What have we really learned in 50 years?

As I write this, America is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the surface of the moon.


Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/images/apollo_image_12.html

At that moment, when the late Neil Armstrong uttered those words (which everyone has memorized by now), “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” the nation and the world were actually in a relative state of chaos and unrest.

Four months earlier, the “Chicago Seven” were indicted by a Federal grand jury (under the “law and order” Nixon Justice Department headed by Attorney General John Mitchell, who would himself, ironically, serve 19 months of prison time years later for helping out (in the form of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury) in the Watergate affair) for their protest actions during the chaotic and divisive 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and Bobby Seale, a member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), for a time originally made them the Chicago Eight. (By 1973 most of the charges were reversed and little jail time was actually served, except for Seale, who was sentenced to four years in prison on contempt charges (he was only in Chicago for two days), dropped from the case altogether and placed on trial in 1970 for an unrelated murder of a BPP member in New Haven, CT for which the charges were eventually dropped.)

Oakland Museum of California

And this is not counting the ongoing war in Vietnam which was continuing to claim the lives of MANY American servicemen, and giving more fuel to student protests across the nation.

In the spring of 1969, California’s Republican governor and future U.S. president Ronald Reagan ordered a state of emergency and 2,700 National Guard troops to the streets of Berkeley to suppress the protests at People’s Park, near the University of California flagship campus. This was AFTER hundreds of Berkeley police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, in full riot gear, assembled and used tear gas and buckshot to try and “control” the crowd (one student was killed by police gunfire, another permanently made blind, and hundreds more were sent to local hospitals with injuries).

Highway patrolmen and National Guard soldiers blocking demonstrators in Berkeley, California. May 20, 1969. Robert Stinnett, photographer. Gelatin silver print. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Tribune Collection. Gift of ANG Newspapers.
http://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/highway-patrolmen-and-national-guard-soldiers-blocking-demonstrators-berkeley-california

Student protest, University of California, Berkeley, National Guard. May 22, 1969. Lonnie Wilson, photographer. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Tribune Collection. Gift of Alameda Newspaper Group.http://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/student-protest-university-california-berkeley-national-guard

The whole point of these protests was not directly related to the Vietnam War, like so many other protests around the nation, but rather a local conflict between students and the University administration, who owned the land and wanted to build dorms and offices on the 3-acre site, three blocks south of campus. The students wanted a place to hold free speech rallies and basically have fun, so (acting upon a proposal by two students presented in a meeting of local merchants to discuss the site) they took matters into their own hands (anticipating the Occupy movement by a few decades) and quite literally, with the help of a landscape architect, brought tons of plants, flowers, trees and sod and turned the vacant land into what was essentially public open space, without official permission or sanction from the University administration.

Everyone seemed quite happy with this perfectly fine use of the space. But not Ronald Reagan and not the UC administration. Now, the chancellor of the campus did try to work with the students; he negotiated with the Environmental Design department and other student groups to come up with a workable plan for the site, and promised no action at least until such a plan was looked at.

But when the school took the land back over in a surprise move, in the wee hours of a morning, without any notice, and fenced it off to start construction on some athletic fields, that’s when the protests began.

“On Thursday, May 15, 1969 at 4:30 a.m., Governor Reagan sent California Highway Patrol and Berkeley police officers into People's Park, overriding (University) Chancellor (Roger) Heyns' May 6 promise that nothing would be done without warning. The officers cleared an 8-block area around the park while a large section of what had been planted was destroyed and an 8-foot (2.4 m)-tall perimeter chain-link wire fence was installed to keep people out and to prevent the planting of more trees, grass, flowers, or shrubs.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Park_(Berkeley)

Later that day, about 3,000 students gathered in front of Sproul Hall, the campus administration building, to rally and discuss the Arab-Israeli situation. The conversation turned to the park. Many students already knew about the park being fenced off, and they were not happy. The increasingly angry crowd proceeded briskly down Telegraph Avenue, the main commercial drag just south of campus, to the park, chanting and shouting

“We want the park! We want the park!”

where they were met by the police, the barricades and the tear gas. I watched old news footage of all this on YouTube. It frankly looked like the “yellow vest” protests in Paris of just a few months ago. Students throwing rocks at CHP officers and those officers throwing (and shooting) tear gas right back at them. Frightened business owners along Telegraph hurriedly trying to close up shop. Injured students being dragged along the asphalt roadway to safety. Police cars being overturned by students. Students being beaten with nightsticks. May 15, 1969 is forever known as "Bloody Thursday."

