Two supporters help up a banner at the back of the auditorium to show their support for the proposed social equity course.
critical race theory
“I recently moved back to my hometown of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, located just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. I promised my husband, who’s Hispanic, that it is more progressive and more diverse than when I was growing up. I also sold him on the fact that it is one of the top school districts in the state. But, as I sat in a community meeting in our local high school auditorium and listened to my fellow community members make public statements about a proposed elective course on social equity, I worried that I was wrong.
Many of the comments at the microphone were in favor of teaching social equity. Some shared a personal story to illustrate why it’s important to them. But those who spoke out against the course hammered home the same sound bite that’s been echoing across the country as states seek to ban critical race theory (CRT) from public education.”
Matt Bertasso, the Highlands High School outgoing principal, said the social equity class in Fort Thomas was tabled because “It did not pass the neutrality test.” But our sanitized stories of America don’t pass the neutrality test either. Perhaps our curriculum should start by being honest.
Life doesn’t happen inside neat little schedules. Plus, my zest for life doesn’t quite match the illness’s demand that I slow down.
Click Below to Read the Full Column
What’d I Miss? Where Chronic Illness and Mental Health Intersect
I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disease that, when left untreated, can be debilitating. There is no cure. My diagnosis was not a death sentence, but my mobility slowed as the disease progressed.
This year, Mother’s Day is especially painful. Thanks to COVID-19, we have lost loved ones at an alarming rate. So, if this Mother’s Day is hard for you for the first time, I’m here to tell you it’s OK to sit this one out. It’s OK to say no to this holiday that feels like everyone is celebrating “at” you.
Read full column by clicking below
Mother’s Day. It’s Not for Everyone, by
Moms rock, but Mother’s Day? Not so much. The commercials, consumerism and social expectations would like me to believe differently.
I had the absolute honor of interviewing David Maraniss the two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and award-winning biographer about his writing process.
You can watch the 30-second end clip before you commit to watching the whole hour-long video (posted at the end of this blog).
David shared his writing experiences for writing his most recent book, A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father (2019). For this book he researched his own father with a biographer’s eye. David’s father Elliott Maraniss was a WWII veteran who had commanded an all-Black company in the Pacific. He was spied on by the FBI, named as a Communist by an informant, called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, fired from his newspaper job, and blacklisted for five years. Yet his father never lost faith in America and emerged on the other side with his family and optimism intact.
In our conversation, David gives great writing and research advice when dealing with personal and painful memories, especially when it focuses on family. Watch the full hour interview at the link below:
For upcoming interviews and workshops visit my Events Page.
If you like this interview you may also like my interview with John Avlon and Mary C. Curtis on the Art of the Interview:
“They’ll understand when they’re older.” It’s meant to be comforting: When our kids are parents struggling to do the right thing, they’ll realize how tough it all is. But the part no one tells you is that just because they may one day understand that you did the best you could, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll agree with your decisions.
A lot of recent conversations with my 19-year-old daughter have revolved around parenting decisions I made in her childhood that she disagrees with. She feels some have even caused lasting damage. Ouch. That hurts. I love my children, but love doesn’t make anyone a perfect parent. We’re all still human, just doing the best we can. I know my intentions, but I also know that I still don’t agree with every parenting decision my parents made. My goal was to be better than my parents, but I’m not any better—I’m just different.
Read what learned from the experts in my latest column below:
When Teens Question Their Parents, It’s All Part of Growing Up – Your Teen Mag
It’s uncomfortable and it hurts, but teens inevitably question and sometimes reject their parents’ ideas. It’s all part of growing up.
Read more of my work on child development and parenting
Video Game Safety For Girls
How do girl gamers deal with online harassment? And how can parents help?
Staying Home: Hard but Necessary for Teenagers
Quarantine may cause asymptomatic teens to have mental health concerns. How to talk about COVID-19 and balance your teen’s choices and feelings.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to put my thoughts down for this historic event.
It’s hard to wrap my brain around what this election means to me. It means progress. Even though there’s another white man as president and that’s not anything new.
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
I hope you’ll read the full column at the link below.
