7/26/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I hope your meeting with Iraq President Mustafa Al-Kadhimi goes well today. I think it’s a good idea to remove the 2500 remaining military people from Iraq. If Iraq doesn’t want our help fighting off Isis & various militias supported by Iran, then so be it. As you well know, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER!!!

            Speaking of which, one of my heroes, Bob Moses (RPM), who shares that perspective died yesterday. I’m sure your people have briefed you on that. They may not have mentioned that he was mentored by Quaker, Bayard Rustin, who encouraged him to help out with the Youth March for Integrated Schools. RPM went on to teach folks in MS what they needed to know to pass the voter literacy tests that Jim Crow politicians required at that time.

RPM believed that math literacy is a civil right & developed an approach to teaching algebra that started with travels through kids’ neighborhoods as a vehicle for thinking about positive & negative numbers. He called it the “Algebra Project” & he had a lot of success with it. When others tried to implement it, they faced challenges, in part because they did not have his enthusiasm for math or his vision for its importance in people’s lives. As you push for voter’s rights legislation you might evoke RPM’s name & echo his cry for math as a civil right.

When you get a chance, please check in with Dallas-Fort Worth’s Myanmar Ethnic Community. They’ve been busy fund raising to help their relatives in Burma. Their group includes at least 8 of the major ethnic groups of Burma & they’re committed to bridging historic divides between the groups to restore democracy to Burma. Some words of encouragement from you would go a long way to lift their spirits as they worry about the health & well-being of their relatives back in Myanmar.

BYBS,