Walt, Various
1. I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil.–Walt Whitman 2. In 1968 Susan Sontag visited Hanoi for two weeks. In her account of her experiences, she seemed a bit surprised the…
Category: Activists
¡Presente!
Remembering Rosemary Radford Ruether, with whom I was in Palestine in spring 1990 and who supported my first book in 2001… She was one of the greats. She embodied sempre avanti. She had a deep…
Emily Dickinson Writes a Poem for Assange, Snowden, & Greenwald
Much Madness is divinest Sense –To a discerning Eye –Much Sense – the starkest Madness –‘Tis the MajorityIn This, as All, prevail – Assent – and you are sane –Demur – you’re straightaway dangerous – And handled…
The Young Thich Nhat Hanh: A Spring and Summer Course
As the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of 1964, I now have the pleasure of proposing to you the name of Thich Nhat Hanh for that award in 1967. I do not personally know of anyone…
Share the Wealth with Hedy Epstein: An Interview on Krystallnacht
Last night I asked Dianne Lee if she’d heard about the Whoopi Goldberg controversy earlier this week when she said the Holocaust had nothing to do with racism, but rather “man’s inhumanity to man.” …
I’m Assuming That Elie Wiesel and Noam Chomsky Met at Least Once
Recently, the Persian scholar and poetry translator Matt Miller sent me condolences upon the death of one of my teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh. I mentioned to him that the several of the teachers I first…
Share the Wealth with Social Workers: In Support of Magan Wiles
My friend Magan Wiles (actor, activist, correspondent, tangoista, mutual aider) just asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her as she wants to get a Master’s degree in Social Work at Cal State….
The Young Thich Nhat Hanh
Last fall I began brainstorming facilitating a class on the young Thich Nhat Hanh. After his passing last week and tonight’s Share the Wealth community expressing our gratitude for his teachings, I thought I’d go…
Nhat Hanh-isms
The following come from Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, The Miracle of Mindfulness, The Heart of Understanding, Peace Is Every Step, Being Peace, and Interbeing. Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile….
Reflections on the Intellectual Life by Irina S.
In one of my classes, we are reading a variety of books on the love of learning. I asked Irina (a nom de plume) if she’d be willing to share a few reflections on Zena…