This was Rodney King’s plea in 1992, when he was physically assaulted by the LA cops during that year’s race riots. Thirty-two...
Angela Davis6
Standing Up to 2021
A group of elderly Jews gather each day to talk politics. One day, one of them announces: “You know what? I am an optimist!” The others are shocked, but one of them asks: “Wait a minute! If you’re an optimist, why do you look so worried?” “You think it’s easy being an optimist?“ Taking a cue from the elderly Jew in the joke, [...]
Pat Taub
The Straight Scoop on Witches
With Halloween right around the corner, it’s an appropriate time to reflect on the origin of witches, and to understand how the village wise woman was turned into a representation of evil, becoming a “witch.” We have to travel back to the 1500’s in Western Europe, when women healers and midwives played a central role in village after [...]
Pat Taub
A Different July 4th, Antiracism, Spiritual Confusion & More!
What 4thof July? I don’t think any of us could have imagined a 4thof July like the one we are celebrating, or not celebrating, this year. No family gatherings, picnics or fireworks except for those who are ignoring social distancing. For Blacks the 4th is not a holiday to be celebrated, since, unlike the early white settlers who rejoiced [...]
Pat Taub
Black Women Writers Who Opened My Eyes
Young Black women writers are making huge inroads in literature, critical thinking and memoirs. In many ways their path was paved by the revolutionary writings of Black feminists who gained a national audience in the ‘70s and ‘80s. This was the period that shaped my feminism. I was young and newly exploring feminism. Initially my readings [...]
Pat Taub
Unforgettable Black Women Writers
For Black History Month I want to honor some of the brilliant African American women writers that have enlarged my worldview. I’m particularly indebted to Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Alice Walker, Angela Davis and Lucille Clifton. I discovered them in the pre-internet era of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s when face-to-face communication was often [...]
Pat Taub
Angela Davis: Woman Warrior Extraordinaire!
Which living American has done the most to articulate theories of social change and to walk the talk? For me, the answer is hands down, Angela Davis. Like Noam Chomsky, another leading public intellectual, Davis is largely ignored by the mainstream press–a fact easily explained by her brilliant critiques of neoliberalism and its vast [...]
Pat Taub