In my post on inauguration day Jan. 20, I said we planned to go to the Women’s March in St. Paul last Saturday. I’m getting over a cold, and the day was drizzly, and common sense prevailed: we took one of my daughters and two granddaughters to a movie, Moana, whose heroes (heroines? sheroes?) are […]
Related posts: January 6, 10, 13, 24, 25, 28, Feb. 3, 9. Today, an event is happening at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Some thoughts. * (click to enlarge photos) Last night I was at a meeting of 27 people, sponsored by Citizens for Global Solutions MN. I’m VP of the group, so I […]
Sunday night we went to the Denzel Washington film interpreting August Wilson’s play “Fences”. The film is very powerful. Here is detail of showing places and times for your area. Fences is one of ten August Wilson plays, representing the African-American experience in each of the ten decades of the 20th century. The play, like […]
Donald Trump becomes U.S. President on January 20. I’ll recognize that he is President, but in the 14 inaugurations since I turned 21 (then, the voting age), this one will pass me by minimally noticed. I’ve come to know Trump far too well for over a year: from his own mouth and Twitter; I’ve learned […]
POSTNOTE: Here is President Obama’s farewell address. I remember, this evening, two events: 1. The day I first heard then Sen. Barack Obama speak at Target Center in Minneapolis MN, Feb 2, 2008 (click to enlarge) 2. The day we heard Michelle Obama speak powerfully at Macalester College in St. Paul MN October 13, 2008. […]
Saturday, I participated in a planning meeting of an organization I’ve been part of for 13 years. A dozen of us – half male, half female – spent six hours talking about the things that generally go into organizations of all sorts. If we look tired in the above photo, it’s because we are. It […]
This morning I was preparing for a planning meeting, tomorrow, of an organization in which I’ve* long been an active Board member. One of the preliminary papers to read was a “”Youth Statement”, produced by youth leaders” before 2004, “…to guide the organization’s leadership on how to outreach to younger members and activists.” Four lines […]
Thoughts on the final day of 2016. Remembering a North Dakota farm family. (click to enlarge any photo) Since 1934 an impressive cottonwood tree has stood watch over the former Busch farm between Berlin and Grand Rapids ND. I took the above photo, and wrote a story about the tree in 2005. The story is […]
It might be useful to see what the U.S. really said at the UN about the settlement question on Dec. 28. It is a little long, but here it is. Possibly, Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement yesterday might be useful too. Here they are (there are several statements linked, including his specific speech on […]
(click to enlarge illustrations) Tuesday brought an unexpected assignment: the kind that goes along with the general category of “honey, do….” Ellen, my spouse’s long-time friend, needed a ride to a doctors appointment, and there was a schedule conflict. I volunteered. Ellen is a long-time U.S. citizen, of African descent, whose accent betrays her growing […]