Roy L. Pickering Jr.'s Blog, page 6

Hang in there - We'll get through this

In light of what's going on these days with Covid-19 / Coronavirus I've decided to do my small part to help civilization remain civilized. This too shall pass. Being stuck at home doesn't need to mean that you stay stuck in a rut or a funk. If you'd like some help keeping your little ones occupied while you do your best to get work done from home, head to the bottom of this post. And then keep stopping by Roy's Book Reviews as I continue to add children's book readings to my booktube channel until we ride this thing out. I may even continue after that. Stay safe!

- Roy




















And since physical movement is just as important as nourishing their minds and imaginations, I also recommend this dance video series

POLITICAL MUSINGS

Of this group the top pick needs to be either Biden, Warren or Klobuchar. Yang and Steyer should be utilized in some high ranking official capacity down the road.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 8, 2020

This section of the Smithsonian needs an update. pic.twitter.com/7ql3JixyLT— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) February 16, 2020

GOP base will support Trump. It doesn't matter if many don't personally like him. Why do you think impeachment didn't lead to his removal from office? Dem base is bigger but if we don't rally behind a candidate no matter which one it is, guess who wins again. Trump & comedians.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 17, 2020

Nation full of morons https://t.co/YS1Y5vCnE1— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 8, 2020

I hope against all logic that all of them get thrown in jail for a significant amount of time as our country recuperates. https://t.co/C1zf65siT9— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 8, 2020

Two days ago: "We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal Year 2021 Budget.” -Trump

Today: #TrumpBudget proposes $800 billion in cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Pass it on.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 10, 2020

They’ll probably recommend no jail time, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a show on Fox News.https://t.co/yjgM397qja— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 11, 2020

He's not wrong, unfortunately. The only thing that keeps Presidents from interfering in the Justice Department is "norms"...

And that right there is the problem.— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) February 11, 2020

Rule book is need of serious rewriting. Back in 1776 they couldn't imagine people being so stupid as to elect someone like Trump POTUS & people being so corrupt as to support him. They assumed that a series of decent humans would become president, some better at job than others.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 11, 2020

I was way too generous in thinking there would be 4-5 GOP members with a conscience who gave a damn about the Constitution and plain decency. Instead we got Mitt, party of one https://t.co/jU6qfa90fb— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 11, 2020

First on @AP: Distribution of white supremacist propaganda material in the U.S. rose by more than 120% between 2018 and 2019, as tracked by the Anti-Defamation League. https://t.co/HwUUM076bw— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2020

A Line A Day: #StopTrump - Before it's too late https://t.co/cdCuq1AiTB— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) February 13, 2020

it is February 13, 2020 pic.twitter.com/aC3irvkdpW— Brendan Karet

Farewell 2019 - S'up 2020

Why can’t people who liked Imus just say:

“Imus was racist, homophobic, and frequently cruel. He directed racist jibes at my co-anchor and colleagues. But I liked him, and I admired him and I found him funny and he helped my child”

Because they’d realize how awful THEY seem.— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) December 29, 2019

News flash: If you express admiration for someone who routinely says/does horrible things, not for something the person created but personal admiration, then you too are a horrible human. Doesn't matter if you're not the one with the microphone. Garbage is only admired by trash.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

R.I.P. but I wasn't a regular listener and unfortunately this is what I'll remember him for.
A Line A Day: Don Imus sticks foot (and leg and torso) in big mouth https://t.co/8sxNOdJX2K— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

If people can give me reasons they hate our president, I’ll hear them out but most people who dislike him can’t give me real facts to back up their hate— Denika Clay (@DenikaClay) December 26, 2019

K. Clear hatred of non-whites shown by wall obsession, shithole countries remark, lack of aid to PR & other hurricane hit islands, birtherism. Crude remarks about various women indicate misogyny. Hypocrite who cheats on wives with porn stars then claims to be Mr. Evangelical. Etc— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

Frequent teller of blatant lies and absurd exaggerations. Butchery of the English language and assault on dignity of office of POTUS. Stupid $ wasting vanity ideas like pointless parade & Space Force. Bribing leader of another country to dig up dirt on political opponent.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

Love affair with Putin on one hand while saying offensive things (like "I like heroes who don't get caught") about US veterans who served this country with distinction and without regard for bone spurs. Hiding his taxes rather than being on up & up with Americans.

Disregarding tons of scientific evidence about climate change so big businesses get to spend less and pollute more. Doing nothing about gun control in spite of weekly mass shootings due to NRA $$$. Trying to screw over people who need affordable healthcare b/c named after Obama.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

Not changing his mind about choosing an alleged rapist to serve on SCOTUS, perhaps because he too is an alleged rapist. Putting his kids and son-in-law in high profile gov't positions where qualified professionals should be. Alienating the USA from allies in favor of dictators.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

I'll wrap it up by when he said that some White Supremacists/KKK/American Nazis are "fine people". That was a particularly charming moment. Thanks for hearing me out though I won't be surprised if somehow I still go unheard.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 27, 2019

