Dear Dean Magazine: September 2023

DEAR DEAN
M A G A Z I N E
THE ECONOMIC
INEFFICIENCY OF RACISM
+ BLINDED
+
+
AMERICA NEEDS THERAPY
DO YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
NEED A LITTLE FENG SHUI?
V O L . 2 1 | S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 2 3
JOY FOR ME
NOT FOR THEE
Plus!
Myron's Hit or Miss List
New Movie Reviews
What I'm Streaming Right Now
Hot Takes
Featured Books

THE GOODS
03 Welcome From Myron
06
The Economic Inefficiency
of Racism
by Joshua Doss
09 Joy For Me Not For Thee
by Myron J. Clifton
17 Blinded
by Marcus A. Banks-Bey, M.Div
22
26
29
32
34
Do Your Relationships Need
a Little Feng Shui?
by Katya Juliet Lerner
America Needs Therapy
by Myron J. Clifton
Hot Take! x4
Myron's HIT or MISS List
Movie Reviews / My Favorite
Things Streaming Right Now
D E A R D E A N M A G A Z I N E , W E B S I T E ,
B L O G S A N D B O O K S A R E D E S I G N E D
B Y K A T Y A J U L I E T L E R N E R

Welcome!
September 2023
We are falling into Autumn, and we’ve got a great
edition for you.
We check in on why some people do not want other
people to express joy or happiness, and how America
needs therapy before it can move into a brighter,
happier, more inclusive future.
We write about the train wreck that is Hollywood
right now, including the writer’s strike, and the scabs
who are trying to break the union.
Oh, we didn’t forget about politics, President Biden,
Vice President Harris, or the disaster that is Meet
The Press with Kristin Welker.
We have excellent articles from contributors every
month and this month is no different. We have
Joshua Doss back as a featured contributor with
“The Economic Inefficiency of Racism,“ Marcus A.
Banks-Bey, M.DIV with a featured blog, “Blinded,“
and featured spotlight piece by Katya Juliet Lerner,
“Do Your Relationships Need a Little Feng Shui?“
All your favorites are here as well– What’s
Streaming, Television reviews, Hot Takes, Hit/Miss,
and don’t miss our latest book advertisements from
our readers.
There’s a lot here and we hope you enjoy it all, share
it all, and let us know on social media (see our
contributor handles with articles).
We publish thought-provoking articles on
government, gender, race, and politics, while also
providing space for movie and television reviews,
poetry, short stories, food, pets, fun, and a
welcoming platform for independent authors and
writers.
And we provide this space for free – because our
motto is and will remain: Some Art Deserves to be
Free.
Enjoy this month’s issue, please support the writers
and the authors whose books we advertise for free.
We appreciate you as a reader and we thank you for
sharing the magazine to your social media network,
friends, and family.
And we look forward to seeing YOUR contribution
soon.
Myron
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.3

About Me
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. BOOKS ON
AMAZON
Loving Myron J. Clifton's Content?
S H O W Y O U R S U P P O R T W I T H
A C O N T R I B U T I O N T O D E A R D E A N !
Advertising / Contributions
words@deardeanpublishing.com
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.4

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 | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.5

F E A T U R E D C O N T R I B U T O R
Joshua Doss
(Vermillion, South Dakota)
THE ECONOMIC
INEFFICIENCY OF RACISM
Anywhere outside of the echo chambers and epistemic
bubbles of white nationalism, the moral and ethical
arguments against racism are discussed. Even the most
willfully ignorant American would be lying if she
pretended to have never encountered the notion. And
after asking her why we should deconstruct racist
systems that have plagued this country since its
conception, she may shrug her shoulders and say
something like “racism hurts people of color and that's
bad”-- assuming she acknowledges these structures still
exist at all. And if you received this response from her,
Betty Lou Sue, sipping on her Mountain Dew at a gas
station in Boone County, Arkansas, you may consider it
a win. Hell, a person in the colloquially-dubbed most
“racist county in America” acknowledging racism feels
like 30 steps in the right direction. But until we start
talking about the titanic economic inefficiencies of
racism, we run the risk of leaving low vote-propensity
“fiscal conservatives” on the board. That's right, Betty
Lou Sue, racism hurts you too.
Everywhere we look in the mess of our modern day
economic problems, we can see evidence of racism not
delivering on its promises to white America. For
example, the financial crash of 2008 created a housing
market crisis that has never fully returned to normal. In
the story of this egregious economic failure we make
certain to talk about the snake-oil-selling predatory
lenders that created tricky subprime mortgages
designed to enrich the lender and purposely fail the
borrowers. But what we rarely talk about is how we
allowed these predatory lenders to workshop this style
of lending in Black and Brown communities for years
before taking their show on tour. Blinded by racism,
white Americans ignored the cries of Black
policymakers’ disdain with a mortgage market rife with
predatorily adjustable interest rates, teaser rates, and
tricky underwriting practices.
The result was a fleet of well-trained predatory lenders
unleashing their new-found trick on the rest of white
America. A housing crash that resulted in $19 trillion in
loss of American household wealth, 8 million jobs
obliterated, lost pensions and savings, and financial
institutions that had to be bailed out by you, the
American taxpayer. Public policy experts like Heather
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.6

