Author: dwaynecalvinbrown

Here in these United States there are a lot of guns floating around. According to a Pew Research study there are somewhere between 270 million to 310 million . The U S population is about 325 million people so that means there are enough guns to arm every man ,woman and child in America. Any discussion of gun ownership and Second Amendment rights provokes strong feelings and sends people into their entrenched ideological camps. The national dialogue around guns is a toxic subject

I hate guns. I grew into my hatred of guns slowly over decades. My  concept of guns originated on TV and in films. The Lone Ranger used a gun and left behind silver bullets as souvenirs. Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd shot at Bugs Bunny every Saturday morning. One of the more defining traits of Superman was that he was bullet proof. This type of entertainment was seen as good clean fun. As I got older my  experiences grew and became more sophisticated. Guns became something I heard about on the news, and I personally began to know victims of gun violence. I remember one time in particular when my mother was robbed at gun point on our front porch after getting home from work one night. I also remember a time as a teenager when I was in a heated argument with a family member that was struggling with drug addiction. The family member, with tears in his eyes said, “if I had a gun I would blow your motherfucking brains out.” I believed him. Today this family member is clean and sober and we are as close as two people can be. There is nothing but genuine love between us but what if things were different and there was a gun available? I could’ve been killed and the course of his life would have been changed forever.

After college I enlisted in the United States Army and became a Medical Specialist(Combat Medic).My first duty station was Ft Drum, NY and I was  deployed to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope.  I was involved in the treatment of  civilian and military mass casualty patients. I saw first hand, on multiple occasions the  damage guns can do to the human body. After returning from Somalia I remember when  a fellow soldier and friend of mine was shot in the neck, paralyzed and later died following an altercation at a nightclub. Gun violence has destroyed the lives of a lot of good people I know.

After the Army I began working as Cardiovascular Technologist in Atlanta. It was around that time when I began to notice the prevalence of school shootings. Columbine was the first big one that got my attention and then others followed.This is just one link detailing some of the deadliest school shootings since Columbine. https://www.axios.com/by-the-numbers-the-10-deadliest-school-shootings-since-columbine-91efddc3-adcd-4991-bd5c-59938db7bc2f.html. Coverage of these tragic events often entailed a cycle of outrage, thoughts and prayers and legislative inaction. Between the influence of the NRA and the ridiculous “slippery slope” arguments  of conservatives a serious conversation on guns seems impossible.

Guns are tools that can be used for good or evil. What makes them different from most tools is their capacity for harm. I feel that guns should be heavily regulated. It has been shown that gun owners are more likely to harm themselves than any potential attackers. It has also been documented that somewhere around 50 percent of suicides are carried out by guns. Guns emboldens people to behave more aggressively than they would without one.

It is sad the president and republicans oppose ANY gun legislation whatsoever. No one on the left has ever proposed overturning the Second Amendment(never mind the fact it would take a lot of buy in for that to happen).There are some common sense laws that should be established and enforced regarding guns. First of all there is absolutely no reason for ordinary civilians to have access to automatic weapons of war. There should be an assault weapons ban. People can’t and shouldn’t have working tanks, bazookas or nuclear bombs for obvious reasons. Automatic guns capable of killing hundreds of people in seconds should be no exception. Secondly, mentally unstable people and criminals shouldn’t have access to guns. We should have universal background checks for everyone wishing to buy a gun with a mandatory waiting period. That background check should happen whether you are buying at a gun show or online, background check standards should be the same across the board. If you pass a background check and you give or sell a gun to someone that shouldn’t have one then you should be held liable for whatever crimes they commit with it.  Finally you shouldn’t be able to own a weapon until you’re at least 21 years old(of course you can use one in the execution of official military service).

