2/18/2026
My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
I just found a soul mate on Substack. Her name is Audrey (AP) & I found her today when I searched for something about Benjamin Banneker(BB). More on him in minute.
When I read AP’s sentence, “For a while I’ve been sharing with you the synchronicities that occur alongside my practice of being mindful & focused on the divine,” I was totally hooked! I am one of two subscribers to her site. I’m intrigued to see if she follows up on my comments to her.
BB came to mind as I pondered your complex relationship with the African American community. I encourage you to add him to the the 244 individuals named in the 2021 executive order for the National Garden of American Heroes. The WH Historical Association lauds him as “the black tobacco farmer who the presidents couldn't ignore.” He “assisted with the initial survey of Washington, D.C., published abolitionist material south of the Mason-Dixon Line, & engaged with some of the country’s founders in a way no black man had before.” In 1789 he successfully used lunar tables to forecast an eclipse demonstrating brilliance as a mathematician. He authored a 1792 Farmer’s Almanac leading James McHenry, a prominent Maryland statesman, to proclaim that BB was “fresh proof that the powers of the mind are disconnected with the colour of the skin.”
I could go on about BB’s accomplishments, but will run out of room.
I suspect you have never heard of BB. If I am correct, it shows why we need Black History month. I’m afraid one of your people didn’t understand that when they wrote in your 2026 proclamation, “ ‘black history’ is not distinct from American history.” I would have preferred they write something like, “highlighting the contributions of Black Americans is an important first step in remedying the harms inflicted on people of color by the government of our nation.”
I’m sure you will say positive things about Reverend Jackson today. I hope you will consider his mission “to protect, defend, & gain civil rights by leveling the economic & educational playing fields.”
OoM, please call Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak to find out about the reconciliation dialogue he’s trying to get started in Burma.
BYBS,
