Welcome to Let Kids Be Kids, Inc., advocacy blog "We All Deserve Better."
Our goal is to post relevant information that will spark action,discussion and interaction, creating a catalyst for solutions and ideas to impact the challenges we face in our society. We welcome comments, suggestions and submissions in support of those seeking a voice. "...Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear..."
From Robert Reich - American professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator. He worked in the administrations of presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and he served as secretary of labor in the cabinet of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.
6 July 2026
Friends,
"Make no mistake. I’m rooting for the U.S. as we take on Belgium today in Seattle for a place in the World Cup quarterfinals.
But the game isn’t what it was — before Trump got FIFA president Gianni Infantino to lift the suspension of America’s top scorer, striker Folarin Balogun, who got a red card in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina and would otherwise have been suspended from tonight’s match.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump clucked on social media Sunday afternoon.
When my two boys were young and just learning to play games, they were very competitive — as children often are. When one of them was losing, he often asked me to intervene. “Dad! Adam cheated!” “Dad! Sam cheated!”
Unless the so-called “cheating” was obvious, I gently explained that I wouldn’t weigh in. I wanted them to understand that one of the purposes of learning to play games is accept losses, even if the result may seem unfair.
Later, when they became teenagers and played soccer or Little League baseball, there were times when they didn’t agree with a referee’s call. On a few of these occasions, they came to me in tears of outrage and self-righteousness, wanting me to say something to the referee.
I did not. “We have to rely on referees,” I remember saying. “That’s part of the game.”
The purpose of the game wasn’t just to win. The purpose of any game is to have fun, to enjoy the sport. It’s also to appreciate the contestants on both sides — their skill and excellence. And to follow the rules.
Yet now Trump is showing the world once again that America doesn’t play by the rules. We don’t accept losses and we don’t accept referees’ calls.
I don’t know about you, but Trump’s intervention in the World Cup has ruined the game for me.
How can anyone ever again trust that the United States has won a game fair and square? How can the fine athletes representing us rejoice in a victory when the president of the United States has used his political power to change a referee’s call?
We try to teach our children morality. We explain to them the difference between winning and playing honorably and well. We try to inculcate in them a sense of fairness.
We want them to trust that in the game of life they may be rewarded for their skill and their tenacity, but they may not always be. We also want them to play the game of life with honesty and compassion.
We don’t want them to bully their way to success, as Trump has done his whole life.
Bullies who abuse their power by altering the rules of a game to favor themselves end up spoiling the game for everyone.
They destroy the trust on which any system — be it a World Cup competition, or a political race, or a market economy — ultimately depends.
Now we have a World Cup in which an American president has put his thumb on the scale. As a result, he has forever tarnished the integrity of the game.
Like his big lies about the 2020 election and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump has also tarnished the integrity of America."
"Deb Haaland has spent her career measuring America’s promises against what it has actually delivered to the people who were here first. As the country marks 250 years of independence, she’s doing that math again — this time from the campaign trail, where she’s running to become the first Native American woman governor in United States history. Haaland, who made history in 2021 when she became the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary, spoke with HuffPost about America’s 250th anniversary and how the Fourth of July feels different this year, though not necessarily celebratory. Asked what she thinks of when she thinks about what her ancestors gave to America and what they received in return, one word came to mind. “What comes to mind first is generosity,” she said, describing how generations of Pueblo Indians in the Southwest cultivated the desert long before modern irrigation, and passed that knowledge down rather than hoarding it. “They kept their agricultural tradition alive, they passed it on to generations and generations. They were so, so generous with their knowledge about how to care for the land and the water, and it made New Mexico this beautiful, cultural agricultural state,” she added. It’s a legacy she says is baked into New Mexico itself — the state’s signature red and green chile cuisine, she said, is a fusion found nowhere else, born from Indigenous and Spanish traditions layered over centuries. But that generosity has often gone unreturned, she says. As Interior Secretary under President Biden, Haaland launched a federal initiative documenting the U.S. government’s Indian boarding school era, giving survivors and descendants recognition and a platform to speak about the decades-long assimilation policy that separated thousands of Native children from their families. Her efforts to acknowledge a painful piece of history and find a path to healing for Indigenous communities is one she said is sharply at odds with President Donald Trump’s approach. In the early months of Trump’s second term, federal websites temporarily scrubbed references to Native code talkers and Tuskegee Airmen, while many women and minorities have been pushed out of federal jobs as the administration has targeted DEI-related roles and agency initiatives. “That is not in line with what our 250th anniversary of this country should be,” she said. “We should be celebrating all the people who sacrificed so that our country could be here today.” The erasure she described under the current administration is not limited to Native history. Haaland, whose father was a third-generation Norwegian American, connected her own family’s immigrant roots to her concerns about the administration’s “equally as disturbing” immigration policy. Asked what she would want Americans to consider — whether they’re grilling in the backyard or watching fireworks — as they mark the country’s 250th, Haaland circled back to a simple point: remember whose land you’re on. She noted the land acknowledgment Valerie Jarrett, Obama Foundation CEO and former adviser to President Barack Obama, gave last month at the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center. Haaland pointed to the acknowledgement, which honored Chicago’s first inhabitants, as an example worth following, even as she recognized some Native people see such gestures as insufficient. “I know that some Native folks feel like it’s too little, too late — I appreciate it.” she said. “I think we should always think about whose land we’re on. It wasn’t always the United States. There were thousands of thriving communities across the United States long before any ‘explorers’ ever came to this side of the hemisphere.” Haaland continued, “I am here because they persevered, and I think Native folks across the country recognize that they’re where they are because they persevered. And not without a lot of sacrifice, violence, you know, all of the things that they survived through. They tried to eradicate every single Native American person in this country, and they failed at it.”