Been alive for 32 years and there have been no attempts on my life. I’m proof murderers don’t exist https://t.co/0Xkh2aoEtr— The First Lady (@flawl3ssnbrwn) December 28, 2019

What's with all these pics of interracial couples where 1 or both of 'em is declaring racism/racists to be a myth? Is this some dumb social media challenge? Look, NORMAL ppl in IR relationships truly do not spend every second thinking abt race. BUT they remain "woke" to their... https://t.co/wQ8NFMeTWv— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

circumstances and to the perceptions of certain others about their status. They both know who they are as individuals AND who they are as a committed couple. They aren't blissfully unaware of color but simply are too busy doing laundry, washing dishes, taking out trash, coping...— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

with the work of raising children, planning vacations, working to pay off mortgage, etc. etc. to construct mental think pieces about race relations every ten minutes. In other words, members of IR 'ships are people who are too busy peopling to post pics proving that love is blind— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

So cut it out, MAGA models for hire. You aren't fooling anyone. You're only making yourselves look like fools.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

Return of the Jedi audience reactions from 1983 pic.twitter.com/ObJ3h5KMHC— Eyes On Cinema (@RealEOC) December 21, 2019

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#StarWars #riseofskywalker #starwarstheriseofskywalkerA post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Dec 20, 2019 at 8:22am PST

Literature was the gateway for Raymond to understand what happened to him. Comment below with black and brown books you recommend and thank you for your continued support of this community. pic.twitter.com/VXiy7hLzm6— When They See Us (@WhenTheySeeUs) July 26, 2019

BREAKING: Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis says he has Stage IV pancreatic cancer: "I am going to fight it"

"I may miss a few votes during this period, but with God’s grace I will be back on the front lines soon." https://t.co/kdrUxk2XiK pic.twitter.com/24cZxYGbAO— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 29, 2019

And now for a quick review of 2019 happenings that I commented about on Twitter and/or wrote about here at A Line A Day. Imagine that you're hearing a drum roll before proceeding to peruse my Top Ten List.


1) We left Neverland and fought intensely over the personal legacy of Michael Jackson. His musical legacy remains the indisputable gold standard. 


2) I became a BOOKTUBER


3) We lost a literary legend. R.I.P. Toni Morrison


4) Jay-Z and the NFL joined forces


5) There was a killing and resulting trial with racial overtones. There was a verdict. It was followed by a hug. There were strong reactions to THE HUG.


6) Matters of Convenience received a review from a booktuber. That was cool!







7) We received SO MUCH INFORMATION


8) Colin Kaepernick is STILL not playing NFL football but that did not prevent him from being a featured attraction of BREAKING SPORTS NEWS


9) Wattpad is still alive kicking so I did this...

Now available for the first time in its entirety on Wattpad - my novella FEEDING THE SQUIRRELShttps://t.co/yjhgeYxk5r— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) December 29, 2019

10) Since it's not only the end of a year but the end of a decade, various "best of the decade" lists are being compiled. Among them, AP named the top male and top female athlete of the decade with honors bestowed upon LeBron James and Serena Williams. I have no argument with either selection, nor am I surprised that both athletes are African American. Earlier this year I reprinted an article originally written several years back - THE BLACK ATHLETE. 2020 is a Summer Olympics year so expect plenty more domination by athletes of color. This will not make up for the fact that presidential candidates of color have been dropping like flies. But I'm okay with pretty much anyone left in the Democratic field (okay, maybe not Tulsi) replacing Trump in the White House.

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Happy articles of #impeachment day! #StopTrump - Before it's too late https://lineaday.blogspot.com/2016/03/stoptrump-before-its-too-late.htmlA post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Dec 10, 2019 at 4:52am PST

BREAKING SPORTS NEWS

There were a couple interesting events in the world of sports this week, NFL football to be specific, that caught my attention and led to extensive Twitter commentary by myself and others. The first was a brawl that took place towards the end of an otherwise boring game between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. Due in large part to the out of control behavior of one participant in particular, it may go down as the most memorable sports brawl since the legendary Malice in the Palace. I don't know if an equally catchy nickname has been decided on for this latest athletic brouhaha.

The second occurrence was a surprising and oddly rushed decision by the NFL to give Colin Kaepernick a tryout before all 32 NFL teams, after having snubbed him for the better part of the past three years, to possibly make a return to the league. I'm sure you know all about how and why he ended up out of the league to begin with.

Below you'll find a recap of both sporty happenings and various contrary reactions from those in my Twitter feed.

