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Hendrix Lives
Defined by the chaos of a presidential campaign under literal siege, an unpopular foreign war and the compound tragedies of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the year 1968 was a pivot point in the national life—the year America almost stopped being America. Part of that upheaval was cultural. The…
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The New Old Dominion
Since 1964, one thing that’s been as inevitable as death and taxes has been that Virginia would wind up in the red column in presidential elections. The Old Dominion’s loyalty to the Republican Party was so secure that GOP candidates made only token appearances in the state. This year things are different. If the polls…
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Keep 'Gossip Girl' White
Months ago I got a message from an old schoolyard chum, “It’s our 10-year anniversary. Can you believe it?” The thought of a reunion had me super excited. We could flip through our high-school memories like flash cards. The time Ms. Dumoski taught an entire period of trig with her skirt tucked into her control…
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'I'll Be Voting for Sen. Barack Obama.'
“Because I do what the facts tell me, Captain…” – Capt. Richard Davenport from A Soldier’s Play (1981) The true importance of any political endorsement is debatable. But this one is big, since it involves America’s most recognizable military hero declaring a preference that could help undecided centrist Republicans and independents make up their minds.…
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'I'll Be Voting for Sen. Barack Obama.'
“Because I do what the facts tell me, Captain…” – Capt. Richard Davenport from A Soldier’s Play (1981) The true importance of any political endorsement is debatable. But this one is big, since it involves America’s most recognizable military hero declaring a preference that could help undecided centrist Republicans and independents make up their minds.…
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What the World Owes Congo
Last summer, the national news media announced the deaths of four gorillas killed in a national park in eastern Congo. A United Nations delegation was quickly dispatched to investigate. As a Congolese living in the United States and hungry for news back home, I was thankful for the coverage. But since my grandparents still live…
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'The Express': Slow and Steady
The Express is a film based on the life of Syracuse University football star Ernie Davis, the first African American to win a Heisman Trophy. But for all of us who are tired of clichéd sports flicks, the film offers something that is not just surprising, but rare: a story about strong and meaningful relationships…
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Trapped in the 'Heart of Darkness'
In late 1874, Henry Morton Stanley—he of the pith helmet and “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”—set off west from Zanzibar with 356 porters, guides and camp followers, determined to fill in many of the lingering gaps in the map of Africa. Exactly 999 days and about 5,000 harrowing miles later, he reached the Atlantic, having lost all…
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All Twittered Out
I am glad there will be no debate this week. I skipped them all. Okay, I watched them in bits and pieces on YouTube after the fact. But I couldn’t take the intense emotion of the actual events. It’s not that I’m sitting on the sidelines. I am politically involved and well informed. But the…