The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2023   The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “defining moment” as the time that shows very clearly what something is really about. If that definition is taken seriously, the response by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Republican, Arkansas) to the State of the Union Address by US President Joe Biden was a defining moment. Governor Sanders appears to think so, at least, judging by the words she spoke that night and the things she spoke about. Governor Sanders correctly spoke of herself as the youngest governor in the United States, and contrasted her youth with President Biden, who at eighty is the oldest president in US history. In doing so, Sanders spoke of herself as part of a new generation of Republican leaders. But Sanders showed Americans and the rest of the world that her “new generation” perspective is not new. There is nothing “new” about political censorship of public education. There is nothing “new” about maligning public health initiatives that

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2023   TO:     Senator Dan Sullivan (Republican, Jonesboro, AR) CC:    All other politicians who want to end affirmative action Dear Senator Sullivan, You and I are not personally acquainted. However, I have a professional and personal interest in Senate Bill 71, which you are sponsoring in the Arkansas legislature. Your proposed legislation purports “to end discrimination or preferential treatment by the State of Arkansas and other public entities” such as school districts, counties, municipalities, public colleges and universities, and other public entities. If enacted, SB 71 will produce the following results: 1.     Section 1 will prohibit the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division from considering “lack of diversity in ownership and financial interest in the geographic area at issue” in permit applications; 2.     Section 2 will a.     amend current law (Ark. Code. Ann. § 6-10-111) renaming the Equity Assistance Center in the Division of Elementa