To promote the America celebrated by The New Colossus–a land where the beacon of kindness shines to all who wish to seek refuge. A land where we, its inhabitants, actively seek to welcome, nurture, understand and find common ground with neighbors, friends, family, strangers and even past enemies.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
This past summer marked the 35th anniversary of the passage and signing of The Americans with Disabilities Act, more commonly known as the ADA. In honor of this event, and at the suggestion of a friend, I read Being Heumann—An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann with Kristen Joiner (Beacon Press, 2020, Boston). I was deeply moved by Judy’s story and […]
Every autumn I get out my trusty rake and begin to clean up the falling leaves. At first the leaves fall slowly and I only need to rake once a week, but as the weather turns chilly and the sun goes farther south, I rake every day or so. Raking is a therapeutic exercise for me. It is a gathering in of all the beauty […]
Daniel Gilbert is my great-great grandfather. His mother, Sarah Choules Gilbert, heard the Mormon missionaries preaching near her small town of East Grafton, England and after more investigation, decided she had found truth. She was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and began her quest to go to America. This was not easy. The Gilberts were poor and had a […]