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Myles Garrett is expected to lose over $1.1 Million because of his suspension handed down Friday in the wake of his fight with Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph. The amount, however, could be under $250,000, or the team could make it higher if he wanted to go after a portion of his $5 Million signing bonus that is allocated against the 2019 salary cap of the Cleveland Browns. #Browns #MylesGarrett #NFL https://tooathletic.com/how-much-money-will-myles-garrett-lose-from-suspension/A post shared by TooAthletic Takes (@tooathletic) on Nov 16, 2019 at 4:09pm PST

https://t.co/Q5NYfkfQUR pic.twitter.com/83xc7U7Dba— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

I'd think this would result in an exceptionally long suspension but with the #NFL you just never know.https://t.co/3s8S0A0sAn https://t.co/80a220PcAe— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

Damn! First time seeing it from this angle. This is basically attempted murder. https://t.co/mIBA86Y21t— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

If I'm the commish Garrett is gone for the rest of season. Pouncey's reaction was understandable to me but once he started kicking Garrett in the head he earned a suspension of a game or two minimum for himself as well. https://t.co/ZVCmKkDiZP— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

Idiotically Garrett's punishment will pale in comparison to Kaepernick's. https://t.co/wUGKm3dhjE— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

It's quite bizarre. https://t.co/6aYh6IMp41— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

Master of understatement https://t.co/BmloSxvvVO— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

Browns’ DE Myles Garrett suspended indefinitely, with a minimum of at least this regular season and playoffs.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2019

Awkward: The Browns held a sweepstakes to give away a Myles Garrett signed mini helmet just one week ago. Winner is set to be chosen by 3:00pm tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/bL2h9QpPMQ— Yoni (@OriginalYoni) November 15, 2019

Myles Garrett’s teammates in the locker room when being asked to defend his actions pic.twitter.com/LsgZ6va769— KFC Radio (@KFCradio) November 15, 2019

Maybe he'll get a game or something like that but I didn't see him attempting to murder anyone so don't expect a suspension comparable to what Garrett got. https://t.co/5mOeJLnRwq— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

#Steelers OL Maurkice Pouncey, suspended 3 games by the NFL and fined, is expected to appeal, source said. This suspension, if it stands, would keep him from playing the #Browns again.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 15, 2019

I expected something like this due to the kicks to Garrett's head when he was on the ground. If Pouncey had stopped with the bare fist punches to helmet, maybe just 1 game or even no games. But once you're seen as trying to give a guy brain damage, expect to be suspended.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 15, 2019

Mason Rudolph may be an a-hole. I don't know enough about him to form opinion one way or the other. He also may have instigated or escalated matters leading to an unnecessary brawl. But what he is not is a guy stupid enough to use a helmet as a weapon against an unprotected skull— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 16, 2019

It doesn't matter who started a fight or who ended it. It only matters how you conducted yourself during the fight. Even in the most heated of moments there are lines you should be able to refrain yourself from crossing— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) November 16, 2019

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#StillWithKap after the NFL tried to pull this trick yesterday: "The NFL, under the guise of acting out of the goodness of its own heart...set up a workout ...and then, as Kaepernick showed up for it, asked him to sign a waiver that would exonerate the league of any and all responsibility for the violations of his rights that may have (have) occurred since his grievance was settled in February." - NBC Sports (Colin called them out on it and worked out on his terms, "at an elite level") Stay Ready. #StillReady

Information Overload

It occurred to me in conversation with my wife this morning that certain incidents seem to happen much more frequently in 2019 than when we were kids. We were talking about a child in his early teens who committed suicide. We don't know the grieving family but are acquainted with at least one family who does. So there's sort of a connection there. But that isn't how we found out about the tragedy. My wife learned of this child's death the new fashioned way, through social media, specifically facebook. Every couple months give or take it seems we learn about a young person taking their own life, though usually not anyone we're personally connected with. When we were kids we don't recall ever hearing about, much less knowing a single kid who killed himself or herself. Is society unraveling at such a rapid clip that the odds of making it through your teen years without deciding enough is enough are significantly lower than twenty, thirty, forty years ago? Is the fact that bullies in 2019 can use a number of apps and social media sites on the internet to conduct their nasty business, rather than only being able to harass face to face back in the day, the reason why a greater number of children in present times decide they can't take it anymore?

Maybe. But then I realized that if my wife didn't happen to be a regular facebook user, there is a fair chance that she never would have found out about this poor child. Even though his family lives rather close to our home and we're connected by a single degree of separation, there's no guarantee that the suicide would have come to our attention if it wasn't for facebook. This caused me to ponder how many other things appear to happen much morefrequently now than used to be the case...and to wonder whether those things really are happening more frequently, or are we just more likely to hear about it these days. 






















I rarely sit down to watch a local nightly news program and I don't subscribe to a single newspaper. Yet I feel far more informed about important and trivial matters going on in the world than I did prior to Al Gore's internet. I spend time daily staring at my Twitter stream, take a peek at the day's trending topics, and in so doing I receive my news fix on a regular basis. Whatever I miss on Twitter I learn about on facebook. And every so often a breaking story comes to my attention via Instagram. All bases are covered, information overload accomplished with minimal effort on my part. At a glance I gain superficial knowledge of incidents taking place throughout the world near and far. If a particular story is of personal interest, it's easy enough to delve deeper by clicking on a hyperlink. If the subject matter doesn't grab me then I'm content with just the headline.


In addition to information flowing more rapidly and further reaching in our current era, we are also able to record whatever occurs more easily. Most everyone has a cell phone on them that functions as a still and video camera along with allowing us to place and receive phone calls. If something noteworthy takes place in your vicinity, it's no hassle to record it. And then to post the video online. Depending on how interesting the content is, it may go viral. If so, inevitably a hashtag will be created for it. Now it's a trending topic which makes it breaking news whether the media gets involved or not. News organizations won't ignore for long if enough people are talking about it. They will promptly report on what they see has grabbed our collective attention.





