Dear Dean Magazine: November 2022

DEAR DEAN FEATURED BLOGS 

"Democrats Kicked Ass" & 

"Thanksgiving Dinner" 

BLUE WAVE 

WWW.DEARDEANPUBLISHING.COM 

GUEST SPOTLIGHTS 

"Seven Things Progressives and Moderates 

Need to Learn from Each Other" 

& "Colorful Communication"

THE GOODS 

3 

8 

11 

16 

Hello from Myron 

Dear Dean Featured Blog: 

"Thanksgiving Dinner" 

by Myron J. Clifton 

Dear Dean Featured Blog: 

"Democrats Kicked Ass" 


Myron's HIT or MISS 

19 

24 

Featured Spotlight 

Colorful Communication 

by Katya Juliet Lerner 

Featured Spotlight 

Seven Things Progressives 

and Moderates Need to 

Learn from Each Other 

by Rich Boatti 

29 

TOTM 

by Portia McGonagal 

32 

Movie Review: Black 

Panther: Wakanda Forever 

& My Favorite Things 

Streaming Right Now

WELCOME! 

Happy November, dear readers! 

As we enter into the final few months of the year, we 

are as busy as every trying to make this magazine 

worthy of your eyes and attention. 

We just passed 800 Subscribers and should pass 1,000 

by end of year. We’re only a few months old so we are 

extremely excited you have joined us here in this space 

for thoughtful essays, hot topics, and voices and 

opinions from across the political, racial, and gender 

perspectives. 

FROM 

MYRON J. CLIFTON 

Dear Dean, the magazine continues to grow, and with 

our growth comes exciting opportunities for novice 

writers just starting out, people with something to say, 

and professional writers who want to expand their 

audience and perhaps write something different than 

what they normally write. 

This month’s Guest Spotlight showcases the broad tent 

of the democratic party and how progressives and 

moderates are more aligned than it can seem. 

Submitted by Rich Biotti who outlines 7 Ways 

Progressives and Moderates are Alike. It is a thoughtful 

piece that we believe you will enjoy. 

Our featured blogs this month are Democrats Kicked 

Ass - A look at the recently concluded Midterms, and 

Thanksgiving Dinner. Also - a deep dive review of the 

outstanding new movie, Black Panther: Wakanda 

Forever. 

All your other favorites are here – Hit/Miss, What’s 

Streaming, and Book and podcast recommendations 

and more. 

We will continue to publish articles written by 

contributors from a wide spectrum voices, and cover 

domestic politics, entertainment, sports, family, 

travel, and other topics contributors want to share. 

If you want to contribute, please do! 

We require contributions to be between 500 – 1k 

words and be fully edited. Include a 1–2-line bio, 

photo of yourself/headshot, email address and/or 

social media handle, as well as any photos 

appropriate to your article. Please send via WORD 

or Goggle Doc to: myronclifton@gmail.com 

No “not safe for work” articles will be accepted 

In addition, if you wish to place an ad – also free – for 

my ad page, please send to same email above. 

Advertise your new book, podcast, or your business. 

We appreciate you as a reader and we thank you for 

From Twitter, our Thread of the Month comes from 

sharing the magazine to your social media network, 

Portia McGonagall, who dives into the Angry Black 

friends, and family. 

woman trope, the damage it does, and how it is far too 

often weaponized by white women toward Black 

And we look forward to seeing YOUR contribution 

women. Portia’s thread is heartfelt, incredibly 

soon. 

informative, and doesn’t mince words. Give a read, 

you’ll be glad you did. 

~ Myron 

DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.3


Website | Bookshop | Twitter 

Myron J. Clifton is an author of novels Jamaal’s Incredible 

Adventures in the Black Church; Monuments: A Deadly 

Day at Jefferson Park; BLM-PD: Revenge was Inevitable; 

Her Legend Lives in You: The Untold Story Honoring the 

Goddess & Our Daughters; and short story collection, We 

Couldn’t Be Heroes, and Other Stories. Also check out his 

weekly podcast, Voice Memos, his FREE digital magazine, 

Dear Dean Magazine, and his weekly blog at both Medium 

and DearDean.com. Myron lives in Sacramento, California, 

and is an avid Bay Area sports fan. He likes comic books, 

telling stories about his late mom to his beloved daughter 

Leah, and talking to his friends. 

Advertising / Contributions 

words@deardeanpublishing.com 

Loving Myron J. Clifton's Content? 

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D E A R D E A N B L O G 

Author’s note: I am sharing a Thanksgiving story from 

my youth when my mom cooked a full meal for the 

family, forgoing our traditional visit to our 

grandparents. In thinking about her meal that day I 

mostly recall the delicious basics – turkey, stuffing, 

mashed potatoes and gravy, potato salad, green 

beans, etc. 

New and or experimental dishes are good… for a 

family meal in April, but not Thanksgiving, when the 

tried and true are needed to settle our stomachs and 

warm our memories of family, love, sharing, and 

giving thanks. 

Mom decided that she would prepare the entire 

Thanksgiving meal herself, stay home with her own 

family, and relax on the holiday for once. 

Up to this point Mom and our family visited her inlaws 

for Thanksgiving every year. And it wasn’t just 

Thanksgiving. It was Christmas, Easter, the 4th of 

July, birthdays, and various church related 

anniversaries and special occasions. 

