Dear Dean Magazine - Issue 2

DEAR DEAN
M A G A Z I N E
S E E T H E C O V E R F O R T H E
V E R Y F I R S T T I M E P . 5
N e w N o v e l !
F E A T U R E D B L O G P . 6
A M E R I C A
S U P P O R T S
R E P A R A T I O N S
V O L . 2 | F E B . 2 2 , 2 0 2 2
A S K D E A N
L o v e E d i t i o n
P . 1 5
M Y R O N ' S
H I T
O R
M I S S
L I S T P . 1 2
L O V E I T O R
H A T E I T M O V I E
R E V I E W P . 1 3
+ H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y
M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
T e e n l e t ! P . 4

T H E G O O D S
Hello from Myron p.3
Happy Birthday p.4
New Release p.5
Featured Blog p.6-10
Hit or Miss List p.12-13
Movie Reviews: Love it
or Hate it p.13
ASK DEAN Advice p.15-16
My Writing Journey p.18-19
Ads p.21
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.2

HELLO FROM MYRON
Black History this year comes on the heels of America again reckoning with racism.
From 400 State bills introduced over the past year that are designed to limit voting by
Black people, Black citizens are as always called to defend ourselves while we call upon
America and the Democratic Party to do its damn job and protect our voting rights.
With irrational attacks against Critical Race Theory and multiple states banning books
by Black authors, Blackness is under attack.
The month saw Amir Locke, a Black man, murdered when cops busted into his
apartment on an evil no-knock warrant and murdered him. The cops were at the wrong
house.
The NFL’s racism was again exposed after Brian Flores, recently former coach of the
Miami Dolphins, shared text messages from hall of fame coach Bill Belichek that
congratulated him on being hired as the new head coach of the New York Giants. The
only problem is, Flores had not yet interviewed. Do’h!
The process was exposed as a sham and to the NFL’s shame, they’ve done nothing to
address the racism in the league that is majority Black players but has only one Black
head coach. It is a disgrace. But as long as Jay-Z, Snoop Dog, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary
J. Blige can perform at halftime of the Super Bowl, all is well?
Black History month also find us with the first Black women Vice President, Madame
Vice President Kamala Devi Harris, and Biden/Harris said they will nominate the first
Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Blackness endures, fights back, thrives. As always.
I just hope that one day I can live the entirety of my life as part of the home team.
Myron J. Clifton
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.3

Happiest
birthday to
Leah Dean,
who turns 17
this month.
Happy
Birthday!
2-22-2022
I can’t believe the big headed little bald
baby is already 17! It has been a fun, wild,
hard, rewarding, frustrating, fun, learning,
and absolutely beautiful experience raising
her and being part of her expanding life.
A junior in high school now and about to
(finally) work on getting her driver’s
license, I’m looking forward to the next
days, weeks, months, and years, as the
world opens itself for you and your
generation.
Hearts.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.4

COMING SOON!
New Release: Jamaal's Incredible
Adventures in the Black Church
Before Jamaal's seventeenth birthday, he’s appointed as his preacher uncle’s
designated driver and unwilling personal confidant. Behind the fine outfits and
hats, behind the delicious cooking, Jamaal is exposed to crazy aunties, sexy church
sisters, corrupt pastors, and predator deacons. A good kid who just wants time to
finish his homework and kiss a girl his own age, Jamaal is dragged through the
strange world of the Black church. You best pray for him.
Release date and pre-sale
information coming soon!
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.5

Blog
DEAR DEAN
F E A T U R E D
AMERICA
SUPPORTS
REPARATIONS
A 3 P A R T S E R I E S

F E A T U R E D B L O G
As American cities,
industries, and individuals
newly grapple with the
comprehensive effects of
systemic and blatant racism,
many are again surfacing
the question of reparations.
Reparations for Black Americans is not a new
concept: Newly freed former enslaved Black
people sought it immediately after becoming
“free” people.
Free people who were without land, money,
wealth, income, or purchasing power or the right
to vote.
People whose free labor had enriched America
and the western world, were now set adrift with
no means of recouping their wealth from the
country used their free labor to build the
wealthiest country in the world. And no way to
even earn what they could in a so-called free
enterprise country.
They could not even ascertain seed money or
loans to start something building their wealth
like they had built wealth for white people.
It is worth noting the newly freed Black people
did not want free money or land, although they
certainly were entitled to demand compensation
and reparations. They wanted what they worked
for and what had been uncompensated for
generations. And though money was needed and
should have been returned, the biggest ask was
for land.
The freed Black citizens had farmed the land for
hundreds of years and they knew how to work
the land, sell their goods, feed their families, and
take care of one another.
They knew how to build wealth and
communities.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.7

