White privilege, as you may know, is a sociological concept describing the advantages enjoyed by white persons beyond what is commonly experienced by the non-white people in those same social spaces (nation, community, workplace, etc.). It differs from racism or prejudice by the fact that a person benefiting from white privilege need not hold racist […]

DEMOSH The world recently celebrated a rather unceremonious “monthiversary.” Kenya—which up until a month ago was often described as the brightest spot in East Africa, if not the whole continent—is still in chaos. See some of the haunting reports and photographs of The Vigilante Journalist if you doubt that fact. A month ago Kenya’s president, […]

bettyx1138 Hanging above my desk, you’ll find a sheet of paper taped to the wall. It’s titled “The Great Gatsby” and one of the quotes on it says this: In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel […]

In my younger years, I was given some advice that I’ve always taken quite seriously: Never have any heroes who remain above ground. And though that may sound like a claim that a person should only make heroes of sewer rats, subway conductors, and water sanitation engineers; it’s not. Depending on who you ask, it […]

This last Monday, this country celebrated—to the extent that it celebrates any federal holiday—Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. In honor of the occasion, the New York Times ran an interesting essay by Sarah Vowell that I couldn’t help but agree with. Here’s what Dr. King got out of the Sermon on the Mount. On Nov. […]