My parents and I made a pilgrimage to two places of deep reflection and crafting of action to further social and economic justice – Highlander Center and the Children’s Defense Fund’s [Alex] Haley Farm, both in east Tennessee. Highlander has been in existence...
Read moreWestern North Carolina – March 2019
Even though I grew up in the two Carolinas, I haven’t lived here since I left to go to college. I have come to visit consistently, but had still seen relatively little of my home state as an adult. This trip up to Boone and back was a start! Linville Caverns...
Read moreFirst Signs of Spring, Asheville, North Carolina – March 2019
“Spring is springing down here, y’all! As is my southern accent.” – Me on March 1st Daffodils and purple crocuses! Kwanzan Flowering Cherry! Lenten Roses! Red Maple! Yellow...
Read moreHarpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia – February 2019
Wow, has American history come alive for me on this trip! I keep getting insights about how the natural resources attracted native peoples and their subsistence lives, then colonial settlement and their resource-extraction economies. How the labor forces evolved to...
Read moreMisc. Northern Virginia – February 2019
Like many states, Virginia has several fairly distinct regions. Alexandria is a suburb of Washington, DC and in fact, used to be within the boundaries of the District of Columbia. The Leesburg area, 40 miles away from Washington, was primarily farmland and small towns...
Read moreHarriet Tubman Underground Railroad Natl Monument, Church Creek, Maryland – February 2019
I had a basic sketch of Harriet Tubman in my head. Underground Railroad. Led scores of enslaved people to freedom in the north. But really, I had to be with the enormity of this. She had spent her life as a slave, mostly separated from her family, performing brutally...
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