America is currently experiencing a historic surge of protests igniting a cultural awakening and racial reckoning. As what has been called “Columbus Day” arrives, shorts, documentaries and features by and about the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands are being given their day in the sun as part of the 36th annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (https://festival.vcmedia.org/2020/). Since 1983 Visual Communications, a nonprofit organization, has presented LAAPFF, dedicated to its mission “to develop and support the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and media artists who empower communities and challenge perspectives.” This year due to the pandemic the Festival is online.

Join us ONLINE for the Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon
Saturday, October 10 from 7:00-8:30PM EDT

Early voting in Franklin County began Tuesday October 6 and ends on November 2. Hours of operation are here. The Early voting location at 1700 Morse Rd is within a 20-minute drive from most everywhere within I-270 outer-belt. Based on my own experience and some friends who have voted, I was very much impressed by the professionalism and ease of voting. The Franklin County Board of Elections has taken all the necessary COVID -19 precautions. The location is large, and at every point, social distancing is greater than 6 feet, and there is plexiglass everywhere.

Voting enthusiasm is incredibly high. The location at Morse Road was formerly a Kohl's, neighbored by Sam Ash Music and a HomeBuys store that formerly was a Kroger. On the first day of voting, the line began forming at 4:30 in the morning. By the time the Board of Elections (BOE) opened the doors, the line wound all the way behind the building. Of course, voters observed social distancing and the line moved quickly, as the BOE can process 800 voters an hour. A friend of mine waited in that long line, which was a 90-minute wait.

What if we stopped separating the looming national chaos into separate categories —racism, climate change, war, vote suppression, election theft, pandemic, science denial, white supremacy, police brutality, etc. — and tried looking at it all at once?

This may be the legacy of Donald Trump, our first corkscrew-in-chief: He has popped the cork on who we are and reality, so it seems, is gushing uncontrollably like never before. Trump, with his defiance of political correctness and the norms of the status quo, not to mention his desire to be the American Mussolini — unchallenged in his leadership either by election results or medical consensus — has created much of the chaos on his own. But the bulk of the chaos is simply America the Terrible emerging from the shadows: our real history suddenly visible.