Tolerance

Only historians are likely to recall Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, the Mississippi Representative who, in a speech that brought tears to the eyes of many battle-hardened House members, spoke passionately of “the South’s most implacable enemy, the Radical Republican who helped make the Reconstruction Period … Read More

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 … Read More

While Americans continue to struggle with a deadly virus and financial starvation, excellence in national leadership has been reduced to a group of toxic enablers that appeal to an insular “base” that promotes our worst impulses instead of our best. The ’60s suffered its own … Read More

I begin with a conversation I had with documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns. “The most powerful guiding principle in my life,” Burns begins, “has been and is now the conviction that the past is indeed prologue and we cannot know where we are headed if we … Read More

“To meet the challenge of our times… we must first defeat the enemy within.” —Robert F. Kennedy

While Kennedy was addressing corruption in labor unions, he could have spoken those words today, given the multiple challenges we face: — A massive virus; unemployment; a struggling … Read More

“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” — Oprah Winfrey Confederate statues are coming down. Quaker Oats is dropping Aunt Jemima from its maple syrup. Even the new streaming service, HBO Max, has withdrawn, for the time being, the … Read More