Last week officials at Tucson Unified School District walked into classrooms and took books away from the students. The reason? Books which promote “resentment toward a race or class of people” are not permitted. While comparisons are being made to Nazi Germany, I am thinking instead about the books they didn’t take. The ones that evidently …
Last night in my ethics class we spent two hours talking about war, primarily American: Revolutionary, Civil, Vietnam, Iraq. I did NOT tell the class that my Opa fought for the German army in World War II. It wasn’t a story I was prepared to tell. Since I kept silent last night, now I have to tell …
It is late at night but I am too angry to sleep. I’ve been holding this blog in my body for the past few weeks, wondering when I could filch time to write from summer bbqs, family visits, river rafting, term paper writing, poetry manuscript reading, and freelance computer work. I was catching up on …
When well-meaning white people talk about racism, our voices sound odd. Her voice trembles, then rises, and I hear my white friend say, “I am just tired of it not being okay for me to talk about race. That’s bullshit.” I look around the table at the other women and wonder how safe it is …
Read more “We Sound Hysterical: Fear and Vulnerability in White Women Speaking Out Against Racism”
Nikky Finney has a new book out, “Head Off & Split.” She is a powerful woman. Powerful words. She makes me weep and cheer. I read her until late last night and woke this morning inside a poem, words which slipped away before I could close my fingers and catch them. I’ve been thinking of …