(A family friend of ours was personally in the area at the time in her 1965 Impala and could not get out of the neighborhood for several hours, as she told us one day in the 1980s; she could smell the tear gas wafting into her car.) It was aid about some of the cops, many of whom had recently been deployed to Vietnam,

(Alameda County) Sheriff (Frank) Madigan did admit, however, that some of his deputies (many of whom were Vietnam War veterans) had been overly aggressive in their pursuit of the protesters, acting "as though they were Viet Cong."

Reagan ordered National Guard helicopters to even disperse tear gas from overhead, but it wafted into neighborhoods miles away, making elementary school kids sick.

Helicopter sprays tear gas on demonstrators on University of California, Berkeley campus. May 20, 1969. Lonnie Wilson, photographer. Gelatin silver print. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Tribune Collection. Gift of ANG Newspapers.
http://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/helicopter-sprays-tear-gas-demonstrators-university-california-berkeley-campus

But Reagan stuck to his right-wing principles. He ordered police and troops to remain in Berkeley for the next two weeks. He did NOT like student activism, nor did most people who voted for him. California was still a somewhat conservative “red” state in the 1960s and people were frightened of the social changes happening before their eyes. (Doesn’t that sound familiar to our ears in 2019?) He proclaimed that the Berkeley campus had become "a haven for communist sympathizers, protesters, and sex deviants." Reagan went on statewide television, pissed, and vowing to put these students in their place. “What is there to negotiate?” he shouted, as if he couldn’t believe the students would even dare such action. Reagan also said:

"If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement."

And…

"Once the dogs of war have been unleashed, you must expect things will happen, and that people, being human, will make mistakes on both sides."

Do the words of Ronald Reagan of 1969 sound familiar? And no, I’m not talking “tear down that wall.”

This whole thing, as I am looking back 50 years, all seems pretty similar to the situation we find ourselves in on this eve of that one small step for man.

First, President Trump told four female congresswomen of color to “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” though all four are U.S. citizens and only one was born outside the United States. 

Then, as Trump railed against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Somalia, at a rally in Greenville, N.C., on Wednesday night, the crowd broke into a hostile chant: “Send her back!"

 Back to Africa.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/20/send-her-back-trump-ilhan-omar-complicated-history-back-africa/?utm_term=.038518c93597

And this happened yesterday in Atlanta.

Today I was verbally assaulted in the grocery store by a white man who told me I was a lazy SOB and to go back to where I came from bc I had to many items in the express lane. My husband wasn’t there to defend me because he is on Active Duty serving the country I came from USA!

— Erica Thomas (@itsericathomas) July 20, 2019

And before people come at me saying “hoax”, take a look at this. The guy ADMITS it on the leading TV news station in the city. The lady confronting him is a Georgia State Representative. That's right, an elected official.

So Eric Sparkes admits to approaching me and verbally assulting me in front of my 9 year and but not the rest of his statements. You sounds like a coward to me and that’s fine you will think twice before you berate any one again!You keep lying we have witnesses that will testify! pic.twitter.com/HRWTBZ89SC

— Erica Thomas (@itsericathomas) July 21, 2019

Is America a nation that has learned its lesson 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr? 50 years after People’s Park? (By the way, the University and the community are STILL fighting over that patch of land TO THIS DAY. https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/summer-2019/50-peoples-park-abides-how-much-longer)

50 years after the promise and the hope for all mankind that was Apollo 11?

For one brief, shining moment, the world was one, celebrating the achievement humanity made. That moment was all too fleeting. And in the era of The Donald, it seems as though we need to be taught the lessons of People’s Park, and of the Chicago Seven, and of Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers, all over again.

Getting deep into Pinterest

I am discovering the world of Pinterest.

I have been using Pinterest sporadically for the last couple of years, and have not paid too much attention to it. In the last few weeks, I have stepped up my Pinterest game significantly, and have been having a lot of fun with it. I created something like five or six new boards.

Take a look at some of my boards.

SXSW: Everything related to the festival in Austin.

College football: My favorite sport.

Money-saving groceries

Hotels and motels

My Tucson board

Health and wellness for guys

Romance novels, sci-fi and other books

Mustangs and other cars I like

1970s Toys: this also includes some 1970s food and cars

What are some of your boards on Pinterest? What are some of your favorite boards?

Thoughts on America, racism, equality and acceptance

This is a repost of a couple of questions answered on Quora.

At least here in the United States, we are only 150 years removed from when people of color were enslaved and made victims of outright genocide by Whites.

The United States was built on a race-based caste system with people of African descent at rock bottom (and it is often argued that indigenous tribal people were treated in the same manner if not more poorly). African people were abducted in Africa, rounded up, sold to slave traders (often if not predominantly as a result of tribal warfare), transported to the USA by slave ships, enslaved and legally regarded as property. White Americans were taught and conditioned to regard themselves as superior, and to regard Africans as less than human, almost as animals, in large part to justify their enslavement.