F E A T U R E D : J O S H U A D O S S
Mcghee have been quoted saying “we would not have not
have had a financial crisis if it weren't for racism”, and she's
right. Racism breeds policy blind spots and economicmalpractice
that hurt white people too.
When we tell the story of debt-burdened white Americans
struggling to pay back their college loans or overwhelmed
white parents looking to save for their child's college fund,
we're always certain to mention the inflated costs of
college. What we often fail to mention is how it got this
way. In the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, millions of families sent
their kids to college debt free through public investment.
Not only did folks leave universities without debt, this
well-educated workforce became the strongest middle
class the world had ever seen. Economists have found for
every tax dollar spent on free college under the G.I. bill, the
American economy saw a $7 return on investment . This
meant an economy where a bartender and a maid had
access to homeownership, retirement accounts, vacations,
weekends, and economic mobility. So, what happened?
Fueled by the racist reactions to the federal government’s
order for states to racially integrate their colleges, white
voters began supporting policies that effectively cut public
funding to keep Black students, who were
disproportionately poor, from clearing the financial
requirements to attend their universities. The result was a
tripling of college tuition and a $1.77 trillion tax payer
debt–a burden shared by white families all across America.
Racism breeds sloppy governance that hurts white people
too.
From racially-biased and inflated criminal justice
systems that require American taxpayers $300 billion
a year, to discriminatory lending practices restricting
Black entrepreneurs from investing back into the
American economy white people share, racism
frequently finds a way to financially burden the very
people it makes promises to promote. Any economic
analysis worth its salt will tell you: the playbook of
fiscal conservatism should begin with ending systemic
racism in America.
So, before you and Betty Lou Sue share a celebratory
Mountain Dew, make sure she knows that people of
color are not the only ones degraded by racism.
Joshua Doss is a Political Research and Communications
consultant from Chicago. He specializes in economic policy
communications and has worked in politics at the state and
federal level as a polling/message development strategist.
Using social media as a direct and unfiltered way to
connect with voters, Joshua has amassed well over 15
million views and 140k subscribers to his platform.
click
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.7

F E A T U R E D B O O K
The intimate and heartbreaking story of a Black undercover police officer who famously kneeled by the
assassinated Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr--and a daughter's quest for the truth about her father.
In the famous photograph of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of Memphis's
Lorraine Motel, one man kneeled down beside King, trying to staunch the blood from his fatal head wound
with a borrowed towel.
This kneeling man was a member of the Invaders, an activist group that was in talks with King in the days
leading up to the murder. But he also had another identity: an undercover Memphis police officer reporting
on the activities of this group, which was thought to be possibly dangerous and potentially violent. This
kneeling man is Leta McCollough Seletzky's father..
Marrell McCollough was a Black man working secretly with the white power structure, a spy. This was so
far from her understanding of what it meant to be Black in America, of everything she eventually devoted
her life and career to, that she set out to learn what she could about his life, his actions and motivations.
But with that decision came risk. What would she uncover about her father, who went on to a career at the
CIA, and did she want to bear the weight of knowing?
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.8

JOY FOR ME
NOT FOR THEE
by Myron J. Clifton
Donald Trump and 17 others have been charged, arrested,
and booked in Fulton County Georgia for trying to
conspire with local election and government officials to
change the outcome of the 2020 election.
Specifically, Trump and his group of criminals tried
undoing votes cast by Black voters in Georgia where the
governor, Brian Kemp, had already made voting extremely
difficult for Black people.
And that is the thing, isn’t it? The nonstop effort to make
things harder for Black folk.
In America it is harder to be Black than it is to be any
other race of people. And that is by design and it is fed
and nurtured with every generation of white Americans
and folk from other races who attach themselves to
whiteness.
It is even harder to laugh and have fun.
The mugshots of Trump and the seventeen other anti-
American criminals who tried to overturn Georgia votes
and thus the federal election were immediately mocked,
memed, with created gifs as only the internet can do.
Getting a job is harder, as are getting a home, or renting an
apartment.
It is harder to get into university, get a promotion, get
medical care, and to have a baby and survive having a
baby.
It is harder to walk or jog outside, to shop, play at a
playground, drive in cities and through sundown towns. It
is harder bar-b-que at the park, swim in public pools, shop
at the mall, and to birdwatch in public spaces.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.9

