Author Archives: milesaway44105

Sarah Collins and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (Update)

On December 17, 2012, I wrote a post that attempted to link the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that occurred on December 14 in Newtown, Connecticut and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that occurred on September 15, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. In that post, I included a picture of Sarah Collins,Continue reading “Sarah Collins and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (Update)”

Lance Armstrong and Bottomless Rage

I watched disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in his much hyped interview with Oprah Winfrey on her OWN network Thursday evening with great interest. Like disgraced track star Marion Jones, he’s one of those athletes who has admitted his wrongdoing and who I find incredibly compelling. As with Jones, who also owned up to using performanceContinue reading “Lance Armstrong and Bottomless Rage”

Models Monday: Viewing “History”

Every film that takes historical events as the core of the story it tells is not a documentary. To that end, Django Unchained does not claim to be a documentary about slavery and it is not a documentary about slavery. The film offers a fictive take on the antebellum period in United States history andContinue reading “Models Monday: Viewing “History””

Models Monday: Following the Lives of Real People

I greatly enjoyed this holiday season. I liked that we: found a tree : and decorated it a little earlier this year: I liked that my mother got to visit a while longer to help us enjoy the gingerbread people my son and I made: I liked that we finally got to have that New Year’sContinue reading “Models Monday: Following the Lives of Real People”

Models Monday: My New Year’s Eve Plans

Since my cousins were quite young, my Aunt Janet and Uncle Be Be had the wonderful idea to have a picnic in their basement to avoid the possibility of stray bullets from New Year’s Eve revelers. When they first started, they would go to Cleveland’s fabulous Westside Market for fruits, cheese and crackers that theyContinue reading “Models Monday: My New Year’s Eve Plans”

Models Monday: Newtown Families on Christmas Eve

I have continued to think about the relationship between our nation’s past and Adam Lanza’s murderous rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On this particular morning, Christmas Eve, I thought about the touching scene in Spike Lee’s documentary film, 4 Little Girls, where Coretta Scott King reads the letter that her husband, Dr. Martin LutherContinue reading “Models Monday: Newtown Families on Christmas Eve”

Models Monday: Our Violent History

It is hard to imagine any violent incident in American culture being without an historical antecedent as this is an extremely violent culture. As terrible as the recent massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school is, the violence there is not without a horrific precedent. Its horror parallels the tragic bombing of the 16th Street BaptistContinue reading “Models Monday: Our Violent History”