Drick Boyd's Blog
Madison and Why Unions Matter
I have never been particularly strongly for or against unions. I knew that they had played an important role in creating a more humane workplace – 40 hour work week, child labor laws, work safety standards, Social Security, work benefits, and so on - but just...
Cairo, Madison and the Nature of Grassroots Democracy
Tunisia … Cairo … Jordan … Iran… Bahrain … and now Madison, Wisconsin. Something is happening around the globe in this age of instant telecommunication – there is an outbreak of democracy the likes of which have not been seen in a long time. Wisconsin Governor Scott...
Process and Promise at West Philadelphia High School
We tend to think dictatorships only exist in places like Tunisia and Egypt, and when the masses rise up and force the dictators out, we consider that to be a good thing. Well, there is a dictatorship in Philadelphia that is facing an uprising of its own, and as far as...
Letter to My Congressman re: Health Care
NOTE: I received an email from my new Republican representative, Patrick Meehan, about his support of his party's efforts to repeal the Health Care Reform bill passed last year under the guidance of Pres. Obama. His rationale was basically that the bill as it stands...
Imagination and Gun Violence Prevention
Over the past couple weeks I have been researching the gun industry in preparation for a workshop I will be doing in March on faith-based approaches to gun violence prevention. Through my research I keep bumping up against two realities in the ongoing debate between...
Remembering and Learning From the Ugliness of Our Past
Each January we are invited to remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This weekend many folks will be engaged in service projects, special worship services and cultural events. This year I will be participating on the “Conversation of Kings: From...
Blowin in the Wind
Many people who came of age in the 1960’s remember the Bob Dylan song, “Blowin in the Wind,” which asked a series of questions that probed the ethos of that age. Today as I read of the shooting deaths of nine people in Tucson, AZ and the serious injury to Rep....
One Solitary Life
As we celebrate Christmas, I want to share a Christmas poem that always seems to speak to me about the power of the life and message of Jesus. Merry Christmas ONE SOLITARY LIFE He was born in an obscure village The child of a peasant woman He grew...
The Honor, Privilege and Joy of Teaching
Two days ago (Dec 14), my semester of teaching officially ended when I turned in the grades for my fall classes. I am sure there are varying degrees of joy and sadness among my students for the grades earned. However, for me the evaluating of final projects and...
Mad as Hell at Plutocracy
At different times in this blog, I have referred to the US government as a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy) rather a democracy (rule by the people). Exhibit A of this reality is the current debate in Congress over whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts to the...
Thanksgiving
Several years ago I started a personal Thanksgiving tradition that I have continued for all the years since. It had been a particularly stressful year, and I was reading Paul's letter to the Philippians where he wrote these words Do not be anxious about anything...
Sacrifice
This past week Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta received the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest honor for bravery and self-sacrifice. When his unit in the Afghan mountains came under enemy attack, Sgt. Giunta ran into the face of enemy fire to save his fellow soldiers;...
Howard Thurman, Ronald Takaki and the 2010 Elections
Like many people I have been pondering the meaning of Tuesday’s election results. It so happened that during the final stages of this election season, I was reading Howard Thurman’s The Luminous Darkness: A Personal Interpretation of the Anatomy of Segregation and the...
Some Midterm Election Thoughts
Like many people I will be glad when next Tuesday, November 2 comes just so I won’t have to watch all the annoying, disinforming political ads and won’t be getting the robo-calls for this or that candidate. However, as we come to these midterm elections I do have a...
White Anti-Racist Heroes
Every fall semester, I teach a course entitled “Race and Ethnic Relations.” A major component of the course is studying the history of racism and ethnic discrimination beginning in medieval Europe to the present day, and examining how that history can both help us...