I had the opportunity to participate on a panel about life in prison recently. The event was sponsored by New America NYC and The Atavist. The panel included: GARY RIVLIN: Investigative Reporting Fellow, The Nation Institute SABINE HEINLEIN: Author, Among Murderers: Life After Prison PIPER KERMAN: Author, Orange is the New Black MYISHA CHERRY: Faculty […]
Behind Bars: Life Behind Prison Panel (Pics and Audio) Read More »
I have a new article up on the Huffington Post. In it I argue: We should be careful not to dismiss subtle forms of fighting oppression, for they are no less valuable than street fights and mass strikes. Just as there are different types of artists, there are different types of rebels. The sooner we
The Different Faces of Rebellion (My New Article) Read More »
There is no doubt in my mind that church and state need to separate. There is good rationale behind it. Plus isn’t it written in our constitution? Well not exactly, argues Garrett Epps in the Atlantic but the idea of separation is in the constitution. At times it seems hypocritical when the phrase is thrown
Separate Church and State: The Hit Song (Video) Read More »
Can you believe it? Some folks got together and decided to do a musical about Rawls’ political philosophy treatise, “A theory of Justice”. Yes, there actually is a musical filled with melodies about the veil of ignorance, the original position, and principles of justice. It bought me back to the day when my colleague Sophia Wong played a Rawls
A Theory of Justice: A Very funny & Accurate Online Musical Read More »
I have a new Op-Ed in the Huffington post this week called “The Politics of Emotional Dismissal”. Here’s an excerpt below. Check out the full article here and leave a comment on the site if you can. Let me preface: This is not a man-bashing reflection. What I am arguing is that anger has its
The Politics of Emotional Dismissal Read More »
Cornel West and Tavis Smiley appeared on Democracy Now yesterday to discuss the election. Here are a few responses. The question is, are these critiques dead on or simply too harsh? On money spent on the election and Obama in blackface… “I think that it’s morally obscene and spiritually profane to spend $6 billion on
Cornel West and Tavis Smiley After the Election Read More »
Here is some funny. Obama has been re-elected. Ok that’s not the funny part. That’s the “thank god, all fairies, and the stars and the moons because I was nervous” part. The funny part is Key and Peele or should I say Obama and his anger translator, Luther. They celebrated last night by doing the
Obama Wins and His Anger Translator Celebrates Read More »
I love Martha Nussbaum. Its not only because we share similar philosophical interests (value of the emotions, philosophy of law, political theory, and cosmopolitanism) but because I also think that she combines brilliance, class, grace, and confidence in a very beautiful way. James Harmon has a book out called “Take My Advice” and has included
Advice from Martha Nussbaum Read More »
Yesterday Supreme Court Justices began hearing arguments against and in support of affirmative action as an ethical necessity in achieving the goal of diversity in higher education. While this is not a new issue in public policy or within philosophy (Bernard Boxill & Howard McGary has written great articles about this issue), affirmative action is
SCOTUS, Kerry Washington, Myths, and Affirmative Action Read More »
I hear people all the time who are disillusioned by the political process say “my vote don’t matter”. My initial response is always “If it didn’t mater, then why have “they” and why do “they” try to stop you from voting”. The logical reason is because it does matter! Your vote matters. Forget the jargon
Let My People Vote: What You Should Know and Do About Voter Suppression Read More »