Toni V. Lee

Since, I’ve been asked, I’ll make my political stance clear. Then, I’ll wrap up my personal takeaways from Mary L. Trump’s book. My political stance I want to see America become great, but that requires a different kind of leader. A leader who’s an adult who thinks and behaves like an adult. A leader who will address the civil unrest in this country with intelligence and empathy, and the goal of fixing the root cause. Feeding bigotry and using federal force against citizens only fuel the unrest. It’s beyond crazy when folk feel comfortable enough to attempt a lynching in broad daylight, but that’s what follows when a leader calls white supremacist “good people”. A leader who will bring this nation together instead of sowing discord and using divisiveness as a political weapon and winning strategy. A leader who will work toward restoring the US back to a place of strength and power at the negotiating table with foreign nations, instead of rendering us weak and impotent. A leader wh...

“If you don’t like what’s going on here, go back where you came from!” Many are saying it. Others are thinking it. If a lot of the folk—actually, almost all—spouting that nonsense would give their family tree a shake and look at what falls out, they’ll find their ancestors were not indigenous (native) to this country. The United States of America is a huge melting pot of immigrants. Here’s my question for the folk who want me to go back where I came from. Where? My ancestry is African, Native American, European, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Jewish. Where exactly is it you’re telling me to go? If everyone--including the US President who has a German ancestry--who descended from immigrants left this country, the population would DRASTICALLY decrease. The retort, “If you don’t like what’s going on here, go back where you came from!” is just ig…um…uninformed. This is my personal takeaway from Mary L. Trump’s book.

I’ll just dive right in with my latest personal takeaways from Mary L. Trump’s book. Hmm, where do I even begin? Let’s see… * Hypocrisy Dr. Trump wrote about the time her uncle destroyed historical and priceless art deco to shave two weeks of construction time off Trump Tower. I guess preserving historical objects wasn’t that important to him back then. Indigenous cultural and sacred burial sites don’t seem to fall in the “important” category either. Sorry, that last bit was me, not the author. I'm just saying. * Narcissism When the author’s grandfather died, her Uncle Donald spoke at his funeral. She wrote that the eulogy was about the speaker and all the great things he’d supposedly accomplished and not about her grandfather. We witness this kind of behavior all the time. Remember those long coronavirus task force briefings? * Business Acumen The author talked about her uncle’s business acumen. I’ll admit that I used to think he was as brilliant as he says when it co...

Do you remember when you’d play games with the neighborhood kids and there was that kid who’d get mad when things didn’t go his way, grab his ball, stalk off home, and end the game for everybody? How about that kid who was always picking on somebody…a straight up bully…who just never let up with the attacks?   That kid who’d have a meltdown when the person he was picking on finally and deservedly gave him a taste of his own medicine? Ever encountered that kid who is totally out of control and has no parental discipline?   The kid whose mom can’t do anything with him and his dad doesn’t care enough to even try?   Yeah, that kid.   The one who makes your fingers twitch to pinch.   That one.   Here are my personal takeaways from my latest listening session of Mary L. Trump’s book: The TRUE heart of the author’s uncle for my people was revealed in 1973 when he was sued for racial discrimination in housing.  Before that lawsuit—which he fought ...

Ever met someone who said all the things you'd been longing to hear and you felt they were "it"? You thought they were the genuine article and you could unquestioningly put your trust in them? Then, you met one of their family members who gave you eye-rolls that screamed, "Girl, if you only knew...we need to talk!" I'm listening to an audio book that just hit my digital library. As I listened, the above scenario came to mind. Because of the lengths taken to suppress its release, I had to get a copy of this book written by Mary L. Trump. I want to share a few of the phrases that have popped so far. * He's a clown. * Free publicity * Blatant racism * No principles...none. * Casual dehumanization of people - Women not found attractive: ugly, fat slobs - Accomplished men: Losers * Crass, irresponsible, despicable behavior And that's just the prologue...