On one hand, you could say that we never learned the lessons of September 11th. Our nation meddles in other people's business and we provoke their enmity. We provided weapons to mujahedin fighters in Afghanistan in their battle against the Soviets during the 1970s, but they knew that we were not their friends because we…
In defense of proportionality
“Which is a more progressive goal — a world in which only thirteen per cent of black people (instead of twenty-four per cent) live below the poverty line or a world in which none of them do?” Walter Benn Michaels, an academic and literary theorist, poses this provocative question to force our consideration of whether…
Facing the abyss
Early this morning, the University of Chicago invaded and tore down the student encampment set up to protest the university’s investment in corporations and institutions that support Israel’s attacks on Gaza. University police removed the protesters, destroyed the camp, and cleared the ground. All that is left of are the outlines of the tents where…
Small farewells
I said goodbye to a friend this week. Not a human friend – a tree friend. When we moved into this building in 2005, the tree grew in the center of the courtyard. It wasn’t the largest or most beautiful. Even then, it was a bit misshapen. In the spring, it grew tiny, white flowers…
