Hubris
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(Don’t) Pardon My Tone & Cracked Foundations
“There is not enough time to unpack the impact simply living while Black has had on my consciousness. The hyperawareness that stems from the battling of stereotypes, the experiences of shopping while Black,…
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Whom Do You See When You Look at Me?
“I am a proud, highly educated Black woman who grew up in the South and, though I was called a ‘nappy-headed nigger’ at a summer camp, I did not let this deter or…
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A Reminder from the Pandemic: Service Remains Worthwhile
“When asked why we are here, the inimitable American author Kurt Vonnegut frequently quoted his son Mark and also his uncle. The former individual, between stints in a psych ward and Harvard Medical…
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It’s Not Collecting, It’s Composting: Creative Reading
“Once during an in-class writing assignment, a bright freshman asked me if ‘anal retentive’ was hyphenated or two words. I suspected she was joking, but I answered seriously, ‘The way I stuff my…
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Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“An ilbal is an instrument for seeing, a lens with which to view sacred relationships. In Native cultures it might comprise stories, traditions, ceremonies. Kimmerer suggests that science is the ilbal of modern…
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Losing Thomas
Trying to Figure It Out By Dr. Jozefien De Bock “She immediately hooked me up to an ultrasound, checked for a heartbeat and smiled: ‘Everything’s fine with the baby,’ she said. ‘Look, he’s…
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Do You Know the Racist Code?
“You may be as ignorant as I was until I had honest conversations with Bob. I would encourage you do to what I did, have a conversation and ask about experiences. Be proactive…
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Slaves First Identified Elephant Fossils in America
“The slaves at Stono were originally from Angola or the Congo, the habitat of living Loxodonta elephant species of Africa. The teeth they found at Stono belonged to a great Columbian mammoth that…
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And Now for Something Completely Different: Psalm 145
“I wanted to do something completely different this morning as I fear the sermons preached to an empty sanctuary may be getting tiresome . . . at least they are for me. I…
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Oakland’s Voices-Made-Murals
“Recent events have largely silenced photographer Chiara-Sophia Coyle, but they haven’t stopped her from seeing, documenting, and reporting back to us what is going up on the walls of her ‘hood’ in Oakland,…