Admittedly, I'm not following all the nostalgia on the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice in 63. I used to teach "I Have a Dream" in speech, so if anyone really wants a 50-minute lecture on its rhetorical considerations, I will be glad to reproduce it, also out of nostalgia (though would probably gladly pare it down quite a bit without the ( Read more... )

There are stories about John Brown's Body. For those not inculcated in American history in grade school, John Brown was an heroic abolitionist who thought slavery was anathema and should be stopped by any means necessary. Not being a Quaker, the strongest anti-abolition religious group, he didn't see a reason to eschew violence. (Sorry, I think ( Read more... )

Read this morning how the Crazy Right is appropriating "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for its own purposes -- plays the tune at the Crazy Meetings and all. Which did my historian's heart no good at all. Went to the Move On site because I assumed they'd named their organization after the version whose chorus goes "Move on over or I'll move on over ( Read more... )

Here's the wish: may the "Christian" leadership stfu about the "true meaning of Christmas" and "Christmas has been hijacked." Your holiday is being used by people with a different agenda? Payback is a bitch ( Read more... )

Long-time readers may know that I spent some early teenage years before Roe v. Wade. I don't think I've ever written about them, mostly because high school was hell from beginning to end and I try not to think about it. But recently, I've been thinking that an actual memory of that time, supplemented by solid research, might be an unusual offering ( Read more... )