This year was going to be different. 

It was the 1970’s and Mom wanted to do her own 

thing and stay home. She said the in-laws and others 

were invited, of course, and that this was a chance 

for them to be the guests and to relax while Mom did 

all the preparation, cooking, and clean-up. She was 

I am thankful for my mom all those years ago ending a 

tradition of visiting grandparents and continuing 

tradition by preparing exactly what we were 

expecting. 

I am thankful for my daughter, Leah Dean, who is 

with her own grandparents this Thanksgiving, and I 

am thankful for my friends who are enjoying their 

own families. 

Finally, I am thankful for my readers of my blog – 

whether you read from WordPress, Twitter, 

Facebook, or Instagram – thank you for traveling 

along with me as we create our own traditions. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you! 

-M 


M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N 

when we were together, but this seemed different 

somehow. 

excited, she said, because she was a good cook and 

knew how to prepare all the dishes – some with her 

own twist – but most others in the traditional sense. 

After a few weeks of back and forth Mom’s idea was 

shot down and plans were being made to do what we 

always did and go to her in-laws/our grandparent’s 

home as we always did. 

But a day or so later Mom came home from grocery 

shopping and as I started helping her put food away 

she calmly said, “We are staying home for 

Thanksgiving; I’m cooking the Thanksgiving meal.” 

“You are?!? Do you know how to cook all those things? 

And the desserts? The turkey? Dressing? Potato 

salad!?” 

She made small talk and asked me to help do small 

tasks but mostly she asked me to go outside and play. I 

didn’t want to, though, preferring to just sit and watch 

her. Most of the time she’d let me but not this time. 

She kicked me out and she continued preparing 

through the night and after our family went to bed. 

It was now Thanksgiving and Mom was up early and 

cooking all day, while we played outside building up 

our appetites and eagerly waiting for dinner. By now 

there was no more talk of missing out on our 

grandparent’s meals because the house smelled like 

Thanksgiving. 

Mom was happy that her favorite uncle and his wife 

came over. Mom loved him most of all her uncles and 

he loved her. They came dressed up – suit and hat for 

him, beautiful dress and hat for her. They stayed a 

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, and of course. I make the potato 

salad anyway, she said, and I make all the other dishes 

all year long. Child, please,” she ended with laugh. 

There were more disagreements but Mom had made 

up her mind and that was that. I was excited and didn’t 

hesitate to say so, combatting some of the comments 

made around the house by my brothers that they 

wanted to still go to our grandparents and that they 

were gonna miss all the good stuff. 

Undeterred by the comments, Mom just kept planning 

and getting ready. She even said she’d invited some of 

her family and that she’d hoped they’d show up. 

The day before Thanksgiving Mom was busy in the 

kitchen chopping vegetables and working hard. She 

had that look of determination that looked good on 

her. She was beautiful, as always, and her body was in 

a state of constant movement that was hard to look 

away from. I never looked away from her anyway 


D E A R D E A N B L O G 

she just laughed and smiled. 

while but said they couldn’t stay long, or even eat 

much, since they had to go home for their own 

Thanksgiving dinner for their kids, Mom’s cousins. 

Mom was happy they’d come and she and her uncle 

and aunt had a good long hug before they left. 

It was late-afternoon when Mom came outside to tell 

us dinner was ready. 

Finally. 

Mom was having a moment and her smile was bright 

and magnetic. She didn’t gloat though, preferring to let 

her three hungry boys who were devouring every 

morsel tell the story for her. 

There were few leftovers that Thanksgiving. 

In the years that followed we’d spend more 

Thanksgivings at our grandparents and they were 

wonderful, though none matched that one perfect 

Thanksgiving when Mom prepared every dish by 

herself. 

All the friends dispersed and my brothers and I went 

inside. 

The meal was laid out on the table. All the dishes here 

there: Beautiful golden brown turkey, dressing that 

smelled delightful, greens that were steaming hot, 

mashed potatoes that were creamy and just lumpy 

enough, green beans, that I would ignore, dirty rice 

that would taste as good as grandma’s, her famous 

potato salad, and of course macaroni and cheese that 

had the crust that was required. 

There was sweet potato pie, and a bunt cake of some 

sort. 

And more. 

But mostly it was a golden brown turkey that looked 

and smelled wonderful that set the whole table off and 

drew the most attention. 

Mom asked us to clean our hands up and we did and 

once we got around the table, Mom said a very brief 

blessing and we started eating. 

It was a beautiful meal. Every part of it was delicious. I 

asked Mom if she could cook like this every day and 


DEAR DEAN 

featured 

B L O G

F E A T U R E D B L O G 

You read it right. 

Despite consistently incorrect polling and 

pontificating by Nate Silver and his Five-Thirty-Eight 

polls, CNN and MSNBC talking heads, and by your 

least favorite neighbor, the Democratic Party kicked 

ass in President Biden’s and Vice President Kamala 

Harris’ first midterms. 

It is looking to be one of the most progressive and 

successful midterms for Democrats in generations, 

and it solidifies the dynamic duo as good for 

Democrats, good for the nation, and good for 

international allies. 

