...in light of his, and this administration's relentless, fascist words- and actions, we can dispense with the qualifier, "wannabes" / [Can we not?]...
How feckless is Donald Trump that he cannot command the return of Abrego Garcia? Is he subservient to the president of El Salvador as he is to other dictators?
Perhaps - just maybe - that could be a question put forth by some Democrats PUBLICLY! The rallies are great but making that question public - possibly on Faux?
Thank you for highlighting and recommending Amy Godine's book, The Black Forest, and the failed, misquided experiment by abolitionist Garrett Smith. Timbucktu has been heralded of late as something to admire rather than point out the lack of support and the isolation (separate and not quite equal). This administration's racist, political persecution, anti-democratic and empirical designs are not fascist lite. They are fascist. Your experiences as a caregiver test the mind and body to the extreme. Please forgive my concerned opinion that you cannot do it alone.
Amy - I've GOT to read the book! Alice Green, a black Civil Rights leader in Albany, passed away in August 2024 at the age of 84. I never met Alice but from seeing how she dealt with things she had a lot of spunk. Alice's obituary mentions her parents fled the south for the Adirondacks. As I was reading Ken's article, I began to wonder if Alice's parents bought land in the Adirondacks from one of the original grantees. Alice's obituary mentions an episode when she and a white friend were hired as teenagers to work at a small Adirondack resort. Alice was given a place to sleep in the barn while her friend was given a room in the main house. The next day Alice confronted the owner. The owner fired Alice (Alice said "too late. I already quit"). In solidarity, Alice's friend also quit the same day and both hitchhiked home.
Thanks for your enthusiasm! Do let me know how you like it.
Alice -- a remarkable and influential upstate activist, and an old friend, came north with her family from the South when her father got a mining job with the Adirondack industrial giant, Republic Steel. He moved first; the family followed, and settled in company-provided housing near the mines. There was no connection to Gerrit Smith's "scheme of justice and benevolence" (Smith's Adirondack "gift land" was to the west). But Alice loved learning about this lost chapter of Black Adirondack history, and deeply regretted knowing nothing about it while she was growing up.
I'm impressed with the books you find to read AND with how you manage to find "time" to read them....with the overwhelming caregiving you provide. I'm hoping it really is some sort of escape for you....but what a world you found in that "The Black Woods." The awful part is not only how the idea worked out but looking at today.......how we are so rapidly sliding...backwards...to all the more horrible times even before that history. I'm terrified about the attacks on anything to do with DEI---and on the First Amendment rights for all of us. Even your potential thoughts are now suspect.
At the Indivisible Meeting when we thought we were getting rid of Stefanik and were speaking to the "empty chair," there was a Vanity Fair reporter wanting to talk with anyone having nightmares about what was happening. I would love to discover what he possibly wrote or is still working on. How can you NOT wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares...if you care at all about what we are experiencing.
I just read a very long but extremely interesting and, frankly, terrifying article about the fascist turn our government has taken. Stick with it to the end, all hope may not be lost. But it clarified for me the forces behind the rise of Trumpism, and who is really pulling the strings.
Edited to make clear this is an editorial, not an article!
Thanks again, Will, for your personal sharing and stimulating perspectives. You’ve pushed my buttons once again.
It’s been years (seems like eons) since I read “The Trial”, but like Garcia’s lawyer, I too see Garcia’s situation as being Kafkaesque, as well as fitting your description: “horrible, wrong, appealing, and cruel.” But, also, like Kafka’s Joseph K, Garcia’s situation is a “bizarre, surreal existence.”
It is no coincidence that the existentialists’ writings(Kafka, Satre, Camus, et al) coincided with and spoke to generations dealing with the rise and presence of communism, fascism, and authoritarianism.
You're right. the whole notion that your life can be taken over by outside forces and toyed with, when you've done nothing wrong, is surreal. What strikes me about Joseph K is his helplessness and the way he cooperates in his own oppression. He isn't abducted, merely arrested and in a lackadaisical, unserious fashion. They don't drag him into court; he goes on his own initiative. It seems an open question whether, if he had ignored his accusers, he could have continued his life unmolested. But look around -- look at all the people, including Democrats and others opposed to what Trump is doing, who are nevertheless becoming his willing accomplices through voluntary cooperation with his abuses. Kafka knew what he was doing. The very fact of the government's intent, even if it is bad and corrupt, tempts us to cooperate.
Am I Missing (a lot usually) Something Here? The Italian Families, The Original Irish and Scot Child Slaves, The Millions of True Better Life Seeking Europeans ... why only Blacks offered this wonderful opportunity, which was basically squandered or ignored. Sick of the 67% who were silent under OKenya and Biden but Raise Hell over Trump? The Globalists love idiots hating each other and civil war. Wake up (historical event) Nobody is on your political side, its all a bad joke.
