June

It's June 6th. Many years ago today ("It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint..."), I was one of many young men in my Paterson, NJ high school protesting the dress code (no shorts for guys, despite the heat) by wearing a skirt in school. (We got the policy changed!) Even more years before that, over 150,000 Allied soldiers invaded Normandy to liberate France (and much of western Europe) from Nazi Germany. Civil rights activist James Meredith was shot on this day in 1966 during the Walk Against Fear; five years later, "The Ed Sullivan Show" broadcast its last episode (a rerun, and yes, it took place in the Ed Sullivan Theater where Stephen Colbert was hosting "The Late Show" until recently). In 1982, the second (!) Israeli invasion of Lebanon began on 6 June. And thirteen years ago today, my then-fiancée and I met with our intended officiant to discuss our impending nuptials (a month and a half later, we were no longer engaged, but I don't think it had anything to do with the reverend...).

The 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre just passed, too. I guess I'm trying to say that June is a hell of a month. It's Pride month, despite an awful lot of people (or is that a lot of awful people?) still not understanding that LGBTQIA+ people are still just people, deserving of the same unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness the rest of us feel entitled to. There's Flag Day on the 14th. Juneteenth happens this month. So does the solstice (the start of summer or winter, depending on whether you're north or south of the equator). Ashura falls on the 26th this year.

Preparem-se, o hexa está chegando! (Hopefully.) Yes, the World Cup starts this month. ⚽ I'm dreading what it's going to do to traffic (I live less than three miles from MetLife New York New Jersey Stadium as the corvid flies), and I'm not generally a fan of noisy, rambunctious (and inebriated) crowds, but I just might venture out to one of the local-ish events in June. We'll see. I'd have loved to have attended a match in person, and I wouldn't have even needed hotel accommodations, but the ticket prices are just astronomical, so... no.

I've been playing guitar regularly for the past several weeks, which is an awesome and much-needed feeling. (Bass, too, after finally restringing that thing.) A new song or two should result in June. Hopefully I can get back to the beach (or "down the shore") at least once or twice this month, too. Maybe to the Coney Island Mermaid Parade again...

OK, one thing that's not happening this month, though: Andersen Silva is not participating in UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn. Stop asking! I won't do it. Thppt!

To Lafayette Square from Tiananmen Square

If you're more bothered by images and video of riots and looting than you are by the knowledge that another black man, George Floyd, was indefensibly murdered by a cop, then you're part of the problem.

That's not to say that you're a racist. But watching a man die slowly under another man's knee, for allegedly passing a counterfeit bill?!? And knowing that the murderer and his accomplices were not immediately arrested? That should outrage you more.

That's also not to say that you can't be outraged by both. I'm not a fan of either violence or looting. I feel for the small business owners whose shops were attacked, and for cops who took a knee with protesters only to have things thrown at them, and for anyone injured who wasn't on the offensive. It is more than possible to hate racism and discrimination and intolerance, and also support police who do an incredibly difficult job without abusing or murdering people. But we go through this again and again and again, while more and more black men and women and children are killed. There are thoughts and prayers, some harsh words are spoken, there's a general murmur of agreement that this can't go on... and then it goes on. Of course people are frustrated. Of course that boils over. It's ugly, but it's a symptom, and we're not treating the ailment.

And of course, embedded in the protesters, there could well be third-party instigators, from the far left or the far right, or both, with their own agendas. None of that takes away from the pain and the anguish, none of that changes the fact that black Americans are not treated equally to white Americans. Yes, white Americans are harassed, and beaten, and killed by cops, too, but it's not proportional and it's not systemic.

I don't think black lives are "more important" than white lives, nor do I think that white ones are more important than black, or any other color. I don't think all, or even most, cops are bad people. I don't think all, or even most, Americans want to see this cycle repeat itself endlessly, but I do think there's a lot of inertia that needs to be overcome for real change to happen.

Would it be OK if, instead of George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery or Breonna Taylor (or Michael Brown, or Eric Garner, or Tamir Rice, or Freddie Gray, or Atatiana Jefferson, or David McAtee, or Manuel Ellis, or...), it had been you or your parent or sibling or child or partner? And next time, your friend? And the time after that, your cousin? It's easy to say that "It's a shame, and it never should have happened, but it's not my problem."

But it is. If we all intend to live here, in this country that promises "equal justice under law," we can't sit quietly by while the civil liberties we claim for ourselves are ripped away from our fellow citizens. No one is free until we are all free.

The Chinese government cracked down on its protesting citizens at Tiananmen Square 31 years ago today. Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are also notorious for tolerating little to no dissent from their own people. It doesn't work that way in this country, at least not yet. As long as our military and our police forces answer to civilian leaders, who answer to us, we need to keep the pressure on and make our voices heard. And thank you to those around the world who are raising your voices for equality in America, too.

It's not too much to ask, we shouldn't even have to ask, for black lives to matter.

Are You Going to Tiananmen Square?

Rifles, tanks, protesters, and death...

Twenty-five years ago today, the Chinese government and military declared a little war on their own people, students demanding reforms and the workers and other citizens who decided to stand with them. The brutal crackdown by the authorities against unarmed demonstrators is echoed in the recent behavior of the governments of Turkey, Russia, and Thailand (among others) towards anyone seriously (yet peacefully) criticizing the powers-that-be.

It's a sad commentary that the Chinese people still aren't allowed to even discuss Tiananmen Square. Their political system doesn't have to be a mirror of ours (which has its own flaws, to be sure), but for the party leadership to brush the protests off as the work of a few demagogues and lawbreakers, to deny that there even is or could be such a thing as a dissident in the country, spells bad things for both the people and the government.

One year ago today, I was getting ready, with my then-fiancée, to meet with a reverend we thought could give us the casual and fun wedding ceremony (in a Biergarten) we were planning. We both ended up liking her a lot and decided to go with her, though, as you may already be aware (spoilers!), Laura broke off the engagement several weeks later.

Three days ago, I finished a Spartan Race (a Spartan Sprint, to be precise) with some current colleagues (and a former one, and her husband); we called ourselves the Eh Team. Aroo!

Funny how things can change in a year... Laura and I had signed up for a Glow Run 5K together last summer, which we ended up missing due to traffic, but she was more interested in running and fitness than I ever was. When I found myself alone again, with a treadmill this time, I decided I should start using it, which led to my thinking out loud about running a 5K myself, which led to my colleague and friend Jenn asking if I'd be interested in doing a Spartan Race with her...

So we did it, and while we didn't do it quickly, and there were moments (particularly during the army crawl through the mud and under barbed wire, where my legs inconveniently decided to start cramping up) when I wasn't sure I could get through it, I'm glad we all finished, mud and sunburn and aches and scrapes and bruises notwithstanding. We've got the Warrior Dash coming up in August, too, and I'll probably be healed enough by then to do it. :-D I still want to run an actual 5K at some point as well, but I've got enough going on over the next two months or so to keep me busy already, and I also need to make some time to get back to the studio with my Greta's Unmentionables bandmates. And to record some of my own tunes, too.

Maybe I need to write a song for the Tank Men of the world, those who stand up in Tiananmen Square, or Taksim Square, or Maidan Square, or Tahrir Square, or Union Square, or the pass of Thermopylae, and say, "Enough is enough!"