Quote for Today: Malcolm X
Because you can’t hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree. You can’t hate your origin and not end up hating yourself. ―Malcolm X, 1965
Quote for Today: Rick Riordan
I think the more you understand myths, the more you understand the roots of our culture and the more things will resonate. Do you have to know them? No, but …
Quote for Today: Mary Roach
With the rise of classical Greece, the soul debate evolved into the more familiar heart-versus-brain, the liver having been demoted to an accessory role. We are fortunate that this is …
Blowing in the Wind: El Zonda by Sonido Guay Neñe
Nature reveals that humanity is not in control of the outside world. How much does nature shape our internal landscape? There is a hot, dry wind that blows down from the …
Dolls from Around the World, part one: Dancing Figures
Ethnic dolls have much to do with memory and the interpretation of the past. They codify values, dress, gender roles, and appropriate occupations for the culture they represent– or at …
Quote for Today: Eula Biss
British researchers recently found that girls between the ages of seven and eleven harbor surprisingly strong feelings of dislike for their Barbie dolls, with no other toy or brand name …
Quote for Today: Seth Shostak
There is little chance that aliens from two societies anywhere in the Galaxy will be culturally close enough to really ‘get along.’ This is something to ponder as you watch …
Quote for Today: Ray B. Browne
An even more pointed example of the the power of the silence tabu in libraries occurred in Duluth in 1981. The police were pursuing a fugitive from justice who ran …
Voice, Language and Belonging: Renee Liang’s Chinglish
Children of immigrants often feel as if they belong nowhere, that no one comprehends their unique voice. The language and customs of their parents homeland may be confining, unfamiliar and …
The Sound of Hands: Ruke by Croatia’s Darko Rundek
Congratulations are due to Croatia, welcomed this week as the 28th member of the European Union after ten years of working and waiting. A sovereign nation for a little more …