The Mason Missile, June 26, 2023

Greetings, Americans! We celebrated Juneteenth, the new federal holiday, commemorating the day, June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger, who established his headquarters in Galveston, Texas, announced to the enslaved people there that they were free, under Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. News of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Lincoln on January 1, 1863, did not reach the enslaved people of Texas until then. That’s an old story; if you have any rights or liberties; people in power make damn sure you don’t hear about them. (https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth) This is why so many proto-fascists, like the ones congregated inside the Republican Party, are trying to prevent people, especially school kids, from learning the real story about our nation’s history; they prefer a sanitized, propagandistic version, like something you would see in a commercial for an insurance company. Do they really think they can hide, forever, the history of race and racism in this country, along with the existence of LGBTQ+ people, or the history to the Labor movement in this country? Do they think that by not talking about, or reading about, these issues, and using the force to the state to do it, will make these problems go away? Do they even know these issues, or people affected by these issues, exist in real life? Is willful ignorance, enforced by police, the only weapon they have? Sure looks like it. All this is coming to Philadelphia: the “Moms For Liberty,” one of the many Astroturf organizations, concocted by right-wing billionaires to keep the people at war with each other, will hold its “Joyful Warriors National Summit,” June 29-July 2, at the Marriot Hotel on Market Street in Philadelphia. Among the featured speakers will be Republican presidential candidates like Donald—you know, that guy—Ron Desantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy. (https://www.momsforliberty.org/summit23-speakers/) (https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/social-justice-groups-call-for-marriott-to-cancel-alleged-extremist-group-moms-for-liberty-summit-in-downtown-philly/3582020/) One of the speakers in particular that caught my attention is James Lindsay, author of the book Race Marxism: The Truth Behind Critical Race Theory And Practice. Yes, it’s about the right-wing’s favorite big scary thing they scare their kids with at bedtime. (https://jacobin.com/2022/03/james-lindsay-race-marxism-book-review-crt-liberalism) This reminds me of the Nazis of Germany, before they attained power; they campaigned against what they called “cultural Bolshevism,” a shorthand way of attacking what they called the evil influence of Jews (MY peeps!) on the arts. Do these right-wing-dings even have any idea what this horrific thing called CRT for short? Have they read ANY damn thing by the scholars on this subject—which, as I’ve said for the millionth time, is taught to law schools, and not, NOT, in Kindergarten. I myself have risen to this challenge, and have purchased the book Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed The Movement, published by the New Press. (https://thenewpress.com/books/critical-race-theory) I’m going to read the essays of the great scholars of CRT, such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Cornel West, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, and Kendall Thomas; will the maniacs who howl about it do the same? Doubt it. (By the way, I purchased this book through my favorite local bookstore, A Novel Idea On Passyunk (https://anovelideaphilly.com/); I urge you to support locally-based businesses, particularly bookstores.) Trump and Desantis continue to draw to their events all manner of neo-fascists, anti-Semetic and white-nationalist goons and thugs, and don’t doubt for a minute they’ll crawl out of the woodwork and spread their terror in Philadelphia. We must come together to stand up to these pricks, non-violently of course, and let them know they WILL NOT intimidate us. In the Second World War, our ancestors crossed an ocean and landed in foreign nations, fighting and dying to defeat fascist oppression; we mustn’t fail to do so this time, it would be an insult to their memory and sacrifice. All we have to do is go downtown to resist them. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason

I speak about the indictments of Donald t—p, and of the need to hold our officials accountable.

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, June 5, 2023

I speak about Philadelphia's Pride Festival and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, the problem with the debt ceiling deal, the scapegoating of low-income and working people in budget negotiations, and the fallacy of "trickle down" economics.