Who’s in charge around here?
I’m a former daily newspaper journalist who worked in the Pacific Northwest and New England. Now a book reviewer, writer, editor, iMac user. I founded Rich Litho Media, which provides writing/editing and publishing services for authors and small businesses.
Read more in the About section.
Email me at kimberly@typelikethewind.com
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Category Archives: Race & Class
77 Words: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot (Crown, 2010) - Cells from Henrietta Lacks, a cancer patient in the 1950s, started something that seems more magical than scientific. Johns Hopkins doctors who took the cells from Lacks, a poor African American farmer, never imagined creating HeLa – the “immortal” cells grown in culture [...]
Lena Horne, artist and activist, (1917-2010)
Lena Horne was more than a singer; she transported her listeners in a way few artists do. She was more than someone who broke the popular-entertainment color barrier; she was an intelligent, beautiful and tireless treasure. Her New York Times obituary doesn’t quite capture her spirit and sound, but this vintage video clip comes close. [...]
Also posted in Art, History Leave a comment
Arizona: Toughen up that immigrant law.
I was away last week, traveling the highways of the Southwest and the byways of the Northeast. Now I’ve come home to ponder the brilliance of the new immigrant law in Arizona. It’s ingenious, really. It requires local cops to grab anyone who looks suspicious and demand proof of citizenship. Simple, but brilliant. The last [...]
A snapshot of us.
Sometimes an hour with the newspaper is all I need to see the immense contradictions and ironies of this country. These New York Times pieces are a case in point. A story by Katie Zernike ponders polling of resentful Tea Party supporters. I am ashamed of these fellow citizens; their racism, their short-sighted, self-serving demands [...]
Holsters and health care.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has answered a question that’s been nagging at me: What’s really behind the strong opposition to the health care plan? I know that some people worry that changes in insurance regulations will erode the coverage they already have. I’m convinced that out-and-out racism plays a role and that some opponents are [...]
Also posted in Ethics, Government, Health, Politics Leave a comment
Brothers under the skin
I’ve just finished two books chosen with my patented speed-browsing library technique (see earlier post) and it was a gratifying, if odd, mix. One is the autobiography “Black is the New White” by Paul Mooney, a groundbreaking stand-up comedian in his own right, who wrote and inspired much of the late Richard Pryor’s comedic work. [...]
Also posted in Authors, Books Leave a comment
Judging books by their covers…it works
My local library branch shelves the newly acquired books on a long bookcase right inside the front door. The books are divided into fiction and nonfiction, but otherwise no distinctions are made. I’ve developed the habit of zipping through the section, picking a few books for late-night recreational reading based on such deep thinking as [...]
Also posted in Authors, Books Leave a comment
Time for groundshaking change
Why is it that earthquakes always hit so hard in the poorest areas? The erudite New York Times columnist David Brooks reminds us that poverty means shakily constructed buildings, inadequate water, sewer and medical services even before the disaster strikes. He offers grisly evidence of how that plays out: The 1989 quake in the Bay [...]
Also posted in Ethics, Government, Politics 4 Comments
Oppression 3.0
I’ve been thinking about division of labor lately and I realize just how dramatically the who-does-what-around-the-house process has changed for me. Twenty years ago, the question of who emptied the dishwasher was a feminist issue. Ten years before that it was completely non-negotiable because I flatly refused to do any “traditionally female” activities. This hard-ass [...]
Also posted in Gender Mysteries Leave a comment
Sweet land of liberty. Wait, not so fast.