gerrymandering

 The Texas State House Republicans tonight, August 20, have passed a gerrymandered map. The vote in Texas to redistrict mid-decade was demanded by Donald Trump to hang on to power during the mid-term elections. Gerrymandering manipulates boundaries of an electoral constituency to favor a party and/or socioeconomic class. 

HIstory Smithsonian

 

Hey Friend,   President Trump has escalated his efforts to reshape cultural institutions. This week, he turned his attention to the Smithsonian museums, pressing them to downplay the history of slavery and “remove divisive narratives.”  This is an attempt to "white-wash" black history, neglecting to tell the whole story of black history, including accomplishments of people of African descent and the wretchedness of slavery.   The Smithsonian’s leaders have long said their mission is to help Americans understand the full scope of our history, including both the triumphs and the painful chapters. Now that mission is under political pressure.   This is how democratic institutions are weakened, not all at once but gradually, when leaders decide which parts of our shared history the public is allowed to see.

Women's Equality Day August 26

 The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote nationally on August 18, 1920, so why is Women’s Equality Day on August 26th each year?

The simple answer is that even when a constitutional amendment has been ratified it’s not official until it has been certified by the correct government official. In 1920, that official was U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. On August 26, 1920, Colby signed a proclamation behind closed doors at 8 a.m. at his own house in Washington, D.C, ending a struggle for the vote that started a century earlier.

The New York Times ran the story about the document’s signing on its front page and noted the lack of fanfare for the historic event.

Colby had been asked by women’s suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt to allow groups in Colby’s office for the document’s signing and to film the event. Instead, Colby told reporters that “effectuating suffrage through proclamation of its ratification by the necessary thirty-six States was more important than feeding the movie cameras.”

The Times explained that Colby was concerned about the rivalry between Paul and Catt and wanted to avoid a public scene at the signing.

“Inasmuch as I am not interested in the aftermath of any of the friction or collisions which may have been developed in the long struggle for the ratification of the amendment, I have contented myself with the performance in the simplest manner of the duty devolving upon me under the law,” Colby said.

A package of documents from the state of Tennessee had arrived by train in Washington around 4 a.m. It included the official ratification document from the state legislature.

How Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, was a story in itself. Congress had passed the proposed amendment a year earlier, and it was supported by President Woodrow Wilson.

By the middle of 1920, 35 states had voted to ratify the amendment, but four other states—Connecticut, Vermont, North Carolina and Florida—refused to consider the resolution for various reasons, while the remaining states had rejected the amendment altogether.

So, Tennessee became the battleground to obtain the three-fourths of states needed to ratify the amendment. Harry T. Burn, a 24-year-old legislator, was set to vote against the amendment, but switched his vote on the Tennessee state house floor at the urging of his mother, assuring the 19th amendment’s ratification.

Yet, even after Burn’s deciding vote, anti-suffrage legislators tried desperately to nullify the previous vote.

In 1971, Representative Bella Abzug championed a bill in the U.S. Congress to designate August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” The bill says that “the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote.”

As a footnote, the amendment certification process has changed since 1920. Now, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for finalizing the ratification process.

Back in 1920, Secretary Colby’s attorney reviewed the documents that arrived from Tennessee. Today, NARA’s Office of the Federal Register reviews the documents and writes the proclamation for the Archivist of the United States to sign.

Section 106(b) of the United States Code spells out the finality of the process:

“The Archivist of the United States shall forthwith cause the amendment to be published, with his certificate, specifying the States by which the same may have been adopted, and that the same has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States.”

Celebrate the U.S.A.?

 As this country prepares for the 250th anniversary of its founding, how can we celebrate without being uncritical of its history? Princeton Professor of African American history Eddie Glaude Jr. says we have a MAGA embrace of American Civil Religion. Rather, the U.S. has always been on the road to a more perfect union. Cohesion can't come at the expense of diversity and the erasure of people in favor of a lily white America. It's a fantasy to think the foundation of the USA stands outside of history being a divinely sanctioned nation. 

Riverwalk

 Enjoying the new Riverwalk District in downtown Mason City. Burton and I walked there with Bishop Christopher deForest from NE Penn. Beautiful cylindrical light sculpture at dusk.

Walk after the rain

 After weeks and weeks of oppressive heat and humidity, after a storm passed through this morning, this afternoon we took a walk in East Park. Beautiful. 

