Doug Anderson: Shakespeare in the Schools
I grew up with Shakespeare. Even the working class side of the family could quote his poetry and apply it to their lives. Reading Shakespeare created imaginative range and intellectual … Continue reading
Christy Ulmet: After prison, recapturing lost years of motherhood
Originally posted on Christy Ulmet:
By Christy Ulmet Three years after being released from prison, Lashonia Etheridge-Bey sat in a booth at a breakfast place, reminiscing on her relationship with…
Native, first generation
Originally posted on spanishwoods:
photo by Wolfgang Stearns We always had to talk in hushed whispers. Occasionally my grandmother would forget, her voice raising, her r’s rolling. We were strange,…
Jose Padua: Baltimore
I realize I quote her as often as Allen Ginsberg quoted Jack Kerouac, but when she was three my daughter said, “It’s not crazy—it’s Baltimore,” then proceeded to improvise better … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: Death with Dignity — Continuing the Conversation
After swallowing the doctor-prescribed lethal pills, she died in her bed, surrounded by family members. We knew she was going to do it; she had been quite open about it. … Continue reading
Doug Anderson: What Combat Veterans Know
There is a war inside the war that only combat veterans know. They’re not being mysterious when they talk and seem to leave you out. They’d prefer it weren’t that … Continue reading
Rebecca Solnit: Feminism — The Men Arrive!
(Hooray! Uh-Oh!) What do the prime minister of India, retired National Football League punter Chris Kluwe, and superstar comedian Aziz Ansari have in common? It’s not that they’ve all walked … Continue reading
Jose Padua: A Slightly Hard-Boiled History of my Life as it Moves Slowly away from Cities
It was the summer of 1996. I’d just gotten the money from my discrimination settlement, so Heather and I celebrated by meeting in the great city of Chicago when her … Continue reading
Rory Fanning: Thank You for Your Valor, Thank You for Your Service, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You…
Still on the Thank-You Tour-of-Duty Circuit, 13 Years Later. Last week, in a quiet indie bookstore on the north side of Chicago, I saw the latest issue of Rolling Stone … Continue reading
Richard Sahn: Thoughts on Patriotism and War
Originally posted on The Contrary Perspective:
Scene from the movie, “Platoon” Richard Sahn The other night I was watching the movie “Platoon” on television. An American soldier was killed every…
Doug Anderson: The Anger of Men
Does the fact of testosterone need a cultural ritual? We think of sports as a healthy way of de-sublimating testosterone but we don’t have a spiritual or philosophical approach to … Continue reading
Video: For more wonder, rewild the world
Wolves were once native to the US’ Yellowstone National Park — until hunting wiped them out. But when, in 1995, the wolves began to come back (thanks to an aggressive … Continue reading
Patricia A. Nugent: Losing My Religion (or Why Single-Issue Voting is a Sin)
After reading my recent post on Vox Populi (The End Times? October 5, 2014), an activist-friend asked me to write an essay about single-issue voting. Although I laughingly responded, “I … Continue reading
