Who controls the information? It seems almost an antiquated notion now, some three decades on -- with the internet having democratized almost all access to. . . information. Regardless of how one feels about Snowden, Assange and Chelsea Manning, or even the Shadow Brokers and Anonymous -- it is impossible to put the genie back in the bottle, now. [Allowing the extended family to see a grand niece's first steps, in real time, is a wonderful side benefit here, in truth! But I digress. . . .]
Witness the truthful -- but anonymous -- sources now filling the pages of the NYT and WaPo, with less than savory news of how 45 really operates his "kingdom" -- in dereliction of the promises he's made to the American people.
But as I celebrate this day, for its 152nd anniversary -- I must note that the Emancipation Proclamation is over 154 years old. And so, while the celebration is about the end of bondage -- and freedom -- for people of color, nationwide -- in many parts of the South, people were not informed of their freedom. . . for years.
Galveston is widely-recognized as the first mover in what became known as the Junteenth celebrations -- but as the record amply establishes -- none of the by-then former slaves there knew they were freed. . . for more than two full years.
They continued to endure the unspeakable, while the white, landed, moneyed and powerful people of Galveston. . . kept mum. Every one of them. Plainly, almost all of the white people knew -- in Galveston, and most of the South, in truth.
[
So. . . I close where I opened: be wary of any government that tries to control the peoples' access to its dealings. That is -- as Alexander Hamilton well said -- the ordinal sign of. . . a tyrant. I am speaking to you, Mr. Trump. But we will not be snowed -- not this time. Onward -- to fully assert our. . . freedoms.
[The truth is almost always far stranger, no? On reflection, I must say more -- about Mr. Trump's press statement, above: He intentionally, I think, distorts history. He says "news traveled slowly. . . ." -- but ignores the very strong historical evidence that throughout the South the news was. . . SUPPRESSED -- by whites in power. Nary a mention of that, in his presser/missive, either. His version of the story of America is. . . white-washed (and literally, so) -- lacks. . . candor. Lacks perspective -- lacks empathy (i.e., "land of the free" -- but not a land of. . . "equality". Those are 45's last two thoughts on the topic, apparently.) Here endeth my sermon.]
नमस्ते
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