Yeah. We are.

I'm mourning Tom Petty, my favorite Florida Man™ of all time. Not only is "You Don't Know How It Feels" one of the most pleasant disaffected-stoner anthems ever written, it's a pretty good rule of thumb. You don't know what it's like in anyone else's shoes—which does not absolve you of the responsibility of trying to consider their perspective, but in fact should be a reminder to not assume the entire world sees things as you do. Despite all of his mega-hits I've listened to over and over (and the lesser-known gems like "Casa Dega"), one of my favorite things Tom Petty ever wrote was his 2015 disavowal of the Confederate flag, which he had used as a backdrop on his 1985 Southern Accents tour:

"Beyond the flag issue, we're living in a time that I never thought we'd see. The way we're losing black men and citizens in general is horrific. What's going on in society is unforgivable. As a country, we should be more concerned with why the police are getting away with targeting black men and killing them for no reason. That's a bigger issue than the flag. Years from now, people will look back on today and say, "You mean we privatized the prisons so there's no profit unless the prison is full?" You'd think someone in kindergarten could figure out how stupid that is. We're creating so many of our own problems."

Yeah. We are. - Ann Friedman