Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, David W. Blight’s monumental biography of that greatest of Americans, is a long, challenging, and utterly fascinating read. After waiting for months to borrow it…
As someone born in 1950 and raised and educated in a Eurocentric culture I learned early that civilized societies are intellectually, socially, and technologically superior to primitive societies. This despite…
I finished reading this fine biography a while ago, but I’ve been having trouble writing about it. It was very good. If some parts were a bit too detailed for…
I’m supposed to be writing about the Jackie Robinson biography, which I finished weeks ago, but so far I haven’t been motivated to do so. I finished another Wallander mystery…
Canadians, contact the Senate. Urge them to work together to pass Private Member’s Bill C-262, “An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United…
Let me set the scene. The year is 1946. The United States is deeply segregated. The birth of the civil rights movement that would begin as African-American soldiers returned home…
I’ve been getting rid of some accumulated paper. I found a receipt for a full year of university tuition in 1978-79: $740. I also found a paystub for my minimum…
Whenever I read a book, I try to spend a bit of time reflecting on it. I try to choose the most important details of it to retell to myself,…
One of the classes I’m teaching these days is a secular Bible study class. I treat the Bible like a work of literature. We discuss the different historical periods and…
When European explorers made first contact with peoples around the world both cultures changed. Unfortunately for those being contacted they were changed by a lot of diseases and exploitation (sadly…
Yesterday was Orange Shirt Day. October 1 through 7 is First Nations Public Library Week in Canada. I’ll write more about this soon. For now, a book review from a…
Read this play last night – brilliant, classic Fennario. Having grown up in the Verdun/Point area his characters tend to send shivers down my spine in their uncanny familiarity and…
The theme of this year’s TD Summer Reading Club — a national program (developed by Toronto Public Library) that more than 2,000 Canadian libraries participate in — is Feed Your…
If you’ve ever wondered about the history of the land you’re on then this website (and app) is for you! The website Native-Land collects historical data from around the world…
Like other art forms styles come and go in architecture; and when styles go in architecture it can result in demolition of buildings (and thus history). In Canada university and…
I’ve gathered some thoughts about several novels I read but neglected to write about. I enjoyed them all to varying degrees; all are worth reading if you enjoy the type.…
In 1787, the American Constitutional Convention came to be. George Washington was elected to be its chairman and he sat in a very beautiful chair. On the back of the…
This is a wild tale of a misguided 17 year old kid who later killed himself after being in and out of jail.
I think that the act of reading poetry nowadays is already an archaic, cultural activity. When we read a poem, it is tantamount to going to pioneer village in order…
Maxime Bernier should walk in other people’s shoes before he accuses anyone of racism
In the 1970s, Lincoln Alexander fought the caucus of the Progressive Conservative Party. Mr. Alexander fought them because as a Black man, he wanted to support anti-hate speech legislation. His…