Opinion: Madam Vice President has a nice ring to it
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris delivers remarks to the nation after her and her running mate Joe Biden secure enough votes to win the White House. USA TODAY
I am so grateful I got to share this uplifting story following Justices Thomas and Alito’s damaging remarks against LGBTQ+ rights. Please, read the full story below and celebrate this generous kindness.
Opinion: Obergefell note gives gay teen hope about same-sex marriage
Recent comments from two Supreme Court justices set off alarms across the LGBTQ+ community about same-sex marriage.
It’s Library Card Sign Up Month (yes, that’s totally a thing) and it’s more than enough of a reason to bring back my memories of my childhood library. What is your favorite library memory?
Biking Uphill for Nancy Drew
I don’t know if the trip would have felt as worth it if I had lived at the top of the hill with the library at the bottom. To coast to the library and then struggle to make it home with books didn’t f
If you liked this story please check out the ones below also or visit my Articles and Clips page.
In a Blended Family, ‘Your Dad’ Becomes ‘Dad’
What do I call my new husband, when talking to my biological daughter and his?
Wanting a Baby at Age Forty? Blame It On My Teenagers!
All I knew was that I didn’t have any babies left. I had thought I’d have a few more years with her. But a baby at 40? I wasn’t finished yet with kids.
Opinion: Daylight Savings Time Monday a test of morning mom skills
Losing an hour of sleep when we’re this tired and this close to the end of the school year – is just cruel.
My Journal entry March 10, 1986. I was 11-years-old.
I’ve kept a journal since childhood. Beyond that writing always seemed to come attached to a punishment. I had to write sentences or an essay about how I felt. I’m not sure that’s the best way to encourage kids to write. Writing is about the use of language and literacy so you can’t start later and just say “write this down.” I really believe it starts when you’re young and teaching kids the context and language of the world that they live in. Teaching them how to articulate how they feel. Before they even write it on paper if you can help them find the words for their five senses and articulate that to you, it’s almost a version of emotional intelligence.
Kirsten and Matthew Scott Talk Musical Theater, Broadway Dreams, and ‘Rock of Ages,’ Plus Writing, Kids, and Gratitude Journals – Episode 515 – Dr. Nancy Berk
, their musical theater-driven journey and work with shows from ‘Jersey Boys’ to ‘Rock of Ages’, their new routines, and thoughts on Broadway’s safe comeback. Plus, the actors share their suggestions for children and young adults (and their parents) interested in the performing arts. In segment two,…
Isabel Escobar, a professor in chemical and materials engineering, holds two versions of the plastic support lattice and a vial of the membrane material to inactivate the COVID-19 virus.
The Pandemic has been hard on me. Especially because I have four different autoimmune diagnoses and am therefore immunocompromised. Writing about COVID-19 provides me some purpose during this time of lockdown. Sure, the country seems to be opening back up but the infection rates are not slowing down and that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon. Not to mention all of the people who are against wearing a mask.
So, If you need me, I’ll be at home. I’m not that brave – or stupid.
While here are home, I’ll continue reaching out to innovators and community leaders to get their stories of how they are trying to help during this pandemic. This gives me hope. Like my most recent story of Isabel Escobar and Eric Wooldridge. Researchers innovating an anti-viral mask here in Kentucky and making science work for us in amazing ways.
Isabel is a membrane scientist. Eric is an additive manufacturing expert (3D printing). Together they have created a new kind of mask filter. One that not only filters the air as you breath through it but one that actually kills pathogens that come in contact with it.
Escobar wanted to provide “passive disinfection” in a mask. She explained that “the presence of silver nanoparticles provides a secondary barrier in the form of inactivation of any viruses that accumulate on a mask.” Simply put, silver nanoparticles target and inactivate all viruses and bacteria, including the virus that causes COVID-19.
Read the full article at the link below
Appalachian Land Grant University, Community College Break New Ground on COVID Filtration Solution
Like other university researchers, the pandemic forced Isabel Escobar to shut down her lab instead of returning from spring break earlier this year. Escobar has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering is a professor of chemical and materials engineering in the University of Kentucky’s College of Engin…
To read more of my articles about COVID-19, the tips from experts and stories of community members on how we’re getting through, click the links below.
