The Slaveowner Was Just A Man

As I continue to work on You Will Not Be Forgotten, each Wednesday I am going to post about something I’ve learned in the process of writing this book. Maybe it will be something about myself or about slavery or about history in general; I’m not sure. One...

Landmark Day

Today is a landmark day here in the Bremo Bluff office of writer Andi Cumbo. In the next couple of hours, she will draft the final chapter of her book You Will Not Be Forgotten . . . Okay, so there’s no reporter here covering this day for me. ABC News...

In the Face of Discouragement

This morning, I woke after the gift of a perfect night’s sleep, and well, I felt depleted . . . or maybe a little defeated is the right word. Here where I live, emotions and politics have been running high as the county tries to sort out budget issues. Of...

The Time to Dream Dreams

Your old men will dream, your young men will see visions. The verse above comes from the book of Joel in the Christian Bible. It actually has to do with “end times” prophesy and how the earth will look before God’s judgment, but that’s not why...

The Hash Marks of History

Where is the wall that brims the height and progress of the Nigras? Sheetrock record of crosscut backs, split hymens, slit bellies, sold-away sons. — from “Hash Marks” by Nikky Finney I see these people everywhere here. In the way the fields outside...