They did better than every democratic president since 

maybe the 1930’s or so. The Blue wave overwhelmed 

the red wave that barely reared its ugly head. 

Of course there were seemingly winnable races that 

were lost — Cheri Beasley comes to mind — and there 

are other races that got national attention but were 

not competitive — Stacey Abrams, Val Demings, Charli 

Crist, and Beto O’Rourke comes to mind, and that will 

always be the case when there are swing states and 

targeted states. 

But those losses, as much as they hurt today, should 

not be what defines this midterm election. 

What can be used to define the 2022 midterm election 

is this: 

Candidates who embraced President Biden and Vice 

President Harris won, and those who shunned them, 

lost. It was just that simple. 

Gretchen Whitmer each embraced the President and 

Vice President and won. And dozens of House 

candidates loudly embraced the successes and 

Biden/Harris and also find themselves celebrating 

today. 

Tim Ryan shunned them and lost. And others who 

seemed to be lukewarm to the team lost as well. 

Running away from the Biden administration and its 

two years of success was a dumb move and proved 

fatal to those candidates. They learned a lesson but 

selfishly did so at the expense of democratic voters in 

those states who stand to lose rights, voting access, 

additional healthcare, and more. 

We are looking at two more years of progressive 

policies, strengthened protections for women, 

children, elder, workers, unions, immigrants, students, 

and small businesses. We are looking at dozens more 

judges, more focus on energy, jobs, and the economy. 

We are looking at two years of growing successes that 

will lead to the President and Vice President heading 

into reelection stronger than any prior democratic 

president in generations. 

There will be plenty of time to interrogate all the 

results, losses, and missed opportunities so that the 

party can re-tool for 2024. 

But for now, it is a moment to celebrate and embrace 

John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, and Mark Kelley 

the fact that democrats have what many consider the 

embraced them and won. Tony Evers, Jared Polis, 

best team, the most progressive team, and now the 

Michelle Lujan, Josh Shapiro, Kathy Hochul, Ned 

most successful midterm team that it has ever had. 

lamont, Maura Healey, Wes Moore, Tim Waltz, and 


M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N 

Mass media will try to spin democratic wins into 

losses and tell you why winning is bad for democrats 

and President Biden, but good for republicans. 

But ignore them just like voters ignored them telling 

us for months how republicans would win.. 

everything. They promoted republican talking points 

ad nauseam, and then expressed shock as results 

started coming in favorably for democrats. 

The republican-owned network and cable news 

companies, and the republican-owned mass media, 

newspapers, and social media sites tried so hard to 

effect (infect?) the election by elevating republicans 

and downplaying democrats look like the fools they 

are now. Had they all listened to Christopher Bouzy 

and his Bot Sentinel https://botsentinel.com/ they 

would have known what we all knew — Democrats 

were poised to win. 

Bloop. 

Again and louder for those who believe polls that 

overwhelmingly favor older white voters while 

ignoring, well, everyone else: President Biden and 

Vice President Kamala Harris are successful, 

respected, celebrated and, based on midterm results 

— continue to be the most successful president and 

vice president ever. 

Celebrate it today, and get to work tomorrow, 

democrats. You earned it, and your candidates earned 

it. 

By Myron J. Clifton. Blog originally published on 

Medium & www.deardean.com, November 8, 2022. 


CLICK TO MEET 

THE HOSTS! 

MYRON 

JENN 

Two longtime friends have informative, yet 

brief discussions about multitudinous topics. 

NEW EPISODES ON FRIDAYS! 


MYRON J. CLIFTON & JENNIFER VANLAANEN'S PODCAST 

VOICE MEMOS REVIEWS 

Listen Now! 

Stay 

Shallow! 

Like listening to your BFFs 

June 2, 2022 

kjlerner

MISSlist 

MYRON'S 

HIT OR 

HIT 

Democrats national strategy during the midterms. 

Chairman Jaime Harrison took over the moribund 

organization and despite the networks refusing to have 

him on their shows, was able to rally democratic voters 

to give record money which allowed candidates to 

compete all of the country, flip republican seats, gain 4 

governorships, and hold the House and gain a majority in 

the Senate. 

MISS 

Network, cable news, and major newspapers all loudly 

predicted a “red wave” during the midterms and basing 

their predictions on… nothing. They were creating 

stories and polls that were obviously biased and 

wrong. Once again they all look like the fools they are. 


MISS 

Elon Musk. Lol, that clown overpaid for Twitter, 

spending $46b, including $13b of his own money 

in Tesla stock, and immediately proved, again, he 

doesn’t have a clue on how to run a company. The 

CEO fired half the employees, then asked some to 

return the very next day as advertisers fled. Then 

he implemented paid for service, paid for 

verification, and then pulled those back after tens 

of thousands fake accounts that impersonated 

famous people, large corporations, and government 

officials – including the president – took over the 

service. 

MISS 

The Justice Department continues to beg, cajole, 

and politely ask that former president Donald 

trump return stolen documents. 

MISS 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis inept handling of the 

latest hurricane in Florida lead to 125 deaths (and 

counting). The deplorable governor momentarily lost 

his faux bluster and antagonistic approach to the 

President who visited and showed the governor, 

Florida residents, and the nation how a real leader 

acts during times of natural disaster. 

