2021-09-11 11:36
by Dick MacIt was about 1:30 PM, twenty years ago, my lunchtime, and I sat at my desk in an office looking toward The Tower and the Thames, at 1 Undershaft, near St. Mary Axe, in London. Th… Read More
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The rantings of an unrepentant old leftist, and his friends.
2021-05-23 18:31
by Dick MacIt's the decades-old debate: is that rock and roll? This debate was exacerbated by the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Those who are most vociferous in the… Read More
2021-03-17 15:47
by Dick MacGertrude of Nivelles was born around 628, in Landen, Kingdom of Austrasia (present-day Belgium), and died on March 17, 659. During this time in history, marriage was used to… Read More
2021-03-12 13:10
by Dick MacSojourner Truth was born enslaved as Isabella "Belle" Baumfree in Swartekill, New York, around 1797 and died in Battle Creek, Michigan, on November 26, 1883 of unknown causes, att… Read More
2021-03-09 14:12
by Dick MacAnita Faye Hill was born in Lone Tree, Oklahoma, on July 30, 1956. She is a lawyer and educator. She attended Oklahoma State University and received her law degree at Yale. She is… Read More
2021-03-08 15:21
by Dick MacRuth Bader Ginsburg (nee Joan Ruth Bader) was born March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, and died on September 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the associate j… Read More
2021-03-07 14:12
by Dick MacDorothy Ann Richards (née Willis) was born in McLennan County, Texas, on September 1, 1933, and died of cancer on September 13, 2006.Richards was an politician who came to… Read More
2021-03-06 14:39
by Dick MacYoko Ono Lennon was born on February 18, 1933, in Tokyo, Japan. She is a multimedia and performance artist, singer, songwriter and peace activist. She is the widow of English sing… Read More
2021-03-04 13:13
by Dick MacWhy we don’t celebrate Marla Gibbs the way way we do Betty White?? pic.twitter.com/7JneXKQ5E4— Free Spirited🇭🇹💨🍃 (@StephLDV) February 2… Read More
2021-03-03 12:48
by Dick MacJudy Chicago (f/k/a Judith Sylvia Cohen) was born on July 20, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. She is a feminist artist, educator, and writer. Her parents were progressive. Her father… Read More
2021-03-02 12:54
by Dick MacTi-Grace Atkinson was born November 9, 1938, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is an author and theorist whose writings and activism in the early days of the National Organization of… Read More
2021-03-01 17:23
by Dick MacContemporary women are establishing America's history today and I will start this month's women's history posts by celebrating Andra Day.Andra Day was born Cassandra Monique Batie… Read More
2021-02-28 14:36
by Dick MacContemporary black men and women are making history today and will change the world, as people have before them.Shaun King was born in Franklin County, Kentucky, on September 17… Read More
2021-02-27 14:53
by Dick MacPhillis Wheatley was born a free woman c.1753, somewhere in West Africa, and died of unknown causes on December 5, 1784, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was 31.Phillis Wheatley was… Read More
2021-02-26 12:38
by Dick MacYork was born enslaved some time in the 1770s, the son of Old York and Rose. He died of unknown causes around 1830. York was born to Old York and Rose, slaves of explor… Read More
2021-02-25 14:00
by Dick MacJane Matilda Bolin was born in Poughkeepsie, NY, on April 11, 1908, and died in Queens, NY, on January 8, 2007, at the age of 98, of unspecified causes.Jane Bolin was the first bl… Read More
2021-02-24 13:00
by Dick MacGordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born in Fort Scott, Kansas on November 30, 1912, and died of cancer on March 7, 2006, in New York City.Gordon Parks was a photographer an… Read More
2021-02-23 12:34
by Dick MacDennis Davis was born in New York City on August 28, 1949, and died of cancer on April 6, 2016, in New York City. He was a drummer, percussionist, and session musician.Davis was a… Read More
2021-02-22 12:49
by Dick MacGwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas, on June 7, 1917, and died of cancer on December 3, 2000, in Chicago, Illinois. She was 83.Brooks was a poet whose first published piec… Read More
