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My friend Clottee Hammons has been fearlessly battling racism forever. This June 24 she will host the 20th annual Emancipation Marathon, wherein “volunteers read out loud from historic and contemporary literature about American Chattel Slavery.” She has also posted extensive historical accounts on her Facebook page.

She is a modern Daniel, surrounded by carnivorous lions, interacting with steadfastness and enormous courage. Just recently she faced down a woman about leaving children alone in a car. Here in the Valley of the Sun, that is downright criminal. Neglected children have died from such heat. Clottee is the champion and protector of such children. She hashtagged her post of the incident “DontLetTheGreyHairFoolYou.” Damn good advice!!

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It has been a long, good day, despite the Cubbies being shut out by Cleveland. I drew up a storm, wrote my usual Title Tuesday feature for Poets All Call on Facebook, and spent about three convivial conversational hours with my friend Clottee Hammons. (She will be showcased in a blog post in the near future.) I saw A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING on DVD, and it had a few nice, refreshing moments in it, and a nice chemistry between the two romantic leads. And after a strong final hour of effort, the above drawing, though far from just-right, is right enough right now to fit in with the others, and is improvable later.

So Good Night, Good Friends, wherever you are. Sweet dreams and sweeter tomorrows.

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I have a friend I have never met in person. I do not even know how she pronounces her first name, which is Clottee. I have been pronouncing it “Cloh TAY” in my head. I will ask her next time we chat on Facebook.

Clottee has been posting extraordinary historical tidbits about slavery. The History textbooks in the schools I went to wouldn’t touch this stuff. So, following her posts, I’ve learned a lot about the routine cruelty of certain white folks and the fathom less imposed misery of certain black folks. The movie 12 YEARS A SLAVE, and the recently-revived TV series ROOTS, gave white-bread me a hint, but Clottee’s series yields a holographic panorama.

Her most recent entry profiles a remarkable woman, and reading about her I was compelled to do the above card. It was also a way to express gratitude to Clottee for her hard and diligent work.