Books
Ever Is a Long Time: A Journey Into Mississippi's Dark Past
A gripping memoir of coming of age in Mississippi in the Civil Rights era.
Articles
Eudora Welty's Jackson: "The Help" in Context
Eudora Welty's "Where is the Voice Coming From?" helps show a full picture of Mississippi in 1963.
Michigan's National Poets
Four U.S. Poets Laureate have taught at the University of Michigan. The author shares his memories of three of them.
Escaping the Summer Heat in a Bookmobile
A look back at the joys of summer reading on an old bookmobile
Affirmative Action and After
Now is the time to reconsider a policy that must eventually change. But simply replacing race with class isn’t the solution.
DNA is Only One Way to Spell Identity
A Look at the Meaning of Racial Labels
Before He Had His "Dream," King Wrote a Letter
A look at the significance of Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail
I Know What He Means
An analysis of the comments made by Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond’s Birthday Party in 2002.
Reviews
Healing the Past
A Review of Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone"
George Washington's Slaves
A review of Scott Casper's "Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon"
Fathers and Sons
A Review of Richard Wright's A Father's Law
Whiteness Falls
A review of Nathan McCall's "Them: A Novel
Mississippi Yearning
A Review of Doug Marlette's Magic Time
Essays
Still Learning From Dad
A Son Relishes Counsel That Comes in Dreams
Separate But Unequal
Has Capitol Hill, barricaded and fenced off, lost its small-town appeal?
A Trip Back Home for a Lesson in Justice
A summer trip to Mississippi provides the author and his children a look at Freedom Summer 1964
Are We Putting Reading and Democracy at Risk?
Fewer of us are reading, and our leaders may have scared even more people away from the pastime.
