Category Archives: Social Justice

Which Side Are You On?

John & Viola Smith Bloody Harlan County In 1980 the immaculate old woman told me, “We sneaked out in the middle of the night. Just took the children and fled. Left everything and everyone I knowed.” Earlier Joanne, an activist … Continue reading

Posted in Appalachia, Inequality, Injustice, marriage, oral histories, Poverty, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Unions, violence, white Americans | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

God in Prison

“I Hollered at God” “I hollered at God,” Maria Elena told me as we began to drive my rental car towards the immigration office. Maria Elena continued, “Dear God, Where are you! If there is a God, where are you?” … Continue reading

Posted in hunger, Inequality, Injustice, Latino, Poverty, religion, Social Justice, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Dead Negroes in Swamp”

[June 7, 2020: This will add history to the events of the past two weeks.] White Mob Closes In Mary Robinson and I were writing a book about her life. The daughter of African American share croppers in Alabama, she … Continue reading

Posted in African American, farm workers, Injustice, murder, oral histories, Poverty, poverty, Racism, Roots of Injustice, Social Justice, Unions, violence, white Americans, Women's Issues | 2 Comments

The Dilemma

Terrible Dilemma In May 1942, a young Japanese America woman, Mary Tsukamoto, was faced with a terrible moral dilemma. Should she help her desperate people in the short run when that meant cooperating with the government when the government was … Continue reading

Posted in farm workers, Inequality, Injustice, internment camps, Japanese Americans, oral histories, Prisons, Racism, Social Justice, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

God Gave You a Big Mouth

Snake Running Loose The first time I visited Irene Mack Pyawasit, a Menominee Native Woman living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was in the early evening of one of the first days of spring in 1979. I drove into the alley of … Continue reading

Posted in Menominee, Native American, Native boarding schools, Poverty, Racism, religion, Social Justice, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Prisoners and Peas

The Values of Her Mother Mary Robinson, an African American woman from Alabama, was 57 years-old when we talked in 2000. I was an oral historian, and my tape recorder ran on a nearby chair. Mary described a terrifying experience … Continue reading

Posted in African American, Distrust, Inequality, Injustice, love. mother, Poverty, poverty, Prisons, Racism, Social Justice, Uncategorized, white Americans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Vow

The Wound The nearly grown corn glistened in the sun and seemed to speak to me. Its whispers may have saved my life. Blood still flowed from the wound between my legs. However, that wound was private. I could barely … Continue reading

Posted in Distrust, Health care, Inequality, Injustice, Poverty, Racism, Social Justice, Uncategorized, Welfare, Women's Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments