Listening to Kate Moore

The other day I had the pleasure of attending a program featuring author Kate Moore by zoom. My local library had a program in which Moore spoke to us about her book – The Woman They Could Not Silence (2021).

 Perhaps you have heard about this book. It focuses on the story of Elizabeth Packard, a woman who was institutionalized by her husband in 1860. Why was she institutionalized? Well, Elizabeth decided she had opinions as worthy as her husband’s. And she openly disagreed with him after twenty-one years of marriage. Despite the fact that she was the mother to six children who were all well turned out, managed the household perfectly, and was renowned for her gardening skills, her husband was able to get a doctor to say she needed to be hospitalized.

He set up rounds of gossip, purposely abandoned their marital bed, and found doctors who would rubberstamp the papers to have her put away in a mental institution in Jacksonville, Illinois. And because of the laws of the day, Elizabeth could not fight it. She was her husband’s property and he held all the cards.

That did not stop Elizabeth.

While in the hospital, she began to keep a journal using stolen paper and rags along with pencil nubs and pens she happened to acquire. She was able to hide these in her things. She found many of her cellmates were women like her, wives of men with power who had no more use for their wives and had them sent to Jacksonville. When Elizabeth pushed too much for her release or improvements within the hospital, she was sent from the ‘nice’ ward to the one that was cots in a large room.

So how did Elizabeth react?

She began by treating these women with dignity and helped clean them and the ward. She treated both staff , who were overworked, and her fellow inmates as if they were people.

Eventually her son was able to get her out. Still her husband found ways to demean her by selling their Manteno home and keeping her children away from her. But that didn’t stop Elizabeth. She wrote about her experience, convinced people to support her efforts to publish her work. And then she lobbied law makers to change laws so other women would not be treated as she had been. She never stopped using her voice, becoming wealthy in the process. And that wealth allowed her to get her children back.

Moore stated she was inspired by the “Me, Too” movement in 2015 and wanted to find a woman who prevailed while telling her truth. That when faced with obstacles, this woman had succeeded. During her search, she found Elizabeth briefly mentioned. With a little digging, Moore found Elizabeth’s books that had been digitized. The more she read, Moore knew this was the woman she wanted to write about.

Packard’s story resonates today as we see women’s rights being whittled away once more. Abortions rights depend on what state you live in. Some politicians want a nation-wide abortion ban after stating it should be the States that determine if they want abortions to be legal or not. Once Arizona took these politicians at their word, allowing an 1860 law banning abortion to be the law, suddenly top national and state Republican candidates are backing off a total ban.

Since Roe was overturned, women are having difficulty getting care should they have a problem pregnancy. Young women cannot have a miscarriage these days without being considered a criminal. Doctors in the wrong state won’t give them treatment until these women bleed out a little too much for fear of being prosecuted. Women with problem pregnancies and/or a dead fetus are expected to carry these pregnancies, even if it cost them their fertility or life.

Why does having a failed pregnancy, many times a wanted pregnancy, make women criminals?

 Elizabeth Packard did not live long enough to vote. But I feel she would have used her voice at the ballot box. She would have told us to fight to keep control of our bodies, of our healthcare. That no man, no law, should be in charge of your body and your access to healthcare.

Take Elizabeth’s lessons to heart. Go in that booth and vote. Vote for people who will protect your right to healthcare, your right to birth control. Vote for your best interest so that one day, when you might be facing one of the worst nightmares of having a wanted pregnancy go haywire, that you can get the needed healthcare without having to go to court to get it.

If not for yourself, then do it for the generations of women in your family who may need healthcare in the future.

Demon Copperhead

As a person who writes, I read a lot of books by other writers. I want to read new stories or familiar stories or genres I never read before.

Some I feel are OK. Some are terrible and not worth my time. I don’t talk about those books because I feel certain there are fans of those books who would disagree with me.

When it comes to a great writer, that is all I want to talk about. I have a few writers that I joke about. I say when I grow up I want to write like them. (Hello, Tara Jenkins Reid and Grady Hendrix.)

Then there are times I read a book that is highly touted. Maybe they have won an award or two. Maybe they were short-listed on various book award nominations. So I am excited to read them, that is until I do. I have been left disappointed more than a few times.

