her work from her pioneering work (Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation and the End of Public Education) referenced. 🌿👏🏾🕊A VERY proud Mother moment!
A chilling distillation of how the Republican Party moving forward is seeking to disenfranchise American, I repeat American, voters. Join your local Democratic Party, Indivisible or other groups seeking to protect the right and obligation to vote for all citizens. Make Good Trouble. Amen.
I'm perplexed why there are fearful comments about today's letter. As Dr. Moses said, things can lurch "forward" quickly. By accentuating the negative part of his comment we forget about all the people Dr. Moses has inspired and are out there right now trying to do something about it.
This is no time for hand wringing, it's a time for raising your hand to volunteer to carry on his lifework.
New Hampshire is one of those republican led states enacting unpopular legislation. The budget bill they just passed included (among other things) allowing parents to take public money from public schools to send their children to private or parochial schools, a very confusingly worded divisive concepts ban that could result in teachers being punished, an abortion ban at 24 (I think) weeks, and also refunds any fines businesses that did not follow covid guidelines paid. Being unpopular with the majority of NH citizens, none of these issues could pass as stand alone legislation, but they rolled them into the budget bill. Chris Sununu, who claims he is a moderate republican, signed this into law saying he didn’t want to veto the budget. (He did veto a budget from the last democratic legislature.) He will be running for Senate against incumbent Maggie Hassan. He is a popular governor and many don’t pay attention to the fine print of the budget bill. HE IS NOT THE MODERATE HE CLAIMS TO BE.
I deeply appreciate your tribute to Bob Moses, a leader and activist from whom many profound lessons have been learned. Thank you!
How I wish that we would learn from history. As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr so rightly stated almost two centuries ago: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" -- the more things change, the more they remain the same. What Moses fought so valiantly to preserve is, once again, threatening the rights of BIPOC voters. Greed, discrimination, and racism still rule the day -- white supremacy and voter suppression are as much alive today as they were in the mid-twentieth century.
Thank you Heather for this beautiful and touching story. I never heard of Robert Moses before this, and my life is deepend by your telling of his life.
Thank you for this tribute to Bob Moses. He was an inspiration! We need to stay vigilant about the direction we “lurch.” Feels like a roller coaster in the current climate!
Reading HCR for 3rd time today, my mind lit up like a 100 watt bulb at a detail I missed. In summer of ‘64, the 3 activists were killed by the KKK and local law enforcement outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. Tragic, racist, murderous, immoral act. Opposing forces causing destruction. Like now. And then in 1985, Reagan gets on his jaunt of restoring state’s rights and negating federal intervention to protect citizen’s rights. And where did he deliver his speech? Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Treason, that sneaky horrid monster. It’s all in the details.
We see, We do, We Act for Democracy.
Blessings today. Light the fire within. That’s where the real infrastructure of this planet lies.
Thank you for this memorial to the life work of Robert Moses. It is an important reminder of the historic and continuing impact of systemic racism. Critical Race Theory’s attempt to surface and encourage us to address the injustice and inequality of systemic racism is now seeing tragic pushback from conservatives. It is past time to call out these pushback efforts for what they are, racist. I reject the idea that those critical of CRT are not racist and simply are misinformed. That white washes the issue and their intentions. Fighting systemic racism is just one of the moral issues of our times, but linked to so many of the others. If anyone is treated as the other, if anyone is diminished as less or undeserving, we are all diminished. End systemic racism now! If you have a problem understanding why this is important, you are a racist.
Republican politician’s siblings denounce him in biting op-ed
(Paul Gosar’s siblings laid down bullet points, deeming his actions and comments ‘shameful and destructive’)
“It seems, in fact, that you are immune to shame. In addition to betraying your family and causing irreparable damage to the relationships within it, you decided to betray your country by helping incite the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol,” they said.
I remember back to my school days, and my history and government classes both in junior/senior high and college, and am struck that my takeaway about the difference between our “democracy” and communism was that our system was “representative”. I believed/understood that our lawmakers actually represented the will of their constituents, and would not face retribution for doing so. I felt extreme pride about our wonderful system, and profound sadness to know there were countries where people who spoke out against those in power were punished in various ways. I felt peace in my soul to know that that would not/could not happen here.
But, here we are. In the years since the 2016 election, I have watched as any appointed official who dared to appear disloyal to dear leader was demoted/ reassigned/fired. I watched good men like Alexander Vindman, who believed as I did that in America doing the right/honest thing would not mean that I would lose my job and my career, lose his job for speaking truth. I watched Alexander’s twin brother also lose his job for no other reason that that he was Alexander’s brother; both of them escorted out of the White House in “shame”. I watched as Liz Cheney lost her position of power in the House because she dared to speak/seek truth about an attempted coup and insurrection against our government for the sole purpose of keeping dear leader in power. Now I learn that state governments are purging those members of leadership roles who voted faithfully with the will of their constituents, but went against what the majority members (Republicans) want. It feels like every day there are good, honest people being punished for not being sufficiently loyal to dear leader and his cabal of minions. I’m sent right back to my school days and the feeling of sadness for those poor people in countries where they dared not speak out against their dishonest and tyrannical rulers out of fear, and I realize that this is now us, this is now our America. 😢
What if the exemplary life of Dr. Moses had been facilitated by our society rather than frustrated? What gifts we squander through our systemic racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc.
And in the meantime, Good Ol' Joe, who can't bring himself to believe that the racist scum running the GOP in the House and Senate aren't like the good ol' segregationist scum he went along to get along with when he was there and why can't we all just get along and have some bipartisanship? And that fucking moron Rahm Emmanuel - a better candidate for being taken out and hanged as an example to the rest of the Professional Dimocrats I can't think of - tells everyone that the voting rights problem is going to take "several cycles" to solve and the way to do it is to out-organize them and solve the elections problem that way - as if the political history of this country from 1876-1965 never happened, and the 60s didn't prove national action had to be taken.
