Scribblers in the Crossroads
These two pictures were taken less than a mile apart in Portland, and when juxtaposed, they give us a more balanced perspective on how we find ourselves and how we might move forward.
This first image was taken in a well-off white neighborhood -- big gingerbread houses and oak trees with swings. These folks vandalized their own stop signs before zooming off to work at Nike on their electric bikes. But, I couldn't help but agree with them. I too am thankful that Trump is leaving The White House.
This second image is not in a quaint neighborhood. It's in an intersection, the crossroads of the city. But with this messaging it might as well be the crossroads of the world. If you're poor or Black, or Brown in America or in any nation of the world, Biden is likely a better option for you than Trump. But Biden is not going to save us/you. Don't get me wrong, I think Biden is a nice guy, I would enjoy eating pasta with red sauce (his favorite food) with him. And I think he genuinely cares for minorities in America and abroad. However, the problem goes beyond Biden himself and into the fact that he is part of a system that is still heavily influenced by big things: big oil, big pharma, big tech, and -- perhaps most regrettably -- big war. Big things don't often think much about "little" people. For example, with Biden's recent leadership appointments it looks unlikely that he will do much to stop US war profiteering. Thousands of kids are still being killed each year by the literal and economic impact of US-made bombs. There are millions of kids starving in Yemen right now and we are making money in the conflict that caused their plight. Obama didn't stop the arms deals, Trump increased them, and it looks like Biden will do little. This is what the scribblers in the crossroads knew.
Because I am too old and too square to graffiti anything I have to take pictures, and I agree with both signs -- while I'm glad Biden won, America still has a long way to go before it becomes great.