People Power, Then and Now
1. To advocate human conversation as the means to restore hope to the future is as simple as I can get. But I’ve seen that there is no more powerful way to initiate significant change…
Category: Activists
An Exemplar of Gramsci’s “Optimism of the Will”
My optimism rests on my belief in the infinite possibilities of the individual to develop non-violence. The more you develop it in your own being, the more infectious it becomes till it overwhelms your surroundings…
Take Your Pick/2
Pascal raised the question: How do you know whether God exists? He said, if I assume that he exists and he does, I’ll make out OK. If he doesn’t, I won’t lose anything. If he…
“We’re Proud to be St. Louis Grown”
I was just visiting with my friend Suzanne Renard at Park Avenue Coffee She told me that her relatives in France decry that she lives in “the most evil city in the world”–Saint Louis Evil…
Weekend Meditation
A recent conversation with Sharifa led me to look again at one of Said’s many penetrating studies… 1. In fact, there is no way that I know of apprehending the world from within American culture…
The Right of Jim Crow to Defend Itself
“We do not believe the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza,” [Hilary] Clinton told reporters at a news conference with the visiting foreign minister of the…
For Hedy/By Mev/Via Mark
Dianne and I drove Hedy to the Missouri Scholars Academy in Columbia at Mizzou on Sunday, where she spoke for the 17th straight year to 300+ gifted students from across the state. She shared her…
To Be Radical Is Habitually To Do Things Which Society at Large Despises
1. I have seen the victims. And this sight of the mutilated dead has exerted such inward change upon me That the words of corrupt diplomacy appear to me more and more in their true…
Nawal’s Path
1. When I came out of prison there were two routes I could have taken. I could have become one of those slaves to the ruling institution, thereby acquiring security, property, the state prize, and…
A Hard Rain: Afghanistan, St. Louis, and How to Make Peace
Join us for a round table discussion with Andrew Wimmer on his article, “A Hard Rain: Afghanistan, St. Louis, and How to Make Peace” (Karen House Round Table, Winter 2011) … Monday 28 February 2011…