HIT 

Dusty Baker’s Houston Astros hit the ball often and 

hard enough to win their second World Series 

championship. And this time without cheating (Dusty 

wasn’t part of their cheating team in 2017). Dusty 

becomes the oldest manager, 73, to win a title. 

MISS 

Netflix, HBO, and other streaming services glorifying 

serial killer Jeffry Dahmer. They need to stop and 

give the family peace and relief. 


COLORFUL 

COMMUNICATION: 

Extending Your Emotional Vocabulary 

by Katya Juliet Lerner 

Words have been wired in our brain to trigger both 

emotions and memories. When we hear a certain word or 

series of words, our brains reference from the knowledge 

we understand about that word, as well as any past 

experiences we may have had with those words. 

Yes, words have their "official" definitions. But more 

importantly, they hold personal meanings -- personal 

definitions which can be exceptionally difficult to escape 

over time. 

From a neurological perspective, the "voice in our head" 

repeats what we hear back to ourselves over and over on 

a subconscious level in our brain. So while we might have 

only heard something once, for example, we feel like we 

have heard it more often as we begin to feel the affects of 

those words hundreds of thousands of times over. This 

begins the cycle of negative self talk. 

DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | p.19 

You're not good enough. Not smart enough. Too fat. Too thin. 

So annoying. So stubborn. Not funny... the list goes on. 

Why is this important? What may have been a one-time 

meaningless comment on a Tuesday afternoon from your 

old co-worker, could have been the trigger that initiated 

a cycle of depression, anxiety, self-consciousness and 

self-doubt because our human tendency for negative 

self-talk amplified that one instance into thousands and 

thousands. 

To add to that mess, our understanding of words may be 

interpreted differently than intended by the speaker as 

context and delivery play a major role in how words are 

experienced by the receiver. 

These are some of the reasons why people begin to argue 

in relationships. People misinterpret information 

exchanged, and while it could be tone or context related, 

many times it can simply be because that individual has

had a previous experience with those words and 

already decided that they are either positive or 

negative and reacts accordingly - or because their own 

neurological "echo" has made a word or comment hold 

significantly more weight than it should. 

The idea is to grow and evolve in your relationships 

and have a better understanding of yourself and 

feelings along the way. If you can communicate more 

clearly, you may be able to stop future arguments all 

together and save relationships from deterioration. 

I believe this initially helped us remember threats and 

danger in historical times, but now it tends to 

contribute to poor mental health and arguments as 

opposed to keeping us from touching a hot fire as 

children, for example. So - what can you do? 

The best way to lessen the risk of miscommunication or 

falling victim to the cycle of perpetual negative selftalk 

in your own life is to expand your own emotional 

vocabulary. Start learning how to communicate with 

clarity and intention by widening your own emotional 

vocabulary and using words that most accurately 

represent your feelings. 

There are many resources available online to improve 

and extend your emotional vocabulary. 

Here is a link to start. 

Begin using more descriptive words in your 

relationships for faster resolution and see if it makes 

a positive difference for you! 

Think of words as crayons and communication as art – 

we are limiting what we can draw by only using a few 

colors out of our complete colorful crayon box. 

When two people in a relationship are arguing, they 

may use common words like “I feel angry, hurt or sad.” 

But those are actually very broad top-level terms that 

often don’t begin to scratch the surface of the emotion 

you are truly feeling at that moment. If you dig deeper 

– by using more colorful communication – you realize 

that you are not actually feeling angry and sad, but 

rather rejected and afraid - and this can open up new 

potential for resolution and understanding. 

The more emotional / colorful vocabulary words you 

begin to use, the better you can communicate with 

others and receive feedback without feeling the need 

to respond defensively. 

By using more of the colors in your crayon box, it can 

cause you to ask others to also use more of theirs, as 

you begin to notice how often the same are words are 

used over and over around you. Together, you may get 

to the root cause of your issue faster by using more 

accurate and descriptive emotional words. Hooray! 


BLM-PD 

BLM-PD 

BLM-PD 

BLM-PD. BLM-PD. BLM-PD. BLM-PD 

BLM-PD 

In the not too distant future, the US has been taken over by white nationalists, and 

the institutionalized racism that has underscored the country’s entire history has 

once again been codified. California has seceded from the US, and a band of strong 

women plan to start the next civil war following the death of their friend at the hands 

of the police. This is BLM-PD.

LIFE, LIBERTY, 

& SOMETHING 

LIKE HAPPINESS 

Rory Dexter looks for love in all 

the wrong places, will working on 

a Presidential campaign change 

his luck or is all fair in love and 

politics? 

GREG HOWARD JR 

Comedian, podcast presenter, author, actor, entrepreneur, and political commentator, 

Greg Howard Jr, is best known as the host and creator of the hit podcasts DON'T MAKE 

THIS WEIRD, THIS IS NOTANENDORSEMENT, 30 Questions With..., and Your Life the 

Mixtape. Greg's forays into the world of writing include the best-selling memoirs HI, I'M 

THE UGLY FRIEND and DON'T MAKE THIS WEIRD: A YEAR IN THE LIFE, and the 

recently released work of fiction: LIFE, LIBERTY, & SOMETHING LIKE HAPPINESS. 


