Blog

It’s Giving Tuesday–Let’s Do This!

Posted on by Clay Rivers

If you know anything about me, you know that I like to think of myself as independent. Ask anyone in my family, and they’ll tell you I was always the kid who wanted to do everything for himself. The realization that I was physically different than all the other kids–and the adults–came hard and fast, along with a desire for others to hold me in the same regard as I did: capable, talented, and just as likable as everyone else. Just noticeably shorter.

As you might have guessed, I’ve been a closet advocate for racial equity and equality for decades, first for my benefit and but now for others. Being “othered” and seeing it done to others is nothing new. But neither is knowing there are people out there to help set things right, to open career doors (like Cindy White, Dale T. Moore, and Valerie Oberle), to encourage and inspire me to keep on keepin’ on (Elsie Gene Adams, Alison Queal Warrell), and who magnanimously helped make my dreams a reality (Kathy Van Tassell, Joseph Gardner, Linda Haberman, and countless more).

Was it the Racism or the Misogyny?

Posted on by Clay Rivers

It was both. It was misogynoir — hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against Black women. And the world witnessed it perpetrated on a national scale.

Upon learning that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic nominee for president, my gut reaction was: White America won’t elect a Black woman president because its racism and misogyny are alive and well and thriving in this country and donning MAGA hats. But the outpouring of support Vice President Harris and Governor Walz received throughout their campaign—even from “White Dudes for Harris”—gave me hope that America had learned from the rampant death, violence, and malfeasance the previous Republican president wrought during his term and had enough, set aside its racism, and was ready to move on and follow its better angels. 

But that was not the case at all. 

On Cake, Candidates, and Abject Hate

Posted on by Clay Rivers
Photo by Rob Wicks on Unsplash

On Cake

My parents used to wield an old saying when I was a kid: you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Maybe your parents used it, too. I vaguely understood it meant that you can’t have it both ways. If I had cake—a slice, a cupcake, or an entire cake—I’d eat it. The cake would have fulfilled its purpose and mine. And that would be the end of that.

Notes on a Friendship

Posted on by Clay Rivers
Mrs. Elsie Gene Adams (ninety-six years old) and Clay Rivers (fifty-five years old), White Plains, New York; circa 2016.

The following is a reflection on the sixty-two-year friendship between the late Mrs. Elsie Gene Adams and Mr. Clay Rivers. This memorial was given by Mr. Rivers at Grace Episcopal Church, White Plains, New York, on January 27, 2024, at the request of Mrs. Adams’ daughters.

Joan, Jeanette, Cynthia, and Eris, family members, Father Moronta, Grace Episcopal parishioners, friends, and guests—greetings. It’s an honor to be with you today to reflect on our beloved Elsie Gene Adams.

I so wanted to share neat little packaged anecdotes that would hopefully make you smile and bring you, at the very least, a hint of comfort, but I can’t. I am bereft, unmoored, and floundering on storm-tossed waves of sadness and grief. The loss is unspeakable, as no words give meaning to my sorrow. I am a man come undone.

Mrs. Adams was both a second mother and third grandmother to me. Most importantly, she understood me better than anyone else ever has. She was—hands down—my best friend.

I miss her deeply.

Fireworks about the Fireworks

Posted on by Clay Rivers

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend and holiday. Unfortunately, that was not the case in Highland Park, Illinois, and Philadelphia, and at least eight other locations, as there have been at least ten mass shootings in the United States since July 1. Celebrating America with family and friends with favorite summertime foods and fireworks is a national tradition. It’s a tradition that many look forward to.

There’s no ignoring the partisan divisiveness that’s become de rigueur today. Last Friday, the City of Orlando distributed the following invitation to the city’s fireworks show via its emailed newsletter:

A lot of people probably don’t want to celebrate our nation right now, and we can’t blame them. When there’s so much division, hate and unrest, why on earth would you want to have a party celebrating any of it.