After slavery was ended (the outcome of a very bloody and violent civil war), people of color were still treated virtually in much the same or a similar manner as they were during slavery. When indigenous people weren’t being massacred, they were forced at gunpoint to live on reservations. Every effort was made to keep white supremacy the law of the land. Domestic terrorism, intended to force submission to this by people of color through intimidation, was virtually an official policy at the local and state level in the South (and many other areas nationwide as the 19th century gave way to the 20th). 19th-century academic scholars wrote books justifying white supremacy, and they basically argued that most non-White people were little evolved from animals. The “purity” of the “white race” was to be preserved, at the point of a gun if necessary.

(This was ironically at the same time some White men chose to have sexual relations with non-Whites, especially Black African-descended slaves, many times non-consensual, and many if not most times resulting in mixed-race offspring, who, many if not most times, were automatically and legally regarded in the same category as the slaves. Those few mixed-race people who phenotypically most closely resembled White people were sometimes able to conceal their African heritage and assimilate secretly into White society, a phenomenon known as “passing”, as in passing for, or pretending to be, a White person; for all intents and purposes they rejected their Black identity to escape the prevailing racially-based mistreatment, which, again, involved acts of terror, intimidation and violence approaching genocide. For this reason some White Americans actually possess some African DNA unknowingly (unless they discover it through DNA testing), and from a relatively recent ancestor. In some cases this heritage IS known but not openly discussed.)

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s (and resistance actions going back further than that) was the catalyst for white supremacy, as an official or semi-official doctrine of this nation, to be seriously confronted and challenged at the very least. Such confrontation, in turn, was resisted, many times violently and with tragic results.

In the USA, laws against interracial marriage were declared unconstitutional and unenforceable in 1967 as the result of a ruling of the Supreme Court. This was only over 50 years ago - still a terribly short time frame when looked at over the entire history of this nation.*

It has only been within the last 100 years that meaningful federal legislation was enacted securing legal civil rights for non-Whites and that legislation has not been, and is sometimes still not, taken seriously by some.

In the present situation, the non-White population of the United States has grown to the point where the White population has become, in many regions, a numerical minority. This demographic situation will continue. Non-Whites are also making slight gains in economic and political power (significant gains in certain contexts). This situation frightens and angers some White people who still cling to the ideas of white supremacy and who still reject the notion that non-Whites are their equals.

The ideas of racism and bigotry are difficult to eradicate in this society. Many White people - certainly not all, but far too many - regard ethnic and racial minorities as a constant threat to their dominance and survival. When a White person chooses a non-White person as a relationship partner, they seem to see this as an affront to their supremacy. Some parents, to this day, even in 2019, will disown children if they “marry outside their race.” They desperately cling to a notion that should have died 100 years ago. This desperation is (in my opinion) one of the major factors in the election of Donald Trump to the presidency.

These people stubbornly and wrongly refuse to accept non-White people as equal members of society and persist in treating them as the “enemy” in every possible aspect. And some of these people are crazy enough to act on this perceived state of “race war”, sometimes with tragic results.

This situation places a great strain on the democratic republic we live under here in the USA. It’s my hope that more rational ideas will win out over time and controversy over interracial relationships, and even over minorities becoming financially and economically successful, will fade. But when a nation is all but founded on “white supremacy” and there is continued misguided resistance to principled challenges against it (some of it violent), that’s a huge uphill battle.

*Interracial marriage was illegal in several states of the USA until 1967, when laws prohibiting such marriages were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

Relatively few White men were in open, known relationships with Black women.

If a Black woman did have children with a White man in those days (especially in the states of the old Confederacy), (or vice versa, which was even more rare) in most situations, the identity of the father was mostly kept quiet (the relationship may or may not even have been consensual) and the children were identified as Black, and generally absorbed/assimilated fully inside the Black community and subject to the same discrimination and mistreatment common to that era (partly as a result, the average African-American is about 25% White by DNA analysis).

There is a story of a Black woman (Essie Mae Washington-Williams) who was the illegitimate daughter of a White man, future U.S. Senator, who lived most of her entire life as a Black woman, inside the Black community, with little knowledge of her father, a distant relationship with him at best, and only nominal privilege afforded to her as a result of that status. Others like this mixed-race woman had even fewer opportunities.

Understanding Black people in America

You may ask: How do I really understand the Black (African-American) community?

The best way to understand African-Americans (especially if you are not): when you hear us speak, actually listen to us, without judgment or getting defensive. Most Black Americans have the opinions we do based on personal experience, or hearing of other Black peoples’ experience.

