My Summer Reading: African Literature – Part 1

Many summers ago, I spent two months at the University of California, Berkeley, reading and studying African Literature. I had just finished a particularly difficult seminary year. I had also just completed graduate school at Notre Dame.  The seminary staff said I could take the summer for retreat and reading. I lived in a large

When Your Doctor Says “Cancer” Part Three

When I was first diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer, eight months ago, I noted that I would occasionally forget my diagnosis. Perhaps it was the immersive nature of teaching, the normal turns of a busy life. But I would remember, every few days, and it surprised me. Perhaps the mind only lets us hold new

MLK 50 Years: Dr. King’s Final Sunday Sermon at Washington National Cathedral

“Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution” was the title of Dr. King’s last Sunday sermon. He, of course, did not know it would be his last. But on March 31, 1968, in Washington to advance his new Poor Peoples’ Campaign, he walked up the steps of the Cathedral’s Canterbury Pulpit, to preach this powerful and

MLK 50 Years: What Killed Dr. King?

Fifty years ago today, on April 4, 1968, Dr. King and his group were preparing to leave the Lorraine Motel for dinner at the home of a local Memphis minister. His longtime friend from Montgomery, Ralph Abernathy, was in their room shaving. The young guys, Jesse Jackson, Hosea Williams, Andrew Young, and others, were in

MLK 50 Years: “I May Not Get There with You”

Dr. King knew the movement he led for human dignity and peace was not about him. He knew the movement mattered more than his own individual life. While he knew his part in it, he understood he was only a part of it. It would continue after him and, of course, he was right. Though

MLK 50 Years: Why Was Dr. King in Memphis?

Being a sanitation worker in Memphis was tough work. Black sanitation workers were paid sub-standard wages. They were not allowed to drive the trash trucks which meant they were exposed to weather all day long. But in February, 1968, just months before Dr. King would come to support them, an incident took place which galvanized

MLK 50 Years: Do We Know Him?

Beginning today, the last day of March, 2018, and over the coming month, I will post various reflections on the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 4th, in just a few days, we will mark 50 years since his assassination in Memphis. Our country, and the world, is in deep need

2018: Protest, Write, Heal, and Drum

2018 is here. As my American Literature students know, Henry David Thoreau urges us to “live deliberately.” They also know that Langston Hughes wrote repeatedly about the tragedy of “a dream deferred,” part of which can be understood as the need for intensity and focus in pursuing our dreams. One thing I’ve learned in this life

Gratitude & Free Throws

As 2017 comes to its end, the daylight grows and we move toward more light. I love these days between the Winter Solstice and Christmas– and the first days of the new year, 2018. As a teacher, I have these days off but am looking forward to the new semester, its students, its poems. These

When Your Doctor Says “Cancer” — Part Two

Two months ago today, a urologist at George Washington University Hospital diagnosed me with low-grade prostate cancer. It’s interesting how the mind and heart internalize that kind of information, over time. While this diagnosis is likely very manageable and treatable, my mind has gone to several places with it over these last two months. As