Many whites when asked about the killings of so many black men over the many years, they usual say something like “yes there are a few bad apples. But the vast majority are good cops.” My question then is if so,” why don’t they solve their serious problem of murderers in their midst?” Seems logical and normal to me to solve one’s own problem.

Surely we all have seen enough of these killings with thanks to those who film them. If not filmed, the light of day may never have come up in the morning. Why is there not a record of these terrible decisions of execution registered so so all know how many each year. It is simple data to be kept.

Furthermore, the iron fist of the police unions need to be restructured so that the police unions represent the police as well as the community. That iron fist must become a cloth hand to help both cops and community because this issue of police killings has been going on for a very long time to the point that black parents must warn their children re the police and their attitudes and wishes.

No one is trying to take away the need to serve and protect. Stopping police killings is a first big step to move our country forward. Asking the people with guns, namely the police, to control themselves seems to be a logical question for their community. It is their problem to solve. Better to come from the inside than the outside maybe. If in fact this was to happen in a very real way, the country would be much better off and the black community would welcome any deserved ticket from a policeman. Thus, police could become a keystone partner to help in the battle for complete equality for all.

My hope for Jill Biden as First Lady, given the change of the POTUS this November.

First ladies for many years now have gone thru their tours with great dignity and respect. Many have adopted worthy projects like beautification projects, support of children, redoing the White House, and support to women. Many end up with more respect than their spouses.

My thought and hope that Jill Biden would take up where Eleanor Roosevelt left off. Eleanor’s effort at the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While her husband was fighting and winning a war against the depression as well as WW2, she was concentrating on the big picture once victory over the Nazis was won. She wanted a world where the poor would have the same rights as the rich and help to the oppressed would come from governments. She wanted the citizens of the world to gain power thru human rights protection and governments would see some controls over their power. In reality, a new world. That world has not arrived yet.

Given that a President Biden might be too center and not bold enough to the lost ground the USA has suffered from presidential wrongs of wars, torture and invasions of Vietnam and Iraq, I am hoping Jill Biden might take on the cloak and hat of Eleanor within the White House and its decision makers around the new POTUS. Eleanor loved the poor, the lost, the confused and the lack of respect for minorities and new folks from foreign countries. Eleanor and her husband attracted the best minds in America to work for the common good. She saw things from a different angle than Franklin and told him so. Franklin needed pushing at times and she did that pushing. She traveled the country speaking of rights and wrongs without many errors. Social Security System came out of her home in NYC that is now the Hunter College Institute for Human Rights.

Why would I press Jill Biden now to do this? My answer lies in a family saved by the Social Security System after my father’s auto accident that took his life. My Mom (also a product of Scranton) had a monthly income for the youngest four of us and that literally gave my Mom enough income to get all eleven of us thru WW2 to stay as one family under her skill as a mother.

The country needs boldness and courage now. The kind that the Roosevelts had. We now simply look stupid in this world of ours. Our rich just got richer while tens of thousands (maybe millions) have fallen on bad times. Shifts in policies re our women and minorities are necessary to adjust the playing field, long bent to the advantage of the white majority. If this does not happen, there is real trouble ahead within the nation. Having said that, if done, we will excel as a nation and truly be an example for other nations to follow. Without the shift, we limp into an uncertain future as the playing field remains tipped into white (male) folks’ advantage. That would not be a bright future.

Republicans look back and refer to the golden age of Ronald Reagan. While I pause on the wisdom of such a statement, I believe the Democrat Party must refer back to the Roosevelt era now.

If Biden wins, he will need the continued help of Jill. I suggest that to be a visionary, to think outside of the box for her spouse, to expand his mind beyond the politics as usual type. And to force an agenda for and with the people rather than power or greed and corporate plantation Rev James lawson at the burial of the great John Lewis. The shift must move to people and how they are doing rather than Wall Street’s needs.

We are still living off the decisions of the Roosevelt era. Hopefully, Jill Biden might lead us thru the next four years where the poor do better, health care comes for all somehow, and finally, all of us Americans play on the level field of justice and unusual kindness to one another.