I believe these proposals are reasonable but of course we are not living in reasonable times. With the current president and a Republican Party willing to turn a blind eye to his unethical, immoral and illegal behavior common sense gun legislation is unlikely. It will remain unlikely until there becomes a political price to pay for kowtowing to the NRA and being indifferent to the pain and suffering of gun violence. The best way to bring about change is to register to vote, show up and vote those do nothing people out of office. If we don’t then gun violence and school shootings will become as synonymous with America as baseball and Apple pie.

I firmly believe that Stacey Yvonne Abrams can win the Governorship of Georgia in the November 2018 election. I don’t mean she can win in some philosophically, theoretical way I mean that I she has a great chance to win. I believe she can win if she remains true to herself and to her beliefs and not become some characterization of what she thinks people want her to be.

In my mind there are some familiar parallels between Ms Abrams and former President Obama. They are both charismatic, articulate highly educated African Americans in the political field with a chance to attain an office previously not held by blacks. Also like the former President, Ms Abrams takes a more practical approach to politics rather than an ideological one. She understands compromise and is willing to do so to achieve the greater good.

Many people don’t believe Ms Abrams can win just like they didn’t believe Mr Obama would win back in 2008. Many didn’t feel the nation was “ready” for a black President and many people now think that Georgia is too red of a state to elect a black woman to its highest office. She will win because she won’t fall into the trap that Secretary Clinton fell in during the 2016 presidential election. President Trump by many accounts was an extremely flawed candidate. There was almost a sense on inevitability of a Clinton presidency during that campaign. Because of this sense of entitlement I think Mrs Clinton made several tactical errors. Chief among these errors were not putting resources into the so called firewall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. In two of those states she didn’t even bother to run any ads. It was a classic case of overconfidence. Clinton came across as stilted and unrelatable . President Trump for all of his real and perceived faults came across as the genuine article. Yes he is a liar and foolish but you get the sense that what you see is what you get. He is not putting on an act. People respond well to that.

Stacey Abrams just like Barack Obama are under no illusions of inevitability. She knows just like Obama knew that you have to put the work in on the ground. Knock on doors, register people and most importantly be honest about what you believe and how you feel. When John Ossoff ran against Karen Handel he came across as a light republican. He was trying to speak the language of conservatives. He shied away from liberal ideals because he wanted to appeal to certain demographics. I believe the electorate responds well to candidates that are true to their beliefs and don’t try to be something they are not. Barack Obama went and met people that weren’t his typical audience and defended his positions honestly. He didn’t just tell people what they wanted to hear he told them the truth. The nation rewarded him by electing him twice by wide margins. This is the blueprint that Stacey Abrams will follow and I think that if she stays on course with fidelity she will be elected Governor of Georgia.

I think that people are tribal and see the world in a way that reinforces what they already believe. That means that hardcore Trump Supporters and bleeding heart liberals like myself are unlikely to change. However I also believe that a large number of people in Georgia and the nation are hungry for competent, intelligent leadership and Stacey Abrams possesses those qualities. There is a blue wave spreading across America and if we do our part by voting that wave can begin right here at home in Georgia. Please vote for Stacey Abrams to be the next Governor of Georgia.

Democratic primary hinges on black voters
— Read on epaper.ajc.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx

Well this bullshit has happened again. I was in a Hardees restaurant on the way back from New Orleans. My girlfriend went to the restroom and upon coming out she caught news of a school shooting on the TV there. When she told me what was happening I said ” Stop right there, let me guess…young white male right?” The same sick cycle is repeating itself again. Some white male shoots a bunch of kids, the endless news coverage, the Left’s calls for gun control and the Right’s abject defense of the Second Amendment. This all followed by the president and other leaders offering their thoughts and prayers. MAN FUCK YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.

What really pisses me and many other people off is this messed up mental state this nation is caught in. Some illegal immigrant kills someone and we are asked to spend billions of dollars on a fucking wall to keep the Mexicans out. Some citizens uses their constitutional right to free speech and assembly to declare that black lives matter and we are beaten with the black on black crime statistic. Let a Muslim anywhere near an airport and watch how much scrutiny he gets. 17 times a school shooting has happened this year and we won’t do a God Damned thing about it but offer our thoughts and prayers.