That is until now!

When my book club pulled out Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, I wasn’t too certain about it. It’s big and thick. The audio book version had seventeen discs in it. 17!

Those doubts ended with the first disc.

Wow!

There was so much that I loved about the book. Demon’s voice is strong and sure while telling his story, even the difficult parts. He never sugar coated the problems he faced after losing his mother and becoming an orphan. He talks about the parade of awful foster parents, finding a decent home, and short-term happiness that falls apart with a football injury.

His sure eye for people and better descriptive ability of their characters shows a boy who had to grow up too fast. Childhood for him was not going to be an available luxury. But it taught him how to read people, even when that meant finding fault with someone he respected in the past.

I found myself wanting to memorize lines that I found meaningful.  Lines about his dead mother being one of the first dead in the oxy assault on Appalachia. Lines about how descriptive words were used to put groups of people ‘in their place’ but get turned around as an affirmative for those marginalized peoples.

I found myself rooting for Demon, hoping that he was getting out of the pit of bad luck and abusive people.

 I should tell you that Kingsolver used David Copperfield as her pattern. If you know that semi-biographical book by Charles Dickens, you know how Demon’s story will end. I had never read the source material. But I did read Dopesick by Beth Macy and it is amazing how Kingsolver folds the oxy crisis of the 90s and early 00s into Dickens’ tale. You see how people change their attitudes about the drug that was supposed to be miraculous in the treatment of pain that turned into a destructive force within the community.

Before you think that this is all plot and no character development, I must dissuade you of that thought. We get to know these people. We know back stories, we know what they mean to Demon. Even with those who are cruel to Demon, we get an understanding of who they are. But the ones that he loves, are the ones we know and root for the most.

But this is the true test of why you might want to give this book some time. My husband has been in the car with me as I listened to the book. He was so interested – a man who prefers hard-boiled detective novels – that he had me order it for him in audio book format.

This is a book that makes you think of many things. Child abuse. Addiction. The oxy scourge and targeting by the drug companies of specific communities. High school football. The foster child system. The kids who survive and the ones who don’t. The adults who are willing to take advantage of kids. The ones who try to look out for them. This book sticks with you. I find myself thinking about it all of the time.

I hope you will pick this up and give it a whirl.

Hangin’ at the THC Bakery

So the other week I had a new experience. I went to a bakery that specialized in baked goods and drinks that are infused. As in substances that used to be illegal. Luckily for me, I was able to get a drink that was not infused with anything.

This particular night, I needed someplace to sit and work on my laptop while my husband was at a beer tasting event at a place that was 40 mintues from our house. I was the designated driver and did not want to be tempted. Nor did I want to drive all the way home, only to have to turn around to get him. I didn’t want to hang at McDonalds or some other fast-food joint. Nor would Starbucks or other restaurants in its ilk be open till nine.

So I began a google search and found this bakery was open till 9:30 P.M. Perfect!

I could sit on my computer and phone, quietly tap away while having an iced drink and eating some sort of baked goody. I did not count on the infusion.

I cannot have this type of infusion.

Why is that?

Let’s just say that eating that stuff will have an adverse effect on my digestive system. I have tried a gummy -once- only to be in bed for the rest of the day after my system cleaned itself out. I finally managed to pass out then went on to have some of the weirdest stress inducing dreams I have ever had.

Anytime I go for a colonoscopy, I wake up nauseous. I am willing to stick my finger down my throat as far as it will go to make the nausea stop. I will never get any medicine that starts with Narco unless, of course, I want to lose ten pounds in one day. 

It is the worst feeling.

So here I am at a business that sells the stuff I cannot have. After a quick explanation from the very friendly staff, I chose a non-infused iced tea mango drink.

Very tasty.

I explained that I needed some place to sit while I waited for my husband to be done at his thing. I was told to settle in and be comfortable. So I did near an outlet so I could charge my phone. While I worked on my laptop, creating the book list I posted last week, I got to people watch all the customers who came in.

