My Week in Tweets (April 16-22)

Dan Rather

• 4 min read
My Week in Tweets (April 16-22)

If it’s Friday, it’s time for “My Week in Tweets”… Hope you enjoy another walk through my personal feed, annotated with a fair amount of “shade.”

- Friday, April 16th-

How do you cover a story that repeats with horrific regularity? Another mass shooting. Another cycle of what we have all gone through so many times. The contours of the national currents of gun violence don’t change —the same calls for action from a majority of Americans, the same political stasis, the same inaction. And yet each tragedy shatters new families and communities. This time it was a FedEx center in Indianapolis. We don’t know where the next one will be, but we do know it will come. Enough.

Jackie Robinson didn’t only change baseball, he helped change America. Most celebrations focus on his breaking the “color barrier” when he broke into the big leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But the year before he played minor league ball in Montreal. And that led to this snapshot of a moment in time worth remembering. The story reminds us of the journey we have traveled on race, and how much we have yet to go.

- Saturday, April 17th -

In difficult times, I turn to a favorite poem from a beloved poet. Hope, indeed, as only Emily Dickinson can summon it forth…

…Now speaking of feathered creatures, on Saturday I was also inspired by the beauty of nature in the form of a hawk. From the response and the wonderful personal stories shared in the comments, it seemed to resonate with many of you as well. Life can still provide a surprise, and a smile.

- Sunday, April 18th -

This is a simple statement of fact that shows how broken gun control measures are in this country…

…and this is a major reason why.

- Monday, April 19th -

What a run. What a talent. In the comments to this Tweet many of you rightly highlight your favorite players. Fair enough. There are some amazing basketball players out there. But Steph Curry has transformed the way the game is played. We are lucky we’re around to see him.

- Tuesday, April 20th -

What a moment for the country. A verdict many hoped for and few dared to predict. In case you missed my longer thoughts on the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd you can read them here.

- Wednesday, April 21st -

With all due respect, a paraphrase of a favorite motto of my home state: “Don’t mess with Stacey.” Senator Kennedy ( not one of THOSE Kennedys) asked a question and he wasn’t prepared for the answer. Abrams was. He should have known better.

- Thursday, April 22nd -

If you’ve only clicked on one tweet in this week’s run down, I hope you have done so with the one above. Not for anything I’ve done, but because of the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pictures all of you shared. Inspired! Have a great weekend.

- In Case You Missed It -

Here are some articles from this week of stories underreported or just plain interesting:

G.O.P. Bills Target Protesters (and Absolve Motorists Who Hit Them) [New York Times]

As the nation reacts to the guilty verdict a jury handed to Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, Republican-led states are introducing punitive new measures governing protests.

USDA extends universal free lunch through next school year, bringing relief to millions of food-insecure families [Washington Post]

Facing a September cutoff, the agency announces it will reimburse schools at a higher rate and expand school nutrition programs to all students.

There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing [New York Times]

The neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and focus — and it may be the dominant emotion of 2021.

Graphic Policy review of What Unites Us: The Graphic Novel

A shameless plug… My thanks to Graphic Policy for reading What Unites Us and the video review.

Alaska tribal health groups distribute vaccine far and wide [AP News]

Alaska’s highest vaccination rates have been in some of its remotest, hardest-to-access communities, where the toll of past flu and tuberculosis outbreaks has not been forgotten.

We instinctively add on new features and fixes. Why don’t we subtract instead? [Washington Post]

‘Less is more’ is a hard insight to act on, it turns out.

Vartan Gregorian, Savior of the New York Public Library, Dies at 87 [New York Times]

A scholar, a university leader and a believer in libraries, he almost single-handedly rescued a grand but broken one in a time of municipal austerity.

Bookstore named after Harriet Tubman celebrates women authors, artists and activists [Today]

Owner Jeannine A. Cook has seen her Philadelphia bookstore through a fire and the coronavirus pandemic. But her mission remains the same.

Well, that’s a walk through my Twitter week. I hope you enjoyed it.

— Dan

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