Between 1910 and 1970, it is estimated that more than five million African Americans migrated from the rural American South to northern cities. Perhaps, not so surprisingly, I didn’t learn about The Great Migration, until I took Black American History 200 during my sophomore year in college in 1982. Ironically, it was this same year … Continue reading
Have you ever noticed how sometimes an attempt to fix one problem can set off an entire series of unintended (and often unpleasant) consequences which we never anticipated? The first example which comes to mind was during my career as an insurance industry business analyst. When a state insurance commission required our sales agents to … Continue reading
After the shockingly horrendous outcome of the 2024 United States’ Presidential election, my husband and I made the decision to relocate to Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. While there are many challenges associated with beginning life anew in a country that is not our own, I have found that, so far, the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences. … Continue reading
As an “oldish” member of Generation X, I’m too young to remember the days of home milk delivery in glass bottles. I can, recall, however, when supermarket milk came in cardboard cartons. The backs of the cartons featured the heartbreaking photos of missing children while on the front the words, “Pasteurized and Homogenized” were boldly … Continue reading
As I work to improve my Spanish language skills before moving to Mexico in September, I’ve started reading the Spanish editions of many of the stories I enjoyed as a child. Most of the stories bring back wonderful memories of having the stories read to me, by my mother, grandmother, or a beloved teacher at … Continue reading
I’ve never been an “outdoorsy” sort of person, especially when the weather is hot (and in North Carolina, where I currently live, it’s hot from late April through early November.) So, one of my hot weather guilty pleasures is to watch YouTube videos of the often out-of-control school board meetings, where parents, students, and sometimes … Continue reading
Ever since the day that Donald Trump rode the golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States of America, the country has been more divided than I can ever remember despite the fact that I have lived through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, protests over … Continue reading
It seems that I’ve exchanged my television viewing habits for online programming. About six months ago I caught an episode of an online debate program called Surrounded. If you have never seen this program, it consists of one person with a particular point of view facing off against twenty or so other people with an … Continue reading
The boys always threw harder when a girl was on the other side of the gym. Everyone knew it. The girls knew it. The boys knew it. Even the teachers knew it. Yet no one said a word. As a woman born in the early years of Generation X, I grew up expecting sexism. What … Continue reading
Am I the only one who remembers when everyone was freaking out over the hole in the ozone layer? I can clearly recall, as a child growing up in the 1970s, how everyone was worried about a hole in the ozone layer and all of the dire consequences that would result. According to the BBC, … Continue reading
Why do people from the United States have such short memories? Many Americans, especially those who self-identify as “fiscal conservatives” will rail against social welfare programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and the Affordable Care Act Health Insurance subsidies. They complain that the programs are too expensive and that many of the people receiving the benefits … Continue reading
Between 1910 and 1970, it is estimated that more than five million African Americans migrated from the rural American South to northern cities. Perhaps, not so surprisingly, I didn’t learn about The Great Migration, until I took Black American History 200 during my sophomore year in college in 1982. Ironically, it was this same year … Continue reading
I remember standing outside the men’s restroom, trying to look calm. My son was small—too young for me to feel comfortable sending him in alone, but too old to bring into the women’s room without hesitation. I stood there, pretending not to worry, listening for any sign that he might need me. Every second stretched … Continue reading
“Arrgh! (Hammering, banging noises). DAMN IT!” These were the sounds I heard from my then boyfriend (now husband) as he was trying to fix a kitchen cabinet in my house as I prepared to put my home on the market due to a job promotion and upcoming move. My yellow labrador retriever, Charlie, kept running … Continue reading
On a whim I decided to look up my childhood church online. Much to my surprise, the St. John Missionary Baptist Church of Terre Haute, Indiana has a Facebook page. St. John was and still appears to be a small congregation in a lower middle class neighborhood and while I haven’t attended a service there … Continue reading
What the Cold War Taught Me—and What It Got Wrong 1972 was an interesting year to be a third grader in the United States. Although it didn’t occur to me at the time, it now seems as if our class spent an awful lot of time watching television. It started with the 1972 Winter Olympic … Continue reading
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