I see the news along with my news feeds on social media littered with articles and opinions on the daily, covering a variety of topics. I typically choose not to engage as it can get out of hand, cause people to get upset, and usually changes no one’s mind anyway. I do not get on social media looking to debate or bait others into an argument, I use it to keep up with the lives of those I know and have connected with. The National Anthem protests have been going on for over a year now, and I admit I initially dismissed Colin Kaepernick’s message as he was in the midst of losing his job and relevancy. (Semi-relevant, I am also a 49ers fan, and had just watched the team get dismantled by the ownership. Wasn’t thrilled with them) I grew to understand the meaning as time went on, and while he...
Politics
I understand you want to protest. I respect your constitutional right to do so. However, the National Anthem doesn't only represent our current country. It represents 42 million Americans who fought for our freedom including 1.2 million who gave their lives for it. Without this freedom, you wouldn't be able to protest. Without this freedom, you probably wouldn't be playing football for a living. Without this freedom, you might not even exist. If we are going to fix our country, we need to come together and believe in the basic rights our Founding Fathers created our country on. It is going to take a lot more than kneeling during the National Anthem to fix our country. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." As professional athletes, you have a platform to...
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Dear people who reject feminism,
I am a female senior in high school. I plan on going to college next year, possibly studying nursing or something else in the medical field. Both of my parents are divorced and either remarried or engaged. I have two brothers, three step-brothers, and a step sister. Almost all of my cousins are boys, so I know how even my own family treats boys differently than they treat the girls in the family. My interest in this matter stems from growing up around all boys and a very small number of girls, and having my own father tell me that girls soccer isn’t a real sport because girls don’t play sports.
I was raised by a strong single mother who worked and put herself through beauty school with little help from anyone else. My grandmother is a strong woman who...
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Tensions are high lately. Everyone is so worried about insulting or not insulting everyone else. Well I'm here to say I do feel real fear when I see a person of color. I feel real fear when I see a Hispanic. I tense up when I see a middle eastern person.
I genuinely feel terror if I'm walking alone at night down a street and a man of color is walking on the same street in the dark. I feel terror because I wonder if tonight's the night he's going to get stopped for J walking and his life is going to end. I get nervous when I'm in a grocery store and a middle eastern person is in the same isle as me. I feel nervous because I'm anticipating that being the day I have to step up and shut someone down for shouting racial slurs at them. I'm scared when I see coworkers and friends who I know...
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Dear Congressman Zeldin,
Plato once said, "The measure of a man is what he does with power." Those words come to mind whenever I think about the first eight months of Trump's Presidency. I was reminded of them once again on the night of September 4th when you took to social media, using your power and influence to incite hate and division. This time your venom wasn't directed towards your opponents or those who disagree with your political views, as you have repeatedly done in the past. Rather, you decided to aim your hatred in support of a narrative that has become all too popular since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
On the eve of Donald Trump's expected announcement regarding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), you decided to share an article...
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Governor Bevin,
You may not remember me, but I remember you very clearly. On Thursday, August 18th, I tapped you on the back at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville and told you that I would have your job one day. My dream, other the becoming the governor of our once-great state, could be shattered due to the unfair and cruel mistreatment of our teachers and the future of our state’s education. To give some background knowledge, Kentucky is ranked 45 out of 50 for state educational attainment. I’m sorry, Mr. Governor, but I believe that Kentucky should be #1. If we really want to be first, we cannot eliminate our teacher’s pensions.
As the daughter and the sister of educators and as a possible future educator myself, I am so very worried about our Kentucky’s teachers. I fear for the...
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Dear Mr. Annan:
How are you doing? I trust that life has been good. Mr. Annan, do you remember me? Probably not, but I certainly remember you. It was sometime in 97 or 98, at a very exclusive and nameless restaurant somewhere in Airport residential area, in Accra. You were there with a woman and a boy/ teenager, I assumed they were your family. I knew who you were and was a little star-struck, so I kept peeking. In my peeking, I noticed you constantly staring at me, it was a very small/intimate place. At the time, I thought you were just being a perverted old man, as they all were. Now when I look back, I think maybe that wasn’t the case, considering who you were. Perhaps you kept looking because you recognized the disturbing scene occurring before your own eyes. In a restaurant that...
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Thoughts on protests kkk nazis etc.
They shouldn’t be fucking protesting with guns. Peaceful protests are what is the norm. Carrying a gun is being prepared to use it. You should only use it if someone points a gun at you. Intimidating people with guns is not the way to go. regardless of what anyone can think, that directly sends out an aggressive message. If they wanted to protest keeping the statue, they should’ve done it in a peaceful protest legal way, not bring guns to intimidate. YOU DONT SEE BLM OR OTHER MOVEMENTS CARRYING GUNS, IF THEY DID THEN THEY’D BE IMMEDIATELY ARRESTED OR SHOT. THERE IS A FUCKING DOUBLE STANDARD.
Trump is bullshit for having delayed identifying the kkk nazis etc and for rather spending more time talking about the news. Just because he calls news fake...
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Dear mr Dennis Christensen,
I would like to use this opportunity to express my support for you and for your family. I have heard about your arrest and about the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in general in Russia.
I am not a Jehovah’s Witness, but have come to know Jehovah’s Witnesses as a law-abiding group of people, who have made being obedient to other authorities part of their religious belief. I just cannot believe that a court would condemn you for this. However, that is the world we live in today. I don’t know you personally and we never met, but I hope to come and visit you some day soon in prison.
Last but not least, I asked Jehovah once to help me write something for His oppressed children. The result is the following poem. I hope it will give you (and others)...
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Dear Outraged White Men,
You are not oppressed. If history has taught us anything, it is that you have all of the rights. For instance, you do not have to worry when you walk down the street after dark that you might be attacked and raped. You do not have to worry that if a cop stops you that you might be murdered for having a taillight out because of the color of your skin. Your healthcare is not being micromanaged by congress, a majority of whose sex is opposite your own. When elections come around you do not have to worry that you might not be able to vote because it is hard for you to obtain a state issued ID.
If anything, the current administration is pandering to you. It is telling you that people who do not look exactly like you, who do not believe in the same religion as...
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