Dispatch from Coronaville: Live It Well

Yesterday we finally had the graduation ceremony for my 8th grade class. We had delayed in what turned out to be the vain hope that the pandemic would have receded by this time and they could have a traditional in person graduation.  Well, we ended up having a shorter in person graduation ceremony though it was anything but traditional, as well as a virtual "Zoom Reception." It was beautiful, unique, and heartfelt just like this class. The day was clear and free of rain (though hot, and we did have one graduate who was overcome by the heat and ended up missing most of the ceremony. Thankfully she recovered by the end of the program after hydrating, resting, and cooling off inside.) For today's post, I've shared the text of the commencement address delivered by yours truly. I'm so honored that my students picked me to be their speaker.  After the speech and pics, will be the usual coronavirus update. This is what I had to say:

My heart is full this afternoon. I had the hardest time thinking of what to say. And it’s because there is so much I want to say that I didn’t know where to start. I love you all so much. I am so incredibly proud of each of you. I feel so blessed to have  had the privilege of being your teacher for the past four years. But don’t worry, it’s hot and so I will keep this short, but I hope sweet. 

Why did this happen to us? I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t think there is one. Some of have said that this happened to you because your class was uniquely equipped to handle it. But I don’t think God orchestrated all of this to line up with your 8th grade year just because you could handle it. I believe that life happens.  Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes its truly horrible. Sometimes its amazing. What I’m grateful for, is not that this happened to you but that you were able, by the grace of God, to bear it.

Normally, during these kinds of speeches the speaker tries to give you some advice, some words of wisdom as you begin the next chapter in your lives. But today, I don’t have any advice for you other than this: Keep doing what you are doing. You as a class and as an individuals have inspired me and touched me in so many ways. You--all of you--are my heroes, my inspirations. You have helped me this year to be a better person and I thank you.  So my only advice to you is to keep doing what you are doing. I want to draw your attention to five things in particular that you have done well, and that I want to encourage you to keep doing.

Your class has set high goals and accomplished them. You did things no other class has done, set higher goals and reached them. You raised more money than any class ever has--over $10,000 and counting for your Hawaii trip which we still have yet to take. You committed to turning your behavior around and accomplished that. You understood that with God all things are possible. Keep doing that. Keep striving, keep believing, keep grinding, keep getting it done. I want to highlight three students, though there are many others among you who exemplify this commitment to excellence. Philip--you set a goal and were unrelenting in your focus to achieve that goal and you did it. Keep that work ethic. Piya keep your commitment to excellence, putting quality into everything you do. And Bernard--keep growing, keep wanting to be better. That desire to improve, if you let it, can translate in to the realization of your dreams.

Your class has shown a commitment to growth and change. Keep growing, keep changing, keep learning, keep listening. Djibril keep learning to take personal responsibility, Stephen your growth in your short time at CAA has amazed me, keep expressing yourself beautifully,  Larrysa your inner soulfulness, appreciation and kindness has touched my heart. Keep that spirit, Larrysa.  Soulemane keep your commitment to growth and maturity, and the respectful way in which you have interacted with me, keep that as you go forward. Moise, you remind me of Peter, loud and brash, getting himself in trouble, yet growing powerful and deep as you let Jesus transform you. Keep being the academic powerhouse you are becoming, keep that focus on excellence. Nasha keep being so reliable and responsible. I really enjoyed working with you in the sound booth and I’m not sure what we’ll do without you. Keep being that person people know they can count on.  Dayshaun, keep listening and learning. You have a brilliant mind, keep applying it to live up to the dreams God has for you. Robert  keep getting back up again, you’ll find it easier each time. I appreciate your humble spirit.  Ronald, you’ve run 6.1 miles, so you know what it is to run. Keep running, digging deep when the going gets hard.

Your class really stands out because you have learned the art of appreciating the moment you are in. Every 8th grade class I’ve had can’t wait to get out of here, and it’s only after they leave that they come to appreciate this place. Your class loved this school and the experience of being here like few I’ve ever seen. And you are better for it. You appreciate the moment God has given you. Keep doing that. Two students come to mind that exemplify this. Alyssa, our class president. Alyssa keep your quiet, charismatic leadership, your patience, and the love you so clearly have for your classmates. Kevin, your deep appreciation for your classmates and your love for them, and not just them but for your teachers as well is truly beautiful. Keep that spirit, Kevin.

Your class treats each other as family. You are forgiving, patient. There is a significant absence of drama--which wasn’t always the case--that is very unusual for this age. You’ve had relationships begin and end, you’ve had heated basketball arguments, you’ve had people who seem to specialize in pulling people’s chains, yet none of this seems to have broken your class apart. You moved past that. What a gift to have and share with the world. Keep doing that. Here I want to acknowledge some of our joy-bringers, our messengers of good cheer and grace.  Georgia, keep your cheerful and patient spirit. Jasen keep your sense of humor, your mind sharp and insightful.  Daysha,keep your kind spirit and your willingness to offer a hug (when the pandemic is over of course). Athena -your kindness, especially to my children, your support for the marginalized, your tender heart are so beautiful. Not everyone will see you, but I want you to know that I do, and I always will. Tiffany-Keep reading, keep thinking, keep that open mind, sense of humor, and gentle spirit.

Your class, perhaps more than any class I’ve ever taught, pray and praise easily. You are spiritually minded. Keep doing that. Yasmin, what a joy it’s been to see you grow, going all the way back to latchkey until today. Keep trusting in God, keep praying. Hadson, you have been a spiritual leader this year. Keep that spiritual focus, keeping trusting that God will provide whatever you need. Look how far he has taken you. Chelsea, keep paying attention to what’s going on in the world. During our Hangout chats I could always count on you to point out to the class things happening in the news that affect us all. Keep your eyes open and keep calling others to do the same. Greer keep leading people in praise of God, even if it’s just you at first, others will join.

