Thoughts about things I’ve written or read or heard or seen. An attempt to stay positive in a turbulent world.
Recent Articles
October is Black History Month in the UK. But shouldn’t Black history be taught all the time?
Black History Month began in America as an annual History Week, in 1925. That year, Black historian Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, announced Negro History Week: A celebration of a people that many in this country at the time believed had no place in history. February was chosen because it marked the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick...Continue reading→
The Doll Test and the heartbreakingly detrimental effects of segregation
In the 1940s, in America, Doctors Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of tests known colloquially as The Doll Tests. Children between the ages of three and seven were asked to identify the race of the dolls and which colour they preferred. A majority of the children preferred the white doll and...Continue reading→
Deborah Alma’s Poetry Pharmacy: Poetry Prescriptions
Last week I had a telephone consultation with a pharmacist. Not an unusual thing to do in these corona-times, but this pharmacist doesn’t dispense drugs. Deborah Alma is a Poetry Pharmacist. Before corona I’d planned to go to The Poetry Pharmacy in Bishops Castle, in June. But by the end of March I realised I...Continue reading→
What does it mean to be white? It means I’m racist
In a recent interview, Robin DiAngelo, a white person, said that to understand my racism, as a white person, I need to ask myself: What does it mean to be white? She said that if I ask myself if I’m racist I’ll say no. Because, consciously, I’m not. But if I say I’m not racist, then...Continue reading→
Clean Air: Act. And a poem and a chat
If you’re not as ancient as me you won’t remember the pea-soupers in London: and I’d only been breathing for just under two years at the time so it’s not exactly a memory for me either, but by 1956 The Clean Air Act had been passed to reduce air pollution in the city. It was a...Continue reading→
George Floyd: I Can’t Breathe: BlackOut Tuesday 2 June 2020
LA Reid, record producer and founder of HitCo, posted this on twitter two days ago: And George Floyd’s brother, Philonese, says this on YouTube. He calls for peaceful protests and for people to use their votes in the coming US election to call for the change that’s so badly needed in white supremacy and white fragility...Continue reading→
Shonaleigh Cumbers: Grief is Love with Nowhere to Go; and One Green Thing: clean aviation fuel
Shonaleigh Cumbers is a Drut’syla. To quote from here: She’s a living tradition holder. It’s a tradition you probably won’t have heard of. It’s a tradition that flourished in Jewish families, but that was wiped out during the holocaust. Almost wiped out. As far as we know, Shonaleigh is the last Drut’syla. Drut’syla is the Yiddish...Continue reading→
Stories for Children in Lockdown
At the beginning of April Yahoo set up a short story competition for stories to entertain children during the lockdown. Yesterday, 27 April, they announced the 20 shortlisted stories and mine, FLYING COLOURS, is one of them. The stories are now open to public vote (until 8 May) and if you’d like to vote for mine,...Continue reading→
Poems for these Coronavirus Times
Read by Christopher Eccleston, written by Matthew Kelly for his partner, Jill Scully, who is a district nurse. And here’s one from our poet laureate, Simon Armitage, which, as explained in this Guardian article, moves from the outbreak of bubonic plague in Eyam in the 17th century, when a bale of cloth from London brought fleas carrying...Continue reading→
Wise and kind words for the Coronavirus pandemic by Adrie Kusserow
This poem for these strange times is written by Adrie Kusserow after Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese : it speaks for itself. Mary Oliver for Corona Times, thoughts after the poem Wild Geese, by Adrie Kusserow, ethnographic poet You do not have to become totally zen, You do not have to use this isolation to make your marriage...Continue reading→
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