Juneteenth Reads: “A House Divided”

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

We continue to celebrate our newest Federal Holiday this long weekend. It is Juneteenth, also called Freedom Day. The first Juneteenth was on the 19th.

On June 19, 1865, nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln emancipated enslaved Africans in America, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas with news of freedom. More than 250,000 African Americans embraced freedom by executive decree in what became known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day. With the principles of self-determination, citizenship, and democracy magnifying their hopes and dreams, those Texans held fast to the promise of true liberty for all.

If you’re a James Joyce fan, then today is Bloomsday! And, of course, we’re still celebrating Pride Month.

Another appropriate reference to June 16 is what happened at the Illinois Republican State Convention, in Springfield, Illinois, on June 16, 1858. It’s challenging to think the same speech would be given by any future Republican President, but this is the day Lincoln spoke up against slavery “agitation.” It is the source of one of his most famous speeches and lines. The future president was running for the U.S. Senate against Senator Steven A. Douglas.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Can you imagine American history being taught without learning about this pivotal speech? It clearly shows that slavery in the South was a root cause of the Civil War that followed. Today’s Republicans are doing everything they can to erase that kind of history.

Martha Yates Jones (left) and Pinkie Yates (right), daughters of Rev. Jack Yates, in a decorated carriage parked in front of the Antioch Baptist Church located in Houston’s Fourth Ward, 1908 — Source

Let’s look at the headlines. This is from Dana Milbank, writing for the Washington Post. “As Trump is arrested, Republicans honor the insurrectionists.” 

Donald Trump could not have asked for a nicer arraignment-day celebration.

During the very same hour in which the former president surrendered to federal authorities in Miami, his Republican allies in the House were, in their most visible and official way yet, embracing as heroes and martyrs the people who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in hopes of overturning Trump’s election defeat.

In the Capitol complex, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), with sidekick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and four other far-right lawmakers, held a “hearing” that honored participants in the riot, family members of Jan. 6 rioters and organizers of the attempted overthrow of the 2020 vote.

Technically, Gaetz couldn’t call such a hearing, because he isn’t a committee chairman. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to win back the support of extremists such as Gaetz, let it happen anyway.

Gaetz did his all to make the proceedings look official. There were congressional seals on his nameplate and on the big screen behind him. A meeting room in the Capitol visitor center was arranged to appear like a committee room, with lawmakers facing the witnesses. Gaetz advertised the “field hearing” as part of how “the 118th Congress is investigating the weaponization of the federal government.”

And then there’s Ted Cruz. The Senator from Texas always seems to set the bottommost tone for public discussion.

I love Pat Benatar. What exactly has she done besides write and perform songs empowering women? Let’s pause for a bit of mood music.

You may read the retorts from Twitter at Salon. “Ted Cruz weaves a bizarre scenario about Biden murdering children while listening to Pat Benatar. While discussing President Biden on the Joe Pags show, Cruz succumbed to a Satanic flight of fancy.”

JJ sent me more stuff than just the Pat Benatar on Ted Cruz. Perhaps he has to get all hellfire and brimstone because of this. “Ted Cruz Says Uganda Shouldn’t Kill Gays, And Christian Extremist MAGAs Are SO MAD (At Him).”  This story comes via Wonkette.

Without near enough fanfare or attention from the West, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has signed a “kill the gays” bill into law. It calls for a life sentence for anyone who has gay sex, and seven years for trying to, whatever that means. The death penalty would be for those who commit “aggravated homosexuality,” which the New York Times says includes “homosexual acts committed by anyone infected with H.I.V. or involving children, disabled people or anyone drugged against their will.” If they say you did “attempted aggravated homosexuality,” you could go to prison for 14 years. We are sure the processes for determining whether people have violated the law will totally be on the up-and-up.

Oh, and you could go to jail for 20 years for “promoting” homosexuality, which reminds us a bit of Russia, and also the spirit of Ron DeSantis’s Florida, even if they haven’t quite made it to calling for imprisonment yet.

So, Ted finally says something that makes him seem human. The Christoban are after him now.

In response, some of Cruz’s conservative fans were absolutely horrified that Cruz would interfere in another country’s Christian fascist genocide in such a way. RawStory collected some responses:

“Ted, seems to me your focus should be here at home working to get the unjustly punished J6 prisoners out of jail,” wrote one user in response. “I’m disappointed in you.”

In a similar sentiment, a different Cruz follower argued that “it’s none of our business.”

Another follower used Cruz’s statement to simply dismiss him as a “RINO.”

Cruz follower JD Sharp, on the other hand, defended the law explicitly and argued it would help ensure high fertility rates in Uganda.

Echoing to this theme, one Twitter user replied to Cruz and said they wanted to “make homosexuality shameful again.”OK, psychos.

Take a gander through Ted’s replies at your own risk. Because Elon Musk’s paid blue checkmark system promotes replies from the vilest and stupidest people humanity has to offer to the top, you won’t have to look hard for Americans just openly supporting genocide.

So let’s look at the things the bottomless basement of the hate section of our divided house thinks are okay.

The Southern Baptist Convention has issues that won’t be solved by booting all women pastors.

Let me remind you of Christa’s experience with that denomination.

Juneteenth band. Photograph by Grace Murray Stephenson of celebrations in Eastwoods Park, Austin, 1900. — Source

Here’s another story from the Washington Post that makes the celebration of Juneteenth bitter-sweet. “Black Americans more upbeat but fear worsening racism, poll finds.”

