In recent years, my celebration of Independence Day has mostly been an exercise in personal reflection. Because I’m an optimist, I try to focus on what it means to be …
Thank You, Ms. Angelou
At the podium of Coretta Scott King’s memorial, you broke out in song, “I open my mouth to the Lord, and I won’t turn back, no. I will go, I shall …
A 17th Birthday Tribute To My Twins
In the winter of 1995, I nearly lost my cool to an ultrasound tech who was merely the messenger of the news that I was pregnant with twins. I had …
Goodbye, Don Cornelius
This week, my freshman class will begin reading Sandra Cisnero’s The House on Mango Street. As an introduction to the reading, I knew I wanted to show how childhood and the …
Precious
I saw the movie Precious some weeks ago, and since then, I have thought about the story, its art, and its implications in America. Set in Harlem in 1987, it …
Global Compassion
What a wonderful day it would be if Karen’s Armstrong’s fundamental idea about how to treat our neighbor (see video below) actually took hold and spread like she implies that it can. I feel a little like a beauty pageant contestant who, too ideal in her beliefs
Selective Compassion
As our hearts open and our charitable dollars pour into Haiti, my faith in the human capacity to give is renewed. We have it within us to pull one of …
About Marcus
My fifteen year old son, JT, ran cross-country last year as a freshman.
Why I Write
One escape that brought healing and developed me as a writer came from the weekly routine of going to church – without my parents. Of course, in those days, I …
Autism, Marcus, Me (2)
As the signs of autism became more evident to me and my husband, we began to seek intervention. I called our local agency that handles special needs’ kids from 0-3 …