2021-02-21 13:55
by Dick MacRobert Abbott was born in St. Simons, Georgia, on November 24, 1870 and died of Bright's Disease on February 29, 1940. His parents were "freemen," having gained their… Read More
2021-02-20 13:25
by Dick MacBessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, on January 26, 1892, and died in a plane crash, at Jacksonville, Florida, on April 30, 1926. She was 34.Coleman's parents were sharecrop… Read More
2021-02-19 16:38
by Dick MacDorothy Irene Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 24, 1912 and died in Washington, D.C., on April 20, 2010.She was a civil rights and women's rights activist who focus… Read More
2021-02-18 13:30
by Dick MacThurgood Marshall was born July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Maryland, and died of heart failure at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 24, 1993. He was 84.Marshall was a lawyer… Read More
2021-02-17 12:56
by Dick MacOctavia Estelle Butler was a science fiction writer born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947, and died February 24, 2006, in Lake Forest Park, Washington, of head injuries o… Read More
2021-02-16 13:22
by Dick MacMaya Angelou, was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, and died in her sleep on May 28, 2014, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86.Angel… Read More
2021-02-15 13:43
by Dick MacHenry Louis "Hank" Aaron was born February 5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama, and died in his sleep of natural causes, in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 22, 2021. He was 86.Hank Aaron pla… Read More
2021-02-14 15:59
by Dick MacLorraine Vivian Hansberry was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 19, 1930, and died of pancreatic cancer in New York City on January 12, 1965. She was a playwright, journalis… Read More
2021-02-14 15:30
by Dick MacFannie Lou Hamer (née Townsend) was born in Montgomery County, Mississippi on October 6, 1917 and died of complications related to breast cancer on March 14, 1977 in Mound… Read More
2021-02-12 12:58
by Dick MacThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on this day, February 12, 1909, by W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wellsa, Mary White Ovington, and Moorfi… Read More
2021-02-11 13:10
by Dick MacClaudette Colvin, was born on September 5, 1939. On March 2, 1955, at the age of 15, she was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on… Read More
2021-02-10 13:26
by Dick MacShirley Chisholm (nee St. Hill) was born in in New York City on November 24, 1923, and died in Ormond Beach, Florida on January 1, 2005, after several strokes. She was 80 ye… Read More
2021-02-09 13:27
by Dick MacMary WilsonMary Wilson died last night. She was born March 6, 1944, in Greenville, Mississippi, and died suddenly at age 76, on February 8, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada. D… Read More
2021-02-08 14:50
by Dick MacRichard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was born in Peoria, Illinois, on December 1, 1940 and died December 10, 2005, in Los Angeles, California of heart failure believed to be the r… Read More
2021-02-07 16:35
by Dick MacThomas Irving Atkins was born March 2, 1939, in Elkhart, Indiana, and died from complications related to ALS, on June 27, 2008.He was the first black student body president at his… Read More
2021-02-07 16:31
by Dick MacCharley Pride was born March 18, 1934, in Sledge, Mississippi, and died of complications related to COVID-19, on December 12, 2020. He was 86.I first learned about Charley Pride i… Read More
2021-02-07 16:28
by Dick MacFred Hampton was born August 30, 1948, and killed by the Chicago police on December 4, 1969, at the age of 21. The cause of death was determined to be "justifiable homicide." He w… Read More
2021-02-07 16:24
by Dick MacMuhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay, January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky, and died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 3, 2016, at age 74.Ali was a professional boxer and civil r… Read More
2021-02-07 16:19
