Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump

I don't even know where to being with this post. This was the most scathing take down of a person told in the most detached and clinical way possible for someone who is part of the family she is writing about.

Mary is the daughter of the oldest Trump son, brother of Donald (from here on referred to as Toddler-In-Chief). When she writes about her father's life she mostly refers to him as "Freddy" and her mother as "Linda." Occasionally she refers her father/dad but mostly when she is interacting with him. He is where my heart ended up being by the time I was done with this slim, 211 page, but HUGE book.

Too Much and Never Enough doesn't try to excuse away Toddler-In-Chief's actions or let him off the hook. What she does is give a picture of how he ended up like this. There is a lot of blame for how we got here. His parents, the media, banks, congress, and the many hangers on.

Fred Trump was a monster of a man. He pitted his children against each other for love that didn't exist. He taught them early on that his way was the only way and it was a lesson all except Freddy learned early on. He, as the older son, was expected to take over the Trump business but his heart wasn't in it. He wanted to fly and he tried. For a short time Freddy was able to be a pilot and he was good at it and he loved it. But Fred  wasn't having it and the rest of Freddy's short life was spent in paying for the transgression. Toddler-In-Chief learned early on that his father valued selfishness and cruelty and he learned the lessons well.

When Toddler-In-Chief was an adult (in age anyway) Fred was invested in helping keep up the image being built as were the banks invested in him. But as time went on his failures were becoming bigger and the bigger Toddler-In-Chief's failures the more he spun it as wins, and the more people who encouraged/allowed this.

And then here we are today. With Toddler-In-Chief doing major damage to our country, literally and figuratively, destroying our relationships with our allies, courting authoritarian leaders, and getting people killed. The conclusions Mary comes to won't surprise you. But the back story of how this family ate its young and was made into the vehicle to support the delusions of Toddler-In-Chief.

I would suggest you read this. It won't improve your feelings about Toddler-In-Chief. The only comfort you will take from this is that you will feel the stain of the attempted gaslighting removed and your clear headed sanity return. The prologue alone is scathing and removes the fog FoxNews would like to cast over the American people's brains.
Samples:

(Finished July 16, 2020)

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Continuing my efforts to educate myself and to help me be a better ally, to not just say I'm not racist but to truly be antiracist.

It isn't an easy to look within and acknowledge biases and work on changing them. But it is a worthy endeavor and one I will have to, we all have to, work on each and every day.

One of the ways I have been working on this is reading books, watching movies and documentaries, reading articles, and taking advantage of the opportunity to attend (virtually these days) seminars and lectures.

Ibram X. Kendi writes this book from a personal point of view, sharing his own missteps and growth as he teaches his reader history, terminology, the value in being willing to have your mind changed, and learning from mistakes.

The focus of How To Be An Antiracist is on the role policy plays in racism. There is an exploration of the intersection between race and other identifiers, gender, sexuality, class, and how hard it is to pull them apart, my interpretation being that we can't and shouldn't be. There were times I had to reread a passage a couple of times to really take in and digest the meaning. I say this not to say that the book is a difficult or unapproachable read, it isn't either of those things, but because it is so rich and full of big ideas and a lot of information that slowing down and really soaking it in is called for. After laying out his case for what being antiracist means Kendi offers ideas on how to bring about change, a cure if you will.


I think a huge take away for me upon finishing this book is how much I had learned so far and how much I still needed to learn.


(Finished July 11, 2020)

My Antiracist Reading List So Far:
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
White Fragility
Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice

Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, Olivia Gatwood

I got this book because I was getting books for a friend's 6th Grade Classroom library at her request. I say at her request because she deserves the credit for putting this AMAZING on my radar.


Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice may look like a kids picture book and the art is amazing and will hold younger children's attention if you read it to them. But the ideas and message will speak to older students and adults. So I would call this an all ages book even though the publisher lists the ages as 8-12 (3rd-7th grade).

The poems each cover a theme:

Activism

Ableism

Ally

Body Positivity

Community

Empathy

Equality

Forgiveness

Freedom Fighters

Gender

Immigration

Intersectionality

Individuality

Joy

Justice

Prejudice

Privilege

Protest

Resistance

Resourcefulness

Silencing

Stereotyping

Volunteering

Woke

And that is the overarching theme, inspiring the reader, targeting young people, to stay woke and become activists. 

This will get a lot of rereads and quoting. I love it. 

(Finished July 8, 2020)

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States was my Pride-2020 read #8

Samantha is an author & journalist. She likes waffles shaped like Texas. She appreciates a good double rainbow. And she is a transgender woman. And this book is her love letter to the LGBTQ+ communities living and thriving in Red States.

On a road trip with her friend Billy Samantha revisits some places she spent time in before this trip and visits others. She is in Texas the night that SB 3 passes. She is on her way to her next destination the morning trump tweets about his ban on Transgender people in the armed forces. She revisits her Mormon upbringing in Utah and Bloomington where she met her wife.

With humor and honesty and love Samantha reminds us that there are vibrant LGBTQ+ communities in places between the East & West Coasts and we get to see these place and meet some amazing and beautiful people.

(Finished July 1, 2020)