I realize that passing laws doesn’t mean people won’t break those laws but still…we should do SOMETHING. Why the fuck does a private citizen need an AR-15? I feel really bad for the families of those lost in the shootings. I wonder if ,God forbid, some of these politicians lost their kids to gun violence if they would be so quick to defend the industry. Sadly I don’t think it would matter at all. I guess there’s nothing left to do but watch this die down and get less shocked when it happens again. For a nation that prides itself on being the greatest in the world we are failing in basic humanity and in common sense.

I was born in the year 1970, not that far removed from a time in America where racial segregation was actively practiced. I knew people that had known first hand what it was like to be forced to sit in the back of the bus or to drink from colored only water fountains. I have never suffered the indignity of segregation. I was was lucky enough to be born in a family that loved me and saw to it that I got a good education. It was embedded in me as a little boy the importance of an education and the value of hard work and perseverance. Despite the positive reinforcements in my life there was also this undercurrent of ideas that persisted in the back of my mind growing up. The idea of somehow being “less than” or of being the “other”. The source of these ideas in my opinion were popular culture and to a lesser degree the celebration of Black History Week(later month).

Popular culture and entertainment’s impact on the self esteem of young black boys of the 1970’s can not be overstated. From movies to TV to magazines to comic books to the news to soap operas ; the dominant image displayed is that of the powerful white male. White men were the superhero’s that saved people, the captains that explored the galaxy in starships, and the presidents that led the nation. White women were upheld as the standard of beauty used to sell everything from make up to laundry detergent. When black men were portrayed on TV and movies it was more often as pimps, hustlers or otherwise poor people of character and means. So a black kid growing up back then didn’t have many positive role models to look up to compared to a white kid. A little white boy could be Superman because Superman is white. It sounds trivial but subtle reinforcements like that can have consequences on a child’s self esteem, especially when the image of what looks like you is typically portrayed in a negative light.

Ironically the celebration of Black History Month can impact ones self esteem. I say ironically because I believe that overwhelmingly it helps more that it harms. Black History Month was created by Carter G Woodson in 1926. Back then it was called Negro History Week and in 1976 it was expanded to include the entire month of February. For me celebrating black history month meant that the mini series Roots were played on TV, we got extra classes on famous black people and we heard a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King and his speeches. You heard about the slaves and the Civil Rights Movement. All of these things were good and needed to be taught but it was always taught apart from traditional American history. When studying the foundation of the United States you hear the familiar tropes Plymouth Rock, Columbus and manifest destiny. You hear about white men of impeccable character intellect and fortitude bringing the gift of liberty and civilization to a new land. On the question of slavery you hear about a benevolent president in Abraham Lincoln that freed the lowly and helpless slaves from bondage. What you don’t hear are the stories of brave African Americans and their impact on the founding of the nation. These stories are usually reserved for Black history Month. In a sense you get the impression that black history isn’t exactly American history. It almost feels like a concession given to blacks; here’s a month when we will talk about your history but the rest of the year its back to business as usual. I guess to me it feels that if you have to regulate black contributions to just a month it cheapens it somehow.

I realize that these thoughts are not justified. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become to really appreciate the rich tapestry that is American History. History is not just one sanitized version of events but a fluid and complicated narrative with many points of view. Every time Black History Month rolls around I get the same conflicted feelings. It’s great that there is a designated time to acknowledge Black achievement but I wonder if the nation would be better served if we stop thinking of it as Black History and just history.

   I’ve heard the question before. One of my Facebook friends asked how many mass shooter were women. I don’t know the answer to that question but my gut tells me that it’s zero. I don’t suggests that women don’t have the same failings as men but as a gender they seem to be more conscientious and thoughtful than men, on average. Wheather it’s by nature or nurture girls and women seem to be more caring and empathetic to the needs and feelings of others. All of the assertions I make are not backed by any science or research but but by my own anecdotal recollections.