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
The laughs are flowing just as they were a few weeks ago
when the Alabama brawl happened following a group of
Black folk coming to the rescue of a lone dock worker
who was brutally attacked by a group of white boaters
who refused to move their boat from a space where they
did not belong.
Black people make fun and laugh at everything and
everybody, regardless of the social norms established
and adhered to by white Americans.
We find humor and sparks of joy regardless of our
wealth, where we live, who we love, or what we are going
through.
Black joy is unique, ubiquitous, and unstoppable.
It is therefore saddening and maddening that of all the
awfulness and hate directed at Black people, one of the
worst is the desire to mute our joy.
White people weaponized and monetized our humor
and joy for themselves in minstrel shows, blackface, and
caricatures of our features and how we walk, run, sing,
and express fear, and even how we love.
It is hard to imagine the depths of hatred of Black folk
but understanding the desire to mute our joy is a place
to start.
We are attacked for being angry — especially Black
women.
White America have long used our humor and joy for
their own entertainment while also demanding that we
not use it for our own edification — and as long as their
use of it *also harmed us they were happy about it.
As with everything race related in this country, attacking
our laughter and humor has its roots in the time of
slavery when white people owned our bodies and our
emotions.
But who doesn’t want someone to laugh or express joy?
Black folk were happy with a Black mermaid and that
caused white people to review bomb the movie before
and after it was released, while other white people
wrote editorials and produced long videos about how it
wasn’t “Historical to have a Black MERMAID.”
We could not laugh or even smile in public — unless we
got permission and even then that permission was
specious. We couldn’t cry or cry out when beaten or
whipped. And we couldn’t mourn the death of our loved
ones or the stealing of our children. We couldn’t miss our
family when we had to attend to the enslaver and their
families. And we couldn’t joke at the absurdity of the
white lives we oversaw less some child decided we
should die and their parents acted on their wishes.
Black folk were attacked for dressing up to see the first
two Black Panther movies and lectured that “Wakanda
isn’t REAL.”
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.10

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
D R . M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
This action plays out every time there is a “Black first” —
Astronaut, principle dancer, senator, mayor, CEO,
university president, coach, franchise owner, sports team
owner, NASCAR racer, and, yes, President and Vice
President.
We are chastised about being too happy, and celebrating
too loudly and with too much energy. We are cautioned,
warned, and even find ourselves kicked out of our
children’s graduation ceremonies when we cheer — and
our kids are even denied their degrees when they cheer
their own accomplishment.
When we’re dancing alone or in groups, when we’re
laughing joyfully in public, when our kids are celebrating in
school.. here comes the negative nabobs of negativism to
try to shut us down.
How miserable it must be to express misery at other folk’s
joy.
Now imagine you are Black and you have all that negative
attention and energy directed at you, your family and
friends, and your kids.
All the time. Every day. And for any reason that the
average person would find joyful — if the joy was being
expressed by almost anyone else who isn’t Black.
It is saddening, maddening, debilitating, and exhausting
for us, our children, our elders, and all of the Black
diaspora who live in and who visit this nation.
Can you imagine any people in the world so insecure in
their own selves that they actively work to stop a minority
group from having and expressing any type of joy or
happiness?
When our athletes celebrate they are penalized in almost
every sport — rules were created to stifle and penalize our
celebrations in baseball, football, tennis, basketball, and
any other sport we find ourselves in. The owners of the
leagues and the networks that pay them — owned by white
men — dedicate time, resources, and money to stop Black
folk from having fun.
It is critical to note that Indigenous, Latino, Hispanic, and
other non-white brown people experience similar vitriol
for expressing and sharing joy and jubilation. Jerry
Seinfeld dedicated an episode on his former show making
fun of the fact how much he hates New York’s Puerto
Rican Day parade- the largest parade in the city and one
that has celebrated the nation’s 5 million Puerto Ricans
for decades.
And cable news attacked Mexican-Americans who
cheered the Mexico national team when they played the
US Men’s team at the L.A. Coliseum in 2011.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.11

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
D R . M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
The lack of empathy from white people specifically toward
Black people is an entire industry by itself and one that
never runs out of fuel.
There are literally hundreds of articles and millions of
social media posts and comments dedicated to Vice
President Kamala Harris… laughing. She has never shot
anyone in the face but judging by the hatred from white
people just for her laugh one would think she had done
that and much worse.
We can be serious, thoughtful, studious, and quiet and be
hated but nothing quite alarms white people as our joy.
They will boo our most accomplished athletes and loudly
root against us. We saw it with Venus and Serena Williams
for years at many US Tennis tournaments during their
careers, most notably at Indian Wells, Ca, when the allwhite
audience viciously boo’d and hurled racist epithets at
the young stars with so much vile energy the sisters did not
return to the venue for 14 years.
It was then President Obama’s correspondents jokes about
Donald Trump that many say spurred Donald to run for
president. He was so mad at being made fun of at an event
designed to make fun of the rich and famous that he
decided to ruin America and install himself as dictator.
Such is the power of our jokes.
When we aren’t seen or accepted with humanity and
empathy it becomes that much easier to further our
dehumanization by denying us the most basic and
important human emotion — laughter.
Our smiles are so powerful that we are in awe and happy
when Dr. Martin Luther King’s family releases a photo of
him laughing and smiling.
Making American life harder for us at work, school, in
public, in politics, in our neighborhoods, and in our online
communities is awful, degrading, and humiliating. And by
trying to stifle the healing emotion of laughter and
laughing, of jokes and giggles, and of the joy and life, family
and community affirmation that comes with those
necessary human emotions, racists and white
supremacists are doing something much more evil and
insidious.
They are attempting to make us empty humans devoid of
culture, history, and joy.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.12
Black people will not be quiet or tamp down our humor or
laughter for the comfort of anyone. Ever.

