Thursday, I went to a taping of the show Conversations Across Time, on PhillyCAM  (channel 66 on Comcast, channel 29 on Verizon). There I portrayed Rabbi Stephen Wise, one of the leading figures of the Jewish Community in America, a counselor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and leader of the Zionist movement. With one person playing FDR and the other playing Hermann Goering, we discussed the situation with the tRump regime in America today, with such topics as the recent New York Times op-ed by the “anonymous” White House staffer (we speculated it might be a group of them); the book Fear by Bob Woodward, which shows the tRump White House to be a madhouse; the possibility of impeachment, which is all fraught with politics as is everything else in DC; and the 25th Amendment, whereby supposedly the Vice-President and a majority of the cabinet might decide that the President is not physically or mentally capable of carrying out his duties, and would force him to give up the office to the Vice-President. (Pence would like that; he thinks God has anointed him to be President.)  We cannot count on the hope that sensible people in the right office can save us; only we the people, conscious of the issues at stake and voting accordingly, can save this country. Contact PhillyCAM at https://phillycam.org/.

Friday, I attended the dinner-cruise aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia , of the Philadelphia chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the organization of African-American trade Unionists, founded by A. Philip Randolph, who was America’s leading African-American trade union leader. (I’m Recording Secretary of the Philadelphia chapter.) we held our awards ceremony then:

The A. Philip Randolph & Bayard Rustin Leadership Award went to Sam Staten Jr., International Vice-President of LIUNA (Laborers) and Business Agent of LIUNA Local 332.

The Rosina Tucker Award went to Carla M. Insinga, Director of AFSCME District Council 90.

The A. Philip Randolph & Bayard Rustin Outstanding Activist Award went to Boise Butler, President of ILA (Longshore workers) Local 1291.

The President’s Award went to Dionne Gary, of District 199CC of AFSCME (hospital and health care workers).

Saturday, I went back to PhillyCAM, where I sat in the audience of The Chef Trek Adventures, a cooking show produced by my friend Delmer Gill, who allowed me time to go on stage and speak about my writing career. Delmer’s web site is http://cheftrek.net/.