Some were like me, needing a full explanation. Others knew what they wanted but needed tips from the staff on how to get the most out of their purchase. Other customers asked each other about the infused drinks and how well they worked for themselves or the person they were buying them for.

It was interesting and informative. I was very comfortable and actually heard a bunch of music I don’t normally listen to. There were various rap songs being played I don’t hear normally that intrigued me.

This is probably a place I will take family members who prefer these products.  There was a giant Jenga game and a swing chair along with the big table I took over. I had a great experience and hope to go again sometime.

The White Girl Woke Reading List

In a post that I put up a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I
am on the Anti-Racism Committee at my church. Yes, it is a liberal church, and
yes, we have some conservative people who attend who weren’t sorry that Trump
won the election in 2016.

It is also a church that is devoted to social issues. The
Faith in Action group makes a concerted effort to help programs in our area.
The town that the church sits in may be rich but the surrounding towns don’t
always live up to that level of economic stability.

In the two years I have sat on this committee, I have wanted
to move things faster. I wanted to find ways to slowly bring the ‘other’ into
our midst to get people to realize we are all the same. And there were times I
wanted to leave the group because all of the pondering and philosophizing
drives me crazy.

And that is when I do what I do best- I read. I read a book
a week sometimes. Many times I listen to books because there are times I simply
cannot focus to read the written word. It helps me know how to pronounce words
or get the rhythm of how people speak. It helps me learn about a character not
only by what they say but how they say it.

So the following list are books I have read mostly in the
last two years but some were longer ago. I have yet to finish Beloved because
the book is emotionally difficult. I find myself feeling terrible for our woman
who did what she felt was right at the time. But because of this story, based
on a real woman, I made the effort to learn about Medea.

While you have heard of a few of these titles, I am guessing
there are some that are unknown to you. I purposely choose mostly fiction
because I believe fiction gives us a snapshot of time. It is through stories
that we really learn about a time and the people in that time. Even historical
fiction gives us that picture so we can enjoy and learn all at the same time.

I made this list alphabetical, not in order of what I think
you should read. All of the books in the first list are there because of an
element of racial discrimination within the story, even in the vampire story
which seems innocuous at first.

The second list focuses more on women’s issues or
discrimination of other sorts. I found them worth reading in how they made me
think of how people are marginalized in various ways.

Please let me know what you think of any of these selections
in the comments. I want to start a discussion with the hope that better
knowledge can be spread. If being woke means being kinder to anyone who doesn’t
look like me, well then, call me woke. I would rather live in a world where
people didn’t reach for their guns and asked questions later.

Enjoy your reading.

 

 

The White Girl Woke Reading List

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Finding Me by Viola Davis

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher
Murray

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Other Princess: A novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter
by Denny S. Bryce

Overground Railroad: the Green Book and the Roots of Black
Travel in America by Candacy A Taylor

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria
Christopher Murray

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow

South to America by Imani Perry

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

When Crack was King by Donovan X Ramsey

 

Other
Good Reads to Make You Think

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

I heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Jenkins Reid

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Regan Barnhill

Continuing the Road of Genealogy

Until I looked back at this blog, I did not realize I have been working on my family history for two years now.

During that time I have found many families and secrets, wondered what people were like all while digging into the mystery of Ira Marshall.

When I say secrets, I really don’t think I have found deep dark secrets. In reality, they are secrets that I never knew. Like what you ask?

Secrets like my great-great aunt Inez named her first born son Ira during the time that my great-grandfather was living in Chicago. His brother, my great great uncle John Sherman named his son Russell Ira during that same time. Russell would be mayor of Taylor Mills in Kentucky for a time.

During this time, I met a cousin. Our common relative is Robert Mason Marshall, our two times great grandfather. He was a Union soldier who’s first wife died sometime in 1873. He marries a younger woman in 1875, Sara Catherine. They end up have five children together along with the three living children he brings from his first marriage. I’m not sure Robert Mason was an easy man to live with as his wife lived with their remaining son according to the 1910 and 1920 census. I haven’t found his will yet but I feel certain there will be some bombs in it.