Incidents of a certain nature seeming to happen much more frequently than in years past can have significant consequences. We react to events that are rare differently than to those that are an epidemic. Are white people constantly reporting black people who are doing nothing but minding their own business with melanin to the police? That seems to be the case because stories about a white person feeling threatened by the proximity of a black person doing nothing at all threatening make it to my twitter stream at least once per month. But chances are that these absurd situations don't actually occur more regularly than a decade or two ago but simply come to my attention more frequently now. Long before Becky made an emergency call on her cell phone, Becky back in the day was hustling to make the call in a phone booth. But nobody recorded her. If a level headed police officer shows up, it's not that big of a deal, just another example of bigots being idiots. If a trigger happy cop shows up, the result can be tragedy. Too many tragedies can spark a movement such as Black Lives Matter. That movement along with resulting backlash can make it into our political discourse and help determine who we elect president. But are white cops killing more unarmed black people today than in the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and so on? Or are we just more likely in 2019 to find out about a greater amount of excessive policing and higher number of unjustified killings due to the sped up nature of communication?


Somebody has probably crunched the numbers and can provide answers to these questions. Do more people under the age of 18 commit suicide now than in the past? Do more male and female teachers have sexual relationships with students than used to happen before? Have incidents of racial bias from the ridiculous to the deadly significantly increased? Or do we merely hear about these things more so consider them to be bigger problems than before? Was our pre-internet ignorance bliss? Or does increased knowledge empower us to greater recognize the ills of society and try to do something about them? Even if all we end up doing is complaining more frequently. The squeaky wheel does eventually get some oil though. #MeToo is one such example.


I have questions. And without researching further I'm left to guess at the answers and leave you to do the same. One thing I know hasn't changed is that there has always been a degree of corruption in politics and political behavior ripe for mocking. But no previous president has ever given us quite as much material to work with as Trump. For bad and for worse, he's something new to reckon with. Hopefully we'll do more than hashtag and complain about it.

Words written by and spoken about me

On a whim I googled my name and found a treasure trove of quotes from my books MATTERS OF CONVENIENCE, PATCHES OF GREY and FEEDING THE SQUIRRELS. You just never know what google is going to unearth. I've assembled them together for this post along with the first video review for a book of mine. It was doubly interesting for me to watch the video both as the author of the book being discussed (MoC) and someone who has recently joined the booktuber ranks and is still getting the hang of recording myself discussing books I've read. I have a long way to go as a book reviewer/booktuber and as a writer and as a husband/father/human. As they say, it's the journey not the destination that matters. Based on the passages below I'll humbly proclaim that every so often I've managed to string a group of words together in a manner that ain't half bad. Without further ado I present...

Reactions to THE HUG

Botham Jean’s Brother hugs Amber Guyger tells her he loves her, forgives her, hopes she gives her life to Christ pic.twitter.com/DwkPWWu0Gc— Shaun Rabb (@shaunrabbfox4) October 2, 2019

There are hugs and then there are HUGS. Most everyone in my social media range of view has a strong opinion one way or another about the embrace depicted above. In case you've been living under a rock lately (a choice it may seem wise to make in these troubled days) a man named Botham Jean was shot to death in his home by a woman named Amber Guyger. The killer was a police officer, but she was not on duty, not responding to report of a crime. Instead, she claims that she mistakenly got off on the wrong floor of the apartment building they both lived in. Then she mistakenly entered Botham Jean's apartment (the door wasn't locked shut) which was directly above her apartment one floor below. Supposedly thinking that she had walked into her own home and found it occupied by an intruder, she pulled her gun and killed Botham Jean. There is more I can say about the ensuing criminal case, but I'll let you google the details if you wish to know more. I'll simply provide the result which was a conviction for murder and sentence of 10 years in prison (presumably she'll be able to get out sooner if good behavior allows) for Amber Guyger.

Prior to announcement of verdict, people wondered if there would even be a conviction. If so, would it be for murder or perhaps for a reduced charge of manslaughter. When the jury asked to consider a Stand Your Ground type rule, not for Botham Jean who was in his own home but for Amber Guyger who had entered someone else's apartment uninvited and proceeded to kill him, folks steeled themselves for the worst. Would YET ANOTHER white cop go unpunished for killing an unarmed, unsuspecting black person in cold blood?

The jury did its job (correctly in my opinion) by finding Amber Guyger guilty of murder. I don't care that she is absent minded, perhaps distracted by naughty texts from her lover. I don't care about her distasteful, racially insensitive social media posts. Maybe she was a white supremacist. Maybe she was a Second Amendment nut. Maybe she was a saint with horrible luck. I don't care. All that matters to me is that regardless of whose apartment Amber thought she was entering, once she crossed the threshold and saw Botham Jean she could have reacted in any number of ways that would not have resulted in his death. As a police officer she was supposedly trained in how to handle potentially dangerous situations. For some reason the only resolution that occurred to her was to take aim and fire at someone who was not threatening in any way to do her harm. I find this an act that warrants prison time no matter what the circumstances around it happen to be. Amber Guyger did the crime, she should do the time.

