Opinion

Normalcy and tradition held sway as — for the first time in my life — I watched a presidential inauguration live, listening to Lady Gaga sing the national anthem and, then, Joe Biden take the oath of office, becoming the 46th president of the United States.

As I write these words, I find myself swimming in a complex stew of emotions, more moved by what I have just watched than I expected to be.

“. . . if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts . . .”

And then Garth Brooks sang “Amazing Grace,: urging everyone — including the folks at home — to join him. And I did, quietly saying to myself: You’ve got to be kidding me.

The upstart pop act, with releases also ranging in genre from rock to funk to hip hop, Ace & Boris have cultivated the ideal repertoire for live shows post pandemic. The band is prepping for a post-pandemic extravagant live show tour of the Midwest with record label Darlar Productions. Tour dates and locations will be announced soon by Darlar Productions; the band intends for Columbus to be on the schedule. The quickly rising artists are sure to draw large audiences with their stage performances and musical skill alike.

Singers and multi-instrumentalists Ace Peterson and Boris Rockwell began writing and performing music in the greater Columbus, Ohio area in 2019. Their talent as musicians and showmen was quickly recognized by record label Darlar Productions, with whom they entered into a creative collaborative agreement that year, granting them full license overall production decisions and distribution of their works.

The upstart pop act, with releases also ranging in genre from rock to funk to hip hop, Ace & Boris have cultivated the ideal repertoire for live shows post pandemic. The band is prepping for a post-pandemic extravagant live show tour of the Midwest with record label Darlar Productions. Tour dates and locations will be announced soon by Darlar Productions; the band intends for Columbus to be on the schedule. The quickly rising artists are sure to draw large audiences with their stage performances and musical skill alike.

Singers and multi-instrumentalists Ace Peterson and Boris Rockwell began writing and performing music in the greater Columbus, Ohio area in 2019. Their talent as musicians and showmen was quickly recognized by record label Darlar Productions, with whom they entered into a creative collaborative agreement that year, granting them full license overall production decisions and distribution of their works.

As the sun sets slowly on Trump’s presidency and we bid a not-so-fond farewell to the ex-resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, presumably leaving for exile at Mar-a-Largo, it’s worth reflecting: After all he’s said and done, what have we really learned from The Donald?

By this, I don’t mean some sort of high-minded platitude, such as “Democracy is a fragile thing.” Rather, I am referring to what of value, that one can put to practical use, has Trump actually taught us?

Sandwiched between the nation’s honoring of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 18 and the inauguration of President Biden on January 20, a deportation charter flight is scheduled to leave Florence (Arizona), for Mauritania on Tuesday. Flights to Haiti and Jamaica with others being deported are also scheduled.

These are some of the last acts of Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) . For the Black Mauritanian, Haitian, and Jamaican communities and their families, it is deeply painful for these asylum-seekers who traveled so far to seek freedom and their families.

Before Trump, deportations to Mauritania “were rare”, says Houleye Thiam, president of the Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in US (MNHRUS), which is based in Columbus and Cincinnati. According to US Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, the largest Mauritanian community in the US is here in Central Ohio.

One of the many things we must rightly demand of the incoming U.S. government is the abandonment of rogue status, the serious participation in treaties, a cooperative and productive relationship with the rest of the world.

We’ve all heard about the Iran agreement, which ought to be re-joined and made into a treaty — and sanctions ought to be ended. Biden can do this alone, except for the ending sanctions part.

We’ve all heard about the Paris climate agreement, which ought to be re-joined and made into a treaty — and military pollution included. Biden can do this alone on Day 1.

But what about the others? What about the treaties that Trump has illegally withdrawn from (illegally because treaties require Congress, and because these treaties have built-in procedures for addressing the alleged problems Trump used as excuses to withdraw)? Biden can rejoin them at will. Does he have the will?

In a recent article Catholic University professor Claes G. Ryn wrote“Few people are really open to persuasion in any case—not just on political subjects but on any subject about which they care and on which they have adopted certain views. Diehard partisans for a certain outlook will refuse to have their beliefs questioned, and so will many others. They will be no less dismissive of a document challenging their opinions if it is full of footnotes and appendixes. Such a document will, indeed, make them resist it even more. As for the relatively few people who are truly open-minded, they will not find another person’s observations dispositive. They will, as they should, want to consider the evidence on a contested matter for themselves.” The observation immediately calls to mind the red-blue political division that has hardened in the United States over the past several years, with the two sides persistently talking past each other. Part of the problem is that once someone has staked out an essentially ideological position, he or she will regard new developments in such a way as to fit with that preconception.

Wednesday, January 13–Saturday, January 16
Comic book fans of all ages: get ready for the ninth annual Schomburg Black Comic Book Festival, the virtual edition!
Each year, the Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival brings creators, illustrators, writers, and independent publishers together with thousands of collectors, blerds, and nerds for two days of programming and activities. The highly-anticipated community event includes interactive panel discussions, a vendor marketplace featuring exclusive titles by Black creators, a cosplay show, and more.
Black Comic Book Festival participants are encouraged to wear their favorite cosplay costumes and to register for the annual cosplay show (details TBA).

Have you registered yet?

Events include a tribute to actor and former Schomburg Center acting teacher Chadwick Boseman, a workshop with animator Tim Fielder, the launch event of John Jennings's Megascope imprint, and more!

AN OPEN LETTER TO MAGA MARCHERS

When Donald Trump incited you to assault the Capitol, he said he would be with you.

He wasn’t.

Four of you are dead and you’ve killed a policeman. More of you will suffer and die from the COVID that spread through your maskless march. Many of you now face prison terms and ruined lives.

Had you been black, you’d’ve been gunned down before you got anywhere near the Capitol building.

Some of you in Los Angeles compensated by assaulting a black woman who accidentally walked into one of your rallies. Others expressed your opinions about Jews by wearing hats saying 6MWE (Six Million Wasn’t Enough).

Maybe Trump’s bone spurs kept him from marching with you.

When Alice Paul and Martin Luther King and Dorothy Day and Cesar Chavez and so many other great American leaders have organized marches for social change, they personally endured gassings, beatings, imprisonment. They never hesitated to risk their own bodies for a higher cause.

I still see the noose in front of the capitol building, dangling oh so metaphorically.

“No matter how all this plays out, it’s only the beginning,” wrote a user on TheDonald message board, according to the Associated Press.