Dawon Bahtuoh Community Leader

09/23/2026

2011 ➡️ 2026
I saw these two next to each other and had to sit with it for a minute. 15 years ago I wrote a children’s book. This month I released Mercy Index. There were years between these two covers when writing wasn’t the main thing I was doing. I was building a career, raising a family, working, figuring things out, starting things, stopping things, living. But apparently this part of me never really went anywhere. I don’t know that I would have believed you in 2011 if you showed me the book on the bottom. I’m glad I kept writing. Mercy Index is out now. I’ll put the link in the comments.

08/21/2026

https://ri79.substack.com/p/when-accountability-is-over-what?r=71jido&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

01/25/2026

I wrote this out more fully here for anyone who wants to read the full context.

Why approving permanence without boundaries is a failure of governance, not compassion

01/23/2026

01/23/2026

We all want our kids supported, but we have to ask: Are we redefining what schools are for? A health clinic sounds helpful, but if we don’t set clear boundaries, what comes next? Schools exist to educate not to replace parents. Let’s protect student well-being without opening doors we can’t close. What do you think, is this the right role for our schools, or are we expanding too far?

01/16/2026

The meeting was public. It was streamed. And still, something was missing.
https://bit.ly/4bCATyG

01/08/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/ri79/p/why-moral-intimidation-is-replacing?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

12/16/2025

I’ve been writing quietly for a while and finally decided to make it public. This first piece is about something I keep hearing in conversations around race, progress, and responsibility. We talk a lot about how far we’ve come, and that matters. But sometimes that language gets used to shut down conversations that aren’t actually finished.

This isn’t a debate post and it’s not an argument. It’s a reflection. If you’ve ever felt tension around these topics but didn’t want to collapse into slogans on either side, this might resonate.

I plan to write once a month. No noise. No hot takes. Just careful writing.

Here’s the essay if you want to read it:

Progress matters. But progress doesn’t erase pattern. And it shouldn’t be used to silence tension we haven’t resolved. This is a reflection on responsibility, perception, and why “we’ve come so far” sometimes lands like a closed door.