.@FSBarry is driving the Lincoln Highway to discover America.
This week, he finds tragedy, trauma and healing in the Keystone State trib.al/EyXok6f
📍Lancaster, PA
“It doesn't take one man, it takes all of us. So until we actually unite, that's when actual change can happen.”
@FSBarry speaks to protesters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania about police brutality trib.al/EyXok6f
📍York, PA
"We believe that our diversity is a strength, not a weakness. And even though there may be individuals who may not hold to that, I think the majority of Americans do," says Guy Dunham trib.al/EyXok6f
📍Gettysburg, PA
📍Shanksville, PA
West of Gettysburg, the Flight 93 National Memorial sits on 2,200 acres of wildflowers and woods, with a walkway conveying the flight’s path and marble panels commemorating each of the 40 people killed trib.al/EyXok6f
📍Pittsburgh, PA
@FSBarry arrived on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. The central question: How can you celebrate a new year when the old one won’t die, and when breaking bread with family can be impossible?
Yet the Jewish community here has seen worse trib.al/EyXok6f
Pittsburgh’s 10.27 Healing Partnership was formed in the aftermath of the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue that killed 11 people, wounded six, and shook the nation.
The mission is to support those affected by the shooting or any hate-induced trauma trib.al/EyXok6f
Anyone of any religion experiencing any trauma can come talk to a licensed counselor.
The healing and strength that can derive from conversation is also the idea behind a separate effort that grew out of the shooting, the 412 Black Jewish Collaborative trib.al/EyXok6f
One of the topics they focus on is code switching:
“The Black members of the board really walked through, step by step, what it meant for them individually to code switch throughout their life … it’s eye-opening for some of the Jewish members.” trib.al/EyXok6f
Across the street from an abandoned lot in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, a community garden planted and worked by teenagers has produced:
Throughout the summer, Ayanna Jones talks to her young gardeners about Black history, about Paul E. Williams, Dr. Charles Drew, Garnett Morgan.
“These kids get the opportunity to hear something besides slavery and enslavement” trib.al/EyXok6f
One of her early students was Antwon Rose, a 17-year old who was shot dead by a police officer in 2018.
On the day George Floyd was killed, she said “we sat at the tent and those kids expressed some of the most profound statements, emotions and feelings” trib.al/EyXok6f
“I’ve been a Black Panther, I’ve been in the Black Liberation Army. I have lived through Emmett Till being killed all the way up to George Floyd, and I don’t see any progress.”
But she adds: “I did see participation by White folks that I never saw before” trib.al/EyXok6f
When asked why the killing of George Floyd touched such a nerve with White people, former Philadelphia mayor @Michael_Nutter said:
“I just don’t know that many people have actually watched somebody die” trib.al/EyXok6f
What took so long? Nutter makes two points:
1. The persistence of segregation in housing, education and employment 2. It's difficult to discuss race. “Other than talking about money, there’s possibly nothing more uncomfortable than talking about race” trib.al/EyXok6f
“Here’s the deal: The only people who can really do anything about racism in the U.S. are White people. Black people can’t really do much about that. So they have to decide how much change they’re willing to push for” trib.al/EyXok6f
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It’s possible 2020 will be remembered as a turning point in American history, a moment after which the nation becomes irretrievably different.
That’s right, it could be the year consumption of romaine and other leaf lettuce finally surpasses iceberg trib.al/4iwpnC2
It’s been quite the comedown over the past three decades for America’s iceberg lettuce, introduced by seed purveyor W. Atlee Burpee & Co in 1894.
So how did the so-called “polyester of greens” fall out of favor? trib.al/4iwpnC2
In 1961, Julia Child + Simone Beck’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” & Craig Claiborne’s “The New York Times Cookbook” led to the great American food awakening.
Since 1979, the left has only managed to install 4 people in the White House or Downing Street:
🇺🇸Bill Clinton
🇺🇸Barack Obama
🇬🇧Tony Blair
🇬🇧Gordon Brown
The right has established two advantages: competence & intellectual dynamism trib.al/mALxUdZ
The first is a traditional advantage of conservatism.
Both Republicans and the Tories have based their electoral appeal on the idea that they will do a better job of looking after your money and protecting your country than the other guys trib.al/mALxUdZ
However, the right has also been more dynamic.
Since 1979, modern conservatism has produced many important ideas that have changed the political universe, from privatization to welfare reform to “broken windows” crime policy trib.al/mALxUdZ
Six months ago, populations across the world went under lockdown to fight Covid-19.
Amid confusion and horrifying death tolls, the default position was to protect the elderly and minimize loss of life. Now that stance is shifting trib.al/ZsUBlJc
🇺🇸In the U.S., anti-lockdown protests have broken out across the country, with even New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community burning masks in public.
🇬🇧In the U.K., Boris Johnson’s government faces a rebellion from MPs in his own Conservative Party trib.al/ZsUBlJc
With six months of experience, people know that lockdowns exert a terrible toll.
The tide in the U.S. is moving toward reopening, allowing people to get sick and building immunity that way until a vaccine arrives to ease the dilemma trib.al/ZsUBlJc
Half of Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement.
Some say that’s due to low wages or irresponsible choices, but there’s another culprit: an expensive and antiquated 401(k) system trib.al/2D99X5I
Our current system favors costly middlemen. The average fees levied on 401(k) savings hover in the range of 0.5% annually.
That compares to annual expenses well under 0.1%, and often near zero, offered by stock and bond index funds and ETFs trib.al/2D99X5I
An excess cost — roughly 0.4% annually — may not sound like much.
But for a worker who dutifully puts $10,000 a year for 40 years into a portfolio that earns 6% annually, the difference in final savings can be north of $150,000 trib.al/2D99X5I
Here’s something to celebrate in the U.S.: Hispanic Americans have enjoyed steady economic progress over the past two decades.
Though much remains to be done, Hispanics are coming closer to enjoying an American dream long denied to them trib.al/McOh5Ad
From 2014 through 2019, as the U.S. economy expanded and incomes rose, Hispanic Americans logged faster income growth than anyone trib.al/McOh5Ad
That growth was from a relatively low base: The income gap between White and Hispanic workers shrank by only about $2,700 and still stands at almost $20,000 for median households.
But living standards are rising along with a feeling of upward mobility trib.al/McOh5Ad