Ways of Seeing: Ruby Bridges’ words still resonate

I met Ruby Bridges fourteen years ago when she visited the school where I taught. Readers may recall my previous article about her visit and its lasting impact. It was an honor to host Ms. Bridges, the first Black student to integrate the William Franz Public Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960, when she was only six years old. She has been called the youngest hero of the Civil Rights Movement. The final story she shared with my preadolescent students remains vivid. Less than a year prior to her visit … (read more)

My childhood was punctuated by elaborate Jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs that feel ever further away in this age of COVID-19. An abundance of food and drink was consumed as klezmer, pop and big band music wailed late into the night, inspiring circular ho … (read more)

“Dinner’s ready!” my Aunt Esther called, and all six of us — my two sisters, three cousins and I — raced down the long hallway into the kitchen, the pungent aroma of chicken soup whetting our appetites. My mother’s older sister Esther lived in Bayonne, N. … (read more)

My husband and I leave Arches National Park in Utah on a bright morning, driving along the Colorado River then over the Rockies toward Denver, where we’ll visit his son and our eight-year-old grandson. The scorched river valley and vast mountains we trave … (read more)