To live in a world were Donald J Trump is the president of the United States is to live in a world that is more cruel and intolerant than it was the previous eight years. Hillary Clinton may not have made a great President but at least we wouldn’t have the childish antics that we have from the current administration. When I think about the fact that it was two female Senators that opposed the Obamacare repeal, it makes me wonder how much better off we would all be with female leadership at the highest levels.

  Some people believe that men are natural leaders and better suited to the role.  Those people may or may not be correct in their assessment. What I do know is that the earliest leaders of my life have been women. From my mother to the various teachers I’ve had in my life these ladies showed me how to pair strength and knowledge with compassion. The leadership of President Barack Obama’s mother delivered us one of the best presidents in history.

  Men have no doubt done very good and consequential things for our world. However, you have to wonder that if a woman was President during Bush 43, would we have been involved in Iraq? Would a female President gotten us involved in the Vietnam War? Would we at least have universal healthcare if a women had more power? I feel like we would have been better off during those times. It sort comes back to that original questing about mass shooters being women.

   Thankfully we live in a society that values its women(mostly). I think we have to continue to encourage our girls to be leaders. Not just for the sake of our girls but for the sake of our very survival.

    I am now and have always been a fan of science fiction and fantasy. I suspect my reason for being a fan of the genre was the same as most people ; a desire to escape the mundane and routine activities of life. As an avid reader I tend to pick material that goes beyond the ordinary. I guess you can say that it gives me a chance to live vicariously the lives of other more interesting and fantastic people, albeit fictional. My absolute favorite Sci-Fi/ Fantasy character is Superman. Superman represents that feeling that all of us nerds share. That feeling that underneath the geeky and weak exterior lies a very powerful and benevolent being. Another favorite fantasy vehicle for me was the Twilight Zone TV series hosted by the late Rod Serling.

   The Twilight Zone reruns used to come on late at night when I was growing up in New Orleans. I remember this one particular episode that became my absolute favorite.  In the introduction Rod Serling is standing in front of a map of the United States. He goes on to explain that one day everything disappeared except this one little town, Peaksville, Ohio. The people in the town wasn’t sure if the rest of the world was removed or if Peaksville itself had been transported. The one thing that the citizens knew with certainty was the cause of this event. A monster had arrived. Serling goes on to describe this very powerful monster that can, just by using its mind, can make anything happen. Further more, the monster can read minds and sense emotions and if anyone thought anything bad about the monster…lookout. The monster could turn you into a “grotesque creature” or simply wish you away into a cornfield in which there was no escape. At the end of the introduction mister Serling remembers that he hadn’t introduced the TV audience to the monster. The monster as it turns out was a six year old little boy with a “guileless” smile named Anthony Fremont. Little Anthony Fremont was a cruel bully, with absolute power that constantly terrorized the people of Peaksville. He made people vanish, put them on fire and even turned a guy into a jack in the box at the man’s own birthday party. He was the polar opposite of the Superman character. He was a malevolent and very powerful being. 

   On January 20th,2017 we transitioned from Superman to Anthony Fremont. In President Barack Obama we had a gentleman who used the powers of the presidency for the good of the United States and the world. In Donald J Trump we have a “president ” that routinely uses his powers to bully and belittle others. The parallels between the Anthony Fremont character and Mister Trump cannot go unnoticed. Mister Trump is the most powerful man in the world and yet,much like Anthony, he punishes people(via twitter) that dare to say anything critical of him. His language and mannerisms are childlike and given the enormous authority he possesses that interposition becomes striking.  In many ways Donald Trump is a Bizzaro version of President Obama. On the one hand you have a charismatic,intelligent young black man and on the other you have an old,stupid white guy. The results of that to date is well documented. 