FOOD + POLITICS 

BY CLAUDIA RENEE WALTERS 

This recipe journal is a short collection of dishes that helped Claudia cope with unbearable 

grief, American politics, and personal radical change during an unexpected pandemic. Each 

chapter features one recipe and personal story designed to warm the heart, provoke 

thought, and invite the reader to recall their special memories with food. 

Claudia Renee Walters is an independent consultant living in California. Before becoming selfemployed, 

she worked as an administrator within some of the nation's largest institutions. She 

holds a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre and a Master's Degree from NYU in Education & 

Theatre. 

Follow 

Renee 

Order Online

G U E S T S P O T L I G H T 

Seven Things Progressives and Moderates 

Need to Learn from Each Other 

 

by Rich Boatti 

In American politics, there is one basic elemental fact 

that defines the political landscape more than anything 

else: there are more of us than there are of them. 

Democrats have won the popular vote in seven out the 

last eight presidential elections. Democrats have a very 

broad coalition and much more popular policies than 

Republicans. The only reasons Republicans are even 

competitive are because of anti-democratic flaws in the 

American political system like the Electoral College and 

gerrymandering, and because the Democrats’ big tent is 

too susceptible to internal division. 

In this article, I hope to argue against the division of 

Progressives and Moderates so we can keep the big 

tent united going into the 2022 midterm elections and 

2024 Presidential election. Democrats are the last and 

best hope of stopping fascism from taking over 

America, so this is deadly serious. Without further 

adieu, here are seven things Progressives and 

Moderates need to know about the Democratic Party, 

and themselves. 

1. Progressive Ideas Are Good for the Country- and 

Popular 

The modern Democratic Party (since 1932) has 

historically done well when it enacted progressive 

policies. Even after the huge blue wave of 1932, the 

Democrats expanded their congressional majorities in 

the midterms of 1934 because of the popularity of the 

New Deal. People who disagree with this premise might 

point to the 1966 (after LBJ’s Great Society) and 

2010 (after Obamacare and Dodd-Frank) midterms, 

but 1966 was dominated by dissatisfaction with the 

Vietnam War and in 2010 the main pillars of 

Obamacare hadn’t yet taken effect. 

And furthermore, the polling data is clear. 70% of 

Americans are in favor of Medicare for All. 2/3 of 

Americans want to expand Social Security. 75% of 

Americans think wealthy people should pay higher 

taxes. 62% of Americans are in favor of raising the 

minimum wage. 69% of Americans think the US 

should switch to renewable energy. 55% of 

Americans support Black Lives Matter. 

All of this means that Democrats should reject the 

notion that they have to water down a bold, 

progressive agenda to appeal to the “center,” because 

with polling numbers like these, even “Centrists” 

support progressive ideas even if they don’t explicitly 

identify as progressive. 

And this is the perfect segue to the next point... 

2. The Biden-Harris Administration has been Damn 

Progressive 

Much like it took a nationalistic hawk like Nixon to 

open up China, Biden has used his moderate 

credentials to pass a very progressive agenda, and 

that has helped Democrats’ popularity. The American 

Rescue Plan saved the economy and drastically 


R I C H B O A T T I 

reduced child poverty. The Infrastructure Law 

invested heavily in rail, mass transit, electric charging 

infrastructure, and lead pipe removal while requiring 

good wages and union labor as a condition for a lot of 

its spending. Progressives have been relatively 

ambivalent about the CHIPS and Science Act, but the 

“Science” part of that law commits $200 billion to 

research and education over the next decade, which 

is a big deal. The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest 

climate law in American history and will basically 

ensure the United States meets its commitments 

under the Paris Accords; it also allows the federal 

government to negotiate drug prices covered by 

Medicare, which ends one of the worst greedy abuses 

of Big Pharma. The PACT Act is the biggest expansion 

of health benefits since Obamacare. Biden liberated 

millions of Americans from crushing loads of student 

debt. 

And the Biden-Harris Administration has had several 

other progressive wins that the media has essentially 

ignored: 

First and foremost, Biden freed the children from 

cages. Now families seeking entry to the United 

States have ankle remote tracking technology 

pending their immigration hearings, instead of being 

locked up and tortured by the fascists at ICE and CBP. 

Biden also essentially ended the US’s program of 

drone warfare. Biden ended the wars in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. Biden also removed all of the unionbusters 

Trump appointed to the National Labor 

Relations Board and thus removed a key roadblock to 

the expanded mass unionization we are now seeing. 

Essentially, Biden has been an incredibly progressive 

President and every Progressive and Leftist who “held 

their nose” while voting for him in 2020 should be 

proud of what that helped accomplish. 

(attribution: Twitter, @Perhapsalto) 

3. Centrists and Never-Trump Republicans are Fickle 

and Should not be Catered to 

One thing we have learned from the first 2 years of 

Biden’s Presidency is that Progressives are 

unquestionably more loyal Democrats than Centrists. 

Bernie and AOC might criticize elements of Democratic 

legislation, but their decisive votes are never in doubt. 

On the other hand, Manchin and Sinema are willing to 

and have tanked large portions of Build back Better, 

including raising the federal minimum wage and trillions 

of dollars in social spending like the child tax credit, 

universal pre-kindergarten, and free community college. 

