6/19/2020

Friend, DJT,

            You need to make some new friends. I encourage you to reach out to Opal Lee, age 93, from Fort Worth. She’s been celebrating “Freedom Day” her whole life & is on a campaign to make it a national holiday. She can help you understand why it’s offensive to hear your say,  “nobody had ever heard of" it. That bittersweet moment in US history signifies hope to her & as she says, “hopelessness wears you out, it drains you. And Juneteenth reminds me that even when there’s struggle, you can still have hope.” Please make her dream come true & ask Congress to make June 19 a national holiday.

            As your friend, I have to tell you that threats of violence are unbecoming to a President so I hope you will take down your tweet, “Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!” In a democracy we embrace protesters. Using our voices and our bodies to express our beliefs is central to politics in the USA. We agree to disagree. We teach civil discourse in school.

Threatening violence leads to violence & Tulsa knows that all too well. Your supporters are not the only people with guns in OK. In fact, “the Brothers and Sisters in Arms” will be marching tomorrow from the Ralph Ellison Memorial Library to the Governor’s mansion exercising their rights to openly carry their weapons. They intend “to send a message to the governor and president that we aren’t going to allow people to come into our communities and brutalize us.”

            Don’t you think it would be best for everybody to stay home to avoid confrontations spreading CV. You could do a live stream from the White House to folks in OK. If you do it as a Zoom event and unmute everyone, you can hear all of the cheers coming from people’s living rooms. Please give that some thought.