HURRICANE IAN: 6 Months Ago Today

It was 6 months ago today that my ISLAND HOME was decimated by Hurricane Ian. I watched all the coverage I could the morning of September 28th as the monster storm blew ashore. It started with young adults playing in the roaring surf under the Fort Myers Beach Pier around 11. By the time the water receded later that day, the pier was GONE! So too was the beach plaza known as Times Square...and much of the rest of the 7-mile barrier island.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hurricane-ian-relief-6month-post-disaster

The videos of the immediate aftermath were both shocking and horrifying. Homes that were 10-feet off the ground were ripped from their pilings. Long-loved beach establishments were wiped from their foundations, like Junkanoo and The Beach Pub. My "family" ran the Beach Baptist Church (blue roof, above). It, too, sat well above the ground, but the facade was ripped away and storm surge ravaged the entire property, coming right up to the front door of their elevated residence. Thank God they all survived!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/hurricane-ian-relief-6month-post-disaster

Sections of the island were unrecognizable. Media outlets around the world kept zooming in on Red Coconut RV park and the massive pile of debris that were once people's retirement homes or beach getaways. That image, alone was shocking enough, but the storm surge, as it rose above 8-foot live stream cameras, just carried away everything in it's path. I watched the beach Hooters go floating down Estero Blvd before falling apart. Not two blocks from where I once lived, beachside cottages were picked up and slammed against homes on the other side of the street (photos above). Whole blocks were wiped clean to the grayish sand. It was unbelievable devastation.

I'm starting a GoFundMe Campaign to help in this time, six months post-storm, when nobody is paying attention to Fort Myers Beach. Funds will go directly to help those in need. I'll be working hand-in-hand with my family at Beach Baptist, where we used to run a food pantry every other week, the only one on the island. They know where the greatest need is and your donations will help target that need. I will personally be delivering the funds raised here to the island community.

Thank you so much for every dollar or penny you can spare! #FMBStrong

Two different worlds

On their Agent Provocateur album, Foreigner sang "Two Different Worlds," and that song just came back to me as I was about to start this blog post. In America, we certainly have two different worlds. In 1984, Lou Gramm sang, "One that belongs to me, one could be wrong for me," and that couldn't ring any truer than today.

On the one hand, you have California who formed a task force to tackle the question of reparations. That topic is being debated by their state legislature right now!

On the other, you have a state like Alabama still trying to hide it's most egregious sins of the past (see "Descendant" on Netflix). Or a state like Florida, where Gov. Ron DumbSantis (aka DeathSantis) is trying to kill "critical race theory," because whites down South don't like to be reminded or shamed about their awful past (or their current racism).

It's two different worlds in America, one where it's okay to say "Black Lives Matter," and others where one can only say "All Lives Matter" or face the consequences of being "WOKE!" (i.e. aware of systemic racism in this country).

It's two different worlds, one where we embrace the sins of our forefathers and one where we white wash American history and create Roman gods out of them.

I've written before about White Angst, and I still believe that's at the heart of this dichotomy. White folks just can't deal with the truth of their privilege in society. They can't understand why their WASP-y way of life, their corrupt religion or their social structures are under attack. Because they are part of the systemic racism that grew out of Manifest Destiny.

Half of this country needs to get a grip. Come to terms with what your ancestors did to African-Americans and walk a half-mile in their shoes.

It's called "being woke" for a reason. Some of you have been asleep TOO LONG!