The Black Man as a Protector                                                                                    Pretend you are walking towards home or towards a store entrance and you walk past an African American male. How many of you assume that he must be a bad man seeking to harm you rather than someone who could save your life? Sadly, most

There is an old Romanian saying similar to, “It is only the dead who do not return.”  Indeed, in the aftermath of tragedy and life loss there is nothing we can do for the person who is no longer with us. However, there are many things we, both as a society or individuals, could do so Trayvon Martin’s death does not become yet another American racia

Excerpt from the upcoming Romanian Rhapsody © 2011 by Oana. This is a book about my sister and me growing up in the midst of oppression and censorship. Freedom Bucharest, 1979      I was older, and my presence was probably easier to tolerate than that of my sister. My father would sometimes take me to his office with him, which was also a way of se

Damn, how could I forget it? Zip is going to be furious. Everything she’s taken care of, and I forget the matzoth. And it’s almost sundown. Well, I’ll grab a box and hopefully they’ll have the express checkout working. Moses Cohen’s mind was racing, but that was nothing new. “Occupational hazard,” he always rationalized. “Lawyers do a lot of thinki