Sinema in particular seems to think her constituency is 

Mitch McConnell instead of the Democratic voters who 

elected her. Representative Henry Cuellar is a centrist 

who makes disingenuous attacks on Kamala Harris and 

votes against major Democratic legislation. 

A lot of people think “moderate” and “centrist” are 

interchangeable terms, but they are vastly different. 

Moderates are within the middle of the Democratic 

Party, while Centrists are at the rightward fringe of the 

Democratic party and are essentially Republicans who 

are forced to identify as Democrats to get elected in 

their respective jurisdictions. 

Similarly, too many Moderates view never-Trumpers like 

Liz Cheney and Adam Kitzingberg as heroes. Let me 

state this unequivocally: they are not heroes. Yes, they 

have done the bare minimum in standing up to Trump’s 

fascism, but otherwise they have taken horrible 


G U E S T S P O T L I G H T 

positions like opposing voting rights legislation and 

the Inflation Reduction Act. They are also anti-choice, 

anti-immigration, anti- LGBTQ rights, and anti Black 

Lives Matter legislation. Despite their stance on 

Trump, they are still mostly terrible politicians. 

4. Moderates Need to Learn the Difference Between 

Progressives and Abstentationist “Leftists” 

In real life, Progressives want to move the Democratic 

Party to the left in primaries, but almost always support 

whoever the Democratic nominee is. On the contrary, 

Abstentionist Leftists do hate the Democratic Party and 

do not support Democrats in general elections. 

Examples of these types of people are trolls like Glenn 

Greenwald, Brihanna Joy Grey, and Ryan Knight. Even 

though they supported Bernie in 2016 and AOC in 

2018, they have now turned on them because Bernie 

and AOC are Progressives who strongly support the 

election of President Biden and other Democrats. 

Speaking from personal experience, when certain 

toxic elements of Moderate Democrat Twitter see 

that I identify as a progressive, they wrongly assume I 

hate the Democratic Party and don’t vote for 

Democrats in general elections, when in reality I have 

voted AND volunteered for every Democratic 

Presidential nominee since 2004. And I know I am not 

the only person this happens to. 

On a macro level, this same phenomenon often has 

Moderates and Progressives at war with each other 

more than with Republicans. Kamala Harris and 

Elizabeth Warren are not enemies. In fact they are 

good friends who highly respect each other: Harris 

refused to endorse Biden in the Primary until after 

Warren dropped out, and Warren was the first 

prominent Democrat to endorse Harris in her 2016 

Senate primary, even cutting an ad for her. Their 

respective fan bases should show themselves similar 

levels of respect that these two Democratic leaders 

do to each other. 

All of the hate Bernie, AOC, and other Progressives 

now get from Abstentationist Leftists should be 

counteracted by a similar measure of reduced hate from 

Moderate Democrats. 

5. Moderates are not Inherently more Electable than 

Progressives 

There is a groupthink phenomenon that in order to get 

elected in competitive elections, Democrats need to 

nominate Moderates. This is wrong. There are plenty of 

examples of Moderates losing winnable elections, like 

Terry McAuliffe in 2021, Hillary Clinton in 2016 

(although there were other reasons for this such as 

Russian interference and misogyny), Bill Nelson in 

2018, and John Kerry in 2004. 

Similarly, there are plenty of examples of Progressives 

winning competitive elections, like Reps Katie Porter 

and Antonio Delgado flipping competitive house seats 

in 2018, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy 

becoming the first Democratic New Jersey Governor to 

win re-election since 1977. On a related note, while he 

won re-election in 2018, Centrist Andrew Cuomo 

underperformed the other statewide dems on the same 

ballot, Kirsten Gillibrand, Leticia James, and Tom 

DiNapoli by about 10 points. Kathy Hochul’s polling 

struggles in New York also highlight this phenomenon. 

The reality is that general election voters value 

authenticity more than identification as a moderate or 

progressive, so Democrats shouldn’t be afraid of 


R I C H B O A T T I 

nominating Progressives as long as they are authentic 

candidates. 

6. Progressives Need to Remember the Black Voters 

are the Base of the Democratic Party 

There is no demographic group that is more loyal to 

Democrats than Black voters. With all due respect to 

college-educated white voters, who to their credit have 

largely chosen to reject electoral manifestations of white 

supremacy (A/KA the Republican Party), white 

Progressives need to remember and center the 

importance of Black voters with their policy agendas. 

This means not minimizing the importance of things like 

environmental justice, lead abatement, early childhood 

education, support for HBCU’s, and policing reform. This 

also means not rejecting the choices Black voters make 

in primaries with talk of “DNC conspiracies,” or writing 

all moderates off as wealthy, white suburbanites, and 

not referring to largely Black Southern Democrats with 

offensive terms like “low-information voters.” 

progressives to help craft his campaign promises and 

legislative agenda. We haven’t lost an election since 

2016 and we are poised to pull off an upset in the 2022 

midterms. If we stick together, we can hold the house 

and expand our Senate majority to pass the remaining 

components of Build Back Better. Vote Blue in 2022! 

Rich Boatti is a Brooklyn-based Progressive activist, 

lawyer, and D-list internet basketball star who hates the 

GOP with every bone in his body. You can find him on 

Twitter, @Roatti. 