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
D R . M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
And America would be much better off it it adopted the
ability that the Black community has to be introspective
and find the humor in difficult times and tough situations.
And judging by the environment the country now finds
itself in — an insurrection, a felonius former president on
trial in multiple states, the rise of fascism, and an aging
white population that will need Black and other non-white
citizens to maintain the country and its place on the world
stage, white America would be so much better off to
emulate Black folk’s ability to laugh.
Because we cannot go forward into a better and happier
future unless and until white people learn to laugh and
express joy the way Black people do.
They can start by not trying to stop us from laughing
because it has never and will never work.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.13

CLICK TO MEET
THE HOSTS!
MYRON
JENN
Two longtime friends have informative, yet
brief discussions about multitudinous topics.
NEW EPISODES ON FRIDAYS!
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.14

MYRON J. CLIFTON & JENNIFER VANLAANEN'S PODCAST
VOICE MEMOS REVIEWS
Listen Now!
Stay
Shallow!
Like listening to your BFFs June 2, 2022
kjlerner

F E A T U R E D B O O K
Marcus A. Banks-Bey, M.Div
Gathered experience and elevation gained from years as an Army & hospital chaplain, mental health worker
and clinical psychology doctoral student, equips Marcus A Banks to aid in journeying the reader to
intelligently question their past belief systems and future creative visions of thought and identity as a
purposeful means to developing their own personal reality for establishing their “true identity.”
Within Dig Deep lies practical language, developed to help the reader grow the relationship with
themselves, and understand why nurturing the relationships we have with our Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness
and Finances will support our Purpose, Planning, Patience, and Persistent-Perseverance. This system helps
one establish their own 5×5 Side by Side Guide through life. Dig Deep was written following a series of
extremely challenging life occurrences, including the suicide of the author’s brother, Iverson; divorce; and
war deployment. From this place, the author engaged in the process of self-discovery, self-awareness and
meaning.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.16

F E A T U R E D B L O G
B y M a r c u s A . B a n k s - B e y , M . D i v
The American populace has been blinded by the belief of
evolution. This belief dates as far back to Darwin himself
with respect to his theory of Survival of the Fittest, that
the strongest survive and consume the weak.
This theory even fueled Manifest Destiny, and the
consolidation hence, murder, of so many Native American
tribes upon this U.S. soil. Developing ideologies that a
flicker of light cannot exist in darkness, and that with
integration, all hatred and bigotry would be absolved.
And yet, just as the Underground Railroad was a
successful shadowy, covert operation designed to get
those who were forced into chattel bondage a route to
freedom, another railroad established itself. Not codified,
yet parallel to those very tracks. It laid in the ashes of the
Confederacy, bitter with defeat, hatred and the need for
vengefulness in its demise.
In 2023, years after the first U.S. President of African-
American Descent has left the office, well after the days
of COINTELPro of the age of Hoover, and the FBI's
search and assassination plot for the Black messiah, and
after January 6th and an insurrection in an attempt to
overthrow the legislature for the first time since 1776, it
would appear that there has been quite the evolution of
the U.S. that no citizen could have foreseen.
Supremacy has been officially declared as a threat to
the democratic republic of the United States. That
which has always been present, yet hidden as the poison
to the nation, a single ideology, not substantiated upon
anything but rhetoric, bigotry, fear, power, and the need
to maintain a position of social stratification with the
image of the European male as primary to all other
human forms.
Sight is now being returned to the blind. It is being
returned to as a whole, and this whole is humanity,
regardless of the appearance of one's complexion of
skin. Acts of violence, hurt, inhumane treatment, and
willingness to inflict pain in order to maintain the status
quo of a group or select population of individuals, is in
fact what any population or group of people will do
when they are in fear of losing power or control when a
system is not just, and intentionally administered to
favor and disfavor.
It is simply human behavior, justified by an ideology to
carry out that said behavior. The nature of the system
designers and those whom benefit continually become
exposed. The Confederate Railroad has evolved into a
particular ideological party, they love the color red, and
for some reason believe that America would be great
with both those railroads running parallel again.
Where out of the shadows, the covert operation of the
Confederate Railroad has been exposed, a flicker of the
light in the darkness, where the illness of White
Marcus A. Banks-Bey, M.Div
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.17

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.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.18

Download the App Free!
Music and Audio Cloud Storage
made for Music Artists!
sayeYO is more than just storage - it's a global music
community. Share music & collaborate with others.
www.sayeyo.com