That history of persistence is inseparable from her own political origin story. Haaland got her start in politics registering Native American voters in Indian Country. Native Americans weren’t granted U.S. citizenship until 1924, and in New Mexico, they couldn’t vote in state elections until 1948.
As for her own Fourth of July plans, Haaland won’t be watching fireworks from the National Mall, as she did during her time in the Biden administration.
She’ll be at a parade in New Mexico, she says, handing out campaign buttons and stickers from a float.
It’s a typical campaign trail day for a candidate, but an extraordinary chapter within the historical arc — 250 years ago, the Declaration of Independence described Native Americans as “merciless Indian Savages.”
Today, one of their descendants could become the first Native governor in New Mexico’s history, and first Native American woman governor in the history of the U.S.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, right, and Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, left, present President Joe Biden with an Eighth Generation blanket from a tribally-owned business, embroidered with "Joe Biden Champion for Indian Country," at the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of the Interior in Washington, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024
Every year, about 2 million people come to the outdoor paradise of Lake Tahoe, which offers snowy ski slopes in the winter and sunny lakeside activities in the summer. At more than 6,000ft in elevation, the alpine community centers on the stunningly blue lake, which spans the California-Nevada border and is often called “the jewel of the Sierra”.
But beneath this idyllic scenery lies something known as the “paradise paradox”. As in many US resort areas, the suicide rates in the Tahoe region, including the city of Truckee, are far higher than the state average – and these communities don’t have enough resources to deal with the issue.
Since 2022, there have been nearly 40 confirmed suicide deaths in Truckee, South Lake Tahoe and four lakeside counties, an area with a combined population of about 73,000, according to an analysis by the Tahoe Daily Tribune. Nearly one-quarter of these involved firearms. This puts the suicide rate at nearly double that of California’s 10.1 per 100,000 people.
The suicide rate in the Tahoe region is nearly double that of California’s 10.1 per 100,000 people. Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images
“Tahoe is a place that presents itself as somewhere you want to be,” said Nathan Wheeler, a certified trainer at Soul Shop, a faith-based suicide-prevention program. “But beautiful places sometimes shadow these problems – a transient community, an economy that exists outside its residents, affordability issues. These kinds of things breed desperation and a lack of hope.”
In response, a growing network of residents, advocates and local health professionals have come together in recent years to try to bring more resources to the area. “Someone has to notice and start to care,” said Amy Machin-Ward, a South Lake Tahoe resident who helped form a local suicide-prevention group.
The paradise paradox
Experts say there are many factors behind the paradise paradox, including a lack of healthcare access in rural areas, and geographic isolation, which can lead to social isolation.
On the south shore of the lake, which is considered more urban and has a larger population, there are far fewer mental health providers than in the rest of the state: 153 per 100,000 people, according to a 2024 community health report from Barton Health, the only hospital in South Lake Tahoe. That’s 170 fewer than California’s 323.7 per 100,000.
Meanwhile, Tahoe’s north shore, which is more affluent and less densely populated, has a similar suicide rate as the rest of the state, according to a 2025 Tahoe Forest Health System report. But even across these disparities, both the north and south shore reported that up to 10% of adults, most of them low-income, were unable to access mental health services in the past year.
In addition to a lack of mental health care, the area has been without an official suicide-prevention network for more than three years, after funding for the existing one ended.
Debbie Posnien, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Network in Minden, Nevada, says that area residents often make a 40-minute drive to attend her organization’s support groups. This shows that there’s a clear need for local services, she says.