B L O G C O N T I N U E D
They were not asking for “free money,” they were
asking for the return of what their labor had given
to America — and what America stole.
Our ancestors wanted a chance. They wanted a fair
shake. They wanted the opportunity to be full
citizens who worked to feed and care for their
families – the same as what we want today.
And they wanted what the former slave owners
got: Reparations.
Reparations is a word that requires a “trigger
warning” for some people, so we are going to start
by reframing how we talk about reparations.
Change:
“U.S. Government paid reparations to ...”
to
“Black Americans paid reparations to….”
Using “Government” causes people to mentally
substitute “White people” because people assume
the owners of America and America’s money as
being exclusively white people.
In fact, Black people are co-owners of the country
and the country’s wealth, even if that wealth is not
in our bank accounts. This simple change, I believe,
will help most people understand one part of our
demand for reparations while also working to
change the incorrect assumption that Black people
are merely riders on the wealth contract in
America.
Now that we have changed how we frame and talk
about reparations. Let us look at all the people and
entities who have received reparations from Black
Americans.
Black Americans paid reparations to former
slaveholders.
The American media holds the
matches that ignites the flames
that spread the hate and racism.
They profit off the misery they
push onto the people.
Former slave owners petitioned the government for
reparations, demanding compensation for losing “their
property” and they won.
Most reports say slaveowners received $300 per lost
enslaved person but that number is incomplete when
factoring in what they *really received in the form of free
labor from the enslaved – men, boys, women, and girls, for
generations. (We will assign monetary value in parts 2 and 3.)
Enforcers of slavery also often received free land, reduced or
no taxes, and profits from enslaved labor… for generations.
Black Americans gave away millions of acres of free land
Almost simultaneously, as America wanted to populate the
western states, Black people gave massive amounts of
western land to settlers (colonizers) as the nation expanded
its footprint, while needing to encourage eastern and
southern people to go west.
Black Americans gave white settlers 160 million acres of
land under the Homestead Act starting around 1862 for the
nation, but it started earlier in Washington and Oregon.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.8

B L O G C O N T I N U E D
"These acts allowed individual white people and white
owned corporations to build wealth using Black
Americans tax dollars and labor to do so."
And there were other land giveaways including:
Southern Homestead Act of 1866, Timber Culture Act
of 1873, Kinkaid Amendment of 1904, Enlarged
Homestead Act of 1909, Stock-Rising Act of 1916,
Subsistence Homesteads provisions under The New
Deal of 1930, and the Small Tracts Act in 1938.
In each of these cases Black people were either
explicitly denied or prevented by force and
intimidation from participating and receiving a fair
share of our land.
These acts allowed individual white people and white
owned corporations to build wealth using Black
Americans tax dollars and labor to do so.
Black Americans paid Reparations to Europe Twice
Black Americans gave Britain and France around $10b
to finance their World War 1 efforts.
Then in what is commonly known as The Marshall
Plan, Black Americans bailed out Europe after World
War 2, to help them rebuild after, let us face it, white
people went crazy and tried to enslave or destroy the
world.
The money given from our taxes was $22b or close to
$200b in today’s dollars.
Black Americans paid Japanese Americans
reparations
The U.S. government flexed its racist muscle at home
during World War 2 by placing eighty-two thousand
Japanese Americans in concentration camps. After the
war, Black Americans paid Japanese Americans $1.6b,
which equal to $3.5b in today’s dollars and was not
enough then to make up for the atrocity our fellow
citizens endured.
In addition, Black Americans also gave Japan $2.2b
dollars after World War 2, or $15b in today’s dollars.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.9