Many Black Americans actively and vocally speak out all over social media and traditional broadcast media.

Start by going to websites (and social media feeds) that target Black audiences, such as The Root. If you see a name mentioned in an article that you don’t know, do a Google search.

Joy Reid’s weekend programs on MSNBC often feature prominent Black political commentators such as Tiffany Cross and Karine Jean-Pierre, and the topics of discussion many times are issues of particular interest to the Black community. If you somehow can’t get MSNBC on TV, clips of her shows are always posted to YouTube.

Seek out documentaries that speak of issues the Black community faces. One great example is 13th, which talks about the huge issue of Black Americans being incarcerated at ridiculously high rates.

If you look and listen with an open mind, you will discover that Black Americans are PEOPLE just like everyone else. We still have to deal with the effects of racial discrimination and the general lack of full, complete, 100% acceptance in American society. Do be advised that not all of us think the same way on issues and some of us disagree on the issues, problems and potential solutions. There is a degree of internal division among us, just like with any community in the nation.

Thoughts on my employment situation at the moment...

It has been one year since I relaunched my job search after being laid off from my 3 1/2 year tenure at the State of Arizona. During this period, I have not had the best luck with finding the right customer service job. 

I accepted and then resigned from four separate customer service call center jobs.

It's not a matter of not liking or enjoying the nature of call center work - I rather enjoy speaking to people on the phone and I love the challenge of working on and solving, customer issues and pain points. 

Customer service work environments have deteriorated over the last few decades. CSR's are generally not valued. They are micromanaged, overworked, underpaid, disrespected and given almost zero benefits. 

CSR's in many of the work environments I've seen are not treated like professional colleagues but almost like afterthoughts. That's not a recipe for attracting and retaining people like me. 

Instead of CSR work being a respected entry level into professional life (or a way to be involved in professional life if you don't have an advanced degree or certain advanced skills in demand at the present time), it's become, too many times, a dumping ground and an "employer of last resort" for a huge chunk of the workforce. That has to change.

I also wanted to touch on at-will employment and the job search process. 

For most jobs here in the USA, employment is "at-will," meaning that legally, in most situations, either the employer or employee may freely end the relationship at any time, for any reason, without penalty. 

With that understanding, it is unfair for companies to penalize employees during the search for new employment if the job seeker has left positions of his/her own free will when realizing (for whatever reason) the position was not the best fit. By "penalize" I mean refusal to even consider an application if he/she meets the basic advertised qualifications for a position but has a few prior jobs which are short in duration. 

In my opinion, all potential employees should be evaluated strictly on ability to do the job based on a verifiable combination of experience and education. 

In call center positions, where there is usually a period of paid training that must be successfully completed before doing the actual work, this is especially important. The only concern should be "is this applicant a law-abiding citizen and does he have the potential to be successful?"

Just my two cents on that issue.

Hey brands: Reach your viewers on this blog.

I am currently looking for ways to both earn income on this forum, and also increase its reach. I would like to open this blog up to a select group of brands to sponsor various posts. Here's what I'd like:

1. Guest posts on subjects you would like the public to know about. For $100 you can submit such a post to me and I will place it here as its own dedicated post. Please include photos. These will be posted as soon as possible upon receipt of funds and all relevant information. I will promote the blog post on my Twitter account.
2. Send me a product to review.

This blog does NOT have a tremendous amount of traffic but I am looking to change that, and a few sponsored posts here and there will help.

Basic guidelines: Please, nothing illegal, offensive, hateful, abusive, defamatory, pornographic, threatening, obscene or otherwise inappropriate for a "family" audience. No tobacco or vaping products. No cannabis products. I reserve the right to be EXTREMELY picky about political ads, including any ads for any candidate (I vote Democratic). Would strongly prefer brands in the following industries:

1. healthcare
2. vitamins/supplements
3. food/grocery
4. travel/hospitality (especially interested in Las Vegas properties and Arizona/Southwestern resorts and hotels)
5. apparel (no lingerie or erotic-oriented items please)
6. toys and games
7. health and beauty items, men and women
8. fitness/exercise
9. education/online degree programs/online K-12
10. progressive/liberal political causes/candidates (I have not endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate for 2020 yet)

Let me know how I can help you promote your product or service. I am focused on brands in the USA but can also consider the right international brands.

Use the link below to send your payment of $100. Drop me an email at micmac99@gmail.com with the subject line "Sponsored post for The Story of Michael - payment sent" with all the copy and photos attached that you would like to appear. The post will appear on this blog within 48 hours of receipt of all copy, photos, and payment.

https://paypal.me/MSRDesignSXSW?locale.x=en_US