But I did visit the graves of Ira, Robert Mason, and Sara Catherine. During that same visit to Independence, Kentucky, I saw the gravestone for Francis, Montie, and Inez – siblings to Ira. Their brother Charles is buried in Washington State. Alma is buried in a town west of Independence. Mary is buried in Missouri.

There are other people I cannot find or will need to start going through archives to make better connections. At this time I am ordering death certificates for a few family members so my DAR application can go farther. I never thought I would ever have cause to apply for Daughters of the Revolution. Now, I know through research and contact with other family members that I might be connected to at least four “patriots.”

Who would have thought I would find all of these people?

My Testimonial

Recently, I gave a testimonial at my church in regards to the work we do regarding racism on the Anti-Racism Committee. Later in March, there will be a workshop to help people start working their way through what they know and what they feel in regards to racism. This is my testimonial which took at least two months to write, and more shaking around in my head.

Good Morning

I am here today to give my testimonial on racism. About why I would want to talk about racism.

And I know what you’re thinking. “Why is she talking about this? Look at her, she is whiter than white.”

How white am I? I am the person who uses the highest sun block possible or I look like a lobster in the summer.

I come from a long line of white people from Eastern Europe and the UK. Many of them came in 1905. Another couple arrived in the 1870s. Because of that, I was always told the slavery question did not matter to our family as we did not participate in that practice. Even my Proctor relatives who came in the 1850s were busy settling the Illinois prairie. The most that patriarch had to do with slavery was to fight on the Union side, and thereby earn his citizenship. 

Like many families, we have stories I like to tell. Such as the one about Michaly Riban who was walking in Chicago with friends when he spied a pretty girl. He nudged his friend and said “that’s the girl I’m going to marry.” And he did.

But there are other stories that I don’t like telling. Such as the great-grandfather who deserted the army in 1905 and later deserted his family. Or the beloved grandmother who taught me many life lessons but she was also a member of the KKK in the 1920s. She said they only ever held picnics and didn’t do anything else.

What I cannot deny is that the thoughts and behaviors of that group made their way down to my father and were given to me as well. My world was rocked a little more during my genealogical adventures when I discovered a four-times great-grandfather who was a revolutionary patriot and slave-owner. It’s right there in the 1790 census, that he owned twelve people.

I can tell you these and more stories. But there are other stories I do not ‘have’ to tell. Such as my grandfather having to keep a cap in his nice car in case he got stopped so he could explain that he was driving his employer’s car. My sons don’t have to keep a toy in the back seat of their nice cars to show they are family men and not potential drug dealers.

I will never be able to tell the story of my daughter being pulled over because she did not use a turn signal to show she was changing lanes when a police car suddenly sped up behind her and she moved over to be out of his way.

These are not my stories because of my lily-white skin that was passed on me and I passed on to my children. We have been given a pass, even when I and my children have made stupid decisions. Stupid decisions such driving around with a broken taillight or going to the convenience store for an Arizona and Skittles while wearing a hoodie. Stupid decisions such as getting out a wallet for requested ID.

I could go on with references of people killed because of the color of their skin, something they cannot control. But I am guessing Julie wants to give us her sermon before eleven. And I am certain some of you are wondering where all this talk about different types of stories is going.

If I have learned anything from the Anti-Racism Committee, it is that we need to look at the stories that are hard to tell. Such as why an item like the Green Book had to be created. The singer and actor Billie Porter recently said, sometimes we have to name that which is ugly.

Racism is that ugly product of the legacy of slavery when our country’s forefathers – whether they are yours or not – forced unwilling African immigrants to work.

Despite everything I have read on the subject and seen with the C-ROAR group, I still don’t like talking about racism. Its painful to think that a quirk of fate has given me advantages because of my lily-white skin. I don’t like that story. But as Mia Henry, an activist and motivational speaker, said “it’s not going to go away because we don’t talk about it.”

So that is why I talk about it. That’s why I read books on the subject so I can have a better understanding without having to pain people to tell me their stories. Racism comes at a cost to all of us. It forces you to stay in certain pathways, no matter what color skin you might have. And when a person strays from those pathways, others feel threatened.

Just because I was born with lily-white skin and have histories of past family members with racists beliefs and actions, doesn’t mean I have to go along with their beliefs. I don’t have to stay in familiar pathways.