by Dick MacBetty Davis (nee Mabry) is an American funk singer whose gritty and glamorous style made her popular among fellow musicians, but not record company and radio executives. She worke… Read More
2021-02-07 16:15
by Dick MacMalcolm X (a/k/a Malik Shabazz) was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925, and assassinated in New York City, on February 21, 1965. He was 39.Malcolm X was a Muslim… Read More
2021-02-07 16:10
by Dick MacRobert Keith McFerrin Sr., an American opera singer (baritone) was the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera. He is also the father of Bobby McFerrin.Hear h… Read More
2020-12-04 17:19
by Dick MacMy mother became a single-parent in 1963, with four children between the ages of 0 and 5. My sister was an infant and I was the oldest. I remember 1964 and 1965 being v… Read More
2020-07-05 15:19
by Dick MacIn 2006, I published a list of the movies I’d watch again and again: The Movies I'd Watch Again (and Again).It started with my top ten favorites movies:Touch Of Evil … Read More
2020-03-01 14:36
by Dick MacIt was a night between Christmas and New Years, in December, 1976. I was living on Duval Street with my boyfriend, right across the street from Delmonico's. I had been drinking si… Read More
2020-01-01 12:36
by Dick MacIt's the end of the year. It's not the end of the decade. Here are some things that happened in 2019, listed with some sarcastic commentary:Millions of women create a… Read More
2019-07-21 15:57
by Dick MacOK, I wasn't going to say anything about this, but I can't stop thinking about it, so I have to write it down.Raise your hand if you know any American-born Asians from Queens.How… Read More
2019-01-01 16:33
by Dick MacSome thoughts about the year just passed.WomenWomen need to take over the world, and during 2018 it started to feel like this might happen.The phrase "Me Too" was first used in 20… Read More
2018-02-19 17:25
by Dick MacVISA, the credit card company, offers a card branded by the NRA (National Rifle Association).The NRA promotes and supports unchecked, limitless private ownership of machine guns… Read More
2017-12-29 14:01
by Dick MacIn order to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of "conservative" and "libertarian" Americans, for whom anything outside their realm of experience is unacceptable, I said "… Read More
2017-12-27 13:23
by Dick MacThe day after Christmas, 2017, a Twitter account I follow tweeted about acting on a crush. It was posted by a person on whom I have a crush and it made me start to think abo… Read More
2017-11-26 16:07
by Dick MacPhoto from Karen Fonseca's Facebook PageKaren Fonseca is the woman who made a sticker for her vehicle that read "Fuck Trump and Fuck You for Voting for Him."Local law enforcement… Read More
2017-08-01 11:40
by Dick MacI'd feel really sorry for her, because Lil Duval is a sad little person.Women are never little pussies like Lil Duvall. I mean, this guy is a total pussy. He is so ins… Read More
2017-07-15 16:07
by Dick MacThe past couple of days I've spent more time on Facebook than usual. I've been un-following a bunch of pages that are click-bait disguised as cultural and political sites. General… Read More
2017-04-11 23:03
by Dick MacClick on image of definition for larger version.Amazon.com WidgetsDick Mac (alive!) Read More
2017-01-10 14:34
by Dick MacI still have the clock-radio I received for Christmas in 1980. One morning, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, it woke me with news radio station WEEI-AM announcing that my friends Kitty… Read More
2017-01-08 12:18
by Dick MacSEVENTY!It's an impressive age: 70 years old.I do not know many people who lived so long. Neither of my parents lived to seventy. My father died at 51 and my mother was 65… Read More
2016-12-30 11:57
The weak overcomes its menace, the strong over comes itself. What is there like fortitude! - Excerpted from Nevertheless, by Marianne Moore (1944)Amazon.com WidgetsDick Mac (alive!) Read More
2016-11-08 12:51
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/by Dick MacWhy? Because it isn't all about me.Because I had a mother who was an amazing woman. A woman who raised four children by herself. A woman who got her… Read More
