Sunday evening’s PBS Weekend had a good interview with two Black women talking about Juneteenth. One said it comes down to sharing Black Joy. That worked for me. It also had a touching interview about fatherhood – so uplifting. Also on the positive side, I recently discovered Playing for Change music videos. By pleasant coincidence, on Sunday I watched videos, “Color Fest” and “Get Up, Stand Up.” Fabulous!

Melissa Mohr’s take on Juneteenth in the Home Forum of the Christian Science Monitor (June 13), gave a short overview of its history. Mohr’s explanation of the difference between manumission – to release from the hand – described the head of a family freeing one of his enslaved workers. Emancipation described when the head of the family freed adult children or his own wife who were under his legal control. Confusing, and as complicated as the painful topic of who fathered whom in a slave society. Even so, belated Happy Father’s Day to all.

I’m still plodding through Roxane Gay’s essays in Bad Feminist. Painful topics included trickle-down misogyny in “Beyond the Measure of a Man”; and bad timing, crass remarks and silence being a form of consent, in “Some Jokes Are Funnier than Others”. “Dear Young Ladies Who Love Chris Brown” dealt with a someone I’ve never heard of, thankfully, but celebrity domestic abuse was no fun. “Blurred Lines” addressed sexist myths and double standards. “The Trouble with Prince Charming” elaborated on Shades of Gray and the Twilight series, that I didn’t read. Hard stuff to wade through, but her points of brilliance were outstanding.

 blog post. https://rokeefehistory.com/blog #amreading; #RochesterNY; #Juneteenth; #FathersDay; #Emancipation; #CSM; #PlayingforChange; #RoxaneGay; #BadFeminist;