Since the American Revolution, Americans have been divided about what the American Dream means. Is it about freedom and equality for all - or personal wealth? And what difference does it make? I gave this sermon on July 5, 2026, at Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church in Shoreline, Washington.
Voter fraud has been with us since the early days of the republic. It supported a century’s worth of political machines. It’s still with us, although it's harder to do and there's less of it. But it's still an excuse for voter suppression.
Americans voted in record numbers in 2020. You’d think that would be good news. But state legislators all over the country are working to restrict access to voting. They want to protect white people. This white backlash, this white rage, has surged up against every major advance made by people of color in U.S. history.
White privilege doesn’t mean that all white people have it easy. More than 14-million white people in this country are poor. They are the largest percentage of the poor. Our racist myths about poverty keep us from working to eradicate it. Those myths also make white poor people invisible.
Some of my ancestors held other people’s ancestors as slaves. Their part in our nation’s original sin brings up feelings of guilt. It seems to demand atonement. Maybe reparations from me. What would that look like?
A new historical novel about the early Quaker movement. The Kendal Sparrow explores the daring and deep faith of courageous young women. Author Barbara Luetke talked to me about her work.
It was a journey of just seven miles. It took Robert Smalls from slavery to freedom and into the history books. His hero's journey continued long after that, and continues even today.
Free Africans were much more important in the 16th century voyages of discovery and exploration than history has recognized. They played several crucial parts in Francis Drake’s voyage around the world
The Cowboy looms large in American mythology. The images most of us see and read about are of white men, “Anglos.” Our culture has managed to erase the fact that cowboys were also Mexican, Native American—and African-American.
Historical fiction is an enjoyable way for many of us to learn history, especially since the internet has made fact-checking easy and even fun. Let’s take a recent masterpiece as an example.