Everett Jenkins Birthday Blog

  88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Alphabetical Index 2022 9/11 Remembrance Day  A00067 A Day with Bernadette, A Few Moments with Moses the Ethiopian A00063 Abdul Qadeer Khan, Father of Pakistan's Nuclear Program  A00003 April 2022 Must Watch TV: Benjamin Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns  A00036 Art Laboe, R. I. P.  A00078 Bill Russell, High Jumper  A00062 Black Savants: The Remarkable Stories of Willard Wigan and Stephen Wiltshire  A00009 Book of the Month for February 2022: Your Blues Ain't Like Mine: A Conversation with Bebe Moore Campbell  A00022 Book of the Month for November 2022: Trouble in the Tribe: The Golden Rule  A00089 Bruce's Beach Revisited  A00018 Busy Inside and Drive My Car  A00033 Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas in August  A00064 Driving While Black  A00028 El Dia de Los Muertos por Los Pajaros  A00005 False Prophets  A00007 February 2022 Must See ...

  The Ukrainian Connection My name is Everett Jenkins and I have had an interesting African American life. On e of the highlights of my interesting African American life has been my discovery of my Canadian heritage.  Indeed, one of the most startling life changing discoveries of my life came in 1990 when I attended my first family reunion in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and became aware of my unique family history.  As I learned during that reunion, my great great grandfather was one of the founders of an all Black farming community located about 90 miles northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  The farming community became known as Amber Valley and, in 2021, the Canadian government honored the Black pioneers of Amber Valley by issuing a stamp in their honor for Black History month. As the stamp booklet explains: "Many Black Americans immigrated to Canada during the 19th and early 2 0 th centuries to escape racism and build a better life, only to face a ...

One of the more intriguing medical developments is the current interest in using psychedelic substances to address certain mental ailments.  Having watched the recent NOVA program entitled "Can Psychedelics Cure?", I found the prospects to be fascinating.  Accordingly, for the month of October 2022, the PBS program NOVA airing of the episode titled "Can Psychedelics Cure?" is my Must See TV for October 2022. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/can-psychedelics-cure/ The prospects just may be fascinating for you as well. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California October 26, 2022

Southern California lost another great radio personality.  On the heels of losing the great Vin Scully in August https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/sports/baseball/vin-scully-dead.html we are now mourning the loss of the great Art Laboe https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/business/media/art-laboe-dead.html For those who grew up in Southern California, or those who have traveled up and down Interstate 5 at night, it was hard not to have listened to Art Laboe and to be hooked by this Oldie but Goodie playing the oldies but goodies of a musical lifetime.  The following California Report broadcast on Art Laboe at 93 highlights the allure of the man and his show.  https://www.kqed.org/news/11723524/at-93-this-california-dj-is-still-connecting-loved-ones-on-the-air What is a bit harder to highlight are the memories of listening to Art Laboe while driving through the desert on a moonlit Summer night.   He will be missed ... but he will continue to live in our memories. ...

  On the Tuesday, October 18, 2022, PBS Newshour, Dov Waxman was interviewed concerning the perceived rise in anti-semitism in American discourse.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dov_Waxman I found Mr. Waxman to be a rather articulate source on the subject matter and, after reading his Wikipedia profile, I became intrigued by a couple of the titles of his books.   Accordingly, based on previous posts, I find myself drawn to reading   Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691168999/trouble-in-the-tribe Trouble in the Tribe  will be my November 2022 Book of the Month. You are welcome to read the book along with me.  I think it will be enlightening for us all. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California October 19, 2022 

  For my closing remarks (for this year) on the Palestinian Question discussed in the October 8, 2022 email set forth below.  I encourage everyone to view the evidence gathered by B'Tselem over the last three decades concerning the treatment of the Palestinians.  I believe that if you do, you too will understand why some Jewish people and groups have termed the current situation in Israel as a form of apartheid and are taking action to address the wrongs that they see happening there.  As part of my closing remarks, I also note that I previously stated  From what I have observed, it is concerned and informed Jews in Israel, in England, in Europe, and in the United States that have accused the Israeli government of perpetuating an apartheid. While I provided Wikipedia references to groups in Israel, Europe, and England, I did not provide a reference to Jews in the United States who are also actively engaged in fighting what they view as apartheid and injustice in...

For those may assert that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism of an act of cultural appropriation with regards to opposition to the State of Israel's land grab policy, I offer the following: Thank you for your comments. However, any accusation about anti-Semitism being the foundation of the opposition to Israel's land grab policy is just wrong.  Please see the following links that clearly demonstrate that it is Jews themselves who have taken prominent roles in the anti-apartheid movement concerning Israel.  https://www.btselem.org/about_btselem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_for_Justice_for_Palestinians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Jews_for_a_Just_Peace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH0Lr2nM2qY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Voice_for_Peace From what I have observed, it is concerned and informed Jews in Israel, in England, in Europe, and in the United States that have accused the Israeli government of perpetuating an apartheid.  If there is comp...

  In response to my post regarding Ken Burns' "The U.S. and the Holocaust", one of my classmates wrote: I just watched the first two hours yesterday as well and had the same reaction and takeaways as Skip. And in case it wasn't obvious from the Skip's summary, America not only provided a primer for Hitler, Hitler recognized it as such, writing: The immense inner strength of the United States came from the ruthless but necessary act of murdering native people and herding the rest into cages. After watching the full program, and after reviewing strikingly similar patterns of genocide and apartheid in the United States, Germany, South Africa and, now, Russia, it seemed to me that some folks do learn from history and, in an continuation of evil, strive to repeat it.  However, what is encouraging is that the World appears to have learned from history as well and decided that with regards to Germany, South Africa and now Russia, action should be taken to fight against...

Vicki and Bob, Thank you both for your thoughtful comments.  Bob, I especially appreciate your reference to the Guardian article calling for a reassessment of the historical legacy of Gandhi https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/may/02/mahatma-gandhi-biography-banned-india   and the detailed Dalit (Untouchable) opposition to the seeming deification of Gandhi that has permeated Western culture  https://medium.com/@dalitdiva/why-it-is-time-to-dump-gandhi-b59c7399fe66.  ; Both articles have indeed caused me to reassess the legacy of Gandhi.  This is especially difficult because Gandhi influenced three people whose birthdays are also remembrance days on my Amherst College calendar.  Gandhi influenced Nelson Mandela  https://www.vifindia.org/2019/october/01/gandhi-and-mandela-timeless-legends Gandhi influenced Martin Luther King, Jr. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/nonviolence and Gandhi influenced Cesar Chavez http://www.tri...