In an age where TV image counts for so much, I find myself so mesmerized by The Donald's hairpiece that I have a modest proposal, since I feel it might improve his standing with the public.
If The Donald would run with his own merkin as VP ,the public could rest assured that, in a worst case scenario, such as a terrorist-driven gale, if he blew his top, the nation wouldn't be shorn of his level-headed example. Indeed, with a single deft move- something easily accomplished, our President could recover.
Put baldly, no President can be positive of his VP. Witness Joe Biden coming out, er, embracing, er, marriage equality even before President Obama had a firm grip on it. But if The Donald is his own VP, he can be sure of his backup. If so, he wouldn't have to worry about being exposed by himself any more than he already is. This would give him time to concentrate on winning back Miss America, or building a Trump Wall to keep out "illegal aliens," who might ruffle his hair.
In sum, let Don, brace himself for the unexpected winds, which beset all Presidencies. If so, with luck, not only he but the rest of us would be spared the embarrassment of being exposed by Fate.
Showing posts with label Adrian Brooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adrian Brooks. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
"What Evan Wolfson and Marriage Equality Have Done For the People Who Despise Them"
At a moment when Marriage Equality has become national law, albeit by the slimmest of margins, (and, thank you Justice Kennedy), LGBTQI folk and our allies would be moronic not to realize how harrowing this decision is for millions who don't share our belief in what is now deemed to be a Constitutionally guaranteed right. Revolted by their visualizations of what same-sex unions mean,
and haunted by unreal notions, including that we will soon agitate for the freedom to marry dogs, they spin their wheels in an effort to comprehend what has happened to a country they thought they understood as one explicitly defined by the Bible.
In fact, what "the father of marriage equality" Evan Wolfson and his colleague, Mark Solomon, (among others who worked at Freedom to Marry) have done is to make the nation stronger. Though our adversaries don't yet realize it, this transformation of consciousness will be perceived much in the same light as the 1919 law granting women the right to vote. Or the momentous Civil Rights- and Voting Rights- legislation, which LBJ passed, thereby enfranchising African Americans. Both advances were epochal; both had been met with stout resistance; in both cases, the losing side bewailed the future of the United States, as previously received.
As previously received....
Therein lies their fallacy and the same blunder which opponents of Marriage Equality make today. For in these movements towards "a more perfect union" postulated by the Constitution, the Republic and its people make actual progress. In the process, of course, old givens are recycled; that which was known- a received wisdom, oftentimes never questioned- are subjected to new inquiry. It is the never-ending quality of regeneration at the heart of the American Experiment: our willingness to start over, to cast aside the unworthy or the unworkable and put our shoulders to the wheel in the service of a finer and more compassionate Whole. And this is the very essence of healthy democracy.
One side doesn't have to degrade or shame the other for being tardy. As Lao Tze wrote 2500 years ago, "If one leads, another must follow." It is the law of Nature; it's also human nature- to grow and stretch, expand and put aside the archaic in favor of what meets the reality of the Present.
This is where we are as a People: in the Present.
The gift which Evan Wolfson, Mark Solomon and their colleagues at Freedom to Marry bestowed upon the nation is to help harness a huge and still-expanding recognition of humanness. And human diversity. In its way, it is as stunning an achievement as the Emancipation Proclamation or the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education. As a civil people, we have the right to expect leaders to lead; legislators to legislate; and courts to rule. This is the usually difficult, oftentimes infuriating, way in which our system plays out. That some will bridle is to be expected. But, in due course, they certainly will come to appreciate that what makes us truly strong isn't our weaponry. Our power- true power- lies in our character. Some may call it virtue. I do. But in leading us to this wider embrace of our own citizens, irrespective of superficial differences, the patriots who ushered this issue forward brought us into the moment, reminded us of whom, and what, we are and renewed our collective sense of Self.
They are heroes.
and haunted by unreal notions, including that we will soon agitate for the freedom to marry dogs, they spin their wheels in an effort to comprehend what has happened to a country they thought they understood as one explicitly defined by the Bible.
In fact, what "the father of marriage equality" Evan Wolfson and his colleague, Mark Solomon, (among others who worked at Freedom to Marry) have done is to make the nation stronger. Though our adversaries don't yet realize it, this transformation of consciousness will be perceived much in the same light as the 1919 law granting women the right to vote. Or the momentous Civil Rights- and Voting Rights- legislation, which LBJ passed, thereby enfranchising African Americans. Both advances were epochal; both had been met with stout resistance; in both cases, the losing side bewailed the future of the United States, as previously received.
As previously received....
Therein lies their fallacy and the same blunder which opponents of Marriage Equality make today. For in these movements towards "a more perfect union" postulated by the Constitution, the Republic and its people make actual progress. In the process, of course, old givens are recycled; that which was known- a received wisdom, oftentimes never questioned- are subjected to new inquiry. It is the never-ending quality of regeneration at the heart of the American Experiment: our willingness to start over, to cast aside the unworthy or the unworkable and put our shoulders to the wheel in the service of a finer and more compassionate Whole. And this is the very essence of healthy democracy.