Indigenous Peoples Day

  International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we honor the diverse histories, cultures, wisdom, and spiritual traditions of Indigenous communities across the globe.

We acknowledge the enduring presence and leadership of Indigenous peoples—and lament the harm caused by colonization, including the Church’s complicity in the erasure of Indigenous identity and sovereignty.

We are committed to listening, learning, and walking alongside Indigenous communities as part of the Spirit’s work of justice, healing, and reconciliation.

Today, we pray for Indigenous leaders, scholars, theologians, and communities. May their stories be heard. May their voices be honored. May their wisdom guide us.

Moon

 Stunning moon last night. 

  Sixty years ago, on August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Finally all U.S. citizens could vote. However millions of people have been removed from the voter registration records in recent years. Meanwhile Trump thinks he is entitled to 5 more U.S. Congressional seats because he won Texas in the 2024 election. Either he is ignorant of the constitution and U.S. history, or he intentionally refuses to know so that he can impose his will.

Baptism and Bombs

 August 6 is the 80th anniversary of the United States bombing Hiroshima which caused the immediate death of an estimated 80,000 people. I was baptized August 6, 1939. Son Kirk was baptized August 6, 1969. Baptism and bombs! Here we are in 2025, living with nuclear weapons. We continue to live in a dangerous world. Today we also remember our baptisms, joined to Christ's death and resurrection and called to create communities of peace. 

Texas redistricting

 Texas Republicans are following Trump's desires. Governor Abbott will call a special legislative session to redistrict Texas to gain 5 added Congressional seats for Trump. This gerrymandering would make the Texas map one of the country's most racially discriminatory maps even worse. 

ELCA for the sake of the world

 The ELCA Churchwide Assembly has concluded. One of the final decisions was approval of the edited Social Statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust." Another was approval of implementing resolutions for the Social Statement "Civic Life and Faith," including repudiation of Christian Nationalism and support for voter registration and access to the vote. Truly this assembly took seriously "Ministry for the Sake of the World."

ELCA for Palestine

 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in assembly this week,passed a strongly worded resolution calling on members “to petition U.S. leaders to recognize and act to end the genocide against Palestinians, halt military aid to Israel used in Gaza, and support Palestinian statehood and U.N. membership.” The resolution, called a memorial, passed overwhelmingly, 742-38.

ELCA church colleges and universities and seminaries

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has 28 colleges and universities. At the churchwide assembly the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities leaders were recognized and Waldorf University, Forest City, Iowa, was welcomed back into full membership. Valparaiso (Ind.) University was included as an associate member. Rebecca Ehretsman, president of Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, to delivered a governance report. Wartburg’s governance requires the churchwide assembly to act as its college corporation. The leaders of the seven ELCA seminaries were also recognized.

ELCA Civic Life and Faith

The ELCA at the Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix this week is discussing the adoption of a new Social Statement "Civic Life and Faith." It includes the topics of God's acts for the well being of all, God's calling for us all to have a robust engagement in society in the midst of our differences, politics, the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment to the Constitution, and pastors' and congregations' relationship to civic issues. 

 

FEMA money

 Trump has announced FEMA will hand out 600 million in grants for states to build migrant detention facilities.  FEMA has enough money to build concentration camps but does not have money to help communities rebuild after floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires?

disabilities

Multiple sources report that on July 24, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order, titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," aimed at addressing homelessness, according to The White House (.gov). The order has drawn criticism from civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Homelessness Law Center, who argue that it criminalizes individuals experiencing homelessness and those with disabilities.  

National Parks and more

 What can be undone? We CAN continue to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans want to name the Opera House at the Kennedy Center the Melania Trump Opera House.  A different Congress and president could refuse that naming.  We could restore funds for the National Parks System. But the damage will already have been done. How much more damage will the Trump Administration do?

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NPR

 What an absolute loss to the country for the current administration and Congress to cut funds for public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS.   Filmmaker Ken Burns tells the nation we need public broadcasting. 

Ice Cream

 Cousins Jackson, Aimee and Jennaya at Birdsall's ice cream store in Mason City, Iowa.  Four generations of our family have enjoyed ice cream there. Birdsall's opened in 1931, 94 years ago. It has looked the same inside all these years. All the ice cream is home made on the premises. My favorite is a Hot Fudge Sundae.