But this piece is not meant to be about THAT crime. Instead it's about the alleged "crime" committed by Botham Jean's brother Brandt after the sentencing. Brandt publicly forgave Amber Guyger for killing Botham. Speaking for no one but himself, not even on behalf of the Jean family, he said that he bore her no ill will. "I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you, because I know that's exactly what Botham would want." A video of the powerful moment can be found below.

The image above and video below sparked strong reactions. Some felt that Brandt's actions were wonderfully Christian, an example of the ideal way for one human being to treat another under extremely trying circumstances. Many others had a range of reaction from agitation to fury. THE HUG was seen as yet another example of a black person meekly turning the other cheek. Never mind that the meek are supposed to inherit the earth and that to err is human, forgiveness is divine. Rather than living per directive of the good book that those who took the stand throughout the trial had sworn by to speak the truth and nothing but the truth so help them God, some would have preferred that Brandt grabbed a Bible and smacked Amber across the face with it. Forgiveness denied. Be off to prison on the road inevitably leading to Hell!

I do not think I would be as forgiving of somebody who took the life of one of my family members. I'm simply not that big of a person. Not as pure of heart as Brandt seems to be. I'm less forgiving of Amber Guyger than Brandt is and I have no relationship whatsoever with Botham Jean. The first I ever heard of him was the news that he had been killed. If Amber was acquitted of all charges, I would be pretty pissed off about it. Had that happened, I would have interpreted it as a blatant case of White privilege and Blue privilege. Another white cop gets away with killing an unarmed black person. Another case of Justice not being color blind.

But that is not what happened. Therefore I am unconcerned about Amber Guyer being forgiven and hugged by Botham Jean, just as I was unmoved by her tears on the stand. Maybe she didn't mean to kill, but kill is what she did. Her tears were unable to bring Botham back to life and so too was Brandt's hug. I have no disdain to express. Brandt and other members of the Jean family can and will grieve and accept the loss of Botham as they see fit. It isn't any of my business just because it happens to be something I witnessed on my computer screen. I'm not entitled to an opinion on how Brandth Jean should express his pain at the loss of a sibling simply because it's the social media story du jour. I'll stay in my own lane and be grateful I'm not in the same position as him.

As for an African American bailiff stroking Amber's hair, or the hug that was given to Amber by the judge after her fate was sealed, those actions struck me as somewhat unprofessional. As I stated on Twitter...

I agree and I agree. You have no right to tell someone how to feel and act about the death of their own brother (unless you're also a member of family). But judges don't need to be hugging convicted murderers. Save that pity for when sentencing 1st time offenders of petty crimes. https://t.co/9yJetAbRLu— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) October 3, 2019

But in addition to their job titles they happen to be human beings, and if showing compassion to a woman who claimed to have made a fatal mistake and deeply regretted this is what they were moved to do - then that's what they were moved to do. Being kind when having every right to be indifferent or even cruel is neither sin nor crime. If you think it makes them weak or consider such acts of tenderness in light of the situation to be acts of Uncle Tommery, I hold nothing against you either. There is no right or wrong here. There is only the type of person each one of us is, and the choices to act how each of us sees fit.

If you don't have it in you to hug someone you hate for what they did, hopefully you're fortunate enough to be able to hug the ones you love for who they are.

BREAKING: In stunning moment, Botham Jean's brother embraces Amber Guyger after her sentencing for his brother's murder.

"I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you, because I know that's exactly what Botham would want." https://t.co/sWaPUtS0kj pic.twitter.com/xPAIKQLh6z— ABC News (@ABC) October 2, 2019

And now for a video from my booktube channel Roy's Book Reviews...

Meet Audrey from MATTERS OF CONVENIENCE - an excerpt

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A post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Apr 23, 2019 at 8:48pm PDT

