A comforting song in an unstable time. Sung by the great Bob Marley,

Watching ESPN coverage of Pat Summitt, who died last night at 64. Summitt, if you don’t know, was the legendary and beloved women’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee. It is hard to overstate her impact on women’s basketball and everyone who came in touch with her. She was, as sport’s commentator Dan Levetar said this morning, a gender pioneer. No one, not even John Wooden the revered coach of UCLA’s men’s basketball team, stood as tall as her in the profession of college basketball. Wooden, nick named the Wizard of Westwood, created teams for the ages, but Summit’s hand – albeit with an assist from the passage of Title 9 – was nearly singular in bringing women’s basketball out of the shadows and turning into a sport that commanded national attention. No one did more to make the playground and the gym into a welcoming space where young girls and women honed their basketball skills, fiercely competed, and grew in confidence and so many other ways. Time won’t easily erase her legacy.

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(Receiving Freedom Medal from President Obama in 2012)

UK voters decided to leave the European Union yesterday. From this side of the pond, things don’t look good. The right wing drove what turned into a very ugly process and initiative is in its hands in the vote’s wake.

And we know from our own experience that initiative counts for a lot. Reagan grabbed it upon his election in 1980 and George W., notwithstanding quite substantial protests actions, did the same in the wake of 9/11. And I don’t have to remind you what followed from that.

If I lived in the UK, my watchword would be “watch out.” Especially if you are an immigrant or person of color. Too often people on the left discuss political events without taking a close look at the actual balance of class and social forces.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/24/eu-vote-uk-diminished-politics-poisoned-racism?CMP=share_btn_fb