It would be nice to say that your life is going to be wonderful and that everything is going to turn out great. But I can’t promise that. You will experience great joy and incredible success. But you will also experience heartbreaking grief and devastating failure. I want to encourage you to be like Job in those moments, to keep doing what you have always done: Blessing the name of the Lord and loving others. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

There’s a song I love called “Live It Well.”  This is what part of the lyrics say: 

 I got one life and one love

I got one voice, but maybe that's enough

Cause with one heartbeat and two hands to give

I got one shot and one life to live

One life to live, yeah

And every breath you take is a miracle

Life is short; I wanna live it well

One life, one story to tell (one love)

Life is short; I wanna live it well

And you're the one I'm living for (the one, yeah)

Awaken all my soul

Every breath that you take is a miracle

Life is short; I wanna live it well

                                            (--Switchfoot, "Live It Well")

Life is short. Live it well. Live it for Jesus. Live it for others. And no matter what, keep doing what you’re doing. Keep striving, keep growing, keep appreciating, keep loving, and keep trusting God. He will see you through. I love you all so much. Congratulations and thank you.

And now for the Dispatch. . .

In 2006 I went to my first U2 concert in Tokyo, Japan. I've been to ten since (ten! I know, I'm a big fan), but that first one is still probably my favorite. The couple days of sightseeing and the incredible performance were all indelible. After the show I had a tough decision to make. I had just enough money to get my train ticket back to the airport in Narita to catch my flight home to Saipan. But I also wanted to buy a souvenir of my concert and they only accepted cash. I had found it very difficult to use my credit card while in Japan because few place accepted credit. If I bought a souvenir I couldn't be sure I'd be able to get back to Narita, if I couldn't purchase my ticket with a credit card. If I couldn't get back to Narita I would miss my flight and would be stranded in Japan with no money, knowing no one and with no place to stay. I'd be on the streets.

I decided to buy the souvenir.

I remember thinking, this is one of those things that if it works out, I'll be glad I did it and if it doesn't work out it will be the worst decision of my life.

As you've probably guessed, it worked out. I was able to purchase my train ticket with the credit card and I went home with happy memories and a nice souvenir (My only regret is that I got the wrong souvenir. I should have bought the t-shirt instead of the DVD, which I've watched once and could have bought easily on Amazon or E-bay. I can't believe I took a risk like that for a DVD. The t-shirt would have been worth it, because I love my concert t-shirts and now buy one at every concert I go to. Life Lesson: Buy the t-shirt, not the DVD).

Either something I'm glad I did, or the worst decision of my life, depending on the outcome. That's kind of how I feel about this graduation. In one sense, I"m so glad we had it. It was such a beautiful day and I'm so glad I could give this gift to my students who I love so much and who have lost so much of their final year at CAA to this pandemic. I just don't want them to lose anymore. And yesterday was probably the biggest risk I've taken since the coronavirus struck, with the kids not being near as careful with the mask wearing and social distancing as I would have liked. Right now, I'm just hoping the credit card works.

Total cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. as of yesterday (recorded the data last night after graduation but too exhausted to post) were 4,243,643, with a 194,906 new cases in the past three days, about 20,000 fewer than I predicted. We are down in new cases from the previous three day period but I think it may be a little too soon to declare the peak has passed. It may be that the peak was on July 17 when we had over 223,000 new cases in three days but we'll need a few more rounds to confirm a pattern of decrease. In my weariness last night I forget to record the national death count, so the total deaths are from today: 146,754 total deaths, of which 2,505 are new over the past four days (I'm not sure how many deaths were reported in past 12 hours or so). This also represents a decrease in the number of new deaths in a three day period, and is 1000 fewer than I predicted. Based on a continuation of this pattern, I would expect 4,447,338 total cases by Wednesday, July 29 and 149,249 total deaths.

Florida, oh, Florida when will you ever return to join us down in the visible panels of my graphs? The pattern of new cases for the state has been (in thousands), 37 on July 14, 35 on July 17, 33 on July 20, 29 on July 23 and now back up to 33,987 new cases as of yesterday, July 26. As always, it takes several cycles for the pattern to reveal itself, and my graphs tell the story best in hindsight. Ohio, on the other hand does appear to have peaked back on July 14. We may be on the downhill side now. Meanwhile, Cornhuskers beware: Nebraska shows signs of a gradual increase.

Total Cases

Florida: 423,847 total cases, 1.9% of the population. It's quite remarkable to me that Florida accounts for about 10% of the U.S. total case count and has had more COVID cases than most countries in the world. Dark times for the Sunshine State indeed.

Ohio: 84,073 total cases, 0.72% of the population.

Nebraska: 24,618 total cases, 1.3% of the population

While deaths are down during this three-day period in Florida, I think they are still in the midst of a significant spike in deaths. I would expect to see a new record in new deaths established by Wednesday there. Ohio seems to be stabilizing in terms of new deaths and at least so far it doesn't look like we'll return to the heights of the spring. The deaths really tell the story of a very different reality in Florida and Ohio in terms of what's happening with the virus. While Florida's new death peak is definitely in the summer, Ohio's appears to be firmly in the past. Nebraska needs to stay alert. If anything there appears to be gradual increase in the deaths over the past few weeks. While the state has yet to reach it's spring peak, it does seem to be moving in that direction.

Total Deaths

Florida: 5,853, a rate of 1.4%

Ohio: 3,307, a rate of 3.9%. Ohio's death rate is clearly declining as deaths remain low even as case counts increase.

Nebraska: 322, a rate of 1.3%

Dispatch from Coronaville: Busy

The virus has been busy, but so have I. My 8th grade class elected to delay their graduation as long as they could in the hopes that we would be well on the downward side of the curve when it was time for them to cross the stage. Instead we find ourselves in the midst of the a second wave and our hopes of a "normal" graduation are dashed.  Instead we are having a two part ceremony this Sunday, July 26. First we'll have a short in-person, socially distanced, outdoor ceremony.  We'll follow that an hour later with a "Zoom Reception" where we'll do some of the activities like the slideshow, parent tributes, and special musics that we couldn't do in person.  We've been practicing every day this week, both via Zoom and in person and there is so much to do.  Tomorrow is going to be a full day as well as Sunday. To further add to the fray, Barbara's mom fell and broke her hip today.  She'll be going in to surgery tomorrow so we'll be leaving early in the morning tomorrow, to drop Babs off in Dayton so she can be there for surgery.