Audrey headed down West Broadway towards her favorite shoe store.  Words of praise showered upon her at that afternoon’s meeting were echoing in her head.  The last author she had signed, a self-help guru who provided spiritual enlightenment to the masses in a non-intimidating page count, marketed in-house as philosophy for dummies, was the current darling of non-fiction Best Seller lists.  Audrey was the golden child of the moment at her publishing house.Wonderful as the meeting had gone, afterwards went even better.  That’s when she was all but assured that upon the pending retirement of Brandon Murray, who had hired her and served admirably as mentor, the open position of publisher and vice president would go to her.  She had two main competitors.  The first was Sinclair Hopkins, a windbag who dyed his hair a ridiculous tar black shade and was one of the last remaining practitioners in their industry of the three martini lunch.  The second was Patricia McIntrye, Pat to those who knew her reasonably well.  Like Sinclair she was white, but that was the first and last of their similarities.  He was short, stout, often under the influence, and known to make inappropriate comments to and about female coworkers when alcohol rather than discretion got the best of his tongue.  Pat was tall and lean, a teetotaler with a penchant for signing authors with a feminist bent.  She had recently become pregnant, taking everybody at work by surprise because she was a lesbian who had surpassed her fortieth birthday by four years.  Her thirty year old lover Adrian was unable to carry a pregnancy to term, so Pat was artificially inseminated to bring about the family they desired.  In selecting a successor to Brandon Murray, math declared that Audrey should be the winner.  The money her authors earned surpassed Pat’s and Sinclair’s by a healthy margin.  However the world was not propelled by mathematics or fairness.  She did not want to believe that race would work to her disadvantage but acknowledged the likelihood that it would play a hindering role.  Sinclair had the most seniority and was a white heterosexual male in a power structure that could still be described as an old boy’s network.  Even though his drinking and sexism had become offensive in an increasingly politically correct climate, plus the fact that he was on an extended losing streak at discovering successful authors, Audrey still figured the contest was his to lose.  So she was surprised and delighted to learn that he along with Pat was choking on her dust.The purchase of a new pair of boots would elevate her spirits even higher.  She was meeting with friends later that night at the opening a posh new restaurant, providing an excellent venue to show off her latest pair of designer footwear.  This was working out to be a great day.She strode through the doorway of Otto Tootsi Plohound and took a moment to scan the various sizes, shapes, materials, and colors posed prettily about.  Midway through the process she spied a familiar face.  “Nadia.”“Audrey. My God, it’s been ages.”“Yes it has.  How are things with you?”“Absolutely wonderful.”  Before Nadia reached the seventh syllable of her reply she had pulled out a series of photographs from her purse.  They featured her pride and joy.“He’s adorable,” Audrey stated automatically before even taking a good look at the top picture.  “He’s gotten so big since I saw him last,” she said as she flipped through the stack, aware that her comments were a carbon copy of every conversation she’d ever had with the mother of a toddler.“Thanks.  Clay somehow manages to grow more precious every day.  I hear things are really looking up for you at Piermont.”Audrey was not surprised to learn that Nadia continued to monitor events at work more than a year after her departure.  She had been a workaholic up until her final day, resulting in her being one of the most respected executives in the company.  What continued to astound Audrey was the fact that Nadia left to begin with.  She had brought about much positive change during her career while managing to avoid bruising too many egos.  It had seemed there was no limit to her prospects.Yet she walked away from it.  Nadia abandoned the income, the respect, the power and influence she wielded.  She left all of these things behind her for the trials, tribulations and triumphs of motherhood.  The paychecks could be forfeited thanks to substantial income earned by her husband Carlos.  As for other benefits, apparently they did not matter much when compared to the look of unconditional love found in her son’s eyes.  Nadia insisted that her first and probably only child not be raised by nannies.  She chose to follow the same “if you want it done right, do it yourself” philosophy in her personal life that had been advantageous to her career.“Keep your fingers crossed for me,” Audrey said.“You know I will.  There is no one more deserving of that position than you.”  She was looking in the purse being rummaged through rather than at Audrey as she spoke.  After pulling out a compact, lipstick, crumbled tissues and a tampon, she found the cell phone she was looking for.  “Oh, look at the time.  I always lose track of it in here.  I have to run.  Let’s do a better job of keeping in touch.”“Yes, definitely.”A kiss on the cheek later, Nadia was off and running.  Audrey took a moment to compare the version that she recalled from their time working together to the current somewhat harried, but still flawlessly put together incarnation.  Was Nadia happier now?  Probably.  Hopefully.  Done reflecting on the state of affairs of Nadia Schwartz-Fernandez, she turned her attention back to the array of podiatric accoutrements.  She knew that deciding on a purchase for tonight would be a torturous ordeal, and she was looking forward to every second of it.“A lovely day for shoe shopping, is it not?”Audrey turned towards the man who approached her.  He was expensively dressed in a sharp as a blade Armani suit, clearly not an employee of the store, but someone who intended to spend plenty of money in it.“Every day is a lovely one for shoe shopping.”The man smiled, bringing about deeply etched dimples.  He was handsome in a maintained sort of way.  He had a Bill Dee Williams circa “Lady Sings the Blues” vibe going for him, complete with requisite well-groomed mustache.  She got the feeling that nobody was more aware of his good looks than him, and also suspected that his confidence would be matched by persistence.  “I’m Mitchell.”“I’m sure you are.”“I was standing over there and couldn’t help noticing you.  I said to myself ‘Mitchell, you absolutely must go over and introduce yourself to that splendid looking creature’.  I guess you could say I was helplessly drawn to your radiance.  I’m sure this sort of thing happens to you all the time but I’m pretty new at being in the presence of a goddess, so you’ll have to forgive me for being a bit tongue tied.”“To the contrary.  You’re quite the smooth talker.”  Audrey wished she could grab a shovel to dig herself out from the mound of drivel Mitchell had dumped on her.  She had heard plenty of scripted dialogue before from guys who lacked spur of the moment eloquence, but nothing quite as self-indulgent as his little seduction speech.“Only when properly inspired.  Now are you going to be kind enough to grace me with your name?  Or better yet, with that plus your company.  There’s a quaint little café around the corner from here.  Perhaps you’d care to join me for cappuccino and biscotti so we can get to know one another better.”She took hold of his manicured hands, bringing about another of his dimpled smiles, this one even more lascivious than its predecessor.  “I think I already know you well enough.  But I’ll make you a deal.  I’ll tell you my name if you tell me the name of your wife.”  She pointed out the ring finger tan line he sported, wedding band no doubt stuffed into his pocket a minute earlier.“Okay,” he said.  “I’m not perfect.  But I have been told that I’m pretty damn close.  And I’d be happy to keep a woman as fine as yourself stocked in as many pairs of these shoes as your heart desires.  I’d love to tend to every single one of your desires, if you know what I mean.”Audrey let go of his hands as if realizing he was contaminated by something deadly contagious.  “I can buy my own shoes, thank you.  And if I wanted to run around with another woman’s husband, I’d pick any woman other than your wife.”“Suit yourself,” he said, licking his lips to unintentionally provide another turn-off.  “You don’t know what you’re missing out on.  I think we’d be incredible together.”  When her icy glare did not melt by so much as one cube he got the hint, straightened his Nicole Miller tie for effect, and exited the store with his shopping bag.  It likely contained either a purchase for his unfortunate wife, for some woman on the side who had fallen for his sorry rap, or perhaps one for each of them.     He was gone from her mind before he even reached the door.  Wall to wall shoes made forgetting about fools and their lame come-ons pretty easy to do.

