Category Archives: Writing
“Neckties”
— for Raja Rao A thousand years old at birth, he kicked up the dust of Vedic sages wherever he walked. The molecules of air they had exhaled swarmed to him like gnats. He breathed … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, World Writers
Tagged Aurobindo, dhotis, Gandhi, Kabir, Nehru jackets, Raja Rao, Shankara
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Dempsey J. Travis: Refusing to Learn to Fail
Born in Chicago in 1920, Dempsey J. Travis became a self-made millionaire, one of the country’s most successful black entrepreneurs. He was president and CEO of Travis Realty Co., but his many interests and his intense commitment to the community took him … Continue reading
Posted in Black Writers, Chicago Writing, Diversity & Multiculturalism
Tagged Black community, Black role-modeling, Black Writing from Chicago, Chicago Writing, Dempsey J. Travis, DuSable High School, I Refuse to Learn to Fail, overcoming racism, Teaching Diversity, Travis Realty Co.
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Sterling Plumpp salutes Von Freeman
Von Freeman, one of Chicago’s titanic tenors, passed away this August, and his passing brought to mind the most beautiful lines ever written about him: “Be-Bop is precise clumsiness. Awkward lyricism under a feather’s control. A world in a crack. … Continue reading →