A reckoning means a settling of accounts. I've heard the word numerous times in the past week, since the insurrection in Washington, D.C.: "a day of reckoning", "a racial reckoning", "reckoning with our history". It seems that we need to account for what has been taken in and paid out over the four centuries since…
I heard the news this evening. I cannot believe that two of my former students are dead, ages 27 and 30. I can comprehend neither the pain that these deaths must cause nor the pain that caused these deaths. We all feel pain. Sometimes we are so consumed by our own pain that it blinds…
Each bit of news I hear knocks me further off of my axis. In my own village of Oak Park, a local resident has filed objections against the candidacies of the only two Black men who are running for Village Trustee, and the hearing on those objections is today. This local resident, of course, says…
This piece was also published in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. Oak Park resident Kevin Peppard has filed objections against the candidacies of Anthony Clark and Chibuike Enyia for Oak Park Village Trustee in the April 6th municipal election. Over the years, Mr. Peppard has filed numerous objections against various candidates for village offices.…
The winter solstice gives us the shortest daylight of the year. It is a time to prepare for the growing light that is to come, for coiling in upon ourselves and making ready for renewal. Traditionally, it is a time for staying warm and gathering with those we love. But this year, there is no…
Some of us wear our moderation like a badge of honor, as if it represents our intellectual fortitude in discerning the true path between opposing extremes. And in some cases, moderation is a virtue -- in our diet, in our exercise, in caring for our bodies. But when discerning a stance on issues of moral…
Two weeks ago in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal, District 200 school board member Matt Baron claimed that a member of this community who is a Muslim woman had engaged in "a form of terrorism" and referenced the 9-11 era slogan, “If you see something, say something”. Baron was writing in defense of Village…
This piece was also published in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal. District 200 school board member Matt Baron wrote a piece in the Oak Park newspaper Wednesday Journal one week ago wherein he claimed that an Oak Park community member had engaged in "a form of terrorism". What vile act had this community member…
Our national election just ended 3 weeks ago and the presidential transition is beginning in spite of the current occupant’s reluctance. We are closing out our calendar and moving into a period of holidays and rest. And still, there is much work to be done. In this moment, part of that work is to push…
As fall slips towards winter, as the trees here in the Midwest lose their leaves for the year, as the election cycle ends, this seems like the right time to contemplate rest. We rest to reenergize ourselves for the struggles ahead. Neuroscience suggests that during sleep, our brains reorganize our neural pathways and remove toxins.…
Entwining 