Columns

I hate to be cliché, but I’m going to tell you a proverb you’ve probably already heard a hundred or so times.

This year, Aug. 28 will mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his eminent “I Have a Dream” speech. The large black-and-white signs carried by the marchers are dominant images that have always stood out to me. There was an array of bold messages being paraded around the National Mall that included “We Demand Voting Rights Now,” “End Segregated Rules in Public Schools” and “Civil Rights Plus Full Employment Equals Freedom.” When looking at the historic photos of other iconic leaders who spoke that day — John Lewis, Daisy Bates, A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Walter Reuther, Floyd McKissick and Whitney Young — it is powerfully clear that a mighty declaration was being made against the evils of racial hatred and discrimination that still hardened the hearts of many in our nation. Bates was the only woman who spoke on the March’s program as she gave the “Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom.” Myrlie Evers had previously been appointed for this task but could not attend.

You don’t need a master’s degree in nuclear engineering to put furniture together. But I’m glad my son-in-law has one. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a nice new love seat and a set of matching chairs on the patio.

Character is one of those intangibles that’s sometimes difficult to determine, especially when it comes to those we don’t really know on a personal level. However, in this age of ubiquity when it comes to how we scrutinize our stars, sometimes there’s a story that emerges, often on a social-media platform, which grabs the eye. In this case, it’s a story that shows that not all those athletes for whom we so lustily cheer, many of whom are long on ego and a sense of entitlement, are cut from the same flawed bolt of cloth.

Another week, another lame Trump indictment.

It’s hard to be humble, but in fourth grade I was named “Class Poet.”

I am honored to be relocating my residence to the house “in town” to which my grandparents moved when my grandparents “retired” from farming 30 years ago.

When our 17-year-old refrigerator started wheezing, I fully expected we’d need a new one. I was shocked — and frankly a little disappointed — when a repair technician fixed it for less than $200. I had to postpone my dream of a shiny French-door replacement, but our no-frills Frigidaire is still working fine eight years later.

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

As millions of children return to public school, it’s a good idea to again examine what they are being taught and what is being left out. It also offers an annual opportunity for parents to ask if their kids are being educated or indoctrinated.