Bob Marley’s distinctive song immediately came to mind when I learned that July 28 is National Buffalo Soldier Day — instituted in 1992 by Gen. Colin Powell at the dedication of a memorial in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Like many suburban white kids of my generation, I thought Marley was cool; I had no idea about the political subtext of the reggae star’s song. more

Some few years ago Better Half and I had a screened-in back porch added to our humble dwelling. It started out to be a deck but somewhere between starting and finishing, we had the inspiration of why not make it a screen porch. more

The “P” word? There’s a word I’m hesitant to use for fear of scaring people off — polarization. In fact, when I see the “P” word in a news story, I contemplate heading for the exit myself. It-is-just-such-a-polarizing word. Viscerally, I find myself reacting as I would to a charged four-letter word except … It doesn’t have four-letters. more

On the weekend of June 29 – July 2, two different groups of activists gathered at the Marriott in downtown Philadelphia. One group spent the majority of the weekend outside the building … more