   Given all that has transpired since the election of 2016, I can’t help but wonder if this monster in Donald Trump is simply a reflection of what we are as a nation. Mister Trump didn’t get to the Oval Office by accident. He campaigned and appealed to millions with a message of hate and intolerance and it worked. For as ridiculous and asinine as mister Trumps well documented actions are, none of these character traits were a secret to the electorate. People knew about him and they voted for him by the millions. Not only did Secretary Clinton lose badly to him but so did many democrats on the same ticket. What all this tells me is that perhaps Donald Trump isn’t the cause but rather the symptom. Trump is the symptom of a citizenry that suffers from apathy and willful ignorance. He is the symptom of a society that is rejecting science, and reason, and facts for half truths and outright lies. 

    The way to defeat this monster isn’t solely to highlight the misdeeds of the president but it also involves better messaging. I personally feel that the president is a foolish man child uniquely unqualified to hold the office. I believe he is a lair and quite possibly suffers from mental illness. However, I do believe that he is absolutely genuine. What you see in him is what you get and THAT is appealing to voters. We ( democrats and people that oppose him) have got to be as dedicated to liberal causes as the the republicans are to conservative causes. I do not believe we should abandon focus on the misdeeds of the president but we also have to offer our own solutions and contrast them to the republicans. People need something to vote for as well as something to vote against. 

    Those are some general principles. I think specifically each of us can do the following: Encourage and help others register for the vote, Vote, Find out your elected representatives contact information and communicate your feelings, Engage with people of different ideologies and try to understand them, Donate money to candidates and causes you support and finally educate yourself and others on the issues. Victory can’t be won in one day or one  election. Through dedication, steadfastness and absolute resolve we can make this nation and the world a better place, but we have to start today. 

   I call it Trump Exhausion (T.E). It is a wholly different concept in my mind than Trump Stress(T.S). When I was in the Army I once heard someone define stress as the feeling you get when there is a discrepancy between how you want things to be and how they actually are. I was really proud and supportive of Former President Barack Obama’s time in office. I thought he showed a command of the issues and possessed an intellect that even his detractors admitted was formidable. As his term came to an end, I felt that Secretary Clinton would continue in the same manner. On election night what I wanted was not what happened and so began my era of Trump Stress. 
   The Stress wasn’t hard to deal with. I supported Gore and Dukakis over Bush and got over it. I supported Mondale over the elder Bush and got over it. Even though I was too young to vote I wanted Jimmy Carter to defeat Ronald Reagan, that didn’t happen and I got over it. These men that I didn’t want assumed the Oval Office and to be sure it was stressful but I never thought them incapable of actually doing the job. When I saw these people on TV in my mind I saw the President Of The United States and although I disagreed with them they at least appeared to be somewhat rational men. 

   Donald Trump has long since passed the point of stress. This man is exhausting. He has been president for four months now and just about every day has been filled with lies, incompetence and an outright disregard for common decency and respect. He is proving himself to be a foolish manchild that has zero understanding of domestic and international issues. He rejects counsel,science and the advice of those charged with advising him. Having someone this stupid isn’t just exhausting it is down right dangerous .

   The only thing that can be done by private citizens like myself is to engage compassionately with people of different ideology, educate themselves on the issues and vote. Thoughtful civic engagement is the only path forward. Now is not the time to become complacent. It can be tiring revisiting the same issues over and over but this righteous indignation cannot cease. The stakes are too important. The future of our institutions, the press, religious liberty and the respect of our nation in the world depends on our steadfast resolve not to quit. We cannot continue to allow a racist, xenophobic, mental midget to represent this nation. President Donald Trump,and people like him, are a cancer and thoughtful people of good will have to be the cure. 

I love living in the South. The summers are hot(the way I like it), and the winters are mild. I didn’t encounter snow on a serious level until I joined the U.S Army when I was 21…

Source:  Of The People, For The People, By The People. 

I’ve heard the assertion over and over again from his supporters. It goes something like”Sure he may have said those things during the campaign but I’m sure h…

Source: Fruit Bearing Trees, Credit Checks,And A Better Tomorrow.