Thank you, Will, and thank Amy Godine. I am working on a talk about Why History Matters or what we don't know does harm us...or the erasure of history or "Now I see." You summary of the book speaks to all of this.....thanks again,
Notice how much effort the Trump team is putting into historical erasures. They want to be able to say what the history is, without the existence of official contradiction
Yes, like Nazis whisking away and/or killing innocent people...and like the collaborators in Germany, our Maga House of Representatives, being complicit in their silence. I think of the Tuft's student, a Fullbright scholar, handcuffed and whisked away to Lousiana, for an op ed piece she published about Palestine, or Mahmoud, a legal resident with a green card, also picked up by ICE, also sent to Louisiana and threatened with deportation, not for any crime he did but for protesting what was happening in Palestine. I think of many students studying here with student visas, having those documents rescinded, they needing to flee. And immigrants picked up and sent to prisons in El Salvador with no process, no identification, no ability to defend themselves, more than half having no criminal records. I think of people afraid to travel to our country....and of scientists, scholars, teachers losing their good work because of Musk's draconian cuts to schools and Trump's stupid and outrageous vendetta against DEI. Countries in Europe are welcoming our brightest researchers and students into their universities and we, in America, are losing those who enrich us. Thank you again, Will....and thank all who resist this Fascism.
and, always, your kindness, care, and understanding of so much out of your (and Bella's) control...I am always touched by kindness.......and always horrified by cruelty.....Your letter captures both.
A related shout-out to Dr. Hadley Kruczek-Aaron from SUNY Potsdam's Department of Anthropology, who, with her field school students, has spent time excavating the farm of Lyman Epps, one of the Black farmers of Gerritt Smith's Timbuctoo social experiment in the Adirondacks
Excellent. As usual.
Will
I admire your commitment and courage as a caretaker/giver. Hope I could do it if ever called upon. In my prayers.
...in light of his, and this administration's relentless, fascist words- and actions, we can dispense with the qualifier, "wannabes" / [Can we not?]...
Yes
How feckless is Donald Trump that he cannot command the return of Abrego Garcia? Is he subservient to the president of El Salvador as he is to other dictators?
Perhaps - just maybe - that could be a question put forth by some Democrats PUBLICLY! The rallies are great but making that question public - possibly on Faux?
Thank you for highlighting and recommending Amy Godine's book, The Black Forest, and the failed, misquided experiment by abolitionist Garrett Smith. Timbucktu has been heralded of late as something to admire rather than point out the lack of support and the isolation (separate and not quite equal). This administration's racist, political persecution, anti-democratic and empirical designs are not fascist lite. They are fascist. Your experiences as a caregiver test the mind and body to the extreme. Please forgive my concerned opinion that you cannot do it alone.
Beautiful writing, Will. Thanks for all the light.
Thanks, Will! Wonderful to read!
I'm pleased and honored you liked the book enough to recommend it with a shrewd, succinct review.
Amy - I've GOT to read the book! Alice Green, a black Civil Rights leader in Albany, passed away in August 2024 at the age of 84. I never met Alice but from seeing how she dealt with things she had a lot of spunk. Alice's obituary mentions her parents fled the south for the Adirondacks. As I was reading Ken's article, I began to wonder if Alice's parents bought land in the Adirondacks from one of the original grantees. Alice's obituary mentions an episode when she and a white friend were hired as teenagers to work at a small Adirondack resort. Alice was given a place to sleep in the barn while her friend was given a room in the main house. The next day Alice confronted the owner. The owner fired Alice (Alice said "too late. I already quit"). In solidarity, Alice's friend also quit the same day and both hitchhiked home.
Hi David,
Thanks for your enthusiasm! Do let me know how you like it.
Alice -- a remarkable and influential upstate activist, and an old friend, came north with her family from the South when her father got a mining job with the Adirondack industrial giant, Republic Steel. He moved first; the family followed, and settled in company-provided housing near the mines. There was no connection to Gerrit Smith's "scheme of justice and benevolence" (Smith's Adirondack "gift land" was to the west). But Alice loved learning about this lost chapter of Black Adirondack history, and deeply regretted knowing nothing about it while she was growing up.
I'm impressed with the books you find to read AND with how you manage to find "time" to read them....with the overwhelming caregiving you provide. I'm hoping it really is some sort of escape for you....but what a world you found in that "The Black Woods." The awful part is not only how the idea worked out but looking at today.......how we are so rapidly sliding...backwards...to all the more horrible times even before that history. I'm terrified about the attacks on anything to do with DEI---and on the First Amendment rights for all of us. Even your potential thoughts are now suspect.