One side doesn't have to degrade or shame the other for being tardy. As Lao Tze wrote 2500 years ago, "If one leads, another must follow." It is the law of Nature; it's also human nature- to grow and stretch, expand and put aside the archaic in favor of what meets the reality of the Present.
This is where we are as a People: in the Present.
The gift which Evan Wolfson, Mark Solomon and their colleagues at Freedom to Marry bestowed upon the nation is to help harness a huge and still-expanding recognition of humanness. And human diversity. In its way, it is as stunning an achievement as the Emancipation Proclamation or the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education. As a civil people, we have the right to expect leaders to lead; legislators to legislate; and courts to rule. This is the usually difficult, oftentimes infuriating, way in which our system plays out. That some will bridle is to be expected. But, in due course, they certainly will come to appreciate that what makes us truly strong isn't our weaponry. Our power- true power- lies in our character. Some may call it virtue. I do. But in leading us to this wider embrace of our own citizens, irrespective of superficial differences, the patriots who ushered this issue forward brought us into the moment, reminded us of whom, and what, we are and renewed our collective sense of Self.
They are heroes.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Author Adrian Brooks and The Matthew Shepard Foundation
I'm honored to announced that the Matthew Shepard Foundation plans to include my new anthology- THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY; 100 Years of LGBT radical activism- on their website and endorse it with an enthusiastic blurb, one to be featured on future editions.
Susan Burk, Director of the Laramie Project and a close friend of Judy Shepard, who generously granted me an interview writes: "The book is wonderful. Inspiring. Educational. Fabulous. Moving. All of those things. I'm learning SO much. "
(Note: That is not the actual blurb itself but I'm so pleased that I can't help sharing the news!)
It's profoundly moving to me to receive the support of The Matthew Shepard Foundation since I feel that, as long as LGBT youth are at risk of being bullied, hurt, tormented, killed or driven to suicide, the mission that Denis and Judy Shepard created in memory of their crucified son remains vitally important and worthy of support from everyone.
Susan Burk, Director of the Laramie Project and a close friend of Judy Shepard, who generously granted me an interview writes: "The book is wonderful. Inspiring. Educational. Fabulous. Moving. All of those things. I'm learning SO much. "
(Note: That is not the actual blurb itself but I'm so pleased that I can't help sharing the news!)
It's profoundly moving to me to receive the support of The Matthew Shepard Foundation since I feel that, as long as LGBT youth are at risk of being bullied, hurt, tormented, killed or driven to suicide, the mission that Denis and Judy Shepard created in memory of their crucified son remains vitally important and worthy of support from everyone.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Craig Makler... since 1973
Since 1973, writer Adrian Brooks- born Craig Makler in Philadelphia in 1947, has been noteworthy in LGBT culture. From 1966-1972, he volunteered for Martin Luther King; attended the international Quaker school- Friends World Institute; and was in SOHO in NYC, where he knew Andy Warhol. From 1973-1980, Brooks was a poet, novelist and performer/script-writer for San Francisco's iconic free theater, the "Angels of Light", in addition to being a non-fiction writer, a spiritual teacher, activist for Human Rights and a world traveler.
One review of Brooks' theater memoir of his years in the Angels of Light- FLIGHTS OF ANGELS, is on Google. The article to which that (anonymous) reviewer refers- the piece written by John Karr, the porno film critic for San Francisco's "Bay Area Reporter"- can also be Googled. Still more reviews can be found on amazon, in addition to other reviews and Brooks' other published works.
Brooks' most recent book is THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism. Published in June 2015 by Cleis Press, it includes a Foreword by Jonathan Katz- formerly the Head of Gay Studies at Yale and features contributions from: Judy Shepard, Barney Frank, Evan Wolfson, Charlotte Bunch, Rita Mae Brown, Julie Rhoad (Director of the Names Project); James Gilliam (California Head of the ACLU), and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, one of the transgender heroines of Stonewall, recently honored at the White House with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
One review of Brooks' theater memoir of his years in the Angels of Light- FLIGHTS OF ANGELS, is on Google. The article to which that (anonymous) reviewer refers- the piece written by John Karr, the porno film critic for San Francisco's "Bay Area Reporter"- can also be Googled. Still more reviews can be found on amazon, in addition to other reviews and Brooks' other published works.
Brooks' most recent book is THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism. Published in June 2015 by Cleis Press, it includes a Foreword by Jonathan Katz- formerly the Head of Gay Studies at Yale and features contributions from: Judy Shepard, Barney Frank, Evan Wolfson, Charlotte Bunch, Rita Mae Brown, Julie Rhoad (Director of the Names Project); James Gilliam (California Head of the ACLU), and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, one of the transgender heroines of Stonewall, recently honored at the White House with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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