Teachers across Maine are still predominantly white, even though the number of students from minority and immigrant backgrounds has increased in the last two decades. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 96.5% of students across the nation were white in 2000. In 2017, 89.3% were white and 3.6% were Black. Maine students are […]
American Journal Opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: People of color owed debt of gratitude
Welcome February, the month we set aside to celebrate, among other things, Black history. This is the month that posters go up with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr., units are taught about Frederick Douglass and conversations are had about the remarkable Harriet Tubman. With good cause. Legal slavery is, historically speaking, still recent. What’s […]
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Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: At our very best, we are a nation of poets
How about that Amanda Gorman, yeah? I just … I just … Well, OK, that right there is why I really hate trying to write about poetry. Because while this amazing young poet delivered her work, “The Hill We Climb” with grace, poise and conviction – from the steps of the Capitol and in front […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: What’s a conservative to do?
With Democrats and their liberal/progressive/socialist ideological adherents installed in high political offices in Maine and the nation, conservative Republicans might be feeling a little low as we find ourselves in the opening days of a Biden administration that promises to change America as we’ve known it. Have no fear; all hope is not lost for […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Make space for the next generation
What do they say? The days are long and the years are short. One of my pals has a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. The girl doesn’t sleep, ever. The boy fights and tantrums, always. Their mom feels frazzled, exhausted, sometimes overly involved, other times checked out. I tell her, “I remember.” I remember […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Guest Column: Biden needs to make Africa a priority
Joe Biden has a chance to restore the United States’ credibility in parts of the world that are crucial for U.S. foreign policy. The continent of Africa has remained ignored under the Trump administration. The U.S. commitment of trade and investment in the continent has been unheard of for the last four years. The United […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: The time that is given us
How are you doing? After the global dumpster fire that was 2020, it would have been kind of nice to get through the first month of the new year without an uptick in pandemic deaths, a full-out assault upon our democracy and a crashing economy to say nothing of the weather disasters in the nation. […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Trump’s legacy
What will be President Donald Trump’s lasting legacy? Long after the dust settles on his four years as president, how will historians view his term in office? Honest, non-partisan reflection will likely note it with one word: complex. But while we wait for history’s permanent verdict on Trump, how should we Americans who lived through […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Mainewhile: Make truth-telling great again
Well. I chose a heck of a time to give up outrage, huh? I mean, giving up outrage for New Year’s and then having the week we had is like giving up sugar only to have a French patisserie open up next door. Because truly, the events of the past week, described by many (including […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Life Unwound: Letter of love
My mother died a year ago between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve thought about her often and that song from the musical “Rent” keeps reappearing: “How do you measure a year? In daylights? In sunsets? In midnights? In cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?” How do we measure a life? […]