With all of that, I need to get to bed so we're gonna keep this short tonight.  Here's the deal:

The U.S. now has now had a total of 4,048,737 cases of COVID-19--surpassing the next million mark just over a week ahead of when I'd predicted. If the rate doesn't slow we should see five million cases by August 7.  This includes 205,601 new cases in the past three days, 19,000 or so more than previous three days.  We've also suffered a total of 144,249 deaths, 3,407 new ones in the past three days. This is almost double the previous batch of new deaths. That's 13,000 more cases and 1600 more deaths than I predicted. Based on these increase, I project 4,263,320 total cases by Sunday, July 26 and 147,711 total deaths.

New cases in Florida have now declined for three three-day periods (nine days) in a row. At 29,474 new cases this is the first time since July 8 that Florida has posted less than 30,000 cases in three days. Ohio has shown a slight uptick in cases but breaks no records, indicating we might have already hit our second wave peak. Nebraska has shown a jump this time around but still remains well shy of it's peak numbers in the spring.

Total Cases

Florida: 389,860 total cases, 1.8% of the population

Ohio: 80,186 total cases, 0.69% of the population

Nebraska: 23,818 total cases, 1.2% of the population

Florida set a record high for new deaths with total of 446 deaths in the past three days. Meanwhile, Ohio marked a modest decline, with the overall trajectory of deaths remaining steady and Nebraska posted another five deaths during this period.

Total Deaths

Florida: 5,517 total deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Ohio: 3,256 total deaths, a rate of 4%. Our death rate continues to fall.

Nebraska: 318 total deaths, a rate of 1.3%

Total Deaths

Dispatch from Coronaville: The Basics

So today I'm just gonna get right to it. It's 11:35 PM and I have a literal mountain of laundry to fold. And tomorrow is a very busy day, starting with a morning run. Then I'm making Chipotle at Home for lunch (basically I make all the Chipotle dishes--the chicken, the grilled veggies, cilantro lime rice, the salsas, guac, etc--at home) and that takes a long time. Planning for my 8th graders graduation on Sunday, as well as meeting with them for a Zoom practice of their speeches.  Planning for next school year. School board meeting in the evening. Ugh, I'm tired just thinking about it.

As of today, we've had a total of 3,843,136 case of COVID-19. This reflects 186,116 new cases over the last three days, and a decrease of around 40,000 cases over the last three-day numbers. That's good news. We've had a total of 140,842 total deaths from the virus.  This includes 1,744 new deaths over the past three days. This is a decrease in the number of new deaths over the past three days. Also good news. I was 51,000 cases over the actual number, and about there were about 2,000 fewer deaths than I'd projected. I'm happy with those numbers.

I predict that by Thursday, July 23, we'll pass the four million mark with 4,035,2923 total cases and 142,672 total deaths.

All three states have posted a second consecutive three-day period of decline in new cases.  Florida's numbers are still the state's third highest ever, with 33,153 new cases. Ohio's new cases also are third highest recorded in the state. But a decline is a decline. I'll take it.  Could this mean that we've had the peak of our second wave? I hope so.

Total Cases

Florida: 360,386 total cases, 1.7% of the population

Ohio: 76,168 total cases, 0.65% of the population

Nebraska: 22,847 total cases, 1.2% of the population

Deaths spiked up over the last three days in Ohio, but not dramatically so. Florida posted a decrease in the number of new deaths, but it's numbers are still quite high. Nebraska remains as unchanging as cornfield stretching towards the horizon, easing back down in deaths during this period. The state will likely post a modest increase over the next three days.

Total Deaths

Florida: 5,071 deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Ohio: 3,189 deaths, a rate of 4.2%

Nebraska: 313 deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Angry: Token

"I'm just your token black."

The words wounded her deeply, coming from someone she had considered close as family. How could he say such a thing, after all they'd been through.

When a dear friend of mine shared this experience with me some time I ago, I focused on being a friend to someone who was deeply hurt. It wasn't the time for explanations. But I knew immediately I wanted to explore this idea of tokenism in this series. What does that mean? To have a "token" black friend. Or to be one?

I don't think there's any white person in the world that fills a quota on the number of friends of color they have. No one thinks, "Well, I need to have at least one, maybe two or three black friends. There's this person, my colleague at work, and. . Sean. Perfect! I'm all set."  So tokens are not consciously "chosen" to check a box off the list. (At least not in people's personal lives. When it comes to marketing, that's a whole other story).

I also don't believe that a white person is required to have a few or many black friends. Our nation is still 60% white and in many places it may not even be possible to have a multitude of differently-melinated friends. So I'm not suggesting that you're duty bound to seek out black people for your social set--doing that indeed feels a bit like. ..tokenism.

So if white people aren't trying to meet a black friend quota and they don't have a responsibility to populate their lives with black people, then what's the big deal about tokenism?  I see two issues where tokenism arises:  First, it's assuming that the black person you know (or don't know if he or she happens to appear in a Turning Point video) gives you all the information you need to know about the black experience. If you don't have a wide black circle--more than just a few black friends; if you don't spend time in what we call black spaces (such as attending a black church, living in a neighborhood with a high percentage of black people, attending a black school, working with mostly black people) you need to be especially careful about assuming you understand the experiences, challenges, issues, and needs of people of color. The small sample set you have with those few friends, associates, or colleagues is simply not large enough to give you a truly informed perspective. 

Further, having any number of black friends--but especially a few--should never serve as proof of your not being a racist. This is how those friends become tokens.  Some people treat relationships with black people like tokens at an arcade.  They are "proof " that they hope to exchange at the counter for that "Not a Racist" label on the high shelf over there. Again, I don't think this is something white people consciously think about or plan.  But there's a reason "some of my best friends are black" is a phrase well-known and generally held in derision. It's a go-to argument when the discussion takes an uncomfortable turn.

Now, if you really want to move past token experiences, and seek out diversity, that is a worthy goal. But it's important to understand that having a truly diverse social setting involves more than token representation of people of color.  If you want, or you want your child to really experience diversity go to a black school, attend a black church (or a majority of any other non-white ethnicity), or, if you dare, live in a majority non-white neighborhood (or just don't move if your neighborhood appears to be "browning"). For black people who want their child to experience diversity, you're not going to achieve that sending them to a majority white school with some Asians, blacks, and Latinos thrown into the mix for flavor.  I always wanted my children to have a diverse environment during their growing up years. I always thought we'd achieve that by living overseas for some period during their childhood, but that doesn't appear to be panning out. But our choice to send them to a predominantly black school accomplished the same goal. How is it diverse if practically everybody is black? Because the dominant culture is already white.  They get that everywhere. It's on the billboards, on the TV shows and movies, it's practically in the air.  Diverse, in this country, means non-white. If you want diversity you have to go to explicitly nonwhite spaces. 

