When I’ve met Millennials whom I’ve come to admire I’ve simply categorized them with a group of my own allegiance rather than consider the possibility that I’d been using blanket stereotypes to make myself more comfortable. The other day I was in the back of an Über car scrolling through comments on an acquaintance’s Facebook […]
I’m tired of watching Americans baffle the world with repeated displays of callous, uninformed derision at the expense of its own improvement. What if we’re all wrong about Donald Trump? What if he has no intention of becoming president, but is holding a mirror up to warn America of what it’s becoming, instead? Think about […]
“Today’s overprotective, failure-avoidant parenting style has undermined the competence, independence, and academic potential of an entire generation.” Over the past couple of years there’s been a growing rally cry in support of failure. I first noticed this in 2013, when I had coffee with Harvard professor Sarah Lewis to talk about a book she was […]
As we become more dogmatic about our political views, we become more likely to wall ourselves off from any reminder of an opposing viewpoint, even down to where we choose to live. Recently, my husband and I put a contract on a home in Charleston, South Carolina. I’m thankful that we found a suitable place […]
Finally, the place where I live is making a public admission that I’m welcome here. The last few weeks have felt like a train moving through the night without interior or exterior lighting. I’m not sure if the destination has been fully revealed, but as I sat in my 4-year-old son’s room a couple of […]
As a black woman, it isn’t always easy to explain why I remain in this place. But today may give some insight into why I do. On the surface, the events that have transpired since 8pm last night in Charleston, South Carolina, seem a lot like other killings of black citizens that have happened over […]
The publishing world is continuing to send a generations-old message that a person’s gender and the color of their skin affects their ability to produce literature. Luckily, when I recently came across a New York Times essay by Jennifer Weiner about the increased pressure on female writers to tend to their looks, I was coming […]
Millennials will soon be in charge of the country while lacking an intimate, critical knowledge of America’s history. Due to that lack of knowledge, they’re changing the definition of one of the most politically charged words of our time to one of personal philosophy and the bliss of ignorance. Dismay is the only word that […]
Kids are capable of making realistic connections whether we use a protective narrative with them or not. Once, before my husband finally sold his small, 40-year-old, spit-and-tape sealed sailboat, we considered joining a yacht club at our local lake. An acquaintance who was a member invited us to a party at the club so we […]
The preening, posing, and questions of “who are you wearing?” already perpetuate Hollywood’s ongoing quest to objectify women. To bring this sideshow to Washington is a problem. Early on in our marriage my husband and I started to block off one Saturday in April to cook a special dinner together, crack open a bottle of […]
If women working as writers becomes a normal idea, maybe the idea of women being valued members of any profession will become normal, as well. Once, when my oldest son was in first grade, he gave me a pretty stellar dressing down regarding a Dr. Seuss party at his school. I’d volunteered to do the […]