An overwhelming share of Black Americans think the U.S. economic system is stacked against them and a slim majority believe the problem of racism will worsen during their lives, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll that explored the attitudes of the country’s second-largest minority group.

The poll finds that Black adults worry they are marginalized and under threat by acts of hate and discrimination in their day-to-day lives. Most also say it is more dangerous to be a Black teenager now than when they were teens.

There is good news about how indigenous children were shuttled to adoptive white parents so they could “save the man and kill the Indian.”  That was actually the rationale for the Indian Adoption Project prior to the 1978 act–The Indian Child Welfare Act–existed.   A challenge to that Law was just heard before the Supreme Court.  A group of White Evangelicals would like to return to the good old days of kidnapping indigenous children from the tribes and screamed the act was racist.  This decision is likely temporary as the beer and sexual assault connoisseur on the Court invited a future challenge from somebody with “standing,” which is why the court upheld the decision.

The Indiginous Nations have an odd advocate on SCOTUS.  This is from NBC News. “Conservative Justice Gorsuch echoes ‘woke’ historians in railing against historical injustices. Gorsuch, appointed by former President Donald Trump, differs from his conservative colleagues on some key issues, including Native American rights.”  This reminds me of the saying that even a broken clock is right two times a day.  This is written by Lawrence Hurley.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump, but in a series of recent cases, he has spoken up about historical injustice in a way that seems at odds with Republican attacks on “woke” history’s being taught in schools.

That included his opinion Thursday when the court rejected a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law intended to keep Native American families and communities together when children are in the adoption or foster care process.

Gorsuch’s concurring opinion was part history lesson and part explanation of his full-throated support for Native Americans.

He wrote about how Native American families were torn apart by federal and state officials’ attempts to assimilate them into Anglo-centric American society by eliminating their cultural ties to their tribes.

“In all of its many forms, the dissolution of the Indian family has had devastating effects on children and parents alike,” he wrote.

“It has also presented an existential threat to the continued vitality of tribes — something many federal state officials over the years saw as a feature, not as a flaw,” he added. His opinion was joined by two of his liberal colleagues: Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Chuck Hoskin, principal chief of Cherokee Nation, one of the tribes that defended the adoption law at the Supreme Court, said Gorsuch is “going to loom large over Indian Country cases for a long time” in part because he understands the complexities of Indian law.

“While he may possess a great range of views on a lot of legal issues, he seems to have the most solid understanding of federal Indian law of any justice of the modern era,” Hoskin added.

In other cases, Gorsuch has lambasted the Supreme Court’s own rulings that treat people living in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories as second-class citizens and called out the torture of detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He has repeatedly voted in favor of Native American tribes in a series of different legal questions.

Detail from a photograph of celebrations in Richmond, Virginia, ca. 1905 — Source

This is from Rachel Weiner, writing for the Washington Post.  “NSA staffer linked to ‘America First’ movement joined Jan. 6 mob.  Paul Lovley was sentenced to two weeks’ incarceration for illegally demonstrating in the Capitol.”

A 24-year-old moved to Maryland to work for the National Security Agency six months before joining the attack on the U.S. Capitol with followers of a movement whose founder is known for espousing white supremacist views, according to court filings.

Paul Lovley was sentenced Tuesday to two weeks incarceration for illegally demonstrating in the Capitol.

“All I can do is take responsibility for my actions, learn from this experience, and move on with my life,” Lovley said in a letter to the court. “This entire situation has served as a wake-up call—something that forced me to truly reflect on what is important in life, what types of things to avoid engaging with going forward, and the dangers of cognitive dissonance.”

According to prosecutors, Lovley was working in information technology for the NSA before Jan. 6. The NSA referred questions about his employment to the Justice Department, which did not return a request for comment.

The night before the riot, the government said, Lovley hosted at his Maryland home four friends he met at an event for “America First,” a movement founded by Nick Fuentes, who has been banned from most social media platforms for repeated racist and antisemitic remarks. The Justice Department in other cases has described Fuentes, who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 but is not charged in the attack, as “a public figure known for making racist statements, celebrating fascism, and promoting white supremacy.” He gained national prominence after dining with former president Donald Trump in late 2022.

The five young men including Lovley entered the Capitol building a few minutes after the first breach, according to court records. Along with other rioters, they went into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and onto the Senate floor. After about 40 minutes, they left the building; prosecutors say one of Lovley’s friends then assaulted a police officer with a metal barricade and helped destroy reporters’ equipment.

He said he came to the area from California for his “first-ever serious job” and did not know anyone.

Alright, one more thing, and then we’ll take this all down thread.  Who just got indicted by a Grand Jury for taking and decimating classified documents and didn’t get to go to a private golf club and rally a group of fascists?

 From: Joe Becigneul, Step through time

She was called Phillis, because that was the name of the ship that brought her, and Wheatley, which was the name of the merchant who bought her. She was born in Senegal.

In Boston, the slave traders put her up for sale: “She’s 7 years old! She will be a good mare!”

She was felt, naked, by many hands.

At thirteen, she was already writing poems in a language that was not her own. No one believed that she was the author. At the age of twenty, Phillis was questioned by a court of eighteen enlightened men in robes and wigs.

She had to recite texts from Virgil and Milton and some messages from the Bible, and she also had to swèar that the poems she had written were not plagiarized. From a chair, she gave her long examination, until the court accepted her: she was a woman, she was Black, she was enslaved, but she was a poet.

Phillis Wheatley, was the first African-American writer to publish a book in the United States.

What’s on Your Reading and Blogging list today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbezx-dREaw