F E A T U R E D B O O K
In anticipation of the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, Catherine
Prendergast draws on a combination of insights from legal studies and literacy studies to interrogate
contemporary multicultural literacy initiatives, thus providing a sound historical basis that informs current
debates over affirmative action, school vouchers, reparations, and high-stakes standardized testing.
As a result of Brown and subsequent crucial civil rights court cases, literacy and racial justice are firmly
enmeshed in the American imagination—so much so that it is difficult to discuss one without referencing
the other. Breaking with the accepted wisdom that the Brown decision was an unambiguous victory for the
betterment of race relations, Literacy and Racial Justice: The Politics of Learning after Brown v. Board of
Education finds that the ruling reinforced traditional conceptions of literacy as primarily white property to
be controlled and disseminated by an empowered majority. Prendergast examines civil rights era Supreme
Court rulings and immigration cases spanning a century of racial injustice to challenge the myth of
assimilation through literacy. Advancing from Ways with Words, Shirley Brice Heath’s landmark study of
desegregated communities, Prendergast argues that it is a shared understanding of literacy as white
property which continues to impact problematic classroom dynamics and education practices.
To offer a positive model for reimagining literacy instruction that is truly in the service of racial justice,
Prendergast presents a naturalistic study of an alternative public secondary school. Outlining new
directions and priorities for inclusive literacy scholarship in America, Literacy and Racial Justice concludes
that a literate citizen is one who can engage rather than overlook longstanding legacies of racial strife.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.20

F E A T U R E D B O O K
Motorcycling in California's
Central Valley
The heart of California's Central Valley--from Lodi, Stockton, and Tracy through Modesto, Oakdale, and
Turlock--embraced motorcycling from the beginning of the sport and lifestyle. Eleven riders from the region
are in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Hall of Fame, spanning every decade from the 1900s.
The popularity of bicycling in the 1890s led to early motorcycle shops, riders, and champion racers
in the 1900-1910s.
Area motorcycle club recreational rides and field meets started in 1914. Central Valley police departments
were among the first to develop motorcycle traffic units in the 1920s, before the California Highway Patrol.
Early racing venues such as repurposed bicycle velodromes, college stadiums, and horse tracks were
expanded when the Lodi Cycle Bowl was developed in the 1950s; it gave newcomers such as Modesto's
Kenny Roberts and Stockton's Alex Jorgensen, Chris Carr, and Fred Merkel--all now AMA Hall of Famers--a
track at which to compete weekly.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.21

Do Your Relationships
Need A Little Feng Shui?
by Katya Juliet Lerner
We know every relationship requires positive energy and
mutual efforts in order to stay healthy. But what if,
regardless of all your effort and energy, your relationships
at home or work were still being negatively impacted just
because your interior decorating skills? No, I’m not
suggesting you go out and completely remodel your home.
But do consider how your environment is laid out and what
affects could be at play.
Within the realm of interpersonal relationships and
communication, there is something called
Microenvironmental Features, which generally states that
the environment around you has specific subtle effects on
levels of personal attraction and the liking of others.
Everything from the color of the walls and lighting to the
materials and facing-direction of your furniture can cause
your relationship to further unite or even polarize.
Communication research within the book Close Encounters
(3rd edition, Guerrero, Anderson and Afifi) states
“Environments that encourage interaction by providing a
cozy atmosphere can promote attraction. Environments
that put people face-to-face in close proximity can also
enhance attraction. And the emotions people experience
due to the environment can also be related to attraction.”
Part of what contributes to this is something called The
Reinforcement Affect Model. This is where the environment
itself is producing the subtle positive emotions that transfer
to those interacting within that environment.
Specifically, “people unconsciously associate the
feelings they experience in a particular environment
with the individuals who are a part of that
environment.” (Close Encounters, p.71)
Consider the world of dating. If you feel extremely
uncomfortable in your environment, would you be
more or less likely to open up and share personal
information or even a first kiss? Most likely, not.
Comfort, emotions and levels of attractiveness come
hand in hand. So, if you entered an environment on a
first or second date that felt cozy, inviting and even
exciting, the likeliness of a third, fourth or fifth date just
got a lot higher.
Now consider this same concept but in your home with
your partner or even at work with your coworkers.
Both of these environments are ones in which we
become so used to, the mere routine of it all can give
the impression it is not having any effect on your life or
relationships at all. But research now indicates that all
those microenvironmental features, when done
correctly, can substantially help the feelings of
attraction and liking and therefore, contribute to a
happier and more fulfilling relationship.
So, what should you do with this information?
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.22

K A T Y A J U L I E T L E R N E R
Take a look around. Notice the emotions and feelings you
have while inside your home or office. Are they positive,
negative or neutral? Could they be enhanced?
Next, consider the state of your relationships with those
around you. When it comes to your shared environment:
Is your living environment set up so that you and your
partner constantly face opposite directions and are
located at great distances apart? Or is eye contact and
even the “accidental” brushing against one another
when passing in the hall happening relatively
frequently?
Does your company sit in an isolated area or in a
central location?
Do you keep your curtains and windows open or
closed?
Are the doors to different rooms constantly closed?
Are there certain rooms in your home kept private,
away from your partner?
The list could go on and on. The point is, reflect. Pay
attention. Pinpoint your emotions as you move from room
to room. See if the environment in which you spend most
of your time is helping or hindering the development of
your relationships. It is true that people feel fonder to
those who they find attractive. So, if just a few small
tweaks of your living room can help the feelings of
positivity and attractiveness flow… I say, go for it.
Katya Juliet Lerner - Bio & Website:
https://katya-juliet-lerner.netlify.app/
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.23

Vernon L. Andrews
Policing Black Athletes
Racial Disconnect in Sports
O R D E R
T O D A Y !