2016-08-25 15:24
by Dick MacJesse Owens and Luz Long were unlikely friends in pre-war Germany.Owens was an African-American athlete and Long a blond-haired, blue-eyed German. The men participated in the… Read More
2016-06-10 09:00
by Dick Mac"I Am The Greatest," Cassius Clay, 1964"I'm so mean I make medicine sick," Muhammad Ali, RIP (1942 - 2016)Amazon.com WidgetsDick Mac (alive!) Read More
2016-06-09 18:53
by Dick MacSee my article on Page 10 in the current issue of The Word on The Streets:An Apple A DayAmazon.com WidgetsDick Mac (alive!) Read More
2016-06-09 09:00
by Dick MacNo I won't be afraidOh, I won't be afraidJust as long as you stand, stand by me. Stand By Me, Cassius Clay (1964)"I'm so mean I make medicine sick,"  &hell…Read More
2016-06-08 09:00
by Dick MacHe floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee,Muhammad Ali, the Black Superman! "Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)", by Johnny Wakelin (1975)"I'm so mean I make… Read More
2016-06-07 09:00
by Dick MacIn the clearing stands a boxer,And a fighter by his tradeAnd he carries the remindersOf ev'ry glove that laid him downAnd cut him till he cried outIn his anger and his shame,"I am… Read More
2016-06-06 09:00
by Dick Mac . . . that's selling papier maiche, making bulletproof faces of Charlie Manson and Cassius Clay . . . "Sweet Thing," David Bowie, 1974RIPDavid Bowie (1947… Read More
2016-06-05 16:14
by Dick MacMarianne Moore and Muhammad AliToot Shor's restaurant 1966A Poem on the Annihilation of Ernie Terrell by Marianne Moore and Muhammad Ali, 1966After we defeat Er… Read More
2016-06-03 17:57
Brock Allen Turner - RAPISTby Dick MacIt's important that everybody knows that Brock Allen Turner is a rapist.He is a rapist who has been given a slap on the wrist for what he did.He is a ra… Read More
2016-05-31 19:43
by Dick MacAmerica's greatness today shows us that 1/10th of the top 1% (not the top 1%, only ten percent of the top 1%) owns nearly as much of America's wealth as the bottom 90%.When we all… Read More
2016-04-05 00:34
by Dick MacCarnegie Hall, March 31, 2016Cyndi Lauper opened the show with a rocking version of "Suffragette City." You can tell she sings the song loudly while driving her car, and like most… Read More
2016-03-08 14:29
by Dick MacThe notion that ". . . [d]isorder is not directly linked to serious crime; instead, disorder leads to increased fear and withdrawal from residents, which then allows more serious… Read More
2016-03-03 15:16
by Dick MacSenator Bernie Sanders and Secretary Hillary Clinton are battling for the Democratic nomination to run for President in 2016.There are complaints from the Sanders camp that the ma… Read More
2016-02-01 22:11
by Dick MacWow! I didn't think anyone was going to say it quite as directly as this article:The “Bernie Bros” Narrative: a Cheap Campaign Tactic Masquerading as Journalism… Read More
2016-01-11 14:21
by Dick MacGood morning, Sailor:Look at you, you're in heaven! Everyone says hi, we all miss you so much. The telly is filthy with stories about you. I heard the news today. Oh b… Read More
2015-12-11 13:56
by Dick MacUsed without permission.At the beginning of December, 2015, as anti-Muslim hate speech spread like wildfire across the United States, the Auburn Muslim Students Association (… Read More
2015-12-08 04:12
by Dick MacI saw the first preview of "Lazarus" and now that it has opened and has been reviewed in the mainstream media, I offer you this review I wrote of the 18 November performance:Lazar… Read More
2015-12-01 11:00
by Dick MacHaving grown-up in Boston, I spent the first four decades of my life as a fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Exercises in futility are rarely more obvious. I suf… Read More
2015-11-30 14:12
by Dick MacMission Church (the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help), on Tremont Street, in Mission Hill, is one of the most significant pieces of architecture in the City of Boston.  &hell…Read More
2015-11-26 13:16
by Dick MacSometimes we face challenges that seem insurmountable. When we are in that situation, a feeling of dread and hopelessness can take over. Maybe you have never been ther… Read More
2015-11-11 12:58
