In 2009 my husband and I took a vacation to London. We stayed in an apartment just blocks from the Marylebone Underground Station, where the Beatles filmed the famous opening scene for Hard Day’s Night. We spent a week sipping beer in neighborhood pubs and eating lots of takeaway curry. We saw As You Like It […]
It is International Women’s Day in the midst of Women’s History Month. February was Black History Month. In May we’ll celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage. In September we recognize Hispanic Americans. In November we give a nod to American Indians. Probably I’m missing a few. For years I worked at public television stations where these
I grew up in a blue household deep in red America. As a result, my social media feeds run purple. Unlike many of my friends in Colorado and Mississippi, I can’t count on a nonstop echo chamber for my views. Whatever I say, someone will disagree with and I’m okay with that. It’s not good for
On Thursday mornings I take a yoga class at my local rec center. I like this class. It’s held in a large sunny studio overlooking a park. Between yoga poses I see squirrels scampering up trees in the fall. I see snow falling in the winter. I see dogs racing across an open field in the
For the past week or so I’ve been grappling with the news that the woman who claimed Emmett Till flirted with her in 1955 was lying. If you aren’t familiar with the Emmett Till story, this is the short version: Till, 14, an African-American boy from Chicago, was visiting relatives in the Mississippi Delta when he
This week our new president promised to lift the Johnson Amendment, the rule that prohibits religious leaders from endorsing or campaigning against political candidates. This new administration believes pastors and priests should be able to throw their support—publicly—behind political candidates. On this, you may be surprised to know, I wholeheartedly agree. If corporate CEOs and celebrities can
Render Unto Caesar: Why Churches Should Pay Taxes Read More »
Like so many people across the country and around the world, I marched this weekend. My husband and I joined the crowd of about 200,000 men, women, and children in Denver. We walked and chanted and laughed and waved as we ran into people we knew from various places. We failed to meet up with
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” —Maya Angelou I took a break from most social media in the final months of 2016 and the first weeks of 2017. I logged on to post links to this blog or an occasional photo, but I didn’t scroll through Facebook or look
As I mentioned in this space last week, I’m currently reading The Storied South, a book that compiles interviews from southern writers, photographers, musicians, painters, and scholars. In the sections featuring Margaret Walker and Alice Walker, both women talk about the influence of Zora Neale Hurston. It’s been many years since I read Their Eyes Were Watching God. I
For Christmas, my mother gave me a book called The Storied South. It’s a collection of interviews, conversations, and excerpts from lectures compiled by southern folklorist William Ferris. I’ve been reading bits and pieces each day. It’s the sort of book that’s good to read in bits and pieces. Today, I was particularly struck by this observation from Margaret