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.

F E A T U R E D S P O T L I G H T
AMERICA NEEDS
THERAPY
by Myron J. Clifton
America is perpetually stuck with ourselves. A nation
treading water unable to move forward with baggage filled
with old battles, contested victories, and enough doubt to
keep the nation mired in its self-made hell for many more
generations.
be satisfied, and women are waiting for the right to
control their bodies and to have access to safe
abortions.
A nation that has never allowed itself to self-interrogate its
role in the near genocide of the millions of indigenous
habitants or the centuries long multigenerational chattel
slavery is a nation mired in denial and draped in unresolved
issues.
America needs therapy, and fast.
Therapy that starts with America listening. And then
listening some more. America has spoken and said too much
of nothing while refusing to listen to learn, listen to
understand, and listen to empathize.
Black people are still waiting for equal access to vote.
Children are still waiting for free lunches, heat and air
conditioning in schools, and current books in school
libraries.
We are still fighting for safe and effective maternal care
for Black women, and we are waiting for the city of
Washington, D.C., and island nation of Puerto Rico to
have equal status under all laws that govern all other
states.
And of course listen to make real and lasting change.
The nation refuses to listen and that contributes to the same
issues being fought generation after generation.
We’re still fighting for the nation to acknowledge the lasting
impact of chattel enslavement and to make any amends. We
are waiting for restitution to Black farmers and reparations
for Black people. Indigenous folk are waiting for treaties to
We are still fighting book bans, rampant Nazism, and
against uncontrolled and unregulated corporations and
robber barons. We are fighting for union membership,
equal pay between men and women, and especially
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.26

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
between Black and Hispanic/Latino women compared to
white women. And we are fighting for better health care,
better public safety nets, and better resources for
unhoused people, and for veterans.
The water we tread is tinged red from the deaths of
adults and children killed by guns. That same water
contains the blood of those killed by police for hundreds
of years, and the remnants of the drugs of those who
have fallen from addiction to substances made by
wealthy companies owned by wealthy people.
The nation has refused to consider the opinions of
victims of itself, preferring instead to listen to those who
perpetrate the evil or those who willingly block attempts
at resolutions.
We cannot move forward because we are stuck in the
muck and mire of hate, racism, misogyny, and supremacy.
We breed generation after generation of white people
who only want what is best for white people and who
persistently vote to harm everyone else.
What makes it all so frustrating is that these battles have
been fought — and won! — time and again but no matter
how positive the results are for everyone, for business,
and for communities, each new generation spawns new
attempts to undue progress and return America to its
worst self.
meals.
We’re still fighting a nationwide nimbyism battle for
much needed housing. And we’re fighting for inclusion of
Black history from K-12 and even at the university level.
We are fighting for school funding for inner city schools,
and for equal salaries and benefits for the teachers who
teach Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Indigenous kids. And
we’re fighting against, again, private schools — which are
predominately in white neighborhoods and filled with
kids from wealthy families, from stealing school funds
from non-white schools.
We are fighting gerrymandering especially but not
exclusively in the South, and we’re fighting to get states
such as Alabama to follow the law as they were told to do
by the Supreme Court. But like their confederate
forefathers, they are ignoring the law and defying the
Supreme Court.
Nothing is new, all things have been done before.
We are re-fighting and re-losing The War on Drugs, and
this time it is opiods as the main driver killing hundreds of
thousands of people. Families, cities, schools, and
communities are being devastated and no one is being
held accountable, unless you count relatively insignificant
monetary fines to billionaire families.
Just in past few years we’ve seen over one-hundred
voting laws changes designed to make voting harder
specifically for Black voters.
We’ve seen republicans rage and legislate against free
breakfast and lunch for kids, all the while they get free
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.27

