Recent Updates
Outing Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” and/or How To Host an Enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast
I look at this iconic painting of the iconic white American family sitting at table celebrating that most American of holidays, Thanksgiving—Ma at the head, eye drawn to the huge roasted turkey on an oval platter that she’s bending to place on the table; Pa, black-suited, standing behind, not helping her—and think to myself: only a man could have painted this image, a man who never once hosted a large gathering; or roasted, carved and served a whole turkey.
How do I know? I have roasted, carved and served many whole turkeys over the years—the largest, a twenty-one pounder— and let me tell you: it’s not possible to quickly and neatly slice that baby at table surrounded by impatient, salivating loved ones.
Death of a Car
It was the early 90’s. Crack cocaine, cheap and plentiful, was burning like an unchecked forest fire through the City. Emaciated addicts, suicidal and psychotic in the crash following the high, swamped my emergency room. Car break-ins by users desperate for quick cash were all too frequent. But parking the car in a garage was ruinously expensive. Riding the subway into Manhattan added an hour to the round-trip. I kept driving in and parking on the street, fingers crossed, hoping for the best.
Of course my car was broken into.
Congress--House AND Senate-- Votes Juneteenth a Federal Holiday
Juneteenth—celebrated on June 19th by most Black Americans—commemorates the legal end of slavery in Texas on June 19th, 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863.
In honor of Juneteenth, I’m reposting the following essay.
How I Challenged a Privileged White Male Friend’s Racism The hardest part? First, I had to listen to him.
Self-Soothe to Soldier On
…Briefly, after Biden’s inauguration, my fear eased. But, once again I am losing sleep. And what good is that?
When I Published an Essay On Talking Productively About Racism with a Friend, the Conversation Continued in the Comments
I recently had a dialogue with my friend Hector about racism which was so productive that I published an essay about it on Medium. He went from denying he was racist to being willing to accept that since we are all products of our culture and our culture is racist, therefore, both of us, being White, are unavoidably racist. (Cookies were also involved.)
The piece went modestly viral. I received a variety of thought provoking comments. They came from three types of readers: Black readers, reasonable White readers and White male trolls.
How I Challenged a Privileged White Male Friend's Racism
The Hardest Part? First, I Had to Listen to Him.
Given my introverted nature and aversion to crowds and conflict, I’ve been stumped for a way to help dismantle White supremacy. While waiting for a brilliant idea to burn through the atmosphere and crash into my head, I’ve been…
On Listening as Essential
Since Trump and the GOP swept the 2016 election, it’s been one unthinkable legal change after the other in the wrong direction, practically daily. With each thing, I’ve thought: It can’t get any worse. And then it does.
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month
It’s National Mental Health Awareness month? How ironic. Two months in to this pandemic, I’m well aware—no, I’m hyper aware that most people’s mental health, including my own, is under siege. It’s impossible to ignore. There is just too much uncertainty. And too many feelings to deal with, from bowel-churning terror to metal-melting rage and everything in between. But now that I think about it, that’s proof I’m well and healthy, and so are you, if you’re swinging the same. How could it be any other way? These are simply psycho-logical responses to an increasingly psycho reality.