But in all seriousness, you know in your heart, Fourth of July fireworks are amazing, especially when you are standing in 90° heat, 100% humidity, next to 100,000 of your closest friends. In that moment, something takes over and we all become united in an inexplicable bond. Yes, America is in strife right now, but you know what … we already bought the fireworks.

Now there are calls for the Mayor to apologize, assertions that the post was inappropriate for city communications, it was sent out by a raging leftist, and more.

Is the wording cheeky? Yes, it is. It pokes fun at gathering outdoors with far more people than expected in subtropical Florida’s heat and humidity—an experience common to Central Floridians or anyone who’s spent time at any of our world-class theme parks during the summer.

But I don’t think that’s what people have an issue with.

Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!

Posted on by Clay Rivers
Image by jinndev.deviantart.com

Living life to the fullest in college became an expensive undertaking. I needed a little more cash to keep my collegiate lifestyle afloat. Christmas break 1981, I applied for a seasonal job at Walt Disney World, knowing they’d usher me into a high-paying office job related to my Communications major for the two weeks of my Christmas break. After waiting in the employment center lobby for what seemed like an eternity, a man in a business suit and a Disney name tag with “Mark” etched into it, greeted me and led me into a small interview room.

“Your application says that you’re interested in a position in our Marketing department?” he asked.

“I thought Marketing would be a good place to start since I’m a Communications major.”

“Unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have any openings in our Marketing department.” Mark paused for a moment, then a smile crept over his face that meant only one thing: he had a brilliant idea.

“Could you hold on for a moment?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said as he made a telephone call. I was special, gifted even, and apparently, my interviewer picked up on it, too. I assumed he was giving me a leg up in the Marketing department!

Home Town Takeover: A Little Reno, A Little Inclusion, A Lot of Love

Posted on by Clay Rivers
Ben and Erin Napier, hosts of HGTV’s Home Town Takeover.

HGTV’s new “it” couple and hosts of the smash Home Town, Ben and Erin Napier, are back in a new limited series, Home Town Takeover (HGTV, Sundays, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT). This time around, the Napiers are using their home renovation talents to breathe life into the floundering small town of Wetumpka, Alabama, as seen in the Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney film, Big Fish. And if you’re not careful, you may just pick up a thing or two about inclusion and community along the way.

Home renovation shows are nothing new. HGTV has perfected the art of combining likable hosts, adventures in house hunting and home repair, and the requisite “unforeseen” bump in the road to create the enviable HGTV happy endings we’ve come to expect. But Home Town Takeover takes these familiar pieces and turns them into something bigger and more meaningful than the sum of its parts.

When America Plays the Race Card

Posted on by Clay Rivers

Sweethearts, we’re way beyond the do-you-smell-something-burning phase. The whole of the United States of America is engulfed in the flames of systemic racism and codified injustice. Figuratively. And literally.

Evangelical Christians’ Political Choices Aren’t Problematic, Except They Could Get Me Killed

Posted on by Clay Rivers

I was raised in a Christian home, attended Sunday school, and was active in my church. An active faith is something I’ve always had (except for those first couple years of college). Since my mid-twenties, I have considered myself an evangelical Christian. Evangelical defined as one who spreads the good news of Christ’s teachings—salvation, redemption, love one another, among others. That was until 2007 when conservative Christians began their power-grab with refashioning the Jesus of the Bible—the itinerant Jewish rabbi who railed against the powerful, the self-important, and the Haves, and taught the importance of caring for the marginalized, the oppressed, and the disenfranchised—into a political savior of their own making.

Equality and Diversity: Now in Print

Posted on by Clay Rivers
OHF Magazine, Issue 1

For the past few years, I’ve been greatly disturbed by the growing rancor, divisiveness, and hatred on display in America. I’m not so naive as to believe that the parade of abject malevolence is anything new. Like several of you, I’ve long suspected the seeds of bigotry had been lying dormant just below the surface in need of only a fresh heaping of fertilizer and a climate of fear to take root, blossom, and overrun our sociopolitical garden with brambles, weeds, and rodents aplenty.