M Y R O N J . C L I F T O N
In things big — like politics and law enforcement, and
differently big— like representation in television,
movies, and sports management and ownership, the
fights keep us stuck in a past we didn’t create and a
present we are desperately trying to change.
Every one of America’s problems that are on repeat
can be instantly fixed if the majority of population
decided to do so.
It really is that simple.
And that unreachable.
The nation needs an expert therapist with experience
in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Interpersonal
Psychotherapy to really get into the muck and surface
the issues that we know the nation has and needs to
resolve. Then with openness and honesty, strategize
specific time-based steps to address the issues that are
holding the country back.
We have to confront the denial that chattel
enslavement was bad and among the worst atrocities
in human history. Like any marriage that is on the
rocks, the issues won’t go away just because they are
ignored. They’ll get worse and more intense and the
couple’s reactions will become more extreme. We see
some of this playing out now with insurrections, Nazis
in Florida proudly waving their flag, proud boys, and
oath-keeper violence, and entire swaths of the
population refusing to believe proven science.
We also see it in online harassment of Black people,
especially Black women, all other women, and every
other minority group… by the majority here and
likeminded people from many other European nations.
The most popular version being that of the election of
Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but we see as much
if not more backlash to the ascendance of VP Kamala
Harris.
VP Harris is already addressing the same lies and
misinformation about her prior career as she did
before then candidate Biden selected her to be his
running mate. And despite all her work these past
three years, she’s still fighting the mass media’s
determination to cut her down and knock her back to
another era.
While the Obama and VP Harris backlash continues to
harm the nation, the broader truth is that every
advance by every minority is met with backlash.
Whether we are a fictional mermaid, world class
sprinter or tennis professional, Grammy or Emmy
winner, a valedictorian, or customer service agent
recently promoted, backlash happens.
Whether we are trying to learn our history in school,
worship the way we want, love the way we want, wear
our hair the way we want, or laugh and dance the way
we want — we have to re-fight for every inch.
There’s no grace in the present just like there was
none in the past.
We and our children and young adults are fighting the
same fight our parents and grandparents fought and
by the looks of it, the same fights our kids and
grandkids will fight.
There is a way forward but there’s no going forward
without steps being taken.
And like any project or problem the best time to start
is right now.
Many say that every progress the country makes is
immediately followed by harsh backlash from the
majority.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.28

Myron's
HOT TAKE
#1
Elon Musk is a terrible businessman and that may be his *best quality, as he is also racist, antisemitic,
homophobic, and transphobic.
#2
Mark Zuckerberg isn’t a hero for taking on and defeating Elon Musk and Twitter. His issues from selling data,
allowing misinformation and disinformation to thrive across his platforms, and his profiting from paid ads
directing hate to Black users will never be forgiven. He is, though, useful in taking on and hopefully taking down
Elon Musk.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.29

Her Legend Lives In You:
The Untold Creation Story Honoring The
Goddess And Our Daughters.
by Myron J. Clifton
Available on

NEW!
ON SALE
NOW
A cup of coffee or tea paired with interesting company is an unbeatable combination. We learn
and share so much through this simple social ritual. Nuanced origin stories. Brow-raising
secrets. Good news. Bad news. Hopes and dreams, insecurities and fears. Sip by sip, we do
business, catch up, plan our lives, and discover common ground.
To gain a better understanding of his friends, Myron went on a mission to try their favorite
drinks. He was struck by the complex flavors and simple pleasures that characterized their
personalities. Sweet. Spicy. Bold. Bewitching. Optimistic. Ostentatious. Practical. Perfectionist.
In Coffee, Grounded, Myron reviews these drinks and brews up a perfect blend of culture and
caffeine. He examines the history of various ingredients and coffee-growing regions, painting a
vivid picture of faraway lands and hometown haunts.
Pour yourself a cup and curl up with this tasty collection of stories steeped in friendship and fun.
Order & Indulge!
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.31

MYRON'S
HIT OR MISS
list
NBC finally letting awful journalist and whack
interviewer Chuck Todd go.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.32

MISS
NBC replacing Chuck Todd with lightweight
interviewer Kristin Welker whose first interview will
platform convicted rapist, twice impeached, and 4-
time indicted former President Trump.
MISS
Department of Justice indicting Hunter Biden for buying a gun
while he was an addict. None of the 2A nutcases will come to
his defense, even though guns are purchased every day in
every state by men who are also addicts.
HIT
Hollywood writers and actors continue their strike, and now
autoworkers for the big carmakers are on strike, too – both of the
groups are seeking better pay, residuals, healthcare, and the writers
are looking for guarantees against Automated Intelligence – AI.
MISS
Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher going full scab and returning their
low view shows to the air without their writers. Then Drew
uploading an insanely self-centered faux “apology” video that she
took down an hour later because it and she were getting destroyed
online.
MISS
Aston Kutcher and Mila Kunis uploading their own
apology video where they faux “apologized” for
writing glowing letters in support of convicted
rapist Danny Masterson. For some reason, the
couple didn’t think their letter of support would be
made public. Kutcher was forced to resign from his
role in a charity he started that purports to support
child trafficking victims.
MISS
Russell Brand preemptively uploading a video denying rape and harassment against multiple women,
including underage girls. The comprehensive, detailed, and thoroughly researched reporting lays out the
disgusting and devastating charges against the washed up “comedian.”
HIT
MISS
Representative Lauren Boebert getting kicked out
of the Beetlejuice play in Denver and denying her
vaping was the reason. And then the video came
out showing her vaping and getting felt up by her
date while at the same time she was grabbing and
stroking his penis.
MISS
Mass media going after VP Kamala Harris- again.
VP Kamala Harris touring college campuses to rousing applause, celebratory welcoming, and well-received
speeches outlining the successes of the Biden/Harris administration, and the work that needs to be done to
ensure the success continue in 2024 and beyond.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.33