Ice Raids

 ICE raids. ICE raids everywhere! And now people who protest the raids are in physical danger. 

ICE raids everywhere. Is no where safe? A crime to provide sanctuary? All of us need to be engaged. ICE raids, ICE raids everywhere!

family

 Family gathering in Mason City: Back row: Son Mark from Phoenix, Rachel and Joel with Dad Burton in between. Front row: Mark's daughter Aimee, Norma, and Joel and Rachel's daughter Jennaya

It's the children

 It's the children. We care about the children missing in the floods in Texas. We care about children who will be hurt by cutbacks to food stamps and health care and medicaid. We care about children across this nation hurt by cutbacks to the Department of Education, particularly children with disabilities. We care about children around the world who will die because of cutting USAID.  We are a global village called to care for all children.

No tax on tips rips people off.

No tax on tips?  Only if you make under $25,000 a year and itemize your deductions.  If you itemize your deductions you lose the $15,000 standardize deduction, which means you have been conned.

Disability Month

 July is Disability Pride Month in the United States. It is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disabilities, raise awareness about disability rights, and promote inclusion and accessibility. 

USAID

 USAID officially shuts down today.  Very sad.  Studies show 14 million lives could be lost.

Retention centers

 The Senate passes the "Big Beautiful Bill" which is ugly, harmful to so many people and terrible for this country. Meanwhile Trump trumps an "Alligator Alcatraz" retention center in Florida.  Trump says he would like to see more detention centers in more states.

Canada Day!

 HAPPY CANADA DAY. We love Canada and Canadians.

Depression

 If you rearrange the letters is DEPRESSION

you will get "I PRESSED ON."

Phone Book

I'm not in the phone book anymore. We lived in New Haven, Ct. for nine years where the phone book was invented, along with the frisbee and other things.  Everywhere we traveled traveled we checked out the phone book. It's size signaled the size of the city of town.  But now, with the proliferation of smart phones, those of us without a landline are no longer in the phone book.  Ours is now nearly a sliver and mostly adds.

Bombing Iran

On June 21, 2025, the United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan

. President Trump announced the strikes and described them as a "spectacular military success," Those who are intoxicated with making war, seek personal power. May we become peace-makers for the sake of the world.

Longest day

 

Juneteenth

 The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln and became official on January 1, 1863, declaring the more than three million enslaved people of Confederate states free. Yet it would take two and a half years for the order to reach Texas, where the announcement was read by Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger in Galveston on June 19, 1865.

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"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."

It’s said that the newly freed peoples “immediately began to celebrate with prayer, feasting, song, and dance.”

Why the two-year delay between when Lincoln issued the order and the news reaching Texas? There are a number of ideas: One says that a messenger was killed on his way to deliver the news; another says that the news was withheld to maintain the enslaved labor force that Texas plantations were reliant upon; and another idea surmises that the news was delayed purposely, to allow a final harvest to take place. But no matter the reason, slavery remained in Texas until the day now recognized and celebrated as Juneteenth.

Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

TULSA, OK - JUNE 19: A family poses for a picture during the Juneteenth Festival on June 19, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Juneteenth celebrations, now recognized as a federal holiday, are taking place around the country in recognition of the emancipation of enslaved African-American people.

Juneteenth festivities followed each year and were special gatherings, where Black communities shared meals together, donned new clothing (representing new freedoms), and sang and prayed. For years, these celebrations were highly attended, until economic factors, cultural reasons, and racism reduced education about and knowledge of the holiday. The holiday would begin to see a resurgence with the civil rights movement of the sixties, when student demonstrators wore Juneteenth buttons.

The Path to National Recognition of Juneteenth

Black Texas legislator Al Edwards’s efforts prevailed in 1980, and Juneteenth was declared a state holiday, the first official state recognition of the day. Almost every state in the union officially recognized the holiday by 2021. Hawaii passed legislation recognizing the date in 2021, leaving South Dakota as the only state in the Union that did not declared Juneteenth a holiday before a Congressional bill was signed by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021. The executive action made Juneteenth an annual federal holiday on June 19.

Emanuel AME Church

 Ten years ago, June 17, 2015 black saints gathered for prayer and study at Mother Emanuel AME Church.

They welcomed a stranger.

They opened the Word.

They were murdered in cold blood.

