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
Tolerance
Be The Light
Pursuit of Excellence
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
How Can We Restore Our Faith in One Another?
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
From Conflict to Kindness
“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
What We Need to Be
“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 Even the new streaming service, HBO Max, has withdrawn, for the time being, the … Read More
Words That Matter
During the times that try our souls, inspiring wisdom is needed more than ever. Perhaps it’s time to remind ourselves of those who, by their words, encourage us to live out of our better angels. “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re … Read More
Chaos or Community?
From New York to Atlanta; San Diego to DC. Nearly 40 cities are facing protests, many of them violent, that haven’t been seen for decades. Fire erupted in the basement of St. John’s Church in Washington as helicopters hovered over a city that has become … Read More