Although many things in society have changed between the time when I was a middle school and high school student from 1975 to 1981 and today, I suspect there is one area in which older Gen Xers like me and today’s Gen Zs. For generations, students in required history courses have often questioned the need … Continue reading
Tagged with Ethnicity …
Things That Make You Go “Hmmm”
As I write this essay in February 2025, I am shocked to discover that the year 1991 is now thirty-four years in the past! How is that even possible? Now, you might be wondering why it is that I’m thinking specifically about the year 1991. As a Gen-Xer, I was a young working mother in … Continue reading
“Stop Eyeballing Me, Boy!”
The Quora Chronicles – Part 6 Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. made history as the first Black American to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Marine Corp Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film, “An Officer and a Gentleman.” One of Foley’s most memorable lines comes when Richard Gere’s character first … 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
Being Real
Even in his prime he was nothing fancy. Built like a teddy bear but with the floppy ears of a dog, “Branigin” was (and remains) my favorite stuffed animal. While my memory of exactly the day I received him is a little hazy (that does tend to happen after 50 years or so), I think … Continue reading
Silence is Golden
When I was a kid, the United Negro College Fund had a public service announcement on television that showed a young black man looking straight into the camera, while his head gradually faded and became invisible. When his head had completely disappeared the voiceover would gravely intone, “The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” … Continue reading
quietlyradical 