This is not a diverse group, no matter what the Google image search tells you.

But my kid won't be comfortable if he/she is different from everyone else. Actually, your kid--especially if they are very young--will be just fine (you might actually be more concerned about your own discomfort than theirs, if we are being honest). Kids truly don't "see" race until we teach it to them. I remember my son Ezra when he was maybe three, telling me that he was afraid of the "brown man." I asked him if I was a brown man. And he said, "No, you're bwaack!" My heart sank, shocked to realize that at that tender age he already had absorbed racial categories. But then he went on to say that he was blue, his brother was red, his mom was pink, his aunt was orange and so on. It turned out the brown man was a most definitely white neighbor.

I think white people tend to overestimate the amount of hate they will experience from black people because of their color. In black spaces racial hatred isn't backed up by the assumptions of the larger society, so if a black person is going to exhibit prejudice towards a white person, they're pretty much speaking for themselves. The wider culture is not echoing their hate. And it's that echo from society that makes racism from whites so much more painful than the occasional sting of a slur or insult in and of itself (I will unpack this more in an upcoming blog post).

So you have black friends. Wonderful. Continue to cherish them. Just remember that their presence in your life doesn't earn you a prize.

Angry: Letting Go of the Lost Cause

Even before my father's father

They called us all rebels

As they burned our cornfields

And left our cities leveled

I can still feel the eyes of those blue-bellied devils

Yeah, when I'm walking round at night

Through the concrete and metal, hey, hey, hey

I was born a rebel, down in Dixie

On a Sunday mornin'

Yeah with one foot in the grave

And one foot on the pedal

I was born a rebel, born a rebel

                                 --Tom Petty, "Rebels"

Big wheels keep on turning

Carry me home to see my kin

Singing songs about the Southland

I miss Alabamy once again

And I think it's a sin, yes

--Lynyrd Skynrd, "Sweet Home Alabama"

Ah, the rebel. Gaunt, dressed in tattered gray, rifle in hand. He rallies round the tattered battle flag, and with a wild rebel yell, charges ahead in defense of home and family, ready to give his life in for a lost cause. The ultimate underdog. And who doesn't love an underdog.

As a child I was a huge Civil War buff. I know that's kind of weird, but it's true. I read every book I could find on the war. I watched The Blue and the Gray when it came on TV (little knowing that one of the stars of the mini-series, Dan Shor would one day become a good friend of mine). I knew all the generals on both sides by name, and was familiar with all the battles. I had a picture of Abraham Lincoln and a color drawing of the U.S. and Confederate battle flags that I'd made taped to my bedroom wall. I even drew my own picture book of the war highlighting all the big battles, major players, and main events of the war.  Even as an adult, I'd sometimes refer back to those early history lessons as I did in this 2008 post from our class trip to Australia where I linked a game of laser tag to the leadership lessons of General Lee and General Grant. And though I knew who the good guys were--well, I wouldn't have even gone that far then. There were "good people on both sides" after all. Even though I knew which was the the right side.  The side that for my sake--a black kid growing up in Central Florida--needed to win, I still found myself drawn to the underdog rebel.

It's only now that I realize how much of my understanding of that conflict was filtered through Lost Cause ideology (there are all whole books written about the Lost Cause, a lens through which many historians, especially Southern apologists viewed the conflict. This Wikipedia article is a good introduction). At the very least I understood that the South and the North interpreted the war differently (For example, the South, I learned, always referred to it as "The War Between the States." The Civil War was a Yankee term). And to a large degree I bought into the mythology of the Southern cause. I mean I understood that slavery was not a moral good. I didn't buy the BS that the South didn't really go to war over slavery. But I was drawn to the romantic notion  of the noble Southern soldier in gray, valiantly fighting for a doomed cause. I accepted the idea of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson as noble men dutifully defending their home state in an admittedly less than noble cause.  I didn't find the history leading up to the war as interesting, nor did I bother much with the Reconstruction period. I did find it easy to accept without too much thought the idea of the abolitionists, especially those like John Brown as "extreme", and Reconstruction as a "bad" time for the South.

There was considerable cognitive dissonance between this romanticized view of the South of Civil War history, and the feelings I had about Confederate relics in the present. Some of my very good friends growing up came from proud Southern families. They had the Confederate battle flag hanging in their homes, on their license plates.  For them Confederate pride and fierce pride in being sons and daughters of the South were one and the same.  And yet a stranger with that flag on their pick-up or jean jacket made me instantly nervous. I knew deep down what that flag meant for me as a black person. I knew that accompanying it was the distinct possibility of physical violence and possibly death. Granted good people I knew carried that flag, but it was also always, always used as symbol by those with deadly hate in their hearts--the Klan, and others like minded. There was no escaping it.

There is no escaping it. The Lost Cause, the myth of the noble South is a lie. It just is. The cause was an evil one, plain and simple. The war was about states rights (to preserve slavery if they chose). It was fought to preserve the Southern way of life (And what "way" of life was that exactly? It was a way of life of which slavery was an integral part, even if it was aspirational for many poorer Southerners). The decision to secede from the Union was viewed by the North (correctly) as an act of treason. It's true that most Northerners didn't fight specifically to end slavery but to put down an insurrection. But the fact remains that without slavery there would have been no war, no cause to fight for.