There is no progressive movement without Black voters 

and other voters of color. Full stop. The diversity of the 

Democratic coalition is what makes us superior to the 

Republicans, and Progressives need to always remember 

that. 

7. When Moderates and Progressives Stick Together, 

We are Unbeatable 

Due largely to Russian internet trolls spreading 

conspiracies about Hillary Clinton, just enough Leftists 

were peeled away from the Democratic coalition for 

Trump to squeak out his “victory” in 2016. Since then, 

the Democratic coalition has learned its lesson. 

Progressives and Leftists have been reminded of the 

horrors of Republican rule and Biden made a much 

better effort at reaching out to the left side of the 

coalition than Hillary did, by inviting prominent 


Jamaal's Incredible Adventures in the 

Black Church by Myron J. Clifton 

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. 


Dear Dean Magazine TOTM 

TWEET OF THE MONTH 

TOTM 

#notallwhitewomen 

@PortiaMcGonagal 

I'm tired. Exhausted, as I know so many are. In addition 

to midterm stress, I have #notallwhitewomen fatigue. 

It's a chronic condition. The last thing I planned to do 

today was another thread but...let's talk about niceness 

and some other things. 

Specifically, weaponized niceness and silencing tactics. 

I've said before that white women want to be liked. 

Black women want to be respected. Yes I'm prepared for 

the inevitable replies . 

The discussion of "niceness" goes hand in hand with this. 

Consistently, replies to posts by Black women and those 

who stand with us when we speak out are met with 

accusations of being "mean" when we are candid; being 

"angry" when we are firm; being hostile for speaking to 

other adults as adults. 

Inevitably the white fragility comes out. 

Demands to be "nicer" or "we're all in this together" or 

"stop being divisive" etc. 

These are all silencing tactics. For centuries, white 

women, whose agency and power so many want to erase 

or insist is doled out to them parsimoniously by the men 

in their lives, have held power over Black and other 

women of color. 

In parallel, they were praised for their femininity, 

treated as the idealized version of womanhood, and 

above all, expected to be nice, well-mannered, polite 

etc. There were "just things" that "weren't done" in 

polite company. 

Anger, justified, righteous, EARNED, from the same 

centuries of being dehumanized, belittled, 

discriminated against, de facto and de jure, is a normal 

human emotion, yet despite that, Black and other 

people of color have had to manage and contain it lest 

there be actual life or death consequences. 

I've been done with that for a while. 

But what happens when we point to truths, share the 

frustration that our lived experiences continue to be 

dismissed, and call out the root cause of current 

political realities? For Black women, here comes the 

Angry Black Woman express. 

It's the caboose to the Not All White Woman train. 

Always on time. 

Speaking for myself, I frankly work triple overtime to 

be dispassionate in most of my posts, exactly for this 

reason. Been there. Done that. Through school, social 

situations, my career. 

Expressly because I don't want to give white fragility 

any room to lob that accusation. 

Well, that ends now. I am angry. 


TWEET OF THE MONTH 

TOTM 

I will state that I'm angry. IDGAF if you think I'm angry. 

My question to white women who enable their 

DEMOGRAPHIC to keep holding ALL women back and 

creeping us closer to what the white male nationalists 

openly state they want to do to the country is, why 

aren't you angry? 

Instead, it reverts to "nice" or "kind" in these 

discussions. We see it every day. How is it weaponized? 

It's the Southern "bless your heart" while meaning "eff 

you." It's the erasure of the reasons for our anger. It's 

the "Fiddle Dee Dee" mentality of white women’s 

favorite movie. It's ultimately, "hush now" and 

conditional allyship predicated on white women’s egos 

and feelings being assuaged. 

It's a silencing tactic because if we persist, then we're 

the villains. And IDGAF. 

We're talking survival here. I'll fight for mine. The 

white women who do this shit? 

You're on your own. 

(Illustration by Nyanza D) 

@PortiaMcGonagal 


Her Legend Lives In You: 

The Untold Creation Story Honoring The 

Goddess And Our Daughters. 


Available on

MY FAVORITE THINGS 

streaming right 

now...

M O V I E R E V I E W 

Black Panther: 

Wakanda Forever 

It is everything it should be and everything fans want 

it to be. Director Ryan Coogler understands the 

genre, the audience, and the characters so as a result, 

the movie delivers on every level. 

Chadwick Boseman is honored appropriately, and we 

take the journey with his family and friends, and to 

remember the iconic actor and original Black Panther 

while trying to find a way forward. 

Letitia Write, Angela Bassett (who should be our 

Queen), Tenoch Huerta, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai 

Gurira, Mabel Cadena, Dominque Thorne, and 

Winston Duke matched each other's ability to carry 

every scene. This is truly an ensemble cast of stars 

and lead players. When each character was on the 

screen – they ate and left no crumbs. 

As the title character, Letitia Write as Suri met the 

moment and handled the pressure of following up the 

now legendary Chadwick Boseman with aplomb, care, 

and with so much love that by the end she, like 

Chadwick before her, was the Black Panther. 

A different Panther, but not a less Panther. She was 

like the Panther we were introduced to in Civil War 

when T’Challa was looking to avenge his father’s 

assassination. He was furious, he was deadly, and he 

wasn’t interested in negotiation, prisoners, or taking 

advice from Avengers. 

