Call Me by My True Names
35 years ago today, I participated in the mass demonstration in New York City against nuclear arms. While there, I heard Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh read aloud this English translation of one of…
Category: Vietnam
Ninety Years Alive on Earth
On Thich Nhat Hanh, At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk’s Life. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2016. Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is a survivor. Narrowly missing death in…
The Good News of Public Libraries, 3.16.2017
This afternoon I walked eight blocks north to the Central West End’s Schlafly Library where I picked up three books by Bernard B. Fall, whom Noam Chomsky once described as “the most respected analyst and…
Bella Levenshteyn Engages with Her Critics/1
“Why are you people here? Why are you making this fuss?” “Sir, people are suffering, that’s why.” “But people are suffering right here, too I’ve got buddies who were sprayed Why don’t you think of…
American Fangs
Dear Carla Twice I read Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram Because of your enthusiastic recommendation I was captivated I was crestfallen Thuy’s diary revealed her commitment Comparable to that…
American Fangs
Dear Carla Twice I read Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram Because of your enthusiastic recommendation I was captivated I was crestfallen Thuy’s diary revealed her commitment Comparable to that…
Something’s Happening to Madeleine Weil
After hearing Cal speak Of his trips to Friendship Villages Madeline Weil started missing classes She’d rather read in the library Than go to Business Law classes She’d study the photos of the children She…
Something’s Happening to Madeleine Weil
After hearing Cal speak Of his trips to Friendship Villages Madeline Weil started missing classes She’d rather read in the library Than go to Business Law classes She’d study the photos of the children She…
She Should Have Won the National Book Award
But then I think What do these awards mean They gotta serve somebody I’ve checked the libraries It’s her only book On this—or any— subject Why should the luminaries and guardians honor her Which is…
Hearts and Minds, Revisited by Mark Chmiel and Andrew Wimmer
This article was first published at Counterpunch, January 12, 2005. The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there. –Lyndon Johnson, on Vietnam There is…