 And the worst part of the Lost Cause lie is that it has made it difficult to have Southern pride without also having Confederate pride. And yet it's not impossible. How do I know this? Because the South, doesn't belong to just white people. There are generations of Southern African Americans who are proud of their Southern heritage, who love the food, the music, the customs, the culture of the South--not least because they had a significant hand in creating it. For them, the South is home, family, warmth (literal warmth too!). There is affection for the South, despite the strange fruit its trees have often borne. And for these Southerners there is no confusion between the South and the Confederacy.  If there is a path forward for the white South it is to be found among Southerners of color. Southern identity does not need to be associated with the Confederacy any more than German identity needs to be tied to Nazism. Is the analogy too harsh? An exaggeration maybe? If so, only by a little.  One regime sought to keep a group of people enslaved, the other sought to wipe a group of people from the face of earth. I suppose the argument could be made the latter is worse than the former, but not by much. It's a bit like arguing that torture is better than murder. They are both evil. 

Is it possible that good men fought for an evil cause? Absolutely. Perhaps out ignorance, perhaps out of a sense of duty, but yes it was possible. (And what is a "good man" anyway? What is the Christian understanding of so-called "good men." But that's a topic for another time.) But the movers and shapers of the Confederate South can't beg off on these excuses. They knew what they were fighting for and understood what benefits they would personally lose out on if they were not successful. They cannot be excused. Not even old "Marse Lee". Perhaps, especially not him (a better model might be Gen. James Longstreet, who actually joined the Republican party after the war and supported Reconstruction. This made him an absolute pariah to the unrepentant South. Granted his motives were mainly pragmatic, and it seemed his intent was to "manage" the black vote the way it is said the Democratic party does today, but still. This American Heritage article does a deep dive into Longstreet's story. I recommend page 3 & 4 which discuss his postwar activities that made him so hated throughout the South).

 So the statues and monuments need to come down. We erect statues to those we revere and honor. They don't teach history, they uphold values. And the statues of Confederate leaders uphold corrupt values.  The flags need to come down. Let the Klan and the NeoNazis have their complete and rightful ownership of that symbol, so that a proud black Southerner doesn't have to look up at the flag pole and wonder, "Does this mean this city or this state shares the sentiments of the KKK? Or does it mean something else?"  The defense of these relics in and of itself prioritizes the emotions and feelings of one group of Southerners over another. The legacy of preserving the wishes of white Southerners at the expense of black Southerners has gone on in myriad of ways for long enough. It's time to let this last manifestation of Southern white supremacy go.

In order for my Southern friends to fully embrace their Southern pride, the symbols and monuments to Southern shame need to be removed. Letting go of the Lost Cause is something that a son or daughter of the South can truly be proud of.  

A few years ago I had a Southern girl as one of my middle school students.  I always found her accent so charming and her gracious Southern manner so remarkable. Her skin was caramel brown, her lips full, her hair tightly curled. She too was a belle of the South. She too, is America.

There's a southern accent, where I come from

The young 'uns call it country

The Yankees call it dumb

I got my own way of talkin'

But everything is done, with a southern accent

Where I come from

Now that drunk tank in Atlanta's

Just a motel room to me

Think I might go work Orlando

If them orange groves don't freeze

I got my own way of workin'

But everything is run, with a southern accent

Where I come from

For just a minute there I was dreaming

For just a minute it was all so real

For just a minute she was standing there, with me

There's a dream I keep having

Where my mama comes to me

And kneels down over by the window

And says a prayer for me

I got my own way of prayin'

But everyone's begun

With a southern accent

Where I come from

I got my own way of livin'

But everything gets done

With a southern accent

Where I come from

--Tom Petty "Southern Accents"

Dispatch from Coronaville: Milestones

It will be four months tomorrow since I posted my first "Dispatch from Coronaville".  Now seems a good a time as any to look back on the those last four months, revisit some predictions and note some milestones on this journey.

• The first prediction: I predicted that there would be 26,300 cases in the U.S. and 433 deaths by Sunday, March 22. (Score is correct if within 2000 cases or 100 deaths). Scorecard: 1/2.  There were almost 6000 more cases by March 22 than I expected. While I reported that I was wrong on the deaths I was off by only 17 and that was within the margin of error. At this time cases and death were rising at rate of well over 100% every three days, but the numbers were much smaller than they are now. A three day increase might mean 36,000 new cases whereas now a mere 6.5% increase means more than 200,000 new cases in three days. Likewise what "close" means now is quite different from what it means then. Being only 6000 cases off would be practically a bulls eye today.

I'm struck by how innocent I sounded just four months ago.  As I made my prediction I just couldn't fathom more than doubling our case numbers in just three days. 26,000 cases seemed astronomical. I had no idea. Like many people then, I thought that this virus would be fairly short lived.  I thought I was being quite conservative in thinking it would take until the end of May to get past this thing.

An interesting note about the slowing rate of increase.  The rate of increase between March 19 and yesterday (I'll be using yesterday's numbers since I got my data together then but was too tired to do the post) was 11,328%.  If that rate were to replicate in the next four months, we'd have 414,274,082 cases by November. That's a number that exceeds the population of the United States by almost 100,000,000.  Obviously that won't happen. So a decrease in percent of increase is a given. Much more significant is the number of new cases. In light of that, I've decided to stop reporting the rate of increase and start instead indicating the number of new cases and deaths. I will still use the rate of increase to predict how many new cases and deaths we could expect to see in the next three days.

• Milestone: State Data First Appears On March 28, I posted data on three benchmark states for the first time: Florida, Ohio, and Nebraska.  Florida now has close 100 times as many cases as it did then, Ohio 50 times as many and Nebraska 20 times as many.

• On April 18 I predicted we would begin opening up across the country by the end of April whether we were ready or not. I also predicted that we would see a jump in deaths and cases due to early re-opening. Scorecard: 2/2 Much of the country did begin to reopen by the end of April and early May and that re-opening has continued apace more or less.  We did see the predicted spike in cases and deaths, though it took a little longer than I thought it would. 

It's interesting to note how early the virus deniers got started on their balking about the re-opening, about taking precautions, about whether this is a real thing. As early as late March and early April a segment of the population was already done with this thing.  Interestingly the facts on the ground since then have done little or nothing to sway their opinion. They are impervious. 

• Milestone: April 21: The introduction of the graphs.  This was my first post to include the visuals of my three benchmark states. Back in those days it was just one panel for cases and one panel for deaths. 

• Milestone: April 30. The first million Americans to be infected with COVID-19 is reported on this blog. The first case was identified a little less than two months before the Dispatch began, on January 20. It took about three months for us to reach our first million. 

