My friend and (many years ago) former student, Wendy Adams, was kind enough to invite me to give a talk as part of the International Film Series that she runs at the College of Central Florida. And this seems like as good as anywhere to share what I had to say about To Kill a […]
Fifty shades of red
The more I read about the Rachel Dolezal story, the angrier I get. But not at her. Because, as I mentioned before, none of us know enough to say with any certainty who or what she “really” is. Race isn’t that simple. Identity isn’t that simple. Yet all sorts of people — too many to […]
Baghmore? Baltidad?
“While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression and people who have had members of their family killed by that regime, for them to be taking their feelings out on that regime,” he said. “And I don’t think there’s anyone in […]
Fun with math: BP edition [Rerun Sunday]
Sometimes the toss-away lines in news stories are the scariest ones. The item linked above includes the following, otherwise unremarked-upon sentence in its concluding paragraph: The company has set aside $32bn (£20.5bn) to cover its liabilities arising from the disaster, which US lawyers say has affected tens of thousands of people in the Gulf, particularly […]
None of us are free
I made this mix CD almost a decade ago. The two most recent tracks on it (the first and the last, as it turns out) are from 2002. None of the others are more recent than 1989. The oldest track turned 75 earlier this year. These days, however, the whole mix feels far, far too […]
Last month’s links
I’ve skipped this ritual for a few weeks. So, to make up for it, here’s a small flood of some of the best things I’ve read about Ferguson over the past few weeks (with some side dish on Bill Cosby sprinkled in here and there). Ta-Nehisi Coates Kiese Laymon Tressie McMillan Cottom Nick Mirzoeff Jennifer […]
Miss-iss-ouri goddamn
[photo by Jilly Ballistic] It’s hard to know what else to say about the miscarriage of justice that happened when the grand jury in Ferguson decided that Darren Wilson didn’t need to be indicted for killing Mike Brown. I wish I could say I was surprised. But I’m not. Like a lot of people — […]
Monday not-quite-randomness: Labor Day edition [Rerun Sunday]
As mentioned in this space last week, the University is facing a strike by clerical, technical, and health-care workers that’s slated to start Wednesday. Last week’s bargaining[sic] session found the University coming back to the table without budging from the very same offer that workers had rejected when they declared their intent to strike. So […]
Last week’s links
Once again, it’s a threesome rather than a sixsome. You feel cheated, I know. I’m sorry. Dance and education Social media and status Monkeys and QEII