Civic – The Future is Open

November 4, 2024November 4, 2024

We are not going back!

Mom’s birthday is in a couple of days. Had she lived she’d be ninety-eight this year. Mom was born at Misericordia Hospital in Manhattan on November 6, 1926. She was born a mere six year after a woman’s right to vote was ratified in August of 1920. Mom’s father died on her fourth birthday and her family was taken in by a kindly aunt and uncle who gave my grandmother, Mom and her two year old brother a place to live. That was in the days before there were Social Security survivor benefits and if it hadn’t been for Uncle Bill and Aunt Mae I don’t know how Mom’s family would have survived.

They did survive however and Grandma, Mom, her brother, Uncle Bill, Aunt Mae and their two children who were born eventually lived in a walk up on 90th Street in Jackson Heights. Uncle Bill and Aunt Mae also took in a couple of cousins who’s father had a serious drinking problem and couldn’t or wouldn’t care for his two sons. Ten people in one apartment in Jackson Heights. The children all went to Catholic schools in the Queens and Manhattan. As Mom was nearing high school graduation Grandma told her the only way she could go to college was to earn a scholarship. My grandmother was a stenographer in the New York City court system.

Mom came home to Jackson Heights and applied for a teaching job but was turned down because she wasn’t a coach. Nowadays’s Mom would be able to sue for discrimination but in 1947 women had few rights. A Jesuit seminarian who lived upstairs in their apartment building encouraged Mom to apply for a Masters program in mathematics at Fordham University. She was accepted and worked her way through Fordham in one year enroute to a Masters degree in Mathematics. Surely she was employable now. Alas, she was no coach and she was once again denied employment on the basis of her sex. D’Youville College offered her a position as an instructor and Mom returned to Buffalo to teach for the Grey Nuns who were the folks who ran the college back then. Mom taught college mathematics for four years. During that time she met my Dad. They got married in 1951 and I was born the following year.

They had relocated for my father to complete an internship. When they returned to Western New York for my father to setup a dental practice Mom elected to work as his dental assistant and forego a teaching career. It’s doubtful that a married woman with an infant son and another on the way would have been hired to teach anywhere in the early 1950’s. Those rights were denied women into the early 1970’s. My father’s health declined in the early 1970’s and he eventually died. Even though Mom had been a cosigner on a home mortgage with my father she was denied credit in 1973 following his death to obtain housing for our family. Women couldn’t seek credit on their own until the following year in 1974.

Mom voted for Hillary Clinton eight years ago and I’m sure she would have cast a vote for Kamala Harris this time too. Mom knew well the trials and tribulations of women who were long treated as second class citizens in a country where all citizens are guaranteed life liberty and property by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. Women got the right to vote eighty-four years ago with the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution but we’ve never elected one president of the United States. Let’s hope that changes this year.

April 3, 2023

Why Public Libraries are Essential for Community Learning and Development

Public libraries significantly promote literacy and provide access to books and other resources that help individuals learn and grow. For mothers of small children, especially those who are learning how to read, public libraries are a valuable resource that can significantly benefit both mothers and their children. This blog will discuss how public libraries are a boon to mothers of small children learning to read.

Firstly, public libraries provide a wide range of resources that support literacy development. Mothers of small children can borrow books, audiobooks, and other materials from the library’s collection, which can help children develop their reading skills. Public libraries often have a wide range of books for children of different ages and reading levels, making it easy for mothers to find age-appropriate materials for their children. Additionally, libraries offer storytimes and other reading programs that promote literacy and help children develop a love for reading. These programs can also provide mothers with guidance and support on reading with their children, encouraging them to ask questions and engage with the story.

Secondly, public libraries provide a safe and welcoming space for mothers and their children. Libraries are quiet and calming, providing a peaceful environment conducive to reading and learning. Mothers can bring their children to the library without worrying about distractions or interruptions, allowing them to focus on reading and learning. Additionally, libraries have knowledgeable professionals who can assist mothers in finding the resources they need and provide guidance on literacy development.

Thirdly, public libraries are free and accessible to everyone, regardless of background or financial situation. Libraries ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to develop their literacy skills, regardless of socioeconomic status. Mothers who may not have the financial resources to purchase books or access other literacy resources can still allow their children to develop their reading skills through the library’s resources.

In conclusion, public libraries are a valuable resource for mothers of small children learning to read. They provide a wide range of resources, a safe and welcoming environment, and are free and accessible. By providing mothers with the tools and resources they need to promote literacy development in their children, public libraries play an essential role in helping children develop the skills they need to succeed in life. Therefore, it is vital to continue supporting public libraries to ensure they can continue serving as a boon to mothers of small children learning how to read.