B L O G C O N T I N U E D
"Black Americans have been underpaid from Juneteenth,
1865 to right now, in every job we ever held. That is 155
years of backpay."
Black Americans gave Iraq $36b in reparations to rebuild
after the war and gives them $3b annually.
Black Americans have given Israel roughly $160b since
the end of World War 2, the largest amount of reparations
to any country.
Black Americans gave the auto industry $80b in
reparations.
Black Americans gave Wall Street an estimated $1.9t in
reparations during the most recent tax cuts, after giving
them over $700b in the one prior, and trillions more over
the course of history.
Black Americans gave veterans reparations, called the
G.I. Bill, or Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, close to $15b
– without initially being able to get any of our own money
for Black veterans.
Black Americans gave wealthy people $2t in during the
most recent 2016 tax cuts.
Black Americans gave Small Businesses $700b in
reparations in the recent budget, and trillions since the
SBA started in 1953, though Black people are least likely
to get SBA loans.
Black people subsidize State Universities, private
colleges, and charter schools,
Black Americans give farmers $20b per year, and Black
farmers have decades long lawsuits trying to get their fair
share.
Black Americans give homeowners $70b a year in
reparations for mortgages – reparations mostly given
to and used by white Americans.
Black Americans subsidize middle class and wealthy
Americans by paying more for food, goods and
services, gas, insurance, interest on credit cards, car
purchases, and home loans.
Finally, and to bring reparations back to the beginning,
Black Americans have been underpaid from
Juneteenth, 1865 to right now, in every job we ever
held.
That is 155 years of backpay.
Black people have given America and the world tens of
trillions of dollars in reparations that America turned
around and gave businesses, white people, colleges
and universities, farmers, and dozens of foreign
countries.
The bill is past due and as co-owners of this country,
we are not asking the government or “white people”
for a handout or a loan.
What we are demanding is that we receive OUR
money back. The bill is past due, and the interest is
growing
Now that we have established that America does in
fact love and support reparations, by whatever name
we chose to use.
Visit www.deardean.com to
read Part 2 "Systemic
Reparations," and Part 3
"Reparations: Governing The
Money," of this series.
N E W B L O G S A R E F E A T U R E D O N W E D N E S D A Y S . V I S I T
W W W . D E A R D E A N . C O M T O R E A D M O R E B Y M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N .
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.10

"A BEAUTIFULLY
WRITTEN STORY
THAT OPENS YOUR
EYES TO OTHER
POSSIBILITIES TO
HOW THE WORLD
WAS CREATED.
THERE IS SO MUCH
TO TAKE IN, YOU
CAN’T JUST READ IT
ONCE TO REVEAL
ALL THE HIDDEN
MESSAGES."
R E V I E W , H E R L E G E N D
L I V E S I N Y O U

MYRON'S
HIT OR
MISS
list
You will either LOVE or HATE being
on this list. It's time to call out the
good, bad and the ugly as it happened
on Twitter. We saw it live with our
own eyes, and now it's time to review
the best and the worst... saddle up!
HIT
Black History Month.
MISS
Anti-Blackness in America
12 months a year.
HIT
Joni Mitchell and Neil
Young demanded Spotify
stop playing their music
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.12
MISS
Spotify giving Racist
antivaxxer Joe Rogan $100M
dollars only to “discover” he’s a
racist antivaxxer.
HIT
India.Arie tweeted a clip
showing Rogan saying the
hard “R” N-word about 20
times forcing Rogen to issue a
lame half-assed
apology/excuse
Continued next page

MISS
Spotify deciding after the
fact to delete 100 Joe Rogan
shows because they are
filled with him spewing the
hard “R” N-word.
HIT
The Olympics, the opening
ceremony, the athletes, the
venues, and talent, skill, and
comraderie.
MISS
NBC”s awful coverage, awful
US-centric focus, terrible
television hosts, and each
show interrupted by
nonstop commercials.
HIT
The Biden/Harris
administration set a first year
record with 6.6 million jobs
added, wages up, and
employment also goes up.
MISS
The media who predicted a
doom and gloom jobs report,
and then once the recordbreaking
numbers were
released, went silent.
MISS
Thousands of Black, Latino,
white, and Asian artists
remaining quiet while India
Arie spoke up on their behalf
against Joe Rogan’s racism.
MOVIE REVIEW
hate it or it Love
Encanto - Love it.
Incredibly drawn, wonderfully told, and of course the soundtrack is top-notch from Lin-Manuel Miranda.
You’ll love the realistic multi-colorful family, all the versions of curly hair, and all types of body types and
shapes for the many women characters. Parents beware: Your child will want to watch it over and over.
And you’ll be singing “We don’t talk about Bruno” for days afterwards. Get into it though, you will not regret
sharing the magic, feeling the challenges and traumas family carry through generations, and the way we can
heal ourselves by dealing with ourselves.
In from the Cold - Love it.
A bonkers Netflix series sees a former Russian spy living in an American suburb, married with kids, living
comfortably until the CIA comes calling. They force her back into the game and she helps them expose a
spy ring. She does it with extreme violence, sex appeal, disguises, and a healthy dose of luck and gunfights.
A fun, crazy, first season that set up an even crazier and wilder second season.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.13

