December 31, 2020

There’s that “Seasons of Love”  song from the musical Rent that asks how you measure the “five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes” of a year. “In laughter, in strife?” Or truths we learned.

You’d think that with all that pandemic lockdowns, I would have been blogging my ass off, but I only managed to get 19 posts out in 2020. Part of that was the task of moving a full time teaching schedule into a remote platform, part of it was spent rallying in front of the Portland Justice Center and dodging teargas canisters. But the truth is, we spent more time cocooning, ordering take-out and bingeing on endless episodes of 90 Day Fiancé.

It was somewhat of a blessing that I got to do my “What does it all mean?” and “Why Portland?” TV interviews from my living room, via Zoom. The world’s media was in Portland this summer, covering the protests. I was interviewed by La Monde from France (an 80’s Randy dream), as well as by reporters from South Korea, Switzerland, Denmark, Turkey, and several others that are lost in the fog. From assigning White Fragility to my students to talking to CNN’s W. Kamau Bell for United Shades of America (after getting a COVID test), it was a great year for pushing the conversation about race and racism in America.

We did have some safe road trips to give us a break from quarantine, including to the heart of Trump country in Eastern Oregon. It really was a year to focus on family, marriage, home improvement, and all things close to home.  Which was made easier since I spent a good third of the year in Facebook jail.

Watching the collapse of Donald Trump’s bid to become America’s first dictator was the most satisfying part of 2020. It’s too bad that his abdication from his Constitutional role was at expense of the the lives of 345,000 Americans (and more deaths to come). It will take decades to clean up the mess Trump will leave us when he is dragged out of the White House on January 20th. Trump will be gone but his sub-moronic base is sure pray for their orange messiah’s return. That will keep me busy on the right-wing extremism front.

I posted in Watching the Wheels when the spirit moved me. The most popular post was July 31st’s  “Open Letter to My Father: Why I Support Black Lives Matter.” (He’s still not speaking to me.) Followed by June 7th’s “It took getting gassed by the police to get it about policing.” I have no doubt I will be writing more about race and gender in 2021 as we dig ourselves out of this massive hole. Good times coming.

2020 WTW Posts

My Old Face (January 18)

A Safer Space – A Valentine’s Poem for My Wife (February 14)

Love In The Time of Corona (March 15)

Protecting Our Children from the Trump Virus (March 24)

Confronting Our Deaths in a Pandemic (April 7)

What is the feminist position on the COVID-19 pandemic? (May 19)

Do We Have to Burn Down America to Save It? Rethinking Rioting (May 31)

It took getting gassed by the police to get it about policing (June 7)

Real Americans Burn Confederate Flags (June 28)

“I wish I was alive in 2020.” Witnessing History from the Frontline (July 22)

Open Letter to My Father: Why I Support Black Lives Matter (July 31)

Saying goodbye to 5-year-old Cozy and hello BIG 6! (August 17)

How Veterans and Rape Victims Can Help Us Stop Trump’s Racism (September 22)

Pins and Needles and Civil War (October 31)

President Snowflake: How Trump’s fragile masculinity made me a better man. (November 19)

Disco Didn’t Actually Suck: Racism, Homophobia and Intersectionality in Music We’re Taught to Hate (December 2)

December 8, 1980, John Lennon and a Snapshot of Shock (December 8)

The Dream Life of 2020 (December 16)

Dad’s Top 20 Discs of 2020 (December 28)

2020: How Do You Measure A Year?  (December 31)