7 mins read

I have spent the past 6 months reading hundreds of poems by young people – I was surprised to find hope, not despair

Young poets wrestled with loneliness, fractured families, violence and other challenges – but also showed an unwillingness to surrender to despair.

8 mins read

I study the Declaration of Independence, and here’s why the colonists’ grievances are surprisingly relevant, 250 years later

A partisan judiciary, arbitrary power, officials beyond the reach of the people – these are the grievances that drove a revolution.

8 mins read

Juneteenth, Jim Crow and how the fight of one Black Texas family to make freedom real offers lessons for Texas lawmakers trying to erase history from the classroom

For the formerly enslaved Black people in Texas, Juneteenth meant more than freedom. It meant reuniting families and building schools and developing political power.

10 mins read

How the development of solar and wind farms on the Tibetan Plateau is affecting local communities

China’s national government policies on energy and economic development are changing pastoral life on the Tibetan Plateau.