A00166 - Must See TV for July 2023: PBS: Frontline: Clarence and Ginny Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court: The Struggle With Ebonics

 For those who watched the PBS documentary on Clarence Thomas, one of the more memorable observations made about Justice Thomas' background is that English was not his first language.  His first language was the Gullah dialect spoken on the isolated islands off the coast of South Carolina. 




In the documentary, a comment is made that one of the reasons why Clarence Thomas has rarely participated in the oral arguments before the Supreme Court is that he still struggles with his Gullah language difficulties.  

By "coincidence", I happened upon the biography of a certain William Stewart just before dawn


I found his story interesting, but I found his obituary was even more so


The fact that Clarence Thomas overcame his language "handicap" to sit on the Supreme Court is an extraordinary achievement.  However, his lifelong struggle with standard English and the psychological torment he must have endured from both whites and blacks during his educational career provides some insights into what, in part, appears to motivate the man.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins 
Fairfield, California
July 4, 2023

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>
To: 
Sent: Sunday, July 2, 2023 at 11:35:34 AM PDT
Subject: Must See TV for July 2023: PBS: Frontline: Clarence and Ginny Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court


In May, Frontline presented a very interesting documentary on Clarence and Ginni Thomas


This documentary provides a great deal of insight into the backgrounds of Clarence and Ginni Thomas and explains why, with the swearing in of Amy Coney Barrett by none other than Clarence Thomas himself, the current Supreme Court ceased to be the John Roberts court and became instead the Clarence Thomas court. 

The multiplicity of 6-3 decisions rendered in the last days of June 2023 only serves to confirm that Justice Thomas, after 30 long years, has finally prevailed.  

I was remiss not to mention it in May, but it is not too late to become educated about what was, what is, and what, in the future, is likely to be.  Accordingly, I recommend the above referenced documentary as Must See TV for July 2023.  And I also recommend that everyone become acquainted with the upcoming Maggie Smith - Kathy Bates movie about a pilgrimage to Lourdes.  Miraculous cures may be the only solution to what ails this country now.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins


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