(This piece originally appeared at www.BahaiTeachings.org and expresses the author’s personal views. It subsequently appeared on the Huffington Post.) The day after the horrific shootings in Newtown, Conn., at the busy Trader Joe’s near my home in Pennsylvania, a well-dressed, middle-aged man behind me in line had a large button on that read “Freedom First.…
Amidst the grief and anguish following the shootings in Newtown, CT, I love that the NY Times released this short Op-Doc video, which is being widely shared (click the Heart to watch). I think the street scene embodies what restoring faith in the goodness of humanity looks like, and points out an important principle that…
I’m struck by the recent op-ed by rapper-poet-pop star K’naan in the NY Times, “Censoring Myself for Success,” found here. It made me sad – but wasn’t surprising – to read how music industry executives wanted him to water down his message and fascinating life story growing up in war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, so that his…
I’m interested how certain phrases creep into the vernacular. There’s one I hear in the press, which always made me uncomfortable. I wouldn’t repeat it and don’t want my kids to use it. It’s”illegal immigrant.” Actually makes me feel yucky to even type it here. It’s a condition of immigration based on current interpretation of…
On Friday I visited Philadelphia’s Independence Charter School, where the entire school day was dedicated to an inspiring Human Rights Day program for all the kids. I plan to write a full piece on that soon, but in the meantime wanted to share a few ideas on International Human Rights Day, which was this past…
