How much do the actions and thoughts of our ancestors shape our lives and limit our experience? Louise Erdrich's A Plague of Doves tells the story of residents in the tiny town of Pluto, North Dakota, on the edge of the Ojibwe reservation. The town and the reservation are fictional, but Erdrich, the daughter of a … Continue reading Bound Together: Ancestry and Prejudice in Louis Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves
prejudice
Quote for Today: James McBride
It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was all surface but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to go off. I always felt that way about the South, that beneath the smiles and southern hospitality and politeness were a lot of guns and liquor and secrets. ―James McBride, The … Continue reading Quote for Today: James McBride
The Hidden Feminine: Examining the Female Image in Yemeni Art
Muslim women are frequently shortchanged by stereotypes. How do artists help to change minds and destroy prejudice? I have selected the work of two female photographers, Boushra Almutawakel and Yumna Al-Arashi, and two male painters, Hakim Alakel and Mazher Nizar, to show us the face of Muslim women. All of these artists are of Yemeni … Continue reading The Hidden Feminine: Examining the Female Image in Yemeni Art
Quote for Today: Aberjhani
On either side of a potentially violent conflict, an opportunity exists to exercise compassion and diminish fear based on recognition of each other's humanity. Without such recognition, fear fueled by uninformed assumptions, cultural prejudice, desperation to meet basic human needs, or the panicked uncertainty of the moment explodes into violence. ―Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury … Continue reading Quote for Today: Aberjhani
Quote for Today: Michel de Montaigne
Now, to return to my subject, I find that there is nothing barbarous and savage in this nation, by anything that I can gather, excepting, that every one gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in his own country. As, indeed, we have no other level of truth and reason, … Continue reading Quote for Today: Michel de Montaigne
Quote for Today: Albert Einstein
What a sad era when it is easier to smash an atom than a prejudice. -Albert Einstein Public Domain Image via Pixabay
Quote for Today: Ursula K. Le Guin
The fact that the Hegnish have absolutely no interest in any people except themselves can also cause offense, or even rage. Foreigners exist. That is all the Hegnish know about them, and all they care to know. They are too polite to say that it is a pity that foreigners exist, but if they had … Continue reading Quote for Today: Ursula K. Le Guin
Quote for Today: V.S. Carnes
Therefore, she hummed the provincial lullaby she had learned from the officers’ children in the English Quarter of Jerusalem, and watched in fascination while the savage radical’s eyes misted over with tears. For an instant, the prison bars melted away, and she felt God’s presence—for the first time since their imprisonment. She was not a … Continue reading Quote for Today: V.S. Carnes
Quote for Today: Doris Lessing
Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What … Continue reading Quote for Today: Doris Lessing
Quote for Today: Meraaqi
I want to peel away all the labels I had once given to others and place them upon the fabric of my own identity. They have reflected back to me, everything that I refuse to See in myself. ―Meraaqi, Divine Trouble Image © Thomas Leuthard with CCLicense