Eating shortbread cookies and drinking a soda, While standing among the cannons of war, I listened to a guru on the Civil War explain My freedoms that so many young men died for. I could almost feel their spirits and see them As clearly as if they were standing beside me. And it brought me... Continue Reading →
When Hope is Gone, What’s Left?
I read a quote by a young, black intellectual who believed that full racial equality would never happen in America. He felt the opposite of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in regards to the Dream ever being realized. The sense of hopelessness struck me forcefully, for when hope is gone, what is left? When a... Continue Reading →
Be Careful What You Say
Children ask questions About "different" people. Your answers matter. Written for RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge #237: Answer and Question.
Teaching Respect is Vital!
Looking yesterday at the picture of a Native American Vietnam veteran being harassed by a group of young boys, I felt such sorrow. What is taught to children through the media, at school, and at home impacts not just the student and the teacher, but everyone who comes in contact with that child. It was... Continue Reading →
How Far We Have Come
Douglas and I were headed to the grocery store, when I spotted a sight that seemed so incongruous to me: cotton fields. On both sides of the road were fields of white that looked as though it had snowed. It was a beautiful sight, one that really touched my soul, not because of the whiteness... Continue Reading →
Backwards is Like Not Moving At All
For the first time in 50 years, I am afraid of being a black person in America! After Dr. King was murdered, I worried about being killed because someone who had never met me felt that I did not belong in the country that I love. I remember quite vividly when a black male and... Continue Reading →
Overcoming the Violence of Hate
In 1997, I visited Europe for the first time, as part of a guided tour that covered eight countries in thirteen days. One place we visited was the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. I had never seen a concentration camp before. It was so painful to see and learn of the atrocities perpetrated there, to... Continue Reading →
The Amazing Human Race
Walking along the boardwalk listening to people talk, I am amazed at the numbers of languages spoken here in Portugal. I am just nosy enough to want to know what everyone is saying, and whether they are words of joy, love, fear, or anger. What is comforting for me is that until people start to... Continue Reading →
Rendered Faceless No More
I was having a beautiful day at work, waiting for lunch to come so that I could go to the fast-food place across the road from my job for my daily portion of potatoes. The road that separated us from the place of heavenly fries was a very busy one, and you risked life and... Continue Reading →
Race Traitor and Proud of It
The news was talking about a politician who voted to have a civil war statue torn down. He was accused of being a race traitor. What does that mean? To understand that, we must answer three questions. When and why were the statues put up? What race are they referring to? What concept was he... Continue Reading →
