Thank you for dinner, Mr. Terry

Reclaiming True Grits
by Bryant Terry
Feb. 29, 2008–Mention “soul food” and you will hear scores of health and medical professionals claim that it is the downfall of the health and well-being of African Americans. It is true that African Americans have some of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers of [...]

Verry Merry Un-christmas…

So, there’s a spirit abounding. Consumerist and capitalist in its nature, it hordes the day, claiming in all its benevolence to be about love and family when in fact it is nothing more than a reminder of the 1974 fading plastic beach chairs that we sit on next to an empty swimming pool at the [...]

December rememberings

I am in the UN and I’m writing this. See, our lives are not easily boxed and packaged and delivered. I am here to do some negotiations and it’s an extraordinary time, but I must pause and remember people I love who left me in Decembers past. And as the years have rolled by and [...]

Kerala dreaming

“The only dream worth having is… to love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what [...]