“I’m an Israeli, and a Palestinian…and I believe in dialogue.”

There was a world of music in her head growing up in Israel’s Galilee. Sting and Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. But there was also Um Khalthoum and Fairuz plus traditional and modern Bulgarian music Like a salad of a soul’s favorites, the melodies and harmonies have been mixed and melded again and again. And [...]

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Written by on March 22, 2012

What our children and their books could teach Rush Limbaugh and friends

At my children’s elementary school, the values taught are posted all over the school with pride: respect, trustworthiness, truthfulness, active listening, no put-downs, personal best. The children are all so adorably earnest as they actively try to embody these values, to become better people, to become better friends to one another. What is it that went so terribly wrong for Limbaugh and some of these Congressmen between elementary school and adulthood?

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Written by on March 18, 2012

Linsanity–a hero for Little Brother

As I got caught up in Linsanity along with everyone else, I found myself talking about Jeremy Lin with my Chinese language class, my Critical Race theory class, my Asian Pacific American History class, even at a career talk for Chinese American high school students. I finally had something to say to the little boy next door who spends his afternoons shooting hoops on the corner. Jeremy Lin applied to everything, everywhere, in equal parts good and bad, and for once, everyone—Asian American or not—was in agreement. Then I realized the person who needed Jeremy Lin the most was my eight-year-old son, Little Brother.

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Written by on March 12, 2012

The tools we need to do our jobs

If we want to do our best, we need to be our best on our jobs. And that mean training. So, here are two workshops – sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club – next week that you don’t want to miss. 1. On Tuesday, Jan. 24th there will be a workshop looking at the latest [...]

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Written by on January 19, 2012

We gain so much wading in the water of each other’s cultural experiences–Adventures in Multicultural Living

I was so impressed to watch my children gently, ever gently, patiently, without judgment or consternation, lean over the kitchen table with soft #2B pencils pouring over the music scores with my father. The girls explained to him that in spirituals, a lot of the songs are coded instructions on how to escape to freedom, for example, in “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” the drinking gourd refers to the Big Dipper and the North Star; in other songs, the River Jordan represents the Ohio River, the last river to cross before reaching freedom in Canada; and Canaan means Canada because once slaves made it to Canada, they could not be sent back, as they could from the northern states.

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Written by on January 19, 2012

Oh! Oshogatsu! Missing Japanese New Year’s Day–Adventures in Multicultural Living

Until I received this infusion of my favorite rice, I simply did not have the heart to write aboutJapanese New Year or Oshogatsu. I discretely tried to get myself invited to the Aramakis’ here in town, but they are going to the Shimouras’. All I could think was how much I missed making the rounds with my parents to all their Japanese-American friends’ homes to visit and to eat our way into the new year.

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Written by on November 17, 2011

They speak for Chicago’s black community

This is the way it went. The momentum just kept building. First they talked about what the black news media does in Chicago and what you need to do if you want to get your story told. Then they talked about what’s news and what matters and then the hands went up in the room [...]

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Written by on November 9, 2011

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