If I believe that all people should have the same kind of ease with which I move through life, then I have to shake off those old belief systems. And it isn’t always easy.

While I am not perfect, I have been able to make different choices than my parents.

After hearing all of this, I hope that you will talk about these things no matter how difficult. Read books by different authors, attend the upcoming workshop, mull over all that you learn, and let it move you into a different pathway. Make racism disappear by talking about it so that racism is out in the open and burned up in the sunshine like the soul-sucking societal vampire racism is.

Thank you.

For more information about the upcoming workshop, please visit the website for the Flossmoor Congregational Church at http://www.fccfaithful.org

The Charcuterie Board

When you hear that word – charcuterie – do you start getting nervous?

I see pictures of all of these boards for meat and cheese or hot chocolate or roasting marshmallows.

And I get charcuterie-paralysis.

What do I put on it? What cheese should I put on it? Salami or Pastrami? Fruit, no fruit?

Just the thought puts me in a stand still.

Until this past Thanksgiving.

I decided to just do it.

The kids love salami, so I had my husband buy salami. I enjoy goat cheese, so I had him buy two small packs of goat cheese. We had a berry jam and apricot jam so Iput them in small dishes. My mother bought crackers and regular cheese. There were grapes in the house and cherry tomatoes.

That’s when I grabbed a beautiful wooden board and put it on the counter. I filled it with crackers, cheddar cheese, cheddar jack cheese, a small plate with goat cheese, salami, crackers, grapes, and cherry tomatoes. I made sure to have little knives and little spoons. Then, I had to continuously refill the board.

Surprisingly enough, I was the only one who ate the grapes and tomatoes.

After making the charcuterie board, I wondered why I had never done this before. Everyone tried it. They put jam on cracker and cheese. They mixed cheese with the Salami. They ate just salami.

So have you made a charcuterie board? Was it successful? Share your pictures in the comments.

Wookie Blondies

It’s Christmas. Which means cookie making.

But this year is a little different.

I am on strict orders to stay off my feet as much as possible. This makes cookie making a tough feat with doing the drops and taking pans back and forth to the oven, getting cookies off of the pans, and guarding them from roaming marauding cookie eaters – i.e. the husband and teenaged son.

So this years I decided to make my favorite Christmas cookie – the Wookie Cookie from a Star Wars cookbook – into a bar. And to ensure there would be enough to fit onto a cookie sheet, I combined my recipe with a blondie recipe. The sweetness of the Blondie combined with the cinnamon, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips seemed like a good idea.

Oh, and it was.

The blondies are made with brown sugar for a butterscotch-y richness. The cinnamon adds depth of flavor. The two types of chips are simply decadent. When I make this again, I am thinking of adding pecan or walnut bits to offset the richness and give the cookie a little more crunch.

Try the recipe and tell me what you think.

Wookie Blondies

1 cup butter – soft or melted

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (room temp if you want)

2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

2 t cornstarch

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon (add more if your really like cinnamon)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Start with butter and brown sugar, mix till smooth

add eggs, stir

add vanilla, stir

add salt, cornstarch, baking powder, and cinnamon, then stir

add chips, stir

add flour. stir

spray or place parchment paper on your cookie sheet

spread mixture onto your pan, making sure every corner is filled

Bake for about 25-30 mins. (mine were good at the 25 min mark but everyone’s oven is different.)

Cool, cut, enjoy!

Mkae sure to comment below how your version of the Wookie Blondie turned out

The Dress

Today, I thought I would write about the dress.

Yep, that dress.

The one that Tiffany Trump wore at her wedding that was truly spectacular.

I loved the classis square neckline, the fitted bodice, the A-line skirt, and the long, luscious train.

Then there was the fabric – satiny, shiny, beaded.

It was elegant. The bride looked like a princess.

As she should. And when we see her happy face, it makes one wonder if she was able to forget the family drama all around her.

The sister who wore a crop top at the rehearsal dinner. The sister in-law who wore some silver thing that wasn’t quite in the pastel vibe as the rest of the wedding party. The fiancee of her brother who wore black. The step-mother who wore off-white.