We remember their names:We grieve their loss.

We commit to justice

Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney – senior pastor of Emanuel AME Church and South Carolina state senator

Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton – pastor, speech therapist, and high school track coach

Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr. – retired pastor and longtime member of Emanuel AME

Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor – minister and admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University

Rev. Myra Thompson – member of the church’s leadership and Bible study teacher that evening

Mrs. Ethel Lance – church sexton, known for her warmth and deep faith

Mrs. Susie Jackson – longtime church member, choir singer, and cousin of Ethel Lance

Mr. Tywanza Sanders – recent college graduate, aspiring entrepreneur, and Susie Jackson’s grandnephew

Mrs. Cynthia Hurd – librarian and public servant with the Charleston County Public Library for over 30 years

We grieve their loss.

We commit to justice.

Father's Day

My Daddy died 75 years ago when I was still a child. I miss taking walks with my father. I don't know what we would have talked about should we have taken long walks at dawn. We live at different times in different worlds having different conversations. I don't so much miss him, as miss never having had him to talk together on early morning walks at dawn. Would we know each other now? Would we walk together? I have no idea. Yes, yes, I think so. I think we would have walked, perhaps silently together some early days at dawn. 

Protest

 Hundreds of people--too many to count--gathered in Central Park in Mason City, Iowa, for "No Kings" Day. After listening to speeches protesting Trump's authoritarian rule, the group marched to the highway so that people could see and hear them. Passing cars honked in approval.  Today there were more than 30 "No Kings" protests in towns and cities across Iowa. 

No Kings Day June 13

 

USAID

 Many troublesome things are going on. However, in the midst of these issues we also must not forget the cuts to USAID. People around the world are dying and will die because of these cuts! Continue to contact the Congress to work to restore this vital work. Call 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to any U.S. Representative or Senator.  Help save lives

Military troops

 This is what it's like to have U.S. military troops aimed at you! This was Burton's experience in 1967 in Detroit.  However, then there were no deportations, no ICE raids.  Today we live in a very dangerous time.

East Park roses

 It's June. Roses in East Park. Nice.

No Kings Day i Saturday, June 14

 

No Kings Day is Saturday, June 14. over 1800 rallies are planned across the country. The parade will take place as National Guard units have been sent to crack down on protesters in Los Angeles County, where thousands are rallying to protect families and neighbors from abduction by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mobilizing the National Guard — while preparing to deploy U.S. Marines without justification or a request from California’s governor — is a clear sign that the Trump administration seeks to incite and provoke escalation to further justify the use of military force and authoritarian abuses of power against American citizens. June 14 is also flag day. The U.S. flag is for everyone. 

D-Day

 D-Day 2025, commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Normandy Landings, will be observed on June 6th, 2025. This date marks the start of the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, a pivotal moment in World War II. 

65th anniversary

 June 5th is the 65th anniversary of my consecration as a Lutheran deaconess. I am thankful for all of the people among whom I've been privileged to minister. I thank God for you! These pictures are from the time of my consecration until now. And one is of me two years ago with the statue of "Phoebe" which has stood outside Deaconess Hall and now the Lutheran Diaconal Center all these years. 

Ascension Day

 Ascension Day, Thursday, May 29. The first congregation I served was Ascension in St. Louis. There was a sign over the exit door that we saw each time we went out into the world: "Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" (Acts 1:ll) Jesus had ascended; then the disciples, including women, gathered together and prayed. Here is my poinsettia from Christmas, the celebration of Jesus' birth, what we are still enjoying on Ascension day.

King Charles speaks in Canada

 King Charles does not ordinarily speak at the opening of the Canadian Parliament. However, King Charles III did make a historic exception and delivered the Speech from the Throne himself this year. This was the first time a monarch had done so since Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. The King's decision to personally deliver the speech was widely viewed as a symbolic show of support for Canada, particularly amidst rising tensions with the United States. King Charles' delivery of the Speech from the Throne in 2025 was a significant event, highlighting Canada's sovereignty and its distinct identity. 

Concord Cemetery

 On this Memorial Day we spent time walking around Concord Cemetery in Garner Iowa where nine members of my Kloock family are buried, including my mother and father, A.E. Cook. Garner is a lovely little town of 3000 about 1/2 hour from Mason City. The people there held a memorial service in the park. I give thanks for my father's service in World War 1.