We are living in an age of animosity that has momentarily killed our faith in each other. If I’m repeating a refrain from past commentaries, so be it. We need to be reminded of the cancer that is infecting America’s soul—anger that leads to hate, hate to violence and a helplessness that cries out for healing. Every now and then...

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.  —Robert Kennedy Before a campaign appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sen. Robert Kennedy had just learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. The crowd he was planning to address had not yet...

Social division, racial division, political division, economic division, lies, rage, violence. After another mass shooting, California Governor Gavin Newson said, “What the hell is going on in the United States of America? What the hell is wrong with us?” Before all this rage and violence exploded, too many were living lives of quiet desperation – desperate to be heard, desperate...

I didn’t know much about Tyler Perry before Sunday’s Academy Award event. I sure know a lot more now. Last Sunday, Perry was the recipient of the Gene Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The honor is only periodically given to an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” And Perry more than qualified. His...

Looking back over the past year we have faced the challenges of a lifetime. During that past year, Pew Research has been asking American’s their views and reactions to the COVID-19 virus. How the virus has affected their lives. The results show a mix of the depressed, fortunate, money-savers, readers, angry, happy and more… Here is just a small sampling...

With Saturday’s verdict by the Senate to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the attack on the Capitol, it’s more evident than ever that the Republican Party is on a ventilator and they are — for the foreseeable future — likely to willfully remain in a Trump coma. Any additional words I might use to describe a party that...

Everything about the Super Bowl is big. From its name to the fans, and the ads, the Super Bowl has become the theatrical event of American sports. A thirty-second ad in last year’s Super Bowl cost $5.6 million, but more than 100 million viewers watched it. This year’s ads covered everything from lemons falling from the sky for Bud Light...

Among the books in my library is a series from TIME/LIFE entitled, The Decades. In words and images from 1910 to the 1990s, editors have distilled each decade’s most notable events. For example, the ’60s: Vietnam, racism, assassinations, Woodstock, the space program – each volume memorializes the triumphs and tragedies of the American landscape. If the series continues, editors are...

At the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, one moment perfectly captured the reality of the present with aspirations for our future, and that moment came from poet Amanda Gorman. The 22-year-old from Los Angeles first came to the attention of Jill Biden while attending an event at the Library of Congress where Gorman delivered an...

In 1620, a small band of pilgrims came to this country to escape religious intolerance. They were also looking for freedom from political turmoil, warfare, poverty, famine and disease. They were looking for a new beginning, a new hope in a new land. While they endured unimaginable hardships, their courage, determination, and hard work made them stronger because they were...