We would like to express our deep sadness and sympathy for the people of Haiti after this week’s terrible earthquake. Like many of you, we have been desperately searching for the best way to help. Frieda has several associates who are working directly with Konbit Pou Edikasyon, an educational non-profit that is on the ground [...]
Archive for the ‘current events’ Category
24 Dec
A Holiday Wish: “You Cannot Step Twice Into the Same River”
One of the most cherished memories that Frieda and I shared as kids was of my grandmother’s beautiful white Christmas tree, adorned with silver and crystal ornaments and small diamond-shaped mirrors that tinkled like chimes when you walked nearby. No one else we knew had a tree so brilliant. Visitors to the house oohed and [...]
31 Jul
Lost & Found: The Gates Keepers
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By now we can all agree that there is only so much wisdom that can be gleaned from a sound bite, a blurry photo, or a 911 phone call. Teachable Moment. Stupidly. Beer Summit. I’ll see your mama outside!
My own emotional response to the controversy surrounding the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates, [...]
18 Jun
New Orleans For Sale?
“If y’all keep paying your money to see it,
should we rebuild it?”
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Please take a moment to view this public service announcement that was produced by a local New Orleans production company, 2-Cent Entertainment. It really gave me pause.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, you could ride through the [...]
25 Feb
“We Are Not Quitters”
“…And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school [...]
19 Feb
Eric Holder’s Call to Action
Don’t be satisfied with the soundbites and media frenzy over U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent speech at the Department of Justice. Instead, take just five minutes to read his prepared remarks in full.
It is a thoughtful and stirring call, and it makes me consider Black History Month with a new sense of purpose. What [...]
16 Jan
Take A Break, People!
Plenty of well-meaning voices will tell us in the days to come that Barack Obama’s presidential victory, while historic and worthy of praise, means that the work of racial justice and equality has only just begun. To guard against complacency, the watchful and wounded will be full of meaningful warnings, counseling caution, and with the [...]
3 Dec
The Thought That Counts
“It was crazy,” said a worker in the electronics department who was in the store during the stampede. “The deals weren’t even that good.”
~ New York Times, November 29, 2008
Frieda and I were together after Thanksgiving when we heard the tragic news about Jdimytai Damour, a Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death by a [...]
