Photo Courtesy of Alexis Allison “This weekend, I visit Chamchamal,” I told my Kurdish friend. We leaned over a Scrabble game with a group of my other college-age English learners, stuck to wooden chairs with sweat from the summer Iraq heat. “Texas. You’re going to Texas.” He grinned. “Texas? No. No, no, no. Chamchamal,” I said. Chamchamal is a village in northern Iraq — … [Read more...] about Iraqi Summer Shifts the Narrative
America
Bread maker or bread winner?
If I’m being honest, I have never once said that I want to be a housewife. I don’t cook, sew or enjoy the presence of children, and after 18 years of barraging sexist jokes like, “Get back in the kitchen,” or “Make me a sandwich,” conforming to a domestic lifestyle has never been my plan. That’s where I’m wrong in the whole … [Read more...] about Bread maker or bread winner?
Americans top the tallest podiums
Photo Courtesy of www.olympic.orgFor Team USA, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics has not been the usual extravagantly sweeping medal victory. Upsets abound on the ice and snow as athletes have fallen short of their goals in the shadow of their defeaters’ glory. Heartbreak has become a common theme as weather conditions or mere human error seems to keep the most talented … [Read more...] about Americans top the tallest podiums
Remember the meaning of ‘American’
Last Sunday saw the coronation of the new Miss America, Nina Davuluri. Competing as Miss New York, she is the first woman of Indian descent to win the Miss America crown. Her beauty, humor and delightful Bollywood dance routine were enough to win the award, but this celebration quickly turned sour as racists from different corners of America felt compelled to make their bigoted … [Read more...] about Remember the meaning of ‘American’