1.25.21 | Exhale to the Chief

edition thirty-two

Jan 25, 2021

Good Monday morning and first day of classes, UMD. Honestly, it’s been a hard few weeks. A new year isn’t necessarily a reset. We’re in the middle of a difficult pandemic winter, literally and figuratively. I have been feeling so exhausted, beat down, and unmotivated. And I imagine so many of you are too. You are not alone. Send an encouraging message to a friend who needs it. And be gentle with yourself. Our agenda this week:

The Hill We Climb
The Dialogue (Social Justice)
Future of Higher Education
Best of the Rest

The Hill We Climb

START YOUR WEEK WITH AMANDA GORMAN

Somehow we weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished
There is always light
if only we're brave enough to see it
if only we're brave enough to be it.

Great interview: Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman on Her Career-Defining Address and Paying Homage to Maya Angelou (Vogue)
Lesson Plan: Discuss Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” (PBS)

WORDS MATTER

In an inauguration unlike any other, President Biden’s words made history in two ways. He is the first president since 1789 to use words such as inequity, pandemic, and extremism. And more than a quarter of all inaugural mentions of unity came from Biden. See the full breakdown: The unique words in Joe Biden's inauguration speech (Post)

“THE FIRST WHITE PRESIDENT,” REVISITED

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Donald Trump is Out. Are We Ready to Talk About How He Got In? (Atlantic)

One hopes that after four years of brown children in cages; of attempts to invalidate the will of Black voters in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Detroit; of hearing Trump tell congresswomen of color to go back where they came from; of claims that Joe Biden would turn Minnesota into “a refugee camp”; of his constant invocations of “the Chinese virus,” we can now safely conclude that Trump believes in a world where white people are—or should be—on top. It is still deeply challenging for so many people to accept the reality of what has happened—that a country has been captured by the worst of its history, while millions of Americans cheered this on.

Related: Adam Serwer: The Wounds Trump Leaves Behind (Atlantic)

INSURRECTION FALLOUT

Incredible journalism: Scroll through more than 500 videos organized by time and location. What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol (ProPublica).
Related: 41 minutes of fear: A video timeline from inside the Capitol siege (Post)

THAT’S WHAT HE SAID

Provocative argument will make more sense if you’re a fan of The Office: The higher you ascend the ladder of the Educated Gentry class, the more you become Michael Scott, says Alex Danco: The Michael Scott Theory of Social Class.