I’m still struggling to conjure a new, or even somewhat original, thought regarding Russia’s ongoing brutal invasion of Ukraine. My mind is still a muddle of largely the same adjectives and alternating sadness and anger I shared in my previous post.

In the meantime, I started keeping a little list.

File these under things that - while I’m grateful they’ve occurred - I can’t believe hadn’t happened yet.

The Smithsonian is finally returning its collection of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.

Lynching is finally a federal hate crime in the U.S.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has become the first black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court (and hopefully, very soon, the first black woman Supreme Court Justice).

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights finally reached an agreement with the government of China to conduct an official visit, including Xinjiang, where Uyghur people suffer state-directed crimes against humanity.

I mean, seriously? This all happening just now?

Better late than never - I guess?

Per the intro, my brain is an overwhelmed mush so pardon me while I gently place the mic down and leave it there.