At the Indivisible Meeting when we thought we were getting rid of Stefanik and were speaking to the "empty chair," there was a Vanity Fair reporter wanting to talk with anyone having nightmares about what was happening. I would love to discover what he possibly wrote or is still working on. How can you NOT wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares...if you care at all about what we are experiencing.
Yes, I love to read and it has always been an escape -- an escape from anxiety and fear, an escape to adventure and learning and laughter
I just read a very long but extremely interesting and, frankly, terrifying article about the fascist turn our government has taken. Stick with it to the end, all hope may not be lost. But it clarified for me the forces behind the rise of Trumpism, and who is really pulling the strings.
Edited to make clear this is an editorial, not an article!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk?CMP=GTUS_email
Thanks again, Will, for your personal sharing and stimulating perspectives. You’ve pushed my buttons once again.
It’s been years (seems like eons) since I read “The Trial”, but like Garcia’s lawyer, I too see Garcia’s situation as being Kafkaesque, as well as fitting your description: “horrible, wrong, appealing, and cruel.” But, also, like Kafka’s Joseph K, Garcia’s situation is a “bizarre, surreal existence.”
It is no coincidence that the existentialists’ writings(Kafka, Satre, Camus, et al) coincided with and spoke to generations dealing with the rise and presence of communism, fascism, and authoritarianism.
You're right. the whole notion that your life can be taken over by outside forces and toyed with, when you've done nothing wrong, is surreal. What strikes me about Joseph K is his helplessness and the way he cooperates in his own oppression. He isn't abducted, merely arrested and in a lackadaisical, unserious fashion. They don't drag him into court; he goes on his own initiative. It seems an open question whether, if he had ignored his accusers, he could have continued his life unmolested. But look around -- look at all the people, including Democrats and others opposed to what Trump is doing, who are nevertheless becoming his willing accomplices through voluntary cooperation with his abuses. Kafka knew what he was doing. The very fact of the government's intent, even if it is bad and corrupt, tempts us to cooperate.
“…tempts us to cooperate” or, I would dare add, succumb to the malaise of hopelessness.
Yes, I feel the pull of that malaise these days
Shalom, to you and yours!
Am I Missing (a lot usually) Something Here? The Italian Families, The Original Irish and Scot Child Slaves, The Millions of True Better Life Seeking Europeans ... why only Blacks offered this wonderful opportunity, which was basically squandered or ignored. Sick of the 67% who were silent under OKenya and Biden but Raise Hell over Trump? The Globalists love idiots hating each other and civil war. Wake up (historical event) Nobody is on your political side, its all a bad joke.
Yes, I think you're missing a lot
Thank you, Will, and thank Amy Godine. I am working on a talk about Why History Matters or what we don't know does harm us...or the erasure of history or "Now I see." You summary of the book speaks to all of this.....thanks again,
Notice how much effort the Trump team is putting into historical erasures. They want to be able to say what the history is, without the existence of official contradiction
“History is not history unless it is the truth.” A. Lincoln
Yes, like Nazis whisking away and/or killing innocent people...and like the collaborators in Germany, our Maga House of Representatives, being complicit in their silence. I think of the Tuft's student, a Fullbright scholar, handcuffed and whisked away to Lousiana, for an op ed piece she published about Palestine, or Mahmoud, a legal resident with a green card, also picked up by ICE, also sent to Louisiana and threatened with deportation, not for any crime he did but for protesting what was happening in Palestine. I think of many students studying here with student visas, having those documents rescinded, they needing to flee. And immigrants picked up and sent to prisons in El Salvador with no process, no identification, no ability to defend themselves, more than half having no criminal records. I think of people afraid to travel to our country....and of scientists, scholars, teachers losing their good work because of Musk's draconian cuts to schools and Trump's stupid and outrageous vendetta against DEI. Countries in Europe are welcoming our brightest researchers and students into their universities and we, in America, are losing those who enrich us. Thank you again, Will....and thank all who resist this Fascism.
and, always, your kindness, care, and understanding of so much out of your (and Bella's) control...I am always touched by kindness.......and always horrified by cruelty.....Your letter captures both.
A related shout-out to Dr. Hadley Kruczek-Aaron from SUNY Potsdam's Department of Anthropology, who, with her field school students, has spent time excavating the farm of Lyman Epps, one of the Black farmers of Gerritt Smith's Timbuctoo social experiment in the Adirondacks
.https://www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/depts/Anth/Timbuctoo
You are a blessing for your care and caring for your wife.