doing something different with language
She was watching from a window.
I waved.
She waved back, then gave the universal symbol of prayer and respect.
I returned the gesture: “I greet you. I honor you. We are connected.”
She pressed her hand to her heart.
I flashed a thumbs up.… Read more...
It is cool for summer. In fact, the chill at night feels more like autumn. Otherwise the lush, bright greens (of trees, grass, cultivated crops and wild bush), sky and mountain blues, and varying tones of white in the clouds are as they ever were. I got out on the bike trail yesterday, smelling … Read more...
Within minutes of each other I watched and listened to Steve’s rousing (northern) seasonal greeting from (as he says) “a happier time, before Vietnam, the Civil Rights, and all the “horrors” of our “modern” world,” and Tamer’s reminder of other realities: snapshot of a modern horror.
Meanwhile, the economic news is better in Bethelem this year, tourism has increased … Read more...
My buddy Steve has sent two announcements the last few days concerning U.S. Representative Julia Carson (1938-2007).
Confronted with barely-veiled racial prejudice in the halls of Congress by a peer who did not recognize her, Carson queried, “What’s your point?” Thus sums up the Indianapolis Star, in a special report called “A warrior for the city.”
I paid no attention … Read more...
“Let me ask you a question back,” I told him.
… Read more...“Has it ever occurred to you to wonder if the history we teach our children is a lie?
After a moment of stunned silence, he said, “Good Lord, Jason. I hope you’re joking.”
“Why?”
“Surely that’s manifest.”
“It isn’t to me.”
“You’ve been there, Jason. We were there together. It’s
Watched The Last King of Scotland last night. Strong Minor Bridge thought it was a mild depiction of the horrors Idi Amin wrought on his country in a mere nine years, enough to rank him with Stalin, Lenin, and Pol Pot as the worst dictators of all time. As a character study, I wondered about the historicity of the role … Read more...
“The color of my skin still marks me as an alien in the country of my birth” – Maya del Valle
“Going beyond the buzzwords of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘diversity,’ RACE IS THE PLACE is a hip-hop, fast moving documentary jam, where the political becomes personal.”
There is a brief preview available.
Hmm mm. Thanks Tanya, for posting to the … Read more...
I was asked about good books to read on the deaf community, and also about the range of sexual orientations… the context was something along the lines of Takaki’s A Different Mirror, which I continue to find an amazing tool for undergraduates who simply do not know these significant components of ethnic US history. A couple of new books … Read more...
Imagine! Turns out the rumors of criminal activity were mostly that – rumors. So says todays New York Times. I wonder how many of those rumors they helped to perpetuate by reporting them? Of course – they reported what they heard, and probably did qualify most of these ‘reports’ as stories, fears, concerns….what an interesting media analysis this would … Read more...
This is a letter from a tourist who didn’t make it out of New Orleans. He wrote this to his mother; it was then sent on to friends and Ira posted it to the social justice listserv at UMass. Thanks.
Another letter was written by emergency medical personnel who were in New Orleans for a conference.
Also, a link to … Read more...