Jay Z and NFL join forces

It has been announced that Jay-Z is going to become one of the owners of a NFL team and lip service will be paid to social injustice at some point by the forming of an "entertainment and social justice partnership". As you well know, Colin Kaepernick played a major role in dragging the NFL into matters of social consciousness, particularly overly/needlessly aggressive policing by officers that often end up with an unarmed black person being killed by a cop. Now it's not as if a fair amount of attention wasn't already being paid to the situation prior to Kaepernick taking a knee for the cause. Every other week it seems a video of racial bias goes viral. Word on the "street" has it that Russia is playing a big part in making sure such videos are seen by the maximum amount of people to keep friction between whites and people of color in America at peak. Whether that's true or not, what's indisputable is that too many of the racial tension incidents where at least one of the participants was a police officer ended up in someone being shot. More often than not it proved fatal. More often than not the victim of melanin had not committed a crime and was not armed, yet still managed to be on the receiving end of a cop's bullet. It's no wonder that Colin Kaepernick was disturbed by what seemed on the verge of becoming an epidemic. All decent people were, and many black people grew frightened and/or furious. Something clearly needed to be done and once Hillary Clinton "lost" to Donald Trump it was clear that aid wouldn't be coming from the federal government any time soon.

But was the NFL the best place to take a stand and make a plea? One could reasonably argue that this situation has nothing to do with professional football (none of the prominent victims has been a NFL player), so taking a knee while the National Anthem was played before football games was perhaps misdirected effort. During televised games is certainly a high profile, much viewed opportunity to draw attention to an issue. But it's not as if the NFL was the entity that needed to do anything about horrible, homicidal police officers with bigoted mindsets who are not worthy of the uniforms they wear. In fact, the only meaningful action taken by the NFL was collusion by team owners to keep Colin Kaepernick from returning to the league. He had become a PR nightmare for a league that wanted focus to be on its entertainment value. The NFL already had plenty of unavoidable thorns in its side. How best to discipline star players for various infractions, particularly those that do not lead to criminal convictions but seem in need of moral condemnation. The long term effects of concussions. Refs screwing up calls in prime time games, leading to constant tweaks of what is/isn/t a catch, what is/isn't reviewable by instant/slow mo replay. The last thing the NFL needed was to be dragged into politics, into the debate over what constitutes patriotism, into matters that were supposed to be in the domain of #BLM (Black Live Matter), not #NFL (National Football League).
Just as the dust FINALLY appeared to be settled (Colin Kaepernick sued for collusion and won an undisclosed amount of money. He still wants to play in the NFL and still hasn't been called for a try-out, but when you sue someone it's not surprising that they choose not to contact you for a job interview) Jay-Z of all people stirred things up again. We knew the topic was of interest to him because he had previously shown solidarity with Kaepernick, wearing his old jersey and referencing him when stating his reasons for not participating in the Super Bowl halftime show. Therefore it came as a surprise to many that Jay-Z isn't making headlines by coming out with a pro Kaepernick - anti NFL rap song, but rather, by entering the ranks of NFL team owners. Who the team will be remains a mystery for the time being. 
Jay-Z is famously a billionaire. If you're a billionaire who enjoys sports and/or realizes pro team ownership is a sound financial investment, you have the option of buying into a team. So if Jay-Z does have any more new music left in him, perhaps he will tell us why he decided to buy into the NFL with a remake of Bobby Brown's MY PREROGATIVE. If you see Jay-Z as being a sell-out because he seemed to switch sides from the oppressed to the oppressor, I can understand that interpretation. If you see him as as being a much needed brown face in the sea of white pro team ownership, I can understand that too. If you believe Jay-Z wants not only to make a sound financial investment and gain entry into the ultra exclusive club of professional sports team owners, but also to use this position to make change for the better in the NFL where it comes to taking action on behalf of social injustices, I can see how you would reach such a conclusion. Doesn't mean you're right, but we'll find out soon enough I suppose. For all we know Jay-Z may plan to finally give Colin Kaepernick the opportunity to try out for a NFL team once he's officially a shot caller for one of them, whichever one it may be. I can't imagine this to be his primary motivation by a long shot, but perhaps it's an item on the agenda of Beyonce's hubby. Based on past history Colin Kaepernick has shown himself to be a flawed quarterback who nonetheless is better than a fair number of back-ups currently in the league and is perhaps better than a few starters. This is assuming that he hasn't become quite rusty since his last time under center, which is certainly a possibility.
If Jay-Z was a hero to you because of his status as hip hop legend, you may feel betrayed. Or else feel the need to defend him against accusations by those who believe he has gone Benedict Arnold. As for me, I am neither enraged nor especially encouraged by Jay-Z's latest venture. I didn't see him as saving or destroying the world with Tidal (which I mostly ignored) and same deal with his foray into the NFL. If the team he ends up involved with happens to be my beloved New York Jets I suppose that will make me care a little bit more, but not substantially. Jay-Z told us a while back that he has 99 problems. Seeming to turn his back on the plight of Colin Kaepernick, patron saint of lost causes whom I sincerely respect but idolize no more than I idolize Jay-Z, adds a 100th problem. But I suspect it will blow over soon enough. Colin Kaepernick may or may not get a shot to return to the league. Jay-Z will remain wealthy, and I think he realizes that he won't be adding to his riches courtesy of many more hit songs in the future (he's rather long in the tooth by rap star standards), so instead he'll get his current money to make future money for him. Such is the way of capitalism and successful capitalists. He may lose some fans over this at least temporarily, but as with DOLLAR$ he has plenty of them to spare. As for the rest of us, we'll continue to enjoy Jay-Z songs and NFL games. No amount of kneeling for the National Anthem or saluting the flag or arguing over it threatens to impact that by a substantive amount. Ultimately we are here to be entertained.