In addition to a lack of mental health care, the area has been without an official suicide-prevention network for more than three years. Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images
“Those clients tell me they don’t have anyone at the lake to talk to,” she said. “They have issues with their insurance, places are booked up. And the community is so small there, they worry about being able to talk without being judged.”
Jody Wright, executive director of Nevada-based organization Tahoe Family Solutions, which offers low- to no-cost mental health programs, has had a similar experience. “Sixty-five per cent of our patients are from California,” she said. “The mental health crisis doesn’t stop at a border.”
The nature of work in resort towns can also play a role in high suicide rates. Residents rely on the tourism and ski industries, which means seasonal employment, higher safety risks and a high cost of living – all of which contribute to a less stable and more stressful way of life.
In addition, many resort towns have a reputation for a party culture and heavy drinking and substance use, which “can oftentimes mask or worsen underlying mental health conditions”, said Shannon Decker, founder of the program Zero Proof, For You, which aims to open conversations about drinking culture in the Tahoe region.
Firearms access
One factor sets Tahoe apart from other California resort areas: its proximity to Nevada, where gun laws are much less restrictive. Compared with California, gun purchases in Nevada are cheaper and don’t require state permits, licenses for open carry or firearm registration, though they do require background checks. Unlike California, there is no wait time after purchasing firearms to bring them home.
Douglas county, one of the five counties that extend into the Lake Tahoe basin, was one of four rural counties in Nevada that voted for second amendment sanctuaries in response to background checks for private sales. Sheriffs in at least seven Nevada counties said they wouldn’t enforce stricter background screening laws.
As long as the firearms are still legal in California, it’s an easy choice to purchase them across the border.
Research has shown that access to firearmsincreasesthe riskof suicide, not because the firearm increases thoughts of suicide, but because it provides access to a more lethal method. According to a landmark study, handgun owners had a rate of suicide much higher than people who did not own guns – three times as high among male handgun owners and seven times as high for female gun owners.
Community solutions
Things are starting to change. In 2013, the Truckee community rallied to form a suicide-prevention coalition after five young men died by suicide.
The Tahoe Truckee Suicide Prevention Coalition, which serves the north shore and brings together the county government, local non-profits, school districts, the police department and hospitals, now provides resources for prevention, and support for those who have lost people to suicide. It also occasionally provides services to the south shore, which does not have such an organization.
“There’s so much fear and stigma. In most ski communities, they do not have that level of mental health literacy to be able to talk about suicide,” said Decker, who helped create the coalition with Machin-Ward. “And the antidote is communication and support.”
‘The antidote is communication and support.’ Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images
Other efforts are happening on the slopes. Kari Brandt, president of the Sierra Nevada Resiliency Team, which provides support and resources to ski employees, said that about eight years ago, the ski industry finally started addressing stress and mental health. One way they’re doing this is through resiliency teams made up of ski workers trained in peer support, stress injury frameworks and trauma identification. They can listen to and understand the challenges people in ski areas face, then connect them to the right resources or offer coping strategies for dealing with high-stress incidents.
“Suicidal ideation can happen as a result of overwhelming stress,” said Brandt. “We don’t have to shame that, but we can put these tools of prevention in place if it does happen.”
Brandt has helped to create these types of teams at several ski areas throughout the Sierra Nevada region, and by next year hopes to have every ski area be a part of the network.
Last year, the Sierra Nevada Resiliency Team held its first free, in-person regional training for people from 10 ski regions, and offered information about suicide prevention, incident support and peer support.
“It will always take grit to work in the ski industry, so being able to talk with someone who understands what you’re going through is pretty key,” said Brandt.
Other groups are tackling suicides by addressing firearm safety and access.
A suicide-prevention program in Washoe, Nevada, which borders Lake Tahoe, has put together firearm education and safety programs, which allow for temporary and voluntary surrender of firearms to trusted storage partners. “Whether you’re giving it to a retailer or to a trusted family member, we all become part of a secure storage network that helps prevent suicide,” said Joe Dibble, one of the co-founders of Washoe Suicide Prevention Alliance.
Cynthia Tate, another co-founder of Washoe Suicide Prevention Alliance, said this strategy is about putting time between suicidal thoughts and action. “Creating time and distance between a person in crisis and access to lethal means can save lives,” she said. “About 90% of people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide later.”
For others, suicide prevention is deeply intertwined with other systemic injustices, such as racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia and homophobia – and the ways they affect mental health.
“It’s not the individual that’s the problem. There are barriers to accessing care, and life is much harder without privilege,” said Angie Reagan, founder of the community group Peace Love Tahoe, which advocates for mental health, connection and inclusivity. “Anybody can struggle, but it is a lot harder when you don’t have that privilege.”