by Dick MacToday is Veterans Day, in the United States.The American military has done some incredible things.It is important to remember that there were times when Americans were sent to fig… Read More
2015-06-19 18:04
by Dick MacAnthony Fera, the president of Houston’s MidStar Energy LP, exchanged angry words with a gay couple, called them faggots, left his vehicle in traffic, punched one unconsciou… Read More
2015-05-14 13:48
by Dick MacI start with the disclaimer that I am a Christian, a Catholic. I like the teachings of Jesus Christ and try to integrate those notions into my day-to-day life (with varying… Read More
2015-04-15 11:07
by Dick MacLet me start by saying that, in 2016, I will likely vote for the Democratic nominee for President, no matter who that is. Although I vote Green all the way up the electoral food c… Read More
2015-03-16 16:13
by Dick MacThe acceptance of gay marriage and non-traditional families by decent people is a sign of wonder, and shows that God's grace touches all who are open to it. Those who oppose… Read More
2015-03-08 18:58
by Dick MacGoogleI grew-up in a relatively not-so-well-to-do section of Boston.Mission Hill, in Roxbury, was a predominantly Irish Catholic community through the mid-1960s and changed, along… Read More
2015-01-05 05:41
by Dick MacTony Visconti is the most talented and famous person you think you've never heard of.Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, as a teenager became a professional musician in New York… Read More
2014-11-27 15:00
by Dick MacHave a Very Funky and a Very Happy Thanksgiving! Sly & The Family StoneMidnight SpecialThank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1974) &amp… Read More
2014-11-25 14:03
by Dick Mac(1) You can't very well prosecute a cop for doing his job(2) Cops work for employers that allow and promote the harassment, imprisonment, and murder of young black men. An exagger… Read More
2014-11-16 12:47
by Dick MacA "conservative" meme is being spread around Facebook.More than one of my relatives have posted it.Racism is a form of mental illness. "Conservatives" aren't bad people, the… Read More
2014-11-16 12:43
by Dick MacPost by Antoine Bailey. <A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace… Read More
2014-11-15 13:30
At RFK Stadium. Photo by Bob Larson.by Dick MacIf you are like me, you really don't like that person at a public event who over-reacts to inconveniences and mishaps, especially at spor… Read More
2014-11-11 15:03
by Dick MacArmistice Day commemorated the signing of the treaty at the end of World War I among the Allies and Germany. It took effect at "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh m… Read More
2014-09-27 18:11
by Dick MacImage from www.visualdictionaryonline.comUsed without permissionThere are different ways to pay attention to your money.Most of us do the standard thing: budget. I ear… Read More
2014-08-30 00:42
by Dick MacIt may be old and it may not look pretty, but it plays and it's mine! <A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&a&hell…Read More
2014-06-26 02:50
by Dick MacThe Chelsea neighborhood of New York City is home to many famous people: actors, singers, television personalities, writers, etc. And it is home to many people not qui… Read More
2014-06-18 16:22
by Dick MacI remember when Barnes & Noble was the bad guy because they destroyed all our local bookstores.Now they are the good guys because they are our local bookstores and they are be… Read More
2014-03-29 23:25
Robin Lane(photographer unknown - used without permission)by Dick MacIn 1978, and the years to follow, I listened to, watched, admired, developed crushes on, and came to adore Robin Lane. &n&hell…Read More
2014-02-03 12:28
by Dick MacChicken crossing roadAbout ten or fifteen years ago, a list circulated of answers to the question "Why did the chicken cross the road?"The first list below is the list that circul… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
by Dick MacPete SeegerI stood-up to relieve my discomfort after listening to a brilliant man, elderly now but with a legacy that rivals any other intellectual’s legacy, eulogize his wi… Read More
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