This piece was also published in slightly modified form in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. In this election, Illinoisans are being asked to make at least two consequential decisions. One is to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump for President. The other is to decide whether Illinois, like 32 other states, should implement…
From darkness to darkness, part 3
Afternoon, 2017-2019 2 weeks until Election Day If you haven't yet, please start from the first part of this piece. After the abrupt awakening of the 2016 election, I lurched around for a bit, as you do in the morning. I now knew that I needed to do more than I had been, but I…
From darkness to darkness, part 2
Morning, 2016 3 weeks until Election Day If you haven't yet, please check out the previous part of this piece. It was a painful morning, the kind when you wake up and remember a truth that you wish could have stayed buried. The kind when your first optimistic view of the day is suddenly bulldozed…
From darkness to darkness, part 1
Darkness, until 2016 4 weeks until Election Day What is the purpose of rest? Is it to reenergize ourselves for the struggles ahead? Neuroscience suggests that during sleep, our brains reorganize our neural pathways and remove toxins. We process our emotions through dreams and file away memories and learning. Our bodies heal and our muscles…
Whose voices will we elevate?
This piece also appeared in a slightly different form in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. In August, a resolution came before the Oak Park Village Board that would have reduced funding for the police department. The “Freedom to Thrive” resolution did not specify how that reduction would take place,…
She is dead and her killers walk free.
She is dead and her killers walk free. They murdered Breonna Taylor in the dead of night, in the supposed safety of her home, in her own bed. They fired more 32 times through her apartment door, without care for who was behind it. In essence, these police officers charged and convicted her of her…
Cultivating anger
On Friday night, I heard the news -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg had passed away. I momentarily felt disbelief, and then a surge of anger. Congressional Republicans would surely use her passing as an opportunity to jam through a right-wing justice. That would further skew the Supreme Court, which may decide on and influence the processes…
Cultivating joy
I read a book. I eat a good meal. I travel with my family. I dig into a challenging task at work. I take a walk in nature. Which of these things bring me happiness? Which create joy? The relationship between these two emotions is a complicated one. There are experiences that bring me happiness,…
The next 55 days
There are 55 days until the election on November 3, 2020. 55 days to shift the outcome, to change the narrative. This is not just about Trump. This is about moving our national story toward one of community, of support, of justice. What can we each do in those 55 days? We must answer that…
Action and reaction
This essay is also published in the local Oak Park newspaper, Wednesday Journal. Every action has an equal, opposite reaction. It is a law of physics, and we have taken it as a law of racial progress in this nation. Whenever Black people have won some small advancement, we white people have lashed back against…
