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We are surrounded by division, more rancorous than any time in most of our lifetimes.  Can art and beauty help us? The aesthetic experience is one of the most profound, awe-producing aspects of our lives, yet art is too often depicted as nice, pleasant but perhaps...

Despite persistent racism, there are now 65,000 Black lawyers (American Bars Association) and 85,000 Black engineers (National Society of Black Engineers. Thirty-nine percent of African Americans hold higher education degrees (Equity in Higher Education). Fourteen...

We live in the bodies of our ancient ancestors. They were not apex predators; being afraid of becoming a large animal’s dinner was part of their lives.  Their brains grew to focus on danger above all else—their survival depended on it. And so we, with largely the same...

Working class people know how to live in times such as these. If you are feeling like there is more uncertainty, instability, loss of control of your life, you’re not wrong.  Insurance risk analyses show that life now is indeed risker than it was 20 years ago. Flood,...

Worshippers become fans become voters. Historically, Americans have been the most religious of the affluent societies, regularly attending places of worship in the largest numbers.  That has been changing over the last decades, with a big drop during Covid that has...

I believe that most people make decisions that are reasonable to them within their own logic system.  It is important work to understand the logic systems of those with whom we disagree, including those whom we see as racist. Race is one of the primary ways we...

Fourth of a series on the elements and emotions involved with successful community-based innovation. While each blog stands alone, you’ll get the best understanding if you read them in order. I am the lead mentor for a group of young men who were often called...

Following the media coverage of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, I’ve noticed moments when the mainstream press doesn’t see, or worse, misinterprets what I see as a Black woman and a scholar of Black women as cultural actors.  As a...

Third of a series on the elements and emotions involved with successful community-based innovation. While each blog stands alone, you’ll get the best understanding if you read them in order. The community does not need your pity. What is pity?  Most definitions offer...

Second of a series on the elements and emotions involved with successful community-based innovation. While each blog stands alone, you’ll get the best understanding if you read them in order. My first lesson in relative power came as I started first grade.  My mother...

This is the first of a series on the elements and emotions involved with successful community-based innovation. A good heart is never enough.  Compassion alone changes nothing  I believe there are good people all around us.   Sometimes, it doesn’t look that way.  We...