•  On May 30, I predicted George Floyd and the protests would be forgotten in a few weeks. Prediction Scorecard: 0/1.  I did not imagine that the Black Lives Matter would take such a strong hold on the nation as it did. In another week it will have been two months since Floyd was murdered and we have not forgotten his name. An era of sweeping change seems to have arrived and it appears this one will last.

• On June 9, I predicted as one of three possibilities, a sharp increase in cases around the country due to the protests raging around the country.  Prediction Scorecard: 1/2  There was a sharp increase in cases that began well within those next two weeks, an increase that continues unabated more than a month later. However the general consensus seems to be that the protests were not the driver of the spike. It seems counter-intuitive, yet I buy it. I don't recall Florida, Arizona, and Texas being major hubs of protests whereas people in Minnesota and New York pretty much stayed home.

• Milestone: June 11. The second million cases reached in the United States. It took five weeks.

• Milestone: June 14. Florida begins it's ride to space with its at the time eye-pooping 6,499 new cases in three days. These days those numbers would be a welcome respite.

• Milestone July 8: The third million cases reached in the United States. It took four weeks.  Could we reach our fourth million by July 29, a mere three weeks? I think that is highly probable. If we bumped up to a million every two weeks, we'd hit 5 million by August 12, and if we evened out at a million new cases a week we'd be at around 19 million people infected by Thanksgiving 2020.

One new prediction (at least I think it's new. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, possibly on this blog, possibly somewhere else).  I predict that the same people who opposed the shutdown, demanded the reopen, refused to follow safety guidelines such as mask wearing and social distancing, will also refuse to take the vaccine when one is finally developed. In short, we're screwed because of the intractable mindset of a good portion of the country.

Here's the three-day numbers recorded yesterday, Friday, June 17. We had 3,657,020 total cases of COVID-19, of which 223,864 are new cases (this does represent an increase of 6.5%).  This is 15,000 more cases than I anticipated. We have had 139,098 total deaths, of which 2,976 are new over the past three day (this represents the highest rate of increase--2.2% we've had since the end of the month).  This about a 1000 more deaths than I projected. The dream that increase in cases would not be accompanied by an increase in deaths because of the youth and health of those infected has proved to be. ..well, dead.  

My prediction is that by Monday, July 20, we will have 3,894,726 total cases and 142,158 deaths.

All three states' new cases are down in this three-day cycle, although in the cases of Florida those cases still represent the second highest number of cases in a three-day period. Florida has registered 35,612 cases in the past three days; Ohio more than 4,200. Basically both states are still experience a surge. Nebraska meanwhile also decrease but it's numbers remain below it's spring peak. There is a possible hint of a surge on the horizon for the state though. We'll see what happens in the next three days.

Total Cases

Florida: 327,233 total cases, 1.5% of the population.

Ohio: 72,280 total cases, 0.62% of the population

Nebraska: 22,361 total cases, 1.1% of the population

I've finally added more panels to my death chart. I went back and added the death spikes from the spring as well as the recent increases in Florida. As it happens I had to add an additional panel to cover Florida's new deaths over three days from yesterday. God forbid I have to add any more.

Florida continues to be the only state with deaths continuing to spiral. Yesterday marked the highest three day total for deaths the state has ever recorded. Deaths are up in Ohio and Nebraska but still within the same range the states have exhibited for quite a number of weeks. It remains to be seen if Ohio will see a death spike like Florida's.  The case increases are so much lower than Florida's (though still much higher than they have been for the state) that we may not see that surge of deaths.

Total Deaths:

Florida: 4,804 deaths, a rate of 1.5%

Ohio: 3,112 deaths, a rate of 4.3%. Because deaths are not spiking in Ohio even as case numbers rise, this percentage is slowly but surely dropping. The death rate among those who test positive has dropped in Ohio every three days since July 8.

Nebraska: 308 deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Angry: Everybody's Fight

Viola Liuzzo, 1925-1965.

Many years ago my friend and fellow student missionary Willie "Big Will" Hawthorne made a funny quip (he did that a lot) to Mr. Lacayan one of the few seasoned teachers on our staff (most of us were mere college students). Mr. Lacayan was about to take up some cause with the principal--I can't even remember what it was now--something that could raise our boss's ire.  Big Will said: "We're behind you, Mr. Lacayan. You're out in front, and we're protected."

It's scary to come out of our comfort zone. It's easy to support quietly--very quietly, okay silently--from the sidelines, and let others take the hits. We are right behind those taking a stand--safe from the blows of opposition sure to rain down. For me, doing this blog series was about coming out of a comfort zone because I knew that talking about racism--a lot--in and of itself would be distressing to some people.  But in many ways this is a struggle I can't entirely avoid because of the skin I'm in. For you, my white friends, you actually have a choice. You can, if you want, retreat into a world where these uncomfortable issues aren't discussed.  You can convince yourself that we've already arrived and there really is no more struggle (believe me there's an army of black shills lined up on Facebook shares to reassure you of just that. There's some black guy on YouTube "destroying BLM" to put you at ease). You can decide that you know what? All of this just too stressful and leave it alone. You'll quietly support, from behind, where you're protected.  

Or you can decide to get out in front like Viola Liuzzo did. Hers is a remarkable story. She was exposed to racism in her youth growing up very poor in the South and this instilled in her early on a strong belief in equal rights. As an adult she became friends with a African-American woman, Sarah Evans. But rather than using that friendship as virtuous proof of her own innocence of racism and letting it suffice as an act of solidarity in of itself, that friendship became part of the motivation for Viola to join the struggle. She joined the local NAACP chapter in Detroit, Michigan where she lived and participated in protests there. 

Her tipping point came after watching the brutal treatment of the protesters in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965, also known as Bloody Sunday. She knew she had to be there; she had to get involved on the ground. She headed down to Alabama to lend a hand, telling her husband that this was "everybody's fight".

She went to Selma not to lead, not to talk, but to support; to help in any way she could.  She marched with marchers (the last photo taken of her alive captured her marching, shoes in hand), stood with those taking a stand, provided first aid, and offered her car as transportation for activists traveling between Montgomery and Selma.