Likewise, the Suri we are introduced to has pushed 

down her grief until it expresses itself with deadly 

surety, like her brother. 

Her journey wasn’t his journey though, any more than 

any younger sibling follows the exact journey of their 

older sibling. It was refreshing to see a woman hero 

want to use her powers, not have to depend on a man 

to teach her to use her powers, and then have no regret 

she used her powers. 

Tenoch as Namor delivers the kind of performance the 

MCU always needs and there's no way he won't be 

*thee next marvel star of stars. He was emotionally 

powerful, engaging, magnetic, and oozing danger. The 

perfect anti-hero that MCU has missed and sorely 

needed. Tenoch captures the disdain Namor has for 

surface humans and carries the anger of the ancestors 

who were literally his family. 

He is confident in his powers and abilities as much as 

he is in his ability to negotiate with Queen Ramonda 

and then Suri. He is cocky because to our knowledge he 

hasn’t been tested by an equal. It seems he is quick to 

anger until we remember he has been alive hundreds of 

years after witnessing the horrors of colonization, 

pollution, and human oceanic wars. 

The culture and civilization of Namor / N'amor is as 

striking as Wakanda and beautifully imagined -from 

origin to its modern iteration that rivals the land-based 

Wakanda. I wanted more and I am certain Marvel will 

deliver more. 

The action is fantastic, and the reasons make sense 

even if as viewers you don't want it to happen - this is 

unique to the genre, but it not only works, but it takes 

us to uncomfortable and complex emotions because we 

want there to be other options. 

The team also honors women who are actualized and 

fully in charge of who they are, what they do, and what 

they do not do. I think Wakanda in particular goes deep 

in this area - beyond wonderful warrior women, and 

into intellectual diplomats, counselors, parents, friends. 

Watching it I felt tense, nervous, excited, angry, sad, 


M O V I E R E V I E W 

resigned, and full. They deliver it all. 

I won't speak for Indigenous Peoples on the depiction 

of Namor & his people, but I believe viewers will feel 

similar emotions to how Black people felt seeing 

Wakanda & its civilization on screen. And maybe more 

so since we have actual pre-American Indigenous 

history and current people/descendants of the very 

real culture. Huerta, who is Indigenous from Mexico 

believes Marvel’s adventure into Mesoamerican and 

the Aztecs to create the fictional kingdom of Talokan 

It resonates and my audience loved it and there was 

Oh’s and ah's as it was revealed 

Go see it. It is wonderful and you will love it. From the 

pre-opening to the very end. If there are kids in your 

theatre they will be excited and make noise and that's 

pretty cool. There are big scenes and small and they 

connect when they should and how they should. 

If you loved the first, you'll love this as much if not 

more because we get two dynamic cultures to dive 

into. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ends Phase 4 of the 

Marvel Universe and it is fitting to revisit the land, the 

people, and loves, loss, and future of the indefatigable 

Wakandans. 

Fans will always hold a special place in their hearts for 

Chadwick Boseman and the original Black Panther 

and his iconic performance. And that is entirely 

appropriate and special. 

Fans will also now find that the new movie, new Black 

Panther and new Namor may also settle into that 

special place reserved for the best of the best. 

Go ahead of let the tears fall because they'll be real. 

Chadwick would be proud. 


What are you 

watching? 

Let me know! 

HULU: The Patient Season 1 

Steve Carrell plays a therapist kidnapped by a 

serial killer who decided to get help for his… 

problem. The thirty-minute episodes cover a 

lot of territory as we find out everything about 

the serial killer’s activities, fears, desires, and 

penchant for violence. It’s a drama but there 

are light moments that pulls viewers into the 

absurdity of the situation. 

AMAZON PRIME: The Peripheral 

This science-fiction series does time travel in a 

fun way by ruling out physical travel while 

allowing consciousness travel but only to the 

past. But future humans can “go into” just 

about anyone and “use” that person similar to 

how we use avatars while playing video games 

today. Episodes out weekly on Fridays. 

NETFLIX : Love is Blind Season 3 

The get engaged before ever seeing your 

partner show is back and as bonkers as 

ever. Young people interview each other 

while in pods that allow them to hear but 

not see one another. After a few rounds of 

getting to know one another, some of the 

men propose to some of the women. Once 

they do, they are allowed to see each other 

for the first time. Then over the course of a 

few weeks the couples get to know one 

another before finally attending a wedding 

ceremony that is attended by family and 

friends. Will they both say “I do” after 

saying their wedding vows? Oh boy, the 

drama of it all. 


We Couldn't Be Heroes 

Short Story Collection: We Couldn't Be Heroes And Other Stories What if a Black 

man could control the weather, God called 911, or aliens took our souls? Would 

we notice? Would we care?... Enjoy the entire collection, seven stories in all, on 

earth and in space and in any order. 


Robin Martin, Editorial 

The Joyful Warrior 

Podcast Network 

sayeYO App 

Buzzword Consulting 

Katya Juliet's Jewel Box 

Great Start Initiative

The cosmic chaos caused by a very young star has been captured in the latest 

enchanting image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA)

Dear Dean Magazine: November 2022

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