Celebrating Our Differences
While a current and former educator, I use to question why the work of fine artists is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry rather than at an institute of art, an art museum or gallery. Later I learned that our public schools have targeted a STEM…
For eons, it has been said that true education means to “draw out” knowledge not put it in. One might ponder, then, why, the world over, education systems require paid teachers to formally dispense what they “know”. Presumably, teachers know by learning from others who have learned,…
Here are a few of the many faces of Khlong Toei Market. Instituted in 1850 Khlong Toei is the largest farmers market in Thailand. Life at Khlong Toei Market begins at 2 am, even before the sun rises, and ends around 6 pm. Porters trickle in with their…
On my road trip to the homecoming for Prarie View A&M University, I experienced the welcome and warmth of an overnight visit with Tresie Lewis Kinnell. Housed in Frisco, TX, outside of Dallas, this subdivision, for me, was reminiscent of the brownstones in Chicago. Kinnell’s house had its…
connect /ka’nekt/ vb: join or associate connection /-‘nektshen n Are we connected? Let me count the ways. How can I? Yes, we share the same time, Planet, Sun, And galaxy. We are all fixed in the now And here. Only our thoughts and imaginings Seek beyond. But even our thoughts Are anchored…
Lacey Davis was born 36 years ago in Baton Rouge, LA. At 18 months old, she was placed in foster care and stayed in and out of foster homes until age 4. Then her biological parents, both abusive, signed Davis over to the state, of LA, where she…
She lives Like water it seems To flow even As it splashes Like rocks in a row It’s seams and stitches …be, the space, in between Like…
The quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama (also known as Boykin) have been classified as some of the most exceptional vernacular artworks in America while simultaneously compared to works by the great abstract expressionist painters. In fact, the very thing that made these series of quilted artworks…
I have seen fragments of eternity in the smile of an Afrikan face Contented by the chance to be visible in a world that sees us As monkeys that have just learnt to blend into the bigger picture. I have learnt to laugh with a dagger in my…
BASTARD, BABY BOY. Born above a bread store. Muddy memory: Mom. Me. Mama. You. I knew then (that)… You didn’t want me. Neither did she. Stories about me told then were Thinly veiled disgust. My very favorite told and told and told again: You said “Mom,…