I have known for some time now that I am waiting for an apology. Initially, I felt I was being petty – unreasonable, perhaps. But lately I recognize that just because my expectation will not be met, it is not necessarily unreasonable. Perhaps the offender(s) just need some assistance. So, in the spirit of healing,…
In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.” ― Barack Obama Many are working to make Chicago a great place to live, learn, and work. Scores upon scores are contributing their time, talent, and treasure to these efforts in their personal and professional lives. The issues at play…
Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that can not fly.” — Langston Hughes Finding two people who appreciate performance artists on stage and in recording studios and also hold a deep understanding of culture and community is infrequent but not particularly rare. Finding two such men in one…
Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.” — Zadie Smith, White Teeth Most nights for five months, I listened to these words on a continuous loop tape that played in my sleep: “You can see beyond the walls, Gary.” The image I held in my dreams was of the…
You cannot know what it means to see your incredibly handsome future spouse emerge from a cloud of smoke on stage, wearing white tights, and sporting the pseudo military dress uniform of a prince. You’d have to be sitting there in the Marcus Center waiting through the party scene of Nutcracker, hoping beyond all hope…
In the mid- to late-1960s, I did what many of my friends were doing. We grew our hair long, met over coffee, sang folk songs, went to rallies against the war in Vietnam, and marched for housing and racial justice. Sometime during that decade, I met the Berrigan brothers in an apartment near Marquette University.…
Fifty-five years ago I was in a friary, preparing to join a religious order. During my time there, immediately after the Second Vatican Council, we still maintained many of the old ways of the Order. You could join at age 13, for example. We observed the Hours of prayer (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Sext, Terse, etc.).…
Folded cardboard box Stays the earth’s damp, but rain Ruins doorway sleep. High end fashion pumps Click him into the day light — So close to his head. More, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, but not for him.
The vote by UWM faculty this week to express their lack of confidence in the leadership of both the UW System Chancellor, Ray Cross, and the Board of Regents prompts me to reflect on my identity as a UWM alumnus and academic staff person. Even as I write this post, I am tempted to use…
Most people who know me even a little would doubt that I know or care much about baseball. As a child I needed glasses long before anyone knew I did, so no matter how hard I swung a bat or stretched for a ball, it was always just beyond my reach because I could not…
Creating Community for Everyone 