June 14, 2022

WTAF?

I just read that the governor of Ohio has signed a bill that allows teachers to carry guns in schools in that state with no more than twenty-four hours training. What could possibly go wrong. I wonder when the government of Ohio will allow citizens to get a drivers license with merely twenty-four hours of training. The God, guns and Jesus crowd are creaming their jeans I’m sure. What about the collateral damage in schools where such insanity prevails?

Previously Ohio teachers who wanted to carry guns in schools could do so with seven-hundred hours of training but now the requirement has been reduced to twenty-four hours. The governor is a Republican of course. The GOP might be on to something here. I wonder if the Army, Air Force and Marines will follow suit. We could save a lot of money if basic training were reduced to twenty-four hours instead of seven to ten weeks.

The backers of the measure say that the bill will make schools safer. Teachers unions have opposed arming teachers. I’m with the teachers who are opposed. I don’t see how any good can come from this obtuse response to keeping schools safer.

May 27, 2022

A Quaker Response to Gun Violence – Friends Journal

The problem is that for some people in the United States, guns have replaced God as the source of their trust and as the authority they turn to in order to resolve conflicts.
— Read on www.friendsjournal.org/a-quaker-response-to-gun-violence/

May 22, 2022

Thank you padre!

Saw this on Representative Mike Thompson’s Twitter feed this morning. Mike Thompson represents California’s 5th Congressional District. This letter from a Catholic Priest friend says it all about Arch Bishop Cordileone’s latest misguided decision:

“Bishops, priests, etc. are neither the hosts nor the bouncers nor the ones who wrote the guest list. The Eucharist is the resurrected body of Christ given for the life of the world…

Jesus Christ is the one who invites the guests (“all you who labor”); he is the host of those who come; he is the setter of the table; and he is the feast which is shared (“Take this, all of you. this is my body, this is my blood”)…

We are guests at the meal, and sometimes (by his calling) servers. So stay in your lane, please. The wait staff doesn’t get to exclude those who want to come. If you don’t like the company Christ calls (and, admittedly, it is a rag tag bunch of sinners, one and all), it’s… you who need to leave the table, not them.”

October 1, 2021

Who are they kidding?

I read today that a poll conducted recently that a majority of voters of both persuasions believe that the time has come for secession from the United States of America. Are these folks living in a vacuum? Who do they think provides the fuel for the economy that provides for the common defense and the common good? Forces of the extreme right wing of the Republican party who care nothing about the common good of the country and for that matter, the world are espousing this wrong headed approach to the body politic.

These separatists who decry socialism and advanced society fail to realize that the roads we drive on, the sewer and water systems that support our day to day lives and most of the infrastructure that supports our daily lives is paid for by tax dollars. Many of the so called red states are full of military installations which provide thousands of jobs and no doubt contribute mightily to the wealth of the communities that surround them. If they secede from the union then those jobs go to other states.

Nearly seven hundred twenty thousand Americans are dead from a deadly virus primarily because this same bunch of idiots are interfering with roll-out of the vaccine to mitigate the effects of the virus.

It’s October 1 and where I live the trees are still mostly green. That’s unusual. When I was a boy most of the trees were bright orange on the first day of October. It was common to have a ‘killing frost’ by mid-September. We have had one overnight when the temperature dipped to 38 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast for December this year is for warmer weather than normal. That’s all becasue the climate is changing. The gulf coast of our country has been ravaged by record breaking hurricanes which have left unheard of destruction in their wake.

We need thoughtful leadership from intelligent people. I encourage you not to listen to talking heads spreading lies and misinformation that put the lives of all the world at risk. Be a uniter not a divider.

August 27, 2021

Holding Afghanistan in the Light

More broadly, it is far past time for the United States to acknowledge that peace and real security can never be achieved through military force, and to therefore abandon the failed endless war paradigm completely.
— Read on www.fcnl.org/updates/2021-08/holding-afghanistan-light

The horrific attacks at Kabul Airport must not be used as a pretext for more war. The military industrial complex and its supporters have kept the United States in a wartime footing since 1939. The present war in Afghanistan has depleted our National treasure long enough and has done nothing to end terrorism nor advance the cause of world peace.

June 2, 2021

You owe it to yourself

Persist by Elizabeth Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked Elizabeth Warren and thought she had the makings of a great president before I read this book. Now after reading the book I am more sure than ever. This book is well written. It’s full of personal stories that are riveting and policy statements and research that are compelling. I was fortunate to get a signed copy of the book and now it’s going to be passed on to my daughter who is an Elizabeth Warren fan. I highly recommend reading the book. You won’t be disappointed. Persist.