One would think even the Dims like Sinema and Manchin would figure out that if they don't deal with this now, they won't be getting elected next time. If we don't deal with it now, then Qevin McQarthy will be the Speaker after next year of a GOP House, that will fail to certify the vote on January 6, 2025, throwing the election into the House where Trump will become President on a 27-23 state-by-state vote, regardless of what really happened in the election because of what was done in those 18 states now. That's the future these damn fools are guaranteeing with their moron stupidity.
You would think even Dim-o-crats like the professional idiots who lost their way when they moved to DC could figure this out.
And yes, I am damn mad, watching fools, idiots and morons who claim they're on my side piss away what my family has worked to create her for the past 340 years along with everybody else who came after.
From the Lincoln Project.
“A new study estimates that nearly 300,000 voters in Georgia are affected by their new voter suppression legislation. And what color do you think those voters are? Biden won by 12,670 votes. You do the math.
So the Senate is taking up a revised voting rights bill. Not a moment too soon. This is critical. As many have said this week “you can’t out-organize extreme gerrymandering.” The Democrats can’t fall into the trap that they will just outwork everyone next year and win. Math is math. They have to pass something taking on voter suppression and gerrymandering or next year WILL be a bloodbath.“
Reminds me of the Flint Michigan catastrophe because the state Republican officials usurped the Democratic city officials. I keep thinking of something a Native American said to me -- "Wait 'til they (meaning all of us) find out what it's like to live on a reservation."
🌿💚Bob and Janet Moses and their children are Dear and Beloved Friends and Extended Family. It is also wonderful to see my daughter Professor Noliwe Rooks and her work from her pioneering work (Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation and the End of Public Education) referenced. 🌿👏🏾🕊A VERY proud Mother moment!
A chilling distillation of how the Republican Party moving forward is seeking to disenfranchise American, I repeat American, voters. Join your local Democratic Party, Indivisible or other groups seeking to protect the right and obligation to vote for all citizens. Make Good Trouble. Amen.
I'm perplexed why there are fearful comments about today's letter. As Dr. Moses said, things can lurch "forward" quickly. By accentuating the negative part of his comment we forget about all the people Dr. Moses has inspired and are out there right now trying to do something about it.
This is no time for hand wringing, it's a time for raising your hand to volunteer to carry on his lifework.
New Hampshire is one of those republican led states enacting unpopular legislation. The budget bill they just passed included (among other things) allowing parents to take public money from public schools to send their children to private or parochial schools, a very confusingly worded divisive concepts ban that could result in teachers being punished, an abortion ban at 24 (I think) weeks, and also refunds any fines businesses that did not follow covid guidelines paid. Being unpopular with the majority of NH citizens, none of these issues could pass as stand alone legislation, but they rolled them into the budget bill. Chris Sununu, who claims he is a moderate republican, signed this into law saying he didn’t want to veto the budget. (He did veto a budget from the last democratic legislature.) He will be running for Senate against incumbent Maggie Hassan. He is a popular governor and many don’t pay attention to the fine print of the budget bill. HE IS NOT THE MODERATE HE CLAIMS TO BE.
Dear Prof. HCR,
I deeply appreciate your tribute to Bob Moses, a leader and activist from whom many profound lessons have been learned. Thank you!
How I wish that we would learn from history. As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr so rightly stated almost two centuries ago: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" -- the more things change, the more they remain the same. What Moses fought so valiantly to preserve is, once again, threatening the rights of BIPOC voters. Greed, discrimination, and racism still rule the day -- white supremacy and voter suppression are as much alive today as they were in the mid-twentieth century.
Thank you Heather for this beautiful and touching story. I never heard of Robert Moses before this, and my life is deepend by your telling of his life.
And TCinLA made a fine contribution to the conversation relative to the WAPO editorial from Norman Lear:
https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/and-that-is-why-you-fail
Thank you for this tribute to Bob Moses. He was an inspiration! We need to stay vigilant about the direction we “lurch.” Feels like a roller coaster in the current climate!
Reading HCR for 3rd time today, my mind lit up like a 100 watt bulb at a detail I missed. In summer of ‘64, the 3 activists were killed by the KKK and local law enforcement outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. Tragic, racist, murderous, immoral act. Opposing forces causing destruction. Like now. And then in 1985, Reagan gets on his jaunt of restoring state’s rights and negating federal intervention to protect citizen’s rights. And where did he deliver his speech? Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Treason, that sneaky horrid monster. It’s all in the details.
We see, We do, We Act for Democracy.
Blessings today. Light the fire within. That’s where the real infrastructure of this planet lies.
Thank you for this memorial to the life work of Robert Moses. It is an important reminder of the historic and continuing impact of systemic racism. Critical Race Theory’s attempt to surface and encourage us to address the injustice and inequality of systemic racism is now seeing tragic pushback from conservatives. It is past time to call out these pushback efforts for what they are, racist. I reject the idea that those critical of CRT are not racist and simply are misinformed. That white washes the issue and their intentions. Fighting systemic racism is just one of the moral issues of our times, but linked to so many of the others. If anyone is treated as the other, if anyone is diminished as less or undeserving, we are all diminished. End systemic racism now! If you have a problem understanding why this is important, you are a racist.
Republican politician’s siblings denounce him in biting op-ed
(Paul Gosar’s siblings laid down bullet points, deeming his actions and comments ‘shameful and destructive’)
“It seems, in fact, that you are immune to shame. In addition to betraying your family and causing irreparable damage to the relationships within it, you decided to betray your country by helping incite the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol,” they said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/paul-gosar-gop-nbc-oped-b1894893.html