San Antonio boxer Oscar Diaz passes

Very sad news of the death from previous injuries of the San Antonio boxer Oscar Diaz. Covered very well by Gregg Barrios.

A Book Club for Ex-offenders is a great model for any community

This Washington book club is the kind of outreach that can make a tremendous difference in a community. And it costs almost nothing to be supported or hosted by a city, county, university or community college. Also a great model for reaching out to veterans.

Mardi Gras in Acadiana

Nice piece and great photos on the rural Cajun version of Mardi Gras. Too bad he leaves Africa out of his references to the origins (okra!) of gumbo. But that's another story.

Is Mardi Gras another Halloween to the religious right?

Apparently Mardi Gras is now getting the same damnation shade eye from the Religious Right as does Halloween. When a stranger observed me today wearing beads and smiled that I had "the Mardi Gras spirit," a woman nearby corrected him to say it was Shrove Tuesday. When I jokingly asked what that was, she stiffened up to say it was the name of the day for Christians. To which I replied, "So is Mardi Gras" and walked off. I encountered a lot of this kind of You're-Going-to-Hell-and-I'm-Not attitude when writing American Voudou, which deals with violently repressive white "Christian" religious/racial intolerance to African theology. I don't think it's an accident that the main city that celebrates Mardi Gras in the U.S. is majority black. Today I got a twinge of that same feeling. The more things change.....