MY FAVORITE
THINGS...
Streaming Right Now
Apps - With all the hoopla
about Wordle, I’m old school
and still loving Classic
SCRABBLE.
Amazon Prime: The Expanse.
Six almost perfect seasons
of top-notch science fiction,
incredible women
characters, and the best
action this side of Battlestar
Galactica.
Apple TV: Foundation. A
slow burn that captures the
spirit and broadness of the
celebrated series.
Netflix: She-Ra and He-Man.
Completely different
remakes of the fun originals.
Go in expecting nothing but
accept that you’ll enjoy what
they’ve done with both.
Hulu: Save Yourselves. An
irreverent weird look at an
alien invasion. Cosmos. Slow
burn sci-fi about friends who
study the night sky and one
night think they see
something.
Paramount: Star Trek
Discovery. A new “best” Star
Trek series. Go ahead, dive
in and remember why you
love the Trek universe.
Disney: Encanto. Stop
fighting it and go watch it.
Hawkeye. Look, his arc was
problematic and Disney
addressed it while
introducing a very good Kate
Bishop.
HBOMax: Station Eleven. A
post-apocalyptic study in
how survivors distract
themselves from their new
reality. All the humanness
remains, for better and
worse.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.14

Ask
DEAN
T H E L O V E E D I T I O N
Dear Dean,
How long is too long when your partner doesn’t
want to get married? We are going on 7 years and
2 pets and I’m losing hope. Any advice?
Dear, Married and don’t know it
You are married, congratulations! In most states
cohabitation for that long means you’re common
law wife/husband so celebrate your anniversary
this year – yay! Or, plan the rest of your life without
them. And take care of the pets because it’s not
their fault they’ve landed with you, two.
Dear Dean,
What’s the best pickup line or ways to start a
conversation with someone when you really have
no good reason for messaging them (aside from
being obsessed with them??) Help me out, bro!
I’ve been striking out lately!
Dear Creeper stalker person,
GTFOH. Social media stalking is gross. It is
invasive. Think of it like YOU are the vampire and
you can only go inside if you are invited in. Has
anyone invited you to their DMs? No? Then go sit in
the sun, Alucard.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.15

Dear Dean,
My husband and I work together (own our company)
and recently at a meeting he publicly took credit for
all my (genius) hard work. Do you think it is possible
to get away with murder? Just kidding. But really,
how do I bring this up without getting into a huge
annoying fight? Thanks, appreciate the help!
Dear Every woman who did something a man took
credit for
That sucks eggs, sorry. Tell him next time he does that
you’re going to ask him to explain to the audience he
is regaling with his (your) genius, in detail exactly what
he did and how he did it. Then don’t save him when he
starts looking like a fool. That’ll break his habits. Also,
tell him with a definitive statement that you will talk
about your work, he can talk about his. End of story. If
it’s not the end of the story, decide if you want to be in
business with an immature narcissist.
Dear Dean,
I have a crush on my best friend, and I feel like every
movie, story, book, and cell in my brain is telling me it
would ruin the friendship if I was honest about it, but
I’m worried if I don’t act and he meets someone else.
Is it too risky? If I get rejected, will we be able to stay
friends? Orrr, what if he loves me, too?! Help meee!
Dear the friend who has a crush
That is thee worst position to be in, especially if your
friend is in a relationship. If they are, keep it to yourself
because that would be damaging to their relationship
and your friendship. Just because you feel something
doesn’t mean you have to share that feeling with
anyone. If they are not in a relationship and you aren’t
either, why not bring it up? Just go in knowing that the
dynamics of your friendship will change for better or
worse and you’ll have to accept the outcome.
Dear Dean,
My boyfriend is 15 years younger than me, and
someone recently asked me if he was my son
when we were in public. I was mortified and
haven’t been able to get over it. Do you think love
can last with such a big age difference?
Dear Grown Ass Adult Lady Living Her Best Life
Ignore the noise and enjoy that young man and all
his energy and compliance to your every whim and
wish. If it were reversed he would be celebrated so
you should too. The only tip I have is to keep him
on his feet and tell him to keep improving his…
skills.. or you’ll replace him like a shower curtain.
If you want to submit your question and
possibly be featured in future issues, go here.
and you shall receive!
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.16
Ask

