500 Years Later, America’s Renaissance Rendezvous
It’s a scene straight out of Tudor England: Two knights clad in full body armor sit atop horses on either end of a long, dirt-floored stadium. Suddenly, at the blare of a fanfare trumpet, the men take off, jousting lances in hand, ready to knock their opponent off his horse. Watching from the sidelines, an […]
Crisis Looms as America’s Volunteer Firefighters Burn Out
Almost 300 years after U.S. founding father Benjamin Franklin established the very first volunteer fire department, the time-honored American tradition of unpaid good Samaritans banding together to save homes and properties in their community is in danger of being extinguished. Franklin founded The Union Fire Company with 30 volunteers in 1736. In addition to Franklin, […]
American Football Kicks Soccer to the Curb
Enormous, well-padded warriors in helmets and vibrant, numbered jerseys, collide at high speeds on the gridiron. The sharp cracking sound of impact prompts a huge roar of approval from the large, boisterous crowd. Millions of television viewers around the globe tune in for the games. The NFL broadcasts to more than 230 countries across six […]
‘Is Africa a jungle full of elephants and lions?’
“Is Africa a jungle full of elephants and lions?” “Mommy, do you have AIDS?” Cameroon native Paulette Mpouma cringed whenever her U.S.-born children posed these and other questions that illustrated how their understanding of her native continent had been shaped by Western stereotypes. “Their impression of Africa was sickness and poverty and jungle also,” Mpouma […]
Does Columbus Day Honor a Monster?
Every year, on the second Monday in October, the United States celebrates a federal holiday honoring a man who freely admitted committing atrocities against the native people of the Americas, including cutting off their hands, noses or ears to keep them in line, and sexually enslaving girls as young as nine, gifting them to his […]
Arab Americans Go Online for Marital Matchups
When Arab American Hania Masri (not her real name, which I’ll explain later) wanted to meet and settle down with someone from a similar cultural background, she turned to an online matchmaking service for help. One husband and two children later, she’s glad she did. Hania — outgoing, attractive and personable, with an advanced degree […]
America’s Favorite Restaurant Serves Up Frog Sticks and Fish Eyes
When U.S. politicians want to get a feel for the pulse of the country, they’ll often drop in at the nearest diner, a uniquely American institution that has been part of the nation’s cultural landscape for more than a century. “There’s something about the imagery of the diner, the way it grabs you from the […]