Bernie Madoff became a sacrificial lamb because he violated the rules and took advantage of the untouchables: wealthy, “white,” male, landowners. Every now and then, they may drop one into the system to give the appearance of justice and no … Continue reading The Game
“If you get rid of unfair practices,quit blaming victims,quit gossiping about other people’s sins,If you are generous with the hungryand start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,your shadowed lives will be bathed in … Continue reading Peace, Be Still: Reconstructing America After the Storm
No society simply survives a storm. Every society reconstructs. The only question is what it reconstructs. Some rebuild institutions while leaving injustice intact. Others restore public order while preserving the assumptions that fractured it in the first place. Still others … Continue reading Every Reconstruction Builds a Moral World
“Let us rise up and build.”Nehemiah 2:18, KJV Dear Reader, I am a native of Wilmington, North Carolina. My family and I are what I call geographical ancestors of 1898. We are not descendants looking back at a distant place. … Continue reading After the Fire, What Do We Build? Wilmington, 1898, the Voting Rights Act, and the Unfinished Work of Reconstruction
Every community we inherit is the result of reconstruction. Some communities rebuild after natural disasters. Others rebuild after decades of disinvestment, displacement, discrimination, or the slow erosion of cultural traditions. We often think of reconstruction in terms of roads, schools, … Continue reading Who Gets Remembered? Reconstructing Our Collective Memory
I never dreamed that vacationing out of the country is not only a luxury, but a necessary mental health break to reset my mind from the dark and depressing political state that our country is in right now. It appears … Continue reading August 2026 Theme: Now What?!?
During a recent trip to New York City to celebrate a friend’s milestone birthday, we toured the iconic Ellis Island, home of the Statue of Liberty. As we gazed upon this gift from France, dedicated in 1886, I thought about … Continue reading July 2026 Theme: In the shadows of Lady Liberty
One thinks of the leadership approach of some as being consistent with the abusive behavior of bullies and those who commit various forms of assault. In general, abusers and bullies only violate, hurt and take from those who cannot stop … Continue reading Under the Leadership of Abusers and Bullies
In 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before an audience in Rochester, New York, and posed a question that continues to echo through American history: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” Douglass understood something that remains true today. … Continue reading What, to America, Is the 250th Anniversary?
Three-Fifths 