Hi Reader,
It's February which means it's Black History Month! βπΎ It's also a good Monday because BeyoncΓ© won both Best Country Album and Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter at the Grammy's on Sunday. π€
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Black History Month 2025
I was excited to write about this yesterday, but now as I am doing so, I'm over it. Black History can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It warms my heart to know that along with the United States, The United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, and Canada also celebrate Black History Month. My people are a people worth celebrating and acknowledging. The spirit of endurance and perseverance is admirable.
At least in America and for me, Black History means the political significance of the black people. When I think black politics I think Black Panthers, Harlem Renaissance, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr. I value the civility and respectability politics of blackness. But I also resonate with the strength and power that comes with being black. I struggle this year in particular, however, because I also don't care and don't want to care about politics.
I am ready to evolve past politics as a topic of conversation. As long as humans exist politics will always be important, but for me, I have formed my political ideology. I am open to learning and changing, but I am at peace with the breadth and depth of knowledge I currently have. I want to put my energy towards other things. Things that are more serious and more valuable. This means staying informed, but after getting all of my information, going and doing something else. I will always be a black man and now I'm ready to be someone else, someone more, someone in addition to, and or someone currently inconceivable.
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News Brief
Tariffs
On Saturday President Trump signed an executive order placing tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. These Tariffs will be 25% on all Mexican and Canadian imports with the exception of oil from Canada, which is subject to a 10% tariff. As for China, they will be facing a 10% tariff on top of the tariffs already in place from Trump's first administration. Trump is doing this because he says America has an exorbitant debt well over $300 billion between Canada and Mexico. Despite those two countries being The U.S.'s neighbors they also don't treat us fairly with regard to our trade relationship and policing of our borders. With respect to China, while this is the case with all the tariffs, it's more poignant with China, President Trump wants goods stamped "Made in America." In addition to being too dependent on China for various goods as was evident with the COVID-19 Pandemic, Trump is also concerned about the fentanyl epidemic in America that he thinks ultimately stems from China.
Making it more difficult for China to bring their goods into America may also make it more difficult for them to get their drugs to America as well. A tariff is essentially a tax placed on goods that cross a country's border. President Trump is taking a mercantilist approach to his economic policy in his second term. On Saturday he also previewed more tariffs to come on goods like steel and computer chips. Most recently, as of the preparation of this Newsletter, the tariffs on Mexico are on pause following an agreement reached with president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, who will be sending Mexican troops to help police the southern border and keep drugs and illegal migrants from crossing. Canada is taking a different approach and has imposed a retaliatory 25% tariff on American goods. Trump in a Truth Social statement following the news from Mexico says he is looking forward to speaking with Prime Minister Trudeau about addressing their concerns.
Encouragement for Your Week
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This week I want to encourage you to be expectant of a jubilee. Jubilee refers to the old testament tradition of every 50 years, those in debt, having their debt forgiven. Sometimes we can hold ourselves hostage. If you have student loans in America, for example, as you may or may not be aware, those can never be forgiven. If you were to extrapolate that thought, what are the debts in your life that people won't let you live down, that you won't let yourself live down, that are weighing down your credit and or disposable income, that you frankly don't want to pay even if you could pay, that you got into following some unfortunate event(s)? Choose to operate in the space and realm of existence that says certain debts can, should, and will be forgiven. Stop being hard on yourself and stop holding yourself to a standard that no one else on the face of planet earth is held to. Forgiveness is a required human experience. At this point in your life who cares how you got into a certain debt. It needs to be forgiven, you should allow it to be forgiven, and you should go on with your life.
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Have a blessed week!
