J.J. Goodman: Writings, Musings and More

When we allow freedom to ring – when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last.’ ~Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s a wonder I haven’t yet abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. ~Anne Frank In the past two weeks we’ve recognized Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I say “recognized” because I don’t think to say “celebrated” is appropriate. Not now. Not today. Not in light of what’s happened in the first week of the new presidential administration our country has witnessed. I think on Dr. King’s words, ...

So here we are. I could write about how a certain narcissistic misogynist completely ignored his own wife, left her at the car, and entered the White House without her. I could write about how two of his first official acts as POTUS a) set women's rights world-wide back decades and b) completely serve his own purported economic interests and those of this subordinates. I could also write about how he's still more concerned about public perception of him rather than the duties of the office he now holds. Or how he self-aggrandized in front of a memorial to fallen patriots. Or how even members of his own party dispute his unsubstantiated claim that there were millions of illegal votes cast in the election.   But let's face it: I'd be preaching to the choir in doing so on these pages, as most of my readership tends to lean in the same socially conscious direction that I lean. I'm grateful for that, and saddened, because I'd like to reach a greater audien...

I'm confused. I'm frightened. And I'm apprehensive. As should we all be.   In the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election, I wrote the following in an open letter to the President-Elect:   "Mr. President-Elect, this is our nation. This is our people. This is our American family. These are our lives. And you have a responsibility to each and every one of us now. You're not hosting a reality television show; you're hosting reality . It is a grave reality, and you must now prove to us, the American people, that you're capable of doing so."   At the time I noted that he had failed to do so thus far. I genuinely hoped that in the weeks to come he would cease the rhetoric, cease the banality of his tweeting, and focus on the task at hand; leading our nation, and the world.   Oh how terribly he's failed.   I honestly don't know what's worse: the fact that he doesn't see the utility in daily security brie...

So, here it is, your first post of 2017. Usually I'll end the year with some kind of social commentary, and begin the next in the same fashion, but I didn't have it in me this year. Too much division, politics, death. I don't want to think about it anymore. So, drawing inspiration from some recently binged entertainment, I decided to start the year off wielding my creativity. Let me know what you think.  With that, I give you the opening stanzas of my newest idea.... War of the Realms. When he entered, he appeared gilded; the golden armor of his breastplate reflected the glow of fire's climbing embers back into the kneeling prisoner's eyes. The man dared not chance a second glance. Seldom did Bokan trivialize his time with such matters, but this occasion garnered his attention. "Speak," he commanded. When the prisoner did not, he struck the man across the face with the back of his forearm, imprinting on the man's cheek the mark of the drag...

So, here's the thing about holidays; they're awesome, and they suck rocks.   (Oh boy. How much coffee have you had already?)   You be quiet. I'm trying to be serious here. This time of year is often described as the "happiest time of the year" by many, but for many others, it's nothing of the sort. The holidays can be a time of great sorrow and depression as folks are forced to witness revelry while experiencing great loss or pain, with such revelry only exacerbating the melancholy they feel inside.   On this, I can speak from experience. For me, Christmas has been difficult for decades as my grandfather, the patriarch of my family who literally built his home brick by brick, and laid the groundwork for the closely-knit, emotional bonds those in family share, passed away on Christmas Eve. While now we celebrate our family and remember him fondly, the pain of that loss will forever linger each twenty-fourth day of December. Add to that ...