It is now Day 10 since Susan and I confined ourselves in our apartment except for essential grocery runs. Like many of you, we keep touch with our family (in Seattle, New York and here in Austin) by FaceTime and texts. As part of our morning quiet times, we have been reading some Lenten reflections by Scott Stoner. He writes […]

Disheartened by the dearth of political courage and statesmanship displayed by our representatives in Washington (with a few notable exceptions), I came across a blog I wrote 10 years ago inspired by the memoirs of a remarkable Australian politician, Kim E. Beazley.* Among his many accomplishments as Minister for Education were the abolition of university fees and the introduction of […]

In the summer of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered one of the greatest speeches in US history. Just two years earlier, Congress had passed the Fugitive Slave Act which required that escaped slaves be returned to their owners even if they were in a free state. Douglass himself had escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland just fourteen years earlier to become one […]

In workshops with diverse and polarized community groups, we often use an “environmental scan” to map what is going on in the room. Using four quadrants we ask participants to write and post their individual responses to four questions: What are we proud of, or what are the successes in our community? What are our complaints or frustrations? What are […]

A highlight of a recent visit to Minneapolis-St Paul was a tour of the Rondo neighborhood by Steve and Catherine Dickinson who came to live there in 1979 and used their home as an Initiatives of Change center. For decades in the 20th century Rondo was the thriving heart of the black community. Many who arrived from the southern states […]

I sat down to write this column the day after Justin Trudeau won a second term as Canada’s prime minister. He lost the popular vote and his Liberal Party lost its majority in the House of Commons. To the surprise of many observers, the Bloc Québécois, a party that promotes Québec independence and which had appeared very weak early in […]

Susan and I are now Texas residents! After four days of driving, our little Honda brought us safely to Austin, capital of the Lone Star State. As Susan remarked, we feel as if we have traveled through time and space and woken up in another land. (We arrived to experience Austin’s second-hottest August on record with 27 days at or […]

When my wife and I arrived in Richmond in 1980, the schools were experiencing white flight to the counties and to private schools. Living in the Carillon neighborhood all three of our sons attended the local John B. Cary Elementary School, which began as a “model” school, open to people across Richmond and designed to reflect the racial makeup of […]

On Saturday, June 22, several thousand Richmonders celebrated under a clear blue sky as state and city leaders dedicated the Arthur Ashe Boulevard to the city’s most distinguished native son. The event also highlighted the opening of an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture depicting the struggle for black equality and marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival […]

Forty years ago, Susan and I came to make our home in Richmond, Virginia. This summer we will move to Austin, Texas. Last week 40 friends, including neighbors, work colleagues and others from across the city crowded into our home, to celebrate my 70th birthday. We also came together to give thanks for the remarkable journey we have shared together. We […]