Well, at least her mother was beautiful in a pastel purple.

But forget all that. Let’s allow Tiffany to be known as a beautiful bride because she was. Mar-a-Lago was filled with flowers, music, food, and a little magic. She and her groom looked happy together. And soon they will settle into a new life together. She is a beautiful bride and perhaps the most renown for right now.

After the Biden grand-daughter gets married on the South lawn of the White House, we will be getting new pictures of a beautiful bride.

I hope her dress is just as magical as Tiffany’s.

Note: See pictures of Tifany’s two wedding dresses at the Hello Magazine website. My efforts to save a picture of the dress were futile.

Banning Girls Who Code

Some stories get my goat, especially when it is about banning books. .

I wonder what people are thinking when they act out. I wonder if they even vetted the book they are trying to ban.

A few weeks ago I was watching Ari Velshi’s Banned Book Club on his Saturday morning show on MSNBC. And he began talking about the Girls Who Code series. It is aimed at middle school girls who are in a club to learn how to create code that can make new apps for computers or mobile devices.

Think of it as a new version of the Babysitter’s Club.

We have five girls who have become friends because of this club. Each girl has a separate interest outside of coding such as fashion, sports, and performing.

Each girl has a different ethnic identity. Christian, Jewish, Muslim. White, black, Hispanic, Afghanistan.

I read Spotlight on the Coding Club, book 4 in the series. In this book, the girls are getting a code together so their school’s Talent Show. Each act has to make a video of their performance and the coding club is developing an app so that students can vote on each act to determine the top three act.

Each book focuses on one of the girls; this time it is Erin who has a big secret. She has anxiety. And the thing she doesn’t want to mention to anyone is that she has had an anxiety attack in a long time – till just recently. She is worried about her father is on active duty somewhere in the middle east or central Asia or somewhere in the world.

While clubs have kept Erin busy in the past and able to control her anxiety, this time she is having a harder time. And her response is to take on more projects. Well, you can see where this is going. Each girl tries to have her own act, each girl tries to do something for the app but don’t have the time.

Luckily, Erin has good friends and parents who want the best for her. It takes her awhile to trust in them. But as you can imagine, all works out in the end. Does Erin’s entry win at the talent show? Well you’ll just have to read it to find out.

So what could groups such as Moms for Liberty find wrong in this book? I mean it’s about girls who like coding to create bits and pieces of programming for apps. Some people think its because the books give girls the idea that this could be a profession for them. Or it might be the acceptance of girls of all backgrounds. Or it could be that anyone who is different is not ostracized.

The girls like and appreciate their differences, even though their problems seem to transcend all of those factors. Each girl has a worry that any of have had or could have.

I think these groups focus on the fact that one of the girls is gay. In the book I read, it is not a focal point. What happens is our main character figures out that her friend has a crush on another girl and encourages her friend to talk to that person. And then it is pretty much done.

We go back to Erin’s anxiety and her role in the club and group of friends. And she is lucky to have friends who try to help her and support her as they learn about her issues. We get to enjoy all of these girls while learning that coding takes time and requires constant testing to make sure you get it right.

Perhaps Moms for Liberty don’t like this normalizing of the strange and different. Perhaps they fear their children will turn gay reading this. I have no idea what their beef if because they don’t share it or deny that they had anything to do with getting this book series banned. What I d know is that they sy they are for giving parents the right to choose what their children are reading.

But they want to determine what all kids read and my choices for my kids be damned. It doesn’t matter that I want my kids to read about different kids dealing with situations they are dealing with – peer pressure, new emotions (love), anxiety and worries, fitting in at school. I want my kids to know there are all sorts of people in this world. Just because those people are not straight, white, Christians doesn’t make them bad, it just makes them different from being straight, white christian individuals.

That strange thing is that we are seeing these banning efforts not taking hold. Fewer than 1% of parents in Florida have signed up for programs demanding their children NOT read certain books. In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin closed down his hotline for people to report incidents of CRT teaching because they were not getting calls about that.

It makes me wonder this: If so few people want to ban books or ban teachers from teaching various subjects, why are we allowing them to dominate the discussion?