My heart is breaking for Afghanistan. But let's not forget: Kabul has been rocked by explosions and unacceptably violent attacks for many years. If you think the past 15 years has been relatively peaceful there, you weren't paying attention. Another thing people should know: the liberal order that folks are talking about -- of women working, choosing their spouses, etc. -- simply did not exist for millions of ordinary people even under the US-led occupation. I have been to Gardez, Kandahar, Jalalabad.

My latest piece is about a photographer who's spent the last 4 months with "black bloc" anarchists in Denver, Portland, Seattle, Tulsa, Rochester and DC. He joined them to better understand who was setting fires/looting outside racial justice protests. tinyurl.com/y777xj2u He hung out in chatrooms with the Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front, who don’t accept anyone over 25. In Rochester, “black bloc” seemed a teenage fashion fad. In Tulsa, he saw BLM protesters + Trump supporters pray together.

I’m rephrase a tweet since it’s been misunderstood: A businessman told me once “Trump always goes for the jugular.” I thought of it today when I saw that he attended a black economic empowerment forum and released a plan he said will increase Black capital by $500 billion. Do you believe him? No. But the jugular in this election is the black vote. Trump doesn’t have to peel away all that many black votes to win - maybe 7 %. There’s been a campaign for more than a year among black activists to vote down ballot unless Biden supports reparations.

I'm amazed to hear a speech that is as relevant today as it was when it was given: "The withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone." "More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment."

A couple of years ago, my sister, who follows black social media more closely than I do, asked me what I thought of #ADOS. “What’s that?” I asked. nytimes.com/2019/11/08/us/… “ADOS stands for the American Descendants of Slavery,” my sister said. They believe that black Americans should have their own ethnic category, distinct from African and Caribbean immigrants. “What do you think?”

The story of a woman arrested for putting her fetus in harm’s way on the day she got shot showcased a huge divide in the country. Pleasant Grove police department received hate mail from around the country. One man told me: They don’t think it's a baby. nyti.ms/2X8Pubm In Alabama, it's clear that most people do believe that a fetus is a baby with the same rights as a child who has already been born. I interviewed black women, and white women and white men and even a guy from Bahrain who had settled in Pleasant Grove. They said similar things.

As a thought exercise, I went through the transcripts to see how many candidates sought to distinguish themselves by saying "I'm the only one who..." Standing out is important when 2x as many Democrats are running for president than play on a football team. #DemocraticDebate Here are the results: De Blasio: Something that sets me apart from all of my colleagues running in this race and that is for the last 21 years I have been raising a black son in America.

Over 20 years, free #Birthright trips 2 #Israel have become a rite of passage for
American Jews. But over the past year, they have also become a target of Jewish protesters who say the trips "hide" the occupation.nyti.ms/2IwIzn0 Progressive Jewish groups, including @IfNotNowOrg and @jstreetu have asked Birthright to include more information about Arab Israelis and Palestinians. Some walked-off trips last summer to visit Palestinians.

Ok. So I'm practicing the art of the twitter thread. Last night, I went to @HarvardBooks to see George Packer talk about his new book, Our Man, a biography of Richard Holbrooke. And I took my daughter Ella. I went because my friend Nell Lake invited me, but that's another story. Ella did not like listening at all to George Packer. Ella just turned three.

No allegations that #KeithEllison abused his ex-wife in unsealed divorce file. But in a twist, the file contains statements that he was a victim of abuse. He said she hit and bit him. She told reporters she endured depression after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. #MeToo #KeithEllison's statement: “I am extremely disappointed that the Court has gone back on its agreement to seal Kim and my divorce file, agreeing to open it at the request of a far-right propaganda outlet with a history of racism and religious bigotry Alpha News + the Star Tribune"