Bearing Witness
for Sandra Tamari Yet it was plain to us that by reckoning with Taha’s exceptional personality and poems, many of these American audiences were also reckoning for the first time with a Palestinian—not as a…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
“There’s Just a Meanness in This World”
On Charles Reznikoff, Testimony, v.2 The United States (1885-1915): Recitative I can’t say I was tremendously impressed with this “broken-up prose” (wife Marie Syrkin’s label). Maybe it’s the dating—it’s way back in US history, and it’s hard…
Magan Wiles in “My Name Is Rachel Corrie”
COME TO “MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE” AT SLU BLACK BOX THEATER, JULY 8-11TH AND 15TH-18TH! Blue Rose Stage Collective presents their debut production: MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE Taken from the writings of Rachel…
Free Palestine/Cairo
Michelle Conley sent me the following while traveling: Picture from a Palestine support rally in Cairo…the police asked where we were from and we said America, but quickly said we supported Palestine. He asked “are…
The Same Fate as the Palestinians
1. Archbishop Oscar Romero once stated, “Christ invites us not to fear persecution. Believe me, brothers and sisters, Anyone committed to the poor Must suffer the same fate as the poor. And in El Salvador…
Analogies
If past behavior is any guide, Elie Wiesel must be having a fit. I’m not thinking here of the great loss to his Foundation from the audacious and criminal pilfering of Bernie Madoff. No, I…
Activist, What Do You See in the Night?/2
During a recent theological conversation with a friend in Louisville, I mentioned several thinkers and writers who had been very influential on me over these years. That exchange led to this concise collage…. 1. For…
Some Questions for My Students and Friends Who Are Making Their Way through The Book of Mev
Mev was really into photography. What is it that you are into? What are some of your own experiences of being accompanied by others and accompanying others? Which poems have you loved so much that,…
Annie Boyd: Walking with the Salvadorans
In class we are currently reading Like Grains of Wheat: A Spirituality of Solidarity by Marie Dennis and Margaret Swedish. The authors interview scores of North Americans who had their eyes opened by their relationships with Central…
American Values/4
April 6 marks another anniversary in the U.S. selective remembrance of the Vietnam War: 35 years ago, at the last minute, the U.S. initiated Operation Babylift, out of Saigon. According to a story today in…