I was crossing a rough set of tracks in a 28-wheel diesel truck in October of 2013 when to my astonishment and horror, the crossing gates suddenly dropped, the red lights began to flash, and the warning bells rang. With not even time to think, all I could do was tighten my grip on the… Read More Hit by a Train
Te amo tambien, México. Mexicano, hermano, ya eres Coreano. Pero no más tequila, por favor. Tacos Coreanos, bueno. Way to go, South Korea!
It was an introductory class in the marketing of websites under a company I was with in 2003. Relatively new to Southern California, I drove beyond the comfort zone of my city past the county line to train with the specialist. Tall and thin, the man looked to be in his 30s and welcomed his… Read More #MeToo, Sex, and the Arts
Deeply troubled by the reports of violence against the Jews in Europe, Gil Kraus decided to rescue children from the clutches of Nazi Germany, his posh home and successful law practice in Philadelphia treasures he could let go. Even with two kids, 13 and 9—and perhaps because of them—he was willing to confront danger for… Read More WHY AMERICA IS GREAT and WHY IT ISN’T
I couldn’t believe I was holding it, procured so easily from the public library: “The only known novel by a female African-American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere,” read the cover jacket of The Bondwoman’s Narrative. Harvard Professor Henry Gates, Jr. who had laid hold of the original… Read More Greatness: The Bondwoman’s Narrative
I designed this series as a forum where we could honor race and culture—our own and one another’s—and speak safely about our biases and personal struggles. But I found myself feeling almost apologetic writing my story; I didn’t consider my tale really worth telling. 1) How do you define yourself racially or ethnically and why… Read More My Race, Coast to Coast: Part 1
Originally posted on Green Life Blue Water:
Dear Mr. President Elect My Greek immigrant grandparents arrived in this country sometime in the early 1920’s from Istanbul when it was still Constantinople, and while no one talks about it, I’m fairly sure they didn’t just leave, but escaped. Ethnic cleansing is nothing new across the globe:…
Now, why’s the AC dying again? We just fixed it. Weird. Car’s sluggish, too. Mph: 70. 60. 50. 45. Ok. Gotta pull over. I run the hazard lights and crawl over two lanes to the shoulder – just in time. The Sienna gives out and it takes me a minute to realize the hood’s smoking.… Read More STRANDED
I caught crickets with the boy you would marry. “I’ll give you a quarter for the Queen,” I offered, and he dispensed the prize insects in glass Coke bottles. My cousins got to keep theirs on the fire escape but aghast at the sight of black crawlies in her home, Mom threw mine down the… Read More A Million Signatures of Friendship
By the second week I learned that Texans sweat as much as the French, and swear even more, that you couldn’t fight one twin without taking on the other. But the librarian would slip me the choicest donated fiction, and I played baseball every day in the vacant lot until sundown called the players home to black… Read More Bonjour, Texas: Summer 1966
A Holistic Journey 