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
Filed under Memoir …
What the Cold War Taught Me – And What It Got Wrong
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
Who’s at the Bottom?
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
Please Don’t Revoke My Black Card
For those who are not aware of the intricacies of African American culture, you might be confused when you hear Black Americans talking about “revoking someone’s black card.” The “black card” is not to be confused with the “race card,” but instead represents a set of behaviors that are (often stereotypically) that can cement a … Continue reading
A Different Kind of “Christmas Cheer
I love my job! Since 2011, when I left the corporate world to become a teacher of English as a Second Language, I have probably learned as much or perhaps more from my students as they have learned from me. In addition to learning the language, many immigrants to the United States are also anxious … Continue reading
Who Am I?
I had always hated group sharing in school – always. The other students were too dull, too immature, and just too slow, both literally and figuratively. Being perceived as “really smart”, especially as a little black girl, from a working-class family, in a working-class city was both a blessing and a curse. The was a … Continue reading
Why We Need Political Correctness Reminder #1
This is me. Robin Nathania Mathes Peacher Landry. However, at the time that this picture was taken, my name was simply, Robin Nathania (pronounced by my family as “nuh-than-ee-yuh”, which I hated and decided to change to “na-tahn-ya” when I realized that it was my name, and I could say it any way that made … Continue reading
Motherhood Madness
“Freedom’s just another word for, ‘nothin’ left to lose’.” Janis Joplin expressed this rather pessimistic characterization of “freedom” in the 1971 hit song, Me and Bobby McGee.” And although we, as Americans, seem to enjoy nothing more than boasting about the many freedoms that we enjoy, I suspect that more than a few of us … Continue reading
Just Stuff
The late George Carlin was one of my favorite comedians. His classic routine, A Place for Your Stuff, is genius. While I am far from being a hoarder or even a minor pack rat (I have no problem throwing things away) after fourteen years in the same house I do seem to have collected a … Continue reading
Colored People on TV
Long before the blockbuster movie, Black Panther blew up, earning more than $700 million at the box office in 2018 and sparking Black Panther parties (complete with regal costumes and the “Welcome to Wakanda” salutes offered in greeting) and decades before African-Americans held our heads a bit higher and walked a bit taller on the … Continue reading
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