The last photo of Viola Liuzzo, on the march in Alabama

  It was doing that humble task--chauffeuring fellow protesters--that cost her life.  After trying to force her car off the road, a carload of KKK members pulled up next to her vehicle and shot her in the head through the driver's side window.  The young black man she was ferrying survived the ensuing crash as Liuzzo's car careened into a ditch.

Many of the leading lights of the civil rights movement including Dr. King himself attended her funeral several days later As happens routinely with victims of racist violence rumors soon spread about Mrs. Liuzzo's character--that she was promiscuous, a bad mother, that she should have just stayed home. (It would later come to light that those rumors had been prompted by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, no friend of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the men in that car of murderers--perhaps even the one who pulled the trigger-- was an FBI informant and rather than draw attention to that Hoover decided to defame the victim instead). Nevertheless, Viola Liuzzo would stand as one of the heroes of the civil rights movement, the only white woman to lose her life for the cause.

My challenge to you is to follow Liuzzo's example and get in the fight. It may or may not mean going to an actual protest (not having yet been to one myself I can't exactly get on that soapbox). But it does mean speaking up and speaking out when the opportunity presents itself.  Challenging racist statements when you hear them. Using your privilege to speak to people who won't dismiss you quite as easily as they would someone else. It means reading, learning, educating yourself. 

.

What are the costs?  

• Possible "shaming" if you say the "wrong thing." I know my white friends sometimes worry that they'll say the wrong thing or cause offense. And you might. But offense is not the worst thing in the world, especially if you learn from it. Take your knocks and stay in it with us; most people understand mistakes will be made. But if you're worried, it may help if you don't try to articulate the struggle of black people to black people or feel you have to say something to prove you're not a racist (that's how we end up in that unfortunate "I don't see color" territory). Instead when it's time to talk, focus on talking to other white people. You have an ability to speak and be heard by people that won't hear us. \

• Possibly being mocked or dismissed by friends who sneer at your sudden "wokeness."  There are plenty of people who will ridicule your earnest efforts to support the cause. They will do their best to convince you that you've been hoodwinked and manipulated. It's not a nice feeling to experience someone else's scorn. And I see a frantic effort on the part of some to try draw white people away from supporting black lives. You've heard the talk about Marxism and the Black Lives Matter organization--these are old tactics folks. They said the same thing during the civil rights era.  MLK is a communist, BLM is Marxist. Same song, different verse.

• Discomfort as evidence of your own implicit bias comes to light.  Nobody wants to be a bad person and these days there's nothing worse than being tagged a "racist."  No one wants that label. But there's no need for self-flagellation and excessive guilt. We are tackling a system not individuals; don't forget that. We are all racist to one degree or another so recognizing that in yourself is an opportunity to grow and become more aware, not a reason to beat yourself up.

I hope you'll find that these costs are minor enough that it's worth it. What we need is people who will stand with us, people who will walk with us, people who will ferry those in the fray to places they might not get to without your help. I doubt that it will cost you what it cost Viola Liuzzo (though to be fair I can't promise that), but your solidarity will mean the world.  

To my white friends who have taken that stand--especially those who have done so for the first time--thanks for recognizing that this isn't just our struggle. Thanks for getting out in front. Thanks for recognizing it's everybody's fight.

March, march to my own drum
March, march to my own drum
Hey, hey, I'm an army of one
Oh, I'm an army of one

                       --The Chicks, "March March"

Statue of Viola Liuzzo, unveiled last year in Detroit (Photo Credit: Evan James Carter, The Detroit News)

Dispatch from Coronaville: A Typical Day in an Atypical Summer

The view from here

So what does an ordinary day in extraordinary time look like?  For starters, not very exciting.  Some aspects of my day happen by choice--me attempting to provide some structure, others are bad habits that have developed over time.  Last summer (and the summers before that) were jam packed with swimming lessons and swimming for fun, art classes, Vacation Bible Schools (one summer we did three VBS programs in a single summer), visits from and to family in Florida, along with trips to the movies, out for ice cream, and time with friends.

This summer my typical day looks like this: I wake up usually between 7:30 at the earliest and 8:30 at the latest. I'm usually quite exhausted having gone to bed late the night before, but for some reason I can't seem to sleep in anymore. I'll have devotional time with my Bible, journal, and a six month old copy of Frontiers Magazine (the magazine of Adventist Frontier Missions--the reason I'm reading a six month old copy is because I'm behind in my reading). Then I lace up my battered running shoes, power up my bluetooth headphones and head out for a run. I cover just over 3 miles in a half hour run on the weekdays and put in five miles on Sunday.  When I'm done, I'll sit on the front porch, nursing a Gatorade, and check out the New York Times "Morning" news brief and run through my Facebook feed.

By this time it's 9:30 or so in the morning and time for breakfast. If the boys are up (which these days more often than not they aren't) I'll make breakfast to order for them--pancakes or waffles, eggs any style, veggie bacon (or stripples as we call them, technically they are Morningstar Breakfast Strips), maybe a smoothie or yogurt parfait. If the kids aren't up I might make myself something or just as often skip breakfast altogether and head for the shower.

After showering, I'm ready to tackle projects for the day--working on a blog entry, working on an article for The Scratch, working around the house, sending emails regarding the various committees I'm on--search committee for the new principal of our school, re-opening "small council" for the school, working on plans for our July 26 8th grade graduation. There's always something to do to eat up the time. I usually eat lunch around mid-afternoon, sometimes eating in front of the TV with Babs while we watch reruns of her favorite soaps. Then if I'm lucky, I'll get to watch some shows on Netflix or Hulu, or maybe a DVD. Often the time evaporates before I get to that.  There are variations to the daily schedule. On the weekends I'm responsible for the meals, so there's cooking to do. On Mondays I do laundry. On Wednesdays I mow the lawn, do yardwork, and other outdoor projects. On Fridays I grocery shop and clean the floors (my contribution to weekly housecleaning otherwise known as "getting ready for the Sabbath.")  We'll eat dinner, usually between 7 and 8 PM, maybe a little later.

