Soon we are headed out to California for 5 days just to get out of Arizona for a bit. But this is not "vacation", this is "move the quarantine temporarily to another state". We realized this morning that planning family #travel is more complicated now, with way less mental energy available to plan.

What used to be pretty standard "get us out of the house for 5 days" activities now feel like huge tasks which we have to accomplish with our brains 94% occupied by #covid19 #blacklivesmatter #racism, and other current events. Just the idea of cleaning house (for the pet-sitter) feels insurmountable.

it-aint-pretty tags: covid19 title: Arizona and COVID19 - it ain't pretty twitter_id: "1272883580348194817" twitter_url: https://twitter.com/steveivy/status/1272883580348194817

Governor Ducey - please take action NOW #covid19

(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

None#BlackLivesMatter and the #Deaf community

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-08/how-do-you-sign-black-lives-matter-in-asl-for-black-deaf-angelenos-its-complicated

Sent today to the office of #arizona Governor Ducey:

Governor Ducey,

It is paramount that in the face of skyrocketing #COVID19 cases in Arizona, your office issue actionable guidance on mask/face covering usage to slow the community spread of the novel coronavirus. My family and I wear masks anytime we leave the house or our car, but we see almost no one doing the same right now unless the destination specifically requires it.

There are too many citizens who take your office's "recommendations" as hand-waving suggestions, and the numbers speak for themselves.

Please, for the sake of your citizens, speak out quickly and strongly. Mandate mask usage in public for all our safety.

Sincerely,

--Steve Ivy Gilbert, AZ

Arizona residents: Contact Governor Ducey

White Privilege is saying "wow I'm learning a lot about race, but I'm kinda stressed so I'm going to watch English cop shows and not think about race". Non-whites don't get to not think about race in America #selfown #whiteness

Language is related to power. We do not permit those in power to control our vocabulary.

[NINE PERSPECTIVES FOR PRISON ABOLITIONISTS](https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/instead_of_prisons/nine_perspectives.shtml #prisonpolicy

INSTEAD OF PRISONS: A HANDBOOK FOR ABOLITIONISTS #prisonpolicy

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/instead_of_prisons/index.shtml

To my shame, it took until the events surrounding George Floyd's murder for me to really begin attempting to educate myself on "the rest of the story" of America's history of institutionalized racism and violence. I'm trying to focus on 3 things:

• LEARN the facts, outside of what was in my history education ("we win war for independence, we win ww2, happily ever after" - at least that's what I generally walked away with)
• LISTEN to black writers and voices about their American experience
• Focus my own small voice on speaking to my fellow white Americans on our complicity in these atrocities and the system they’ve perpetuated.

I have SOOOO far to go. In the meantime, talking to my wife we decided that something we could do was to donate to support these organizations fighting for racial justice:

• Black Lives Matter Global Network
• National Bail Out
• Know Your Rights Camp
• Black Voters Matter Fund
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• The National Police Accountability Project

If you feel like I do, please consider donating - it's the easiest way to get started - but it's not enough. We're going to have to start acting too.

The "American Police" podcast on Throughline was eye-opening #racism #whiteness #policing

Mordecai Martin, a thinker and writer who I follow on Play Vicious, posted this powerful piece on the Jewish response to racial protests and - yes looting - during the 60s and now with the George Floyd protests.

I'm not sure that – being neither Jewish nor black – I have a platform for comment, but Mo's writing speaks to his own Jewish people with real power and love.

As Artist Marcia X on Play Vicious responded:

imagine being this tender and powerful at the same time???

Research continues to show that masks/face coverings DO help prevent community spread of the #covid19 virus. Please, Arizonans: wear masks anytime you are well, most any place.

Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study on Wednesday.

Reuters: Widespread mask-wearing could prevent COVID-19 second waves: study

"Our analyses support the immediate and universal adoption of face masks by the public," said Richard Stutt, who co-led the study at Cambridge.

He said combining widespread mask use with social distancing and some lockdown measures, could be “an acceptable way of managing the pandemic and re-opening economic activity” before the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

Way to go, Arizona #covid19 (SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

Poetry #blacklivesmatter https://twitter.com/Vanessa_Kisuule/status/1270011146544783361?s=20

It seems such a tiny thing, but perhaps we white bloggers could find Amazon affiliate links for products we link to that would benefit black creators and organizations like #blacklivesmatter?

Protests being co-opted by “Mediators” who control them from inside #blacklivesmatter #georgefloyd

https://backinblackpill.home.blog/2020/06/07/the-cooperation-kettle/

"Phoenix has it's own "I can't breathe" case. The outcome was exactly the same" -- no it wasn't #racism #policing

http://monkinetic.blog/2020/06/05/phoenix-i-cant-breathe

AZCentral: Phoenix has its own 'I can't breathe' case. The outcome was far different

"Three years ago, Phoenix had its own "I can't breathe" case. But its outcome has so far been very different than that of George Floyd's."

Let's see, black man doing basically nothing at the time:

"In 2017, Muhammad Abdul Muhaymin Jr. tried to take his dog with him to the bathroom at a city community center in west Phoenix. The police were called, discovered he had a warrant for his arrest, and decided to detain him."

Sounds the same to me. Maybe the police response was entirely different?

At least four officers got on top of him and held him down. Some put their knees on his neck and head.

Exactly like George Floyd. Perhaps Muyaymin was released without harm?

"I can't breathe," Muhaymin is heard saying several times in police body camera footage. When officers eventually got off him, Muhaymin had no pulse, according to comments from officers in the video, and lay in a pool of his own vomit.

With the same unnecessarily violent, incomprehensibly callous response from law enforcement, same tragic outcome for a non-violent black man.

The outcome was exactly the same. The "outcome" that matters is the life or death of this black man. The rest is just wrap up.

Once the headline had to say Phoenix had it's own 'I can't breathe' case, it was too late. I want to see the headlines saying "Our community has not had a case of police brutality in 5 years", "...10 years", "... 50 years".

Ways to help https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co #blacklivesmatter

How's that working out Arizona #covid19 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-map-coronavirus.html

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I knew the term “grandfathered in” had to do something with #voting and #racism but this story really explains the #history https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/21/239081586/the-racial-history-of-the-grandfather-clause thanks @lmorchard