Washing the Dishes
While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance,…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
One Day
When you are twenty-seven And at last done Done DONE with medical school We should do a marathon/festival of words Reciting poetry to each other Then writing off of the lines of Neruda, Szymborska And…
“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…
Fidel on Che
I view Che, furthermore, as a moral giant who grows day by day, whose image, whose strength, whose influence has multiplied throughout the world. How could he fit below a tombstone? How could he fit…
Take Your Pick/1
1. Rail against capitalism as you will, but recognize that since we are stuck with it, the test now is to make it work for the largest number of people. –William Schulz, executive director of…
Refusal (Muhammad Ali)
I came across the following when preparing tonight’s session of our reading circle of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States (the chapters on the Black Freedom struggle and the Vietnam War). Why should…
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…
Palestinian Identity
Sharifa, Apropos of our conversation today, here begins the opening paragraph (and after) of chapter 1 of Rashid Khalidi’s Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness… The quintessential Palestinian experience, which illustrates some of…
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…