Anecdotes should come with warnings

We think we know something based on our personal experience. We do, and we don’t. Anecdotes, my-best-friend stories, and urban legends can inform our interactions but should never be the sole basis for theories or policies. That’s plain dangerous. Read the full...

Black history month: Why we still need it

Every year in February, without fail, the question about Black History Month arises: “Why do we still need it?” Here are my top three reasons why the month exists. 1. To learn history we have yet to encounter. Read the full article at...

Going backward in schools

Get a bunch of psychologists together who are also mothers, and there is bound to be scrutiny related to anything our children might come into contact with — namely, the education system. So, when my good friend began expressing concern about the shifts in her...

A reporter and the n-word

A jury will be in the position to decide if Tom Burlington, a reporter-anchor for a Philadelphia television station, was wrongly fired. While the complexities of this individual case bear out in court, I continue to be amused (it’s a better option than infuriated, at...

Leaders or Tokens?

A recent Pew Research Center poll found that there is no consensus about a national Latino leader. My critique is not with the research but with the cultural tendency to frame questions about leadership and people of color in such a way. To be fair, the question was...

Picking sides won’t solve the problem

From my vantage point, we have more to be concerned about than party politics. When it comes to racial matter, we are like a traumatized child, dissociating at pivotal moments in U.S. history, enacting those injured selves simultaneously as we attempt to interact. The...