Nationally since 1976, February has been Black History Month. While it’s commendable to set aside time to celebrate African-Americans’ contributions to this country, every month is Black History Month. Truth be told, the wealth of this nation was built on the backs of African slaves, so a month is not enough. The celebration of Black History Month is a necessary corrective to the exclusive and misrepresentation of blacks in American history. It also serves as affirmation of a bold and beautiful

Years ago, a friend of mine was teaching college English when she noted that one student wrote every essay on birds. She suggested he write about something else. He said he couldn’t. “What,” he asked, “are you going to do with an idea that won’t let you go?” The French have a name for this condition. It’s called an idee fixe . I knew a man who loved to talk about Cokes so much that during every visit he would get 15 minutes to declaim about Cokes: cherry Cokes, diet Cokes, new and old Cokes;

The Ku Klux Klan began as a terrorist group in the South after the Civil War. It’s had a very long shelf life and is still in existence today, one of a reported 917 U.S. hate groups. A new book by historian Linda Gordon focuses on the Klan of the 1920s, when it was completely reinvented. Gone was the secrecy from the early days. This new Klan was a national organization which advertised openly. It was highly profitable and claimed 4 to 6 million members. It controlled about 150 publications. And

Popular figures like Mike Rowe have helped soften the stigma of a life in the trades. Where once parents shuddered at the idea of a child going into excavation or carpentry, they now can bear the thought. But that progress falls short of bestowing a genuine sense of pride and, more importantly, dignity on tradesmen and tradeswomen. Neither Versailles nor Sans Souci were built by their masters, Louis XIV and Frederick the Great respectively. Rather, unnamed artisans laid the bricks, set the

This month, U.S. History students defined their generation for me. No surprise, they recognized their teenage angst and identified their dependence on technology. They also argued for their innovative nature. These kids understood they are a generation, like any other, with timeless human qualities and unique opportunities. Their clarity in their common identity amazed me. Working with high school students, I often wonder who they will become after leaving school. Will they live out stereotypes

“My mother keeps our food locked in a cupboard. We can’t eat when we are hungry or we will run out of food before the end of the month.” “You know what we had to eat last night? Just a cold can of pork-n-beans. Just ate them right from the can. We couldn’t pay our gas bill so our stove is turned off.” Just two of the stories I have heard from children over my years of teaching and working on hunger relief in DeKalb County as the founder of DeKalb County Community Gardens. Those living with

What’s a patriot? In Shakespeare’s Richard III, a man accused of treason for former loyalties defends himself, saying: We followed then our lord, our sovereign king. So should we you, if you should be our king. He suggests patriotism depends on loyalty to rules governed by a monarchical system. Americans pledge allegiance to ideals of liberty and justice -- not to any particular person, tribe, or cultural tradition. That slavery and other evils occurred despite these ideals doesn’t prove the

We’ve been reading about feng shui for years, a practice for bringing harmony between a person and the place they inhabit. I’ve followed some of the suggestions about furniture placement and whatnot along the way, but I recently heard about another way to take control and make sense out of your surroundings that makes a difference for you and future generations. A Swedish tradition called döstädning -- “death cleaning” -- has arrived here in the U.S. Its purpose is to get your life and worldly

The morning’s pale lemony light colors the winter’s woods against an aqua sky. Short, snow-covered evergreens stand like so many snowmen under the bare arch of larger forest trees. Stillness and silence prevail. Bundled up in long underwear and down outerwear, I hike an isolated forest road at minus 8 degrees. There are no people, no cars, no noise. Even the wind has abandoned the woods, giving the voices of the singing pines a measure’s rest. Rolling through the forest like a flowing white

Sometimes a week goes so far awry -- your routine is disrupted, your work doesn’t get worked -- that you feel helpless as a hog on ice, struggling to get purchase, but your feet slip and slide. Guilt and shame rise. You feel like God’s enemy. You feel like your own. The lectionary takes you to an epistle that reads, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” Well, you have your own ungodly passions -- like screen addiction. You can’t even seem to do simple