Columbus Day is a big holiday in many American cities with a huge number of Italian Americans. They even have parades. When a movement was put in motion to get rid of the holiday, the Italian-American community was infuriated. So, some cities still have Columbus Day. However, the exploits...
I was watching an old Trevor Noah stand-up special in which he defined the German word Schadenfreude. It has no true translation in English, but it’s something we do all the time. Schadenfreude is when you laugh at someone slipping on a banana. Schadenfreude is when you’re zooming down the highway at 65...
When Mayor Eric Adams made his statement about immigrants ruining NYC, I found myself realizing that I haven’t been tuned in to the immigration situation in the US. I have always felt, very strongly, that the US benefits from immigrants in a myriad of ways. They are a source...
I live just outside of Baltimore, MD, and over the years, as the crime rate has increased, I find myself less and less willing to set foot in the city. To paint a picture, there are over 300 homicides in the city per year, as well as more than...
I would not say that I remember it completely, but I was in an 8:30am staff meeting on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. Not exactly "at" the meeting. I was dialed in to the meeting; I was in North Carolina and the meeting was in Massachusetts. Knowing me, I was...
I was reading a headline recently about the coup in Gabon and once again I noticed that Africa only seems to be in the news when there is violence. I then looked at CNN and saw articles about violence in Niger, Libya and Sudan. If that bothers me, I’m...
I was in my mother’s womb when she went to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. So, I am very proud to have gone. My older sister said that my mother came home "thoughtful". Back then, to have 250,000 at a march at the monument...
The summer is coming to an end, and with it is the glorious run of superhero movies that provide us with the opportunity to suspend our reality so that the good guys always win. (Except with cliff-hangers.) I have been a fan of superheroes since, oh, maybe 8 years...
August is upon us, and I am a football widow once again until February. And if I was a mother, I would be preparing for the school year – buying supplies and clothes. A friend of mine recently said that the whole purpose of a blog is to use...
Hip-hop just turned 50. Born in 1973 when an 18-year-old DJ performed at a party, sampling songs and beats on two turntables so that the music never stopped. It was expected to be a fad, created by young people. In the early 80’s, my boyfriend from New York City...