Posts Tagged ‘Social Justice’

Two rich days of solo travel in Halifax August 10, 2023 No Comments

In this travel letter about two days in Halifax, I share about the roles of Viola Desmond and Carrie Best in the fight for civil rights in Canada, and about Pearleen Oliver who fought for Black nurses to be accepted into nursing schools in Canada. I describe my visits to the Black Cultural Centre and the former city of Africville, both of which are well worth visiting. I mention Faith Nolan, a Canadian folk and jazz singer-songwriter of mixed African, Mi’kmaw, and Irish heritage who works to prevent the erasure of Black experiences and contributions in Canada.

From Kenya to the USA: Visiting family and friends and learning his/her/ourstory September 4, 2022 27 Comments

In this letter from Nairobi, Kenya, I share pictures and stories from a month of travels to six states in the USA, beginning in Ocean County, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and continuing to magical Brooklyn, New York. In Virginia, friends and I visit Emancipation Oak at Hampton University and “Hearth Memorial to the Enslaved” [...]

Reflecting on Empower Missouri and a Life of Service: Conversations with Mary Kay McPhee December 25, 2017 1 Comment

Mary Kay McPhee of Kansas City accepted, at the age of 90, the invitation of Empower Missouri to be interviewed about her life of service. She embodies the Empower Missouri slogan of advocating for justice and empowering change. In her ethical will and the conversations documented here, she shares her life, values, and hopes.

Crafting Effective Strategies April 25, 2016 No Comments

The A. Philip Randolph awards were distributed on April 15, 2016, at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and Museum in Kansas City. In the 1920s and 1930s, Randolph helped organize America’s porters and maids working on the Pullman railroad cars and created the first African-American-led labor union. Many Pullman maids and wives, daughters, and sisters of Pullman porters were members of the Ladies Auxiliary which shaped “public debates over black manhood and unionization, setting political agendas for the black community, and crafting effective strategies to win racial and economic justice.”