“BLM-PD IS A PAGE TURNER! GREAT
CHARACTERS, VIVID VISUALS &
WRITING THAT BRINGS EMOTIONS.
LOVE THE BOOK AND THE FACT THAT
IT ALSO PROVIDES REAL-LIFE
EXAMPLES OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN
OUR WORLD TODAY. LOVE THE
FEMALE PERSPECTIVE THROUGH
LEADERSHIP, INTELLIGENCE,
RESILIENCE, FRIENDSHIP & POWER."
R E V I E W , B L M - P D

MY WRITING JOURNEY
H O W I T A L L
S T A R T E D .
Sharing my writing journey to encourage you if you wish to write or do that thing you can do.
My friend Katya Juliet @44for4moreblog gifted me a blog for my 50th bday & told me to write weekly &
she’d manage blog. She designed it and 7.5 years later still runs it and I still write weekly blogs.
She gave it as a gift & distraction from my divorce. So I did it.
I post every Wednesday or so and have for these 7 years. I’m not a trained writer and you may know I
dropped out of HS so thankfully my grade school teachers taught me something about words .
Once the blog was going well I decided to write a book.
The audacity to stretch one’s talents is the greatest audacity of all.
Found my editor from visiting my local library & she’s still my primary editor & writer development helper.
This is my first book. On kindle & Amazon. It’s beautifully written, edited, designed by “my team.”
Why not write a novel then? I asked myself. So I did, and surprisingly it was “rather easy” to do, until said
editor chopped it up & sent me back to my laptop.
I got it together though, and it turned out fabulous, sad, thrilling, & cathartic for readers and…me.
Oh, it got hate, too.
The good reviews, my love of writing, and encouragement from my team and friends, inspired me to write
the prequel to BLM-PD and set in same world. Monuments: A Deadly Day at Jefferson Park includes a few
of the beloved characters from BLM-PD, but this time tackled confederate monuments and their
prevalence in the nation. The novel is violent and satisfying.
My next try was to take stories I’d written over the past seven years and consolidate them into a story
collection. My first attempts at sci-fi, horror, satire, futurist, absurdity, urban horror. I also made all seven
stories an individual E-book on their own with each priced at $1.99 to be accessible to folk.
Last year my friend Katya Juliet @44for4more pitched me on this digital magazine you are enjoying. The
magazine will have guest contributors and shout-outs to other creators who share their work.
Sign up here
Continued next page
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.18

MY WRITING JOURNEY
I’ve recently begun working with a new proofreader Donna Lane @dbwrite4u who’s working on two
projects for me after helping with my upcoming novel, and copyrighter Brian Macian @brianmacian
who helped clean up all my blog posts.
Whats next?
I have three projects in the works right now that include:
A new novel that is finished will be released soon.
Another story collection - long form this time - and a few stories I think you’ll love.
A picture book /vanity project that’ll delight you
A book of essays about mom- A new Podcast that launches in April “Voice Memos” with my friend
Jennifer @redheadedvegan as part of Greg Howard Jr.s @thepodcastguy1 and his Joyful Warrior
Podcast Network @theeJWPN
I hope you’ll join us across all our media.
And I hope my content satisfies, challenges, questions, & brings you joy.
Myron J. Clifton
www.deardeanpublishing.com
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.19

I N P A R T N E R S H I P W I T H
B U Z Z W O R D C O N S U L T I N G
D E A R D E A N M A G A Z I N E I S D E S I G N E D & C U R A T E D
Katya Juliet Lerner
I N T E R E S T E D I N A D V E R T I S I N G ?
Send an email to words@deardeanpublishing.com
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.20

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Did you know?
Saturn has 62 moons.
Saturn goes around the Sun very…slowly,
taking 29 earth years to make one rotation
around the sun.
Saturn is so big that 750 Earths could fit inside.