Category Archives: Authors

Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity, Social Issues

Voices of Asian American Women – by Terry Howard

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Reports are that there are over 23 million Asian Americans living in the United States. Other reports are that over the past year, there are at least 4000 reports of various forms of harassment, including assaults, directed against Asian Americans in the United States. And tragically, during recent shootings in Georgia, eight lives were snuffed out, among them six Asian women. These are the facts.

So I begin this by introducing you to incredible Asian American women – Wei Wei Jeang and Lisa Ong – long-time friends of mine during the years I lived in Texas. Not only did I want to check in on the well-being of Wei Wei and Lisa, both outspoken and strong advocates of equality and fairness, I wanted to get their thoughts on what’s been happening to Asian Americans over recent years. I’ll begin with a little bit about their backgrounds.
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Authors A-H

Make Healing a Priority – by Dr. Temika Edwards, Dr. Cynthia R. Jackson

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our physical, emotional, and mental stamina has been challenged to accommodate our ever-changing environment. To adapt to this change, we must incorporate inner and outer healing. Healing is a process that restores the whole person, mentally, physically, and emotionally, but also includes personal beliefs and values, sense of identity, and community of support. How we receive and respond to uncertainties can directly impact our inner and outer being.

Our inner being involves our spirit, emotions, and mind, while the outer being is our surrounding and social interactions. Both the inner and outer being are strongly connected, and we cannot have one exist without the other. For instance, the outcomes we create in the outer environment are motivated by what goes on inside ourselves. Although we all have our own temperaments concerning one side versus the other, we flourish best when the complexities maturing in each direction synchronize with each other. Everyone has an innate healing ability. With minor adjustments in our daily lives, we can improve the capability of our bodies to heal. We can also implement that same healing ability in the workplace, school, and community, which is why healing must be a priority in our lives to accomplish an optimal, balanced inner and outer being. Continue reading Make Healing a Priority – by Dr. Temika Edwards, Dr. Cynthia R. Jackson →

Authors A-H, Poetry 2021

The First by Dr. Thomas Davison

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The First

I dreamed that God crafted a man in His own image
He toiled with earthly clay
An informal, undemanding material
His first endeavor appeared a mighty creation indeed
So…. He breathed life into the earthen golem
Stretched down
Raised up His construction to the heavens
For a stricter judgment
What He perceived
Displeased Him greatly
He spread His great hand
To permit His handiwork to plunge to the world below
Where it shattered into countless pieces
God sighed
Then stooped
To attempt once again

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Authors A-H, Gender, Sports

Diversity and Speech Part 19: The Gendered Sports Dilemma – by Carlos E. Cortés

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The theme for this month’s edition: what gender related issues should be addressed and how can they evolve productively?  Let’s up the ante.  What gender related issues must be addressed?  Here’s one: transgender women in sports.

Oh that all equity conflicts could be resolved simply by mouthing diversity clichés.  Not this one.  With regard to this perplexing issue, two pro-diversity camps have gone to war.  Probable allies on most equity concerns, these two camps have dug in their heels, often engaging in hyper-accusatory rhetoric in what has become known as the TERF wars.

TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminists.  That term is used derogatorily by trans activists when referring to feminists who are perceived as not fully and unconditionally accepting trans women into their ranks.  Targets include TERF lesbians, revealing an LGBTQ split over this issue.    Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 19: The Gendered Sports Dilemma – by Carlos E. Cortés →

Authors A-H, Black-Jewish Dialogue, The Arts

The He(Art) of the Museum  – by Cindy Steede Almeida

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BermudaCuriosity is a good thing. For those of us who are curious about the ancient world and have a need to discover the source and unearth the past to make sense of our present world, a museum ticket is our gateway to other worlds!

My curiosity led me to uncover the mystery of the word museum or mouseion (Greek) meaning the seat of the muses. In Greek mythology the nine muses were held in high esteem. The Merriam-Webster dictionary attributes the inspiration for song, poetry, the arts, and sciences to these sister goddesses. The Muses were to be enshrined in these edifices as a source of inspiration. According to Britannica.com, a mouseion was built to be a designated institution for philosophical discussion and contemplation. It was intended to be a place of learning and the arts.  Continue reading The He(Art) of the Museum  – by Cindy Steede Almeida →

Authors A-H, Social Issues

Diversity and Speech Part 18: Hate Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés

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Hate speech may be the thorniest point of contention between diversity advocates and free speech absolutists.  Of course most people oppose hate and detest hate speech.  But what should we do about it?  That’s where disagreements begin.

Let’s look at hate speech from four perspectives.  Legal: what does the U.S. Constitution say about hate speech?  Behavioral: is hate speech merely speech?  Aspirational: ideally, what would we want when it comes to hate speech?  Operational: how might government hate speech restraints work in practice?

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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Defeating Disparity– By Katelyn DeBaun-Fee

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Race & Economic Disparity

By the end of 2020, federal student loan debt in the United States surpassed $1.7 trillion, increasing by over 100% in the last decade. While this has become a national crisis impacting nearly 45 million borrowers, Black women are the most heavily burdened. A 2020 report by the AAUW indicates that Black women, on average, hold over $37,000 in loans each, compared to $31,346 held by white women, and $29,862 held by white men. As a whole, Black women, despite being the most institutionally educated demographic in the U.S., have a total of $35 billion in student loan debt.  Furthermore, 57% of Black female college graduates indicate that they struggle to repay their student loans. While white borrowers are able to pay back an average of 10% of their total student loan debt each year, Black borrowers are only able to pay an average of 4% back, largely due to racial pay disparity.

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Authors A-H, Poetry 2021

Purloined Princes by Adele Gardner

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Purloined Princes
After “Hurt Hawks” by Robinson Jeffers

1.
The speckled stone was white, oblong, a split through the top, hollowed,
Abandoned in my garden weeds, dead stalks,
The ship turned statue, cold, lifeless. He emerged warm, shivering,
A bloody gash: his side caught, squirming
Through stone to free air. I found him, spent, black puddled in shadows, eyes live,
A slitted green-yellow like fall larch,
Proud, pleading, universal S.O.S., though he didn’t speak.
He never spoke in words. I heard it all.
Black velvet sides heaved—I slung him, light burden, home to stitch in life,
Panting under my touch: he was the last,
Escaped from a ruined earth. Four feet, four thumbs, forty built-in tools,
His whisker-thin, white warning grid floating useless,
No signals to tremble it to life. We spoke in looks, touch,
The treble of his voice a song, a mystery.
He’d rest, then fly; but he’d nowhere to fly. Nights, he snuggled between my breasts,
Warmth rumbling waist to neck like the husband I’d longed for,
A sigh shared, loneliness loosing its chokehold as we breathed the same air.

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Authors A-H, Poetry 2021

What Goldilocks Learned by Colleen Anderson

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What Goldilocks Learned

Beautiful and dyed blond
I moved out to explore the forest
a lumberjack beckoned
Once inside his cottage I didn’t notice
all was dished out
and everything in its place

That first man was a boor
he sawed and hammered and nailed
Did I have to spread my legs
try to mend the cleaving
when he said I hadn’t pleased him in bed?

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