Well aren't you? pic.twitter.com/8zQTB0g7xw— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) August 19, 2019

Hmmmm. When Sports and Social Issues Collide - https://t.co/RzAOiUTGxM https://t.co/gDVugdNzl2— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) August 13, 2019

Like many of you I have questions about this Jay Z - NFL partnership. Seems like an odd move in light of Jay's alleged solidarity with Kaep but it's not necessarily a betrayal. We shall see. If you're mad at Jay & also stan for Bey, I doubt he's acting against her wishes.— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) August 14, 2019

According to reports, #JayZ is going to have a "significant ownership interest" in an NFL team. However, the team has yet to be revealed pic.twitter.com/aS9w9SLu9y— BallerAlert (@balleralert) August 16, 2019

Eric Reid @E_Reid35 is absolutely right. The Jay-Z/NFL partnership is an attempt to deodorize a league that still carries the stink of exiling @Kaepernick7 and bankrolling Trump. It’s not working.— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) August 14, 2019

This is going to get messy fast. Even if his heart actually is in the right place and not firmly lodged in his wallet, he was probably better off taking a pass on this opportunity. Then again, he's old by rapper standards so probably beyond giving a damn about his street cred. https://t.co/cSag0LYR54— Roy L. Pickering Jr. (@AuthorofPatches) August 15, 2019

Goodell + JayZ pic.twitter.com/lTFwBGusrR— Resist Programming

Indie August

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If you put enough letters together in just the right order you end up with a novel or two. #MattersOfConvenience #PatchesOfGrey #RoyLPickeringJr Shall we play a game of #Scrabble ? #bookstagram #authorsofinstagramA post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Apr 18, 2019 at 4:31pm PDT

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Got my #SwellBottle collection done up #OutOfPrint style and all is right with the world. #bookstagram #PatchesOfGrey #MattersOfConvenience #RoyLPickeringJr #authorsofinstagramA post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Sep 1, 2018 at 8:58am PDT

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Shut the Box and open the book. #MattersOfConvenience #PatchesOfGrey #Bookstagram #authorsofinstagramA post shared by Roy Pickering (@roylpickering_author) on Nov 18, 2017 at 1:40pm PST

So here we are already past the mid-point of the month and I've only just now learned of the existence of a thing called #IndieAugust. Apparently at least some book bloggers are extra willing to shine a spotlight and do some reviews of books by indie authors this month. Better late than never to that party! If you are still on the look out for indie authored novels to read/review this month (or any other month of the year for that matter), look no further. To ease the burden on your pocket books I have made the Kindle editions of both Patches of Grey and Matters of Convenience available to Prime members for FREE from August 21st to August 25th of 2019. As always, happy reading! And since I'm doubling down on giveaways this month, let me repeat, happy reading!

Speaking of book reviews, see below for my thoughts on video for Stephen King's 11/22/63. He is in much less need of publicity than I am, but I'm all for shouting out great writers/writing whether everybody knows the author's name or nobody has ever heard of them...yet.