It is the first day of school, 2020. This year has not been like other years. This school year will not be like other school years. Jonathan is a sophomore in high school, and his freshman year was upturned by the arrival of the coronavirus, which shuttered his school, as it did schools across the…
In the early evening light, a brilliant monarch butterfly alights on the purple milkweed flowers in our yard. It drinks, rises up, flits through the air, and lands to drink again. As the sun drops toward the horizon, the butterfly floats away and the cicadas begin to whine. Their humming starts quietly, crescendoing gradually. As…
I mourn for a world that never existed. I remember a time when I had no worries about viruses, imminent disease. I remember a time when I could come and go as I wanted. I remember a time when I moved through the world without recognizing the white supremacy embedded in every institution. I remember…
About one year ago, I started this blog as a way of sharing my perspective on racial and climate justice. In some ways, it is a self-indulgence for one more white man to project his voice into the world. At the same time, I believe it is important for us white people to advocate for…
On July 4th, we are fond of celebrating independence, freedom, liberty. This quality is the logical end-point of the United States' national mythology -- the story of the brilliant architects of our national revolution and Constitution, the story of the brave pioneers who set out on their own to subdue the wilderness, the story of…
It was such a surprise to hear. Truthfully, we hadn’t spoken in five or six years. Partly this was just the natural result of time and distance; it is also because I do not do well keeping in touch with those I do not see regularly. But to hear that you died suddenly yesterday --…
Across this country, an uprising has been ignited by the murder of George Floyd -- one in a long line of unarmed Black people killed by police officers. And yet the tinder for this fire comes from so many sources -- the legal, educational, health, and financial systems that marginalize Black people in this country…
Update 06/30/2020: I just finished watching the Netflix documentary Disclosure, and it was transformative. Seeing the full lives and perspectives of trans individuals had such an impact on me. I do not want to claim that I am totally different now than I was before I saw this film, but it really brought home what…
Carl Schwarz, my great-great-grandfather In 1848, eighteen-year-old Carl Schwarz set out from Pomerania, Germany. He and his family crossed the Atlantic, settling in Lebanon, Wisconsin. They purchased 40 acres of land and built the house that eventually 5 generations of Carl’s family would inhabit. He and his family spoke German at home and in their…
What are we afraid of? I want every white relative, friend, and acquaintance to really wrestle with that question. When we see Black people protesting, resisting the violence of white supremacy, what causes us fear? Are we really worried about our own physical safety? The safety of the things we own? Or are we worried…
Entwining 