MOVIE
REVIEWS
by Myron J. Clifton
Fast and Furious X
If you love the Fast and Furious movies and you’ve
made it this far, you’ll love episode 10. It is loud with
preposterous car stunts and explosions, and physicsdefying
street racing. All your favorite street racers
and back and through a few mix-ups and
misunderstandings, they bring the screeching, flying,
bouncing, jumping, and explosive cars to a famous
city and country near you.
Hallmark’s Fall Into Love Movies
If you want G-rated meet cute stories where the goal
is to quit corporate jobs, move out of big cities,
reclaim your high school first love who is now a
contractor who can fix up the café you inherited
from your dead uncle, these movies are for you.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.34

MOVIE
REVIEWS
Love Again | Netflix
A cute rom-com starring Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Celine Dion. Priyanka’s is a children’s book
artist who loses her artistic way after her fiancé is killed in an auto accident.
A music writer who was recently dumped at the alter is assigned to write about Celine’s first
American tour in years. The two lovers stumble and bumble to meet, get to know each other, fall inout-in
love, and with the help of Celine’s music as the soundtrack, learn to Love Again.
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2023 | p.35

MY FAVORITE THINGS
streaming right
now...

S T R E A M I N G N O W
Apple+ TV: Invasion – Seasons 1 & 2
The series is a slow burn – at times very slow,
and with multiple points of views from around
the globe. The invasion is slow and methodical
and because it is, people are slow to realize
and then believe it is actually happening. And
when they do, it is too late. Season 1 finishes
with a thriller of a cliffhanger, and Season 2
dives into the implications for humanity. t
friends reconnect and help but also disrupt
each other’s relationships.
PRIME – Good Omens Seasons 1 & 2
Season two is as absurd, funny, silly, and weird
as season 1 – but with added heart. The angel
and demon find themselves in another mess of
their own creation – pun intended – and now
they even have to deal with missing archangel
Michael who has apparently lost his memory.
There are a few surprises, ventures to messy
hell, and mildly confused heaven, and a couple
of interesting love stories.
BRAVO/PEACOCK – Real Housewives of New
York, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City
The Housewives franchises are thriving, as they
tend to do after a period of boring seasons.
New York’s compelling housewives are snotty
(Erin) flirty (Brynn), hungry (Sai), and blunt
(Ubah). While Salt Lake City is dealing with the
aftermath of Jenn Shaw going to prison,
surprise Mormon missions, accusations of
money laundering, and good old-fashioned
cheating/adultery. Atlanta just ended and
divorce is in the air, a new single record, and a
starring role in another Housewife’s movie that
is streaming on Peacock – and those are just
Drew’s storylines!
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | August 2023 | p.37
Apple+ TV: The Changeling – Season 1
A curiously spooky fairytale that’ll capture your
attention at the beginning and hold you
fascinated as the creepy tale unfolds in the
present and recent past.
Disney+: Ashoka Season 1
Ashoka was apprentice to Anakin Skywalker
before he became Darth Vader. The character
found her footing in the Clone Wars animation
series and special movies. The Clone wars
chronicle the training and storylines of Anakin
and Obi Wan and was intended to show their
journey – which it did, but surprisingly the best
character arc was that of Ashoka and that
eventually led to the live-action series. The
series is a fun watch as we get to see a fully
developed and skilled Ashoka deal with new and
old threats to the Republic, and old friends and
enemies with different points of view on where
the Republic is and should be headed.

NEW!
ON SALE
NOW
Sometimes, when you’re at a crossroads, a door will open and what enters will inspire you. Other
times, what enters will make you gag. These stories by a ride-share short-timer might have the
same effect on you. A man, recently laid off from his job and intrigued by the people he might
meet (and the money he might make) decides to drive ride-share while looking for a new
professional management position.
Don’t want to drive drunk? Well, then, by all means, plug in your location and get your friendly
neighborhood ride-share driver to ferry you to your next bar. Need to move but can’t afford
movers? There’s an App for that! Tired of waiting for tricks on the corner? Wait—I’ve got an idea. .
.
The behavior and stories of folks who call on ride-share turned into a unique anthropological
study for one man who decided to drive ride-share while looking for a new professional
management position. Recently laid off from his job and intrigued by the people he might meet
(and the money he might make), the author unwittingly became the anonymous confidant for
men, women, nonbinary people, and children. Unfortunately for him, he also became the innocent
target of people who couldn’t hold their liquor, others who couldn’t hold their temper, and at
least one who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Little did they know they were in the Prius of a writer, who would be able to look in the rear view
and tell their stories.
This collection of anecdotes is non-judgmental, full of irony and dry humor, and may help
someone else decide: Is driving ride-share for you?
DEAR DEAN MAGAZINE | August 2023 | p.38

Robin Martin, Editorial
The Joyful Warrior
Podcast Network
Music App
Mark Lerner Astrology
Katya Juliet's Jewel Box
Great Start Initiative