Old Friends
Many years back I was in contact with an elementary school classmate who I had not seen in years and suggested to him that we organize a reunion of our 8th grade graduating class, there were 90 of us and it would have marked 30 years. We began to track people down but quickly found […]
Feel the Jewish
He has not asked me to come to his defense. But he is “family,” so I feel obliged to at least speak up. The issue at hand is larger than Sanders, whether that be Bernie or David. It is not about politics. It is about identity, about family, about relationships. I would like to suggest […]
Garment of Faith
Abigail, Aishatu, Amina, Asabe, Awa, Awagana, Blessing, Christiana, Christy, Comfort, Confort, Deborah, Docas, Eli, Esther, Falta, Fatima, Febi, Filo, Gloria, Glory, Godiya, Grace, Hadiza, Halima, Hamsatu, Hana, Hanata, Hanatu, Hasana, Hauwa, Helen, Ihyi, Jinkai, Juliana, Jummai, Kabu, Kauna, Kume, Kummai, Kwadugu, Kwanta, Ladi, Laraba, Liyatu, Lugwa, Lydia, Maifa, Maimuna, Mairama, Margret, Mary, Maryamu, Monica, Muli, […]
Polar Opposites
Perhaps human beings will always need contrasts to appreciate the fullness of life: Light and dark, holy and defiled, life and death. Perhaps that is why we characterize knowing something thoroughly as knowing it “inside out.” The brilliant film Inside Out, which after many watchings I know “inside out”, portrays the inner workings of our […]
Statute of Limitations
“I felt a connection to these people. In an odd way blood calls—their suffering from so long ago called out to me and I felt a needed to do something for them—I just didn’t know what to do.” As Jay Sanchez reports, a lawyer admitted to the bar of New York State, his interest in […]
Prison Break
The greatest prisoner release is about to take place this coming year in the United States. It will exponentially eclipse the number of pardons by any President, including the record setting 248 prisoners that President Obama has either commuted sentences or pardoned from their drug convicted incarcerations. This greatest prisoner release about to take place […]
Camera Shy
The word “umble” itself has no dictionary definition yet there appears to be a root meaning that connects the following 10 words: Bumble. Crumble. Fumble. Grumble. Humble. Jumble. Mumble. Rumble. Stumble. Tumble. Umbling in one form or another connotes a humbling experience—one you have to lift yourself up from—from thoughts that are a jumble, to […]
Saving Face
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won the best short documentary–her second in four years–this past Sunday at the Oscars. She works within a small budget and a time frame. Her films, by Academy rules, must fit completely within the allotted 40 minutes. Her topics are not easy ones to consider, let alone watch: brutal attacks on women by […]
The Highest Opinion
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan agree 93% of the time on cases brought before the U.S. Supreme Court (the only higher concordance between Supreme Court justices is Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor at 94%). While Ginsburg and Kagan, liberal women justices, have agreed with Justice Antonin Scalia far less (70% and 74% respectively) they were […]
Tumbling Walls
Man is a great wall builder The Berlin Wall The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem But the wall most impregnable Has a moat flowing with fright around his heart A wall without windows for the spirit to breeze through without a door for love to walk in. These few lines of poetry by the South African […]