After dinner I might watch a little of my shows, do my Coronavirus blog if it's a day for that (I like to wait until evening to get the most updated numbers), or read a little. We all go to bed late, much later than we really want to. I'll usually have my "Time Together" with the boys anywhere between 9 and 10:30 PM (this might be a round of UNO, hide and seek, frisbee or dodgeball in the backyard if we get it in before it gets dark, or various games the boys come up with), follow that with reading Harry Potter to Elijah. But the boys usually don't go to bed right after that.  They may not hit the hay until well after 11 (and on occasion have even gone past midnight). Babs and I typically turn out the lights around 1 AM (though 2 is not unheard of).  And that's my day.  Babs usually has some major project that takes up all day whether it's working on plans for next school year, working in our garden, or orchestrating the purchase of our new bed (it's supposed to be delivered on Friday, replacing the bed we bought for $500 right before we got married in the summer of 1997).  The boys spend probably more time than is healthy watching TV or playing on their tablets. But they'll also play in our backyard inflatable pool. Ezra likes to tool around in the driveway on his scooter and Elijah will spend time drawing as well. They usually make time for a screaming fight with each other each day. 

There's a lot I feel like I should be doing. Spending more time with the boys. Making sure Elijah stays on top of his summer reading project and having him learn to type. Making the boys do chores everyday and getting them to bed earlier. These are the parenting failures I castigate myself for. I feel like I should be doing more prep for  next school year and that will be taking up more of my time in the coming weeks (next week will also be really busy as Babs and I are switching for the week. I'll cook during the week next week, and she'll take care of the meals on the weekend. I'll also be busy getting ready for graduation on the 26th). I feel like we should be taking the boys on little day trips, though where we would go in the midst of a pandemic is something we are weighing. I'd like to spend more time with Babs, watching a movie together or reading together.

There's some projects still to do on the to-do list. Fixing our leaning mailbox, organizing the basement and finishing organizing the guest bedroom/office, cleaning the garage gutters. I've already cleaned and organized the garage and a few other little projects.

There are things I want to do but can't seem to get to. I'd like to write more. I'd like to read more.  There are more shows than I can reasonably keep up with that I'd like to watch.

It's not very interesting. But that's okay. My family and I are healthy. We are getting steady paychecks. There's not much to complain about. I am grateful.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus rages on. The U.S. has now had 3,433,156 cases of COVID-19, a 6.1% increase over the last three days and about 22,000 more cases than I predicted. The rate of increase in deaths on the other hand has dipped to 1.3% down from 1.8%  on Saturday. This means a total of 136,122 deaths, 574 fewer deaths than I predicted. Based on these numbers I'd expect to see 3,642,578 total cases and 137,892 total deaths by Friday, July 17, 2020.

Florida notched it's highest 3 day total with 37,118 new cases. Ohio is also showing a sharp upward trend as well, with it's highest three day total since I began tracking the numbers. Only Nebraska has shown a modest increase, still well short of its early records from the spring.

Total Cases:

Florida: 291,621 total cases, 1.3% of the population. At this rate Florida will surpass 300,000 cases within the next three days, possibly by tomorrow. It took from the start of the pandemic to to mid June for Florida to register it's first, 100,000 cases, about two weeks to register it's second 100,000 and ten days to reach it's third 100,000.

Ohio: 67,995 total cases, 0.58% of the population.

Nebraska: 21,756 total cases, 1.1% of the population

Deaths have dropped in Ohio for a second three day period, while Nebraska and Florida still seem to be following the usual up and down pattern, though again Florida's down with 212 deaths is still far above what used to be typical for the state. I predict that Ohio's death count will begin to rise as the increase in cases starts to take effect. Once again I can't chart Florida's deaths.  There are too many.

Total Deaths:

Florida: 4.408 deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Ohio: 3,069 deaths, a rate of 4.5%

Nebraska: 300 deaths, a rate of 1.4%

Angry: We are Not Noble

We applaud nobility in black people.

• The forgiveness offered to Amber Guyger the off duty police officer who killed Botham Jean in his own home.

• The forgiveness of offered by the families of those slain at the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

• This man, who attends KKK meetings and converts white supremacists away from racism.

• The dignity of the pianist Don Shirley in Green Book, enduring the racism around him with pained grace.

• The patience, love, and appropriate fire of the women in The Help. "You is kind. You is smart. You is important," the noble maid reminds the troubled white child in the film.

• The taciturn leadership  of a Colin Powell, the charismatic grace of a Denzel Washington, the charming wisdom of Oprah Winfrey. Even Barack Obama, other then the crime of being a Democrat (and a smoker as one friend of mine--reaching, I suppose, for some moral failing--pointed out), is an example of impeccable moral rectitude.

• The magical Negro*. The Strong Black Woman (check out this article or if you have 20 minutes this really good video on YouTube). The Black best friend.

• And of course the matchless hero, Martin Luther King Jr, with his words of unity, love and peace.

But the here's the thing: We are not noble. None of us. No, not even Martin Luther King, Jr.  And we shouldn't have to be.  

We are impatient, cruel, generous, depressed, kind, entitled, self-sacrificing, faithful, deceptive, funny, quiet, loud, emotional, stoic, supportive, selfish, friendly, aggravating, humble, power-hungry, loving, hateful, honest, motivated, short-sighted, goal-oriented, planners, impulsive, decent, horrible, understanding, brilliant, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, ordinary, exceptional.  We are human.

I find that black people in our culture are either expected to be  dangerous thugs or exemplary representatives of humanity.  We see this whenever an unarmed black person is killed.  His or her history is exhaustively exhumed, and if any stain is found (uh-oh, he's had a history of drugs, oops prior arrest record, oh man look at these thuggish photos of him) then that excuses their death.  To me this has never made sense.  Why does a black person have to be completely virtuous in order for us to condemn their killing? Why does a checkered past or even a failure to act exactly right in the moment with law enforcement justify their execution?  The person could be an out-and-out criminal but that doesn't make killing them okay.  We are a nation of laws; if someone has committed a crime there is a process that needs to be followed for justice to be served.  It's worth noting that we've had a long history of dealing out vigilante justice to black people; the argument that he was a "bad dude" so he deserved it is right in line with that historical precedent.

What we need is to stop attaching attributes whether positive or negative to blackness. Nobility should not be a prerequisite to advocating for a black life.  We are not noble. But the cause is.

*I just had to throw in this Key & Peele sketch which I discovered exploring the world of black nobility and magical Negroes.