Let’s start here, with a 20-question quiz from understandingprejudice.org to test your understanding of prejudice and discrimination. Just to give you an idea, here’s Question 21 (optional): Imagine you’re having a private, late-night conversation with a new acquaintance about why there are so many Black professional athletes. The person you are talking to, who happens to be a… more »
He was like no one else we had ever known. Brash, beautiful, full of optimism, and, we thought at the time, full of himself. Go on; admit it. When Cassius Clay first appeared on the public stage with his proud, “I am the greatest” proclamation, didn’t you roll your eyes? Didn’t you… more »
It was only a week ago. Last Tuesday, my last night in Ohio, I was sitting around the table after dinner, chatting with my daughter-in-law, Jenna. She’s been a nurse practitioner in family practice for a few years and had lost two of her patients recently. She hadn’t seen it coming; their medical concerns were under… more »
Apologies have been in the news lately. President Obama’s recent trip to Hiroshima has been met with criticism from some Americans, reviving the “apology tour” reference. BACKGROUND INFO: during Mitt Romney’s RNC acceptance speech (in 2012), he referred to Obama’s “apology tour” through Europe, contrasting it with the “job tour” that he was proposing. Good as… more »
Where to start! I went into my reunion weekend with three distinct expectations, as I listed in last week’s post. They all, to one extent or another, came true. And, so much more. One theme that kept coming up for me during my reunion weekend was history. Shared history. As an only child, it’s never… more »
This weekend, Woody and I will be heading south for my 50th high school reunion. I am a proud graduate of East Orange High School (New Jersey), which also claims Bette Davis, Dionne Warwick, and (I just learned, researching this post) Janis Ian. I also learned Janis Ian is three years younger… more »
Have you ever asked a stranger to tea? Ever spent the night with someone you’d only just met? (Wait, that came out wrong.) How about deciding to gather together folks you’d (mostly) never met for a week. Six nights! Why would you do such a thing? Why did I? That… more »
In recognition of the new attack, this time in Brussels, I’m posting this week’s blog a day early. May we all remember that in the world, many will usher in their new year today in peace. … Nowruz is a happy holiday, celebrated for over 3,000 years by billions of people. And before I went to… more »
How the year has flown. The following story is one I’ve shared before, first in 2013 and again in 2014. It is a story that teaches us that peace can be found if individual men and women want it badly enough to set their differences aside and find what it is that unites them as human… more »