“Tahoe is the most beautiful place in the world,” Reagan went on. “It was my dream to live here. But it’s also a beautiful little bubble, a place for escapism and people sometimes don’t want to talk about these hard issues.
“What we really need is consistent education, awareness and training.” Local government and healthcare systems, she added, “need to step up and offer something to the community. They need to try.”
Yesterday was, and has always been, a difficult day for me. Protected by my parents, and guided by a whitewashed history education, I always looked forward to the Fourth of July. I grew up with romantic visions of defiant colonists throwing tea into Boston Harbor, and hearing about the heroics of George Washington and Paul Revere. In primary school, we started each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and I sang the National Anthem in chorus and at ball games. As I got older, the Fourth of July became my favorite holiday because I lit off fireworks every year. Not the ones you bought at the little stands; we lit off big stuff that you see at shows, and at times, we even fired a cannon. It was exciting and dangerous, but most of all, it was fun.
But over the years, as I have become more educated, the holiday has lost all meaning for me. I am no longer able to celebrate this nation, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or to sing or stand for the National Anthem, as I no longer have pride in our nation at all - not for its past, nor for its present.
250 years ago, the 13 original colonies announced their intent to sever their ties with England when the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. History books teach us that the colonies were seeking reprieve from over taxation and policing. But the actual text of the declaration describes the true motivation. The signers decried that the king “has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
The racist term “merciless Indian Savages” was used to dehumanize the Indigenous people and to provide justification for the colonies to expand westward, which wasn’t allowed by the treaties between England and the tribal nations.
The colonies needed to expand westward so the ruling class could maintain their profits, fulfill their obligations to indentured servants, and to prevent further civil unrest from former indentured servants and their off-spring. The treaties between the crown and the tribes made this impossible.
Bacon’s 1676 rebellion is an example of the civil unrest the ruling class faced and served as a turning point in how white and black indentured servants were treated, with black servants subsequently becoming enslaved thereafter. The rebellion was made up of white and black formerly indentured servants, who were promised land in exchange for working that of another, but were given rugged terrain, inland towards the Appalachian mountains, instead of fertile farmland, as that was all that was available. The most fertile farmland had already been taken by the original colonists through force, deceit, or disease.
The United States Government still behaves in a racist manor towards Native Nations by holding their land in trust and "managing" it. That land is regularly exploited by corporations, ranchers, and farmers who don't pay the fair value for the use of their land. Furthermore, our nation has not met all of its treaty obligations to First Nations and their people, and continues to deny treaty rights to other nations and their descendants. One of the consequences of these failures is the disproportionately high rate of homelessness amongst First Nations people.
It isn’t just our government that commits harm against Native people and their communities. Native communities are experiencing a Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis, wherein First Nations people are disproportionately victims of physical and sexual violence, abduction, trafficking, and murder. According to the Urban Indian Health Institute, more than 95% of these crimes are unreported by the mainstream media. As a whole, such cases involving people of color are so under-reported compared to white victims that social scientists created a term for the phenomenon – “Missing White Woman Syndrome.”
Sadly, even well meaning people commit harm. Native art and culture was and continues to be stolen and appropriated. Non-Natives, “inspired by” Native art, sell their wares, which takes away resources from Native artists, and non-Native corporations manufacture items with Native designs overseas. All of which takes money from native communities and artists and redirects wealth to non-Natives. Native movements are also co-opted and exploited by non-Natives, profiting off of Native efforts and values. Such appropriation hurts Natives financially and spiritually and is a part of the cultural genocide that persists today.
I say this all from my personal perspective, as an enrolled member of an Alaskan Tribe. I acknowledge that similar atrocities were committed by our government against African Americans, Asian Americans, and other races and ethnic groups, and that our nation continues to colonize other nations and claim territories around the world. I did not attempt to speak from those perspectives, as I am unable to do so, but I do want to acknowledge our nation has and continues to cause disproportionate harm to people of color and those who are LGBTQIA+, compared to their cis, hetero, white, counterparts.
In closing, I hope that you chose to celebrate what this nation could be, not what it is and has always been. I also hope that you used the day to recharge yourself, so you can take on the good work of moving our party and this nation to actually becoming great. An organization and nation where the most vulnerable are protected. A nation that takes care of its citizens and all people within its territories (or better yet, frees its territories or allows them to become states, with all the rights and privileges, if the people there so choose statehood). And that you work to move this nation to one of peace and prosperity, that ends all aid to war criminals and other nations committing genocide and stealing land, and that in turn, defends nations and people facing genocide and forced relocation. It is possible, but It will take all of us to get there.
Hunter Brown Chair, 46th District Democrats Kenaitze Tribal Member
