“Welcome to gladiator school,” I tell a freshly transferred inmate as smoke from a fire in the cell block fills the corridor and ten of my fellow guards trod by in heavily armored riot gear. We pick him up off the ground, and I note his terror and confusion. This place, buried behind endless layers of concrete […]
Reflections of a Former Federal Corrections Officer Read More »
Every year, tourists nationwide and from abroad visit The Broadmoor Resort, one of the oldest and famous landmarks of Colorado Springs. Since its establishment in 1918, the Broadmoor has been praised for its first-rate service, attractions, historical beauty, and uniqueness. The resort is comparable to elegant buildings of the early 20th century in the Northeast
The Broadmoor Resort: Its History and Legacy Read More »
In Honor of Black History Month Twenty-eight years ago, I landed my first full-time college teaching position at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Originally known as Tuskegee Institute, the school was founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881 to provide vocational education for southern blacks in the years after Reconstruction. Washington, born a slave in 1856,
To Till a Field or Write a Poem? Booker T. Washington’s Legacy Read More »
A Clarence Page article from February 18, 2023 discusses the current MAGA reaction to the performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the Super Bowl pregame. Claiming that it is the Negro National Anthem and further divides our country disregards the facts. Here’s how it all began. In 1900 James Weldon Johnson—citizen of Jacksonville,
James Weldon Johnson and the Promise of America Read More »
In 1986, the year John D. MacDonald died, Carl Hiaasen published his first solo novel. The following year, Tim Dorsey took a reporting job with the Tampa Tribune, from which he retired in 1999 to write fiction full time. No one writing about modern-day Florida can avoid writing about crime, and no one writing about Florida
Tim Dorsey: Vengeance Is Mine, Saith Serge Storms Read More »
My grandmother died during my seventh year, my first encounter with Death. I don’t remember how my mother explained it to me, but what I took in was that “death” meant that someone no longer existed. I had never considered such a possibility, and all summer long, it obsessed me. Each night after bedtime, I’d