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Remixing a Rockefeller

Models Monday: Keys

“It is not my enemies who taunt me–I could bear that…It is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend…” (Ps 55:12-13) “If someone asks,‘What are those wounds on your body? they will answer,’The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’” (Zechariah 13:6) I’ve been listening to Jon Krakauer’s latest book, Missoula:Continue reading “Models Monday: Keys”

Lost in Space

On Thursday, May 28, 2015 I had the great privilege of viewing an excerpt from choreographer T. Lang’s evolving work, Post Up. This particular work fuses Lang’s own questions about (longing for) love as they are greatly informed by the death of her father and the search for loved ones forged by newly emancipated blackContinue reading “Lost in Space”

Models Monday: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others.”

My mother and I attended the same elementary school. I hated it, but she didn’t mind it. When she attended, mass and confession were a daily occurrence. When I attended, we only had service during holy days and I can only recall a singular confession. My mother’s funny. She attends weekly mass, but she couldn’tContinue reading “Models Monday: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others.””

Models Monday (Memorial Day 2015 Edition): Today Mimics Savage Yesterday

Some of The New York Times’s reporting on the case of Tamir Rice and its aftermath remain true. For instance, Samaria Rice did live in a shelter with her daughter Tajai, and while at the time the video was made they remained there, they moved to a small home during the Spring. According to what Rice’sContinue reading “Models Monday (Memorial Day 2015 Edition): Today Mimics Savage Yesterday”

Red Noses and Wealth

Red Nose Day arrived stateside for the first time this year. The day dedicated to raising money for children and young people living in poverty began in the U.K. and Canada in 1988; makes sense given the mood of charitable concerts and records sold for the sake of starving children in Africa in the 1980s.Continue reading “Red Noses and Wealth”

Models Monday: Banah Ghadbian, Spelman College C’2015

Banah Ghadbian gave the valedictory address at Spelman College’s 128th Commencement. Ghadbian and her mother were refugees from Syria who eventually made their way to Arkansas. In her speech, Ghadbian acknowledged the southern hospitality and the southern hostility that she and her mother predictably found there. Spelman became Ghadbian’s choice because she wanted to cultivateContinue reading “Models Monday: Banah Ghadbian, Spelman College C’2015”

Models Monday: Fragility

On Friday, I went to Miles’s school for “Muffins with Mom” in advance of Mother’s Day. I expected to go in, have a muffin and orange juice with Miles and then leave. Instead, the school put together a really nice program. We were directed to our children’s classrooms where each teacher had prepared a specific programContinue reading “Models Monday: Fragility”

Models Monday: Commentary from the Curb

I read the news throughout the day and I rarely watch it on television. Most recently, I’ve started reading traditional news sources while also reading posts on Twitter and Instagram. For all that mainstream, ostensibly respected news sources have alleged about the “thugs destroying their own communities,” I’ve been impressed by how trenchant the hooliganContinue reading “Models Monday: Commentary from the Curb”

Models Monday: Danger, Violence, Repeat

Distinguishing police brutality by distinct historical periods seems a rather pointless enterprise; nonetheless, I want to. As I look at a terrified young black woman desperately attempting to escape further danger from the police, I recognize an important distinction between escaping police brutality in 1960 and escaping it in 2015. In Baltimore, a youngContinue reading “Models Monday: Danger, Violence, Repeat”