Jordana Rosenfeld’s book review of White Utopias shows some serious confusion (October 2020). Rosenfeld’s language conflates spiritual growth with the trendy issues of social justice. I can answer the question posed by the review’s title — “Is spiritual growth possible without confronting whiteness?” — in one word: Yes. That’s because spiritual growth has nothing to do […]
Avram Chetron
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
Not up to standard
I appreciate Associate Editor Tristan Ahtone’s account of the Indigenous storytelling tradition, and I’m glad to hear of the success of these motivated and talented girls, but journalism this is not. HCN has such a wonderful history of hard-hitting investigative journalism, stories that involve research, face-to-face interviews, extensive travel and persistence when confronted with less than cooperative […]
Posted inAugust 21, 2017: Rooftop Revolution
Countering the takers
I was moved by Brian Calvert’s eloquence, his personal soul-searching, and his finding solace and hope in the words of Robinson Jeffers. I was less impressed by his conclusions centering on beauty and justice and his referencing Douglas Tompkins’ quote, “If anything can save the world, I’d put my money on beauty.” It seems clear […]
Posted inSeptember 3, 2010: Migration
The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son?
I am always puzzled when HCN‘s feature article (“Young, All-American, Illegal,” 8/16/10) takes up a cause from a humanistic heartfelt perspective while completely ignoring all other perspectives. In doing so, our status as a society dedicated to the rule of law is undermined, ignored and trivialized. As a sensitive and humane person, I am of […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2009: Dueling Claims
Taking the high road(less)
The political campaign that was used to accomplish the Clinton roadless rule seemed open to serious criticism on the grounds that it was intentionally insensitive to the voice of many Western constituencies that would have (and subsequently have) objected (HCN, 11/9/09). A narrowly targeted minority of activists was mobilized to win the day while most […]
Posted inJune 1, 2009: Voyage of the Dammed
A Purpose-Driven Life
The excerpt from Lisa Jones’ book Broken is a story with a lot of pathos, a very human look at a world that most of us have little understanding of (HCN, 4/27/09). Lisa’s appreciation for the Arapaho culture and her openness to the values and rhythms of life of Daniel and his peers allows us […]
Posted inApril 13, 2009: The Desert That Breaks Annie Proulx’s Heart
“The officially sanctioned helpless”
Your story “Tarp Nation” seems to condone living in squalor, while trying to convince the reader that the plucky residents of these communities are creative, self-reliant and just happen to suffer because of the government’s harshness, the mainstream’s condemnation and society’s refusal to embrace the positive potential of this new social movement, “informal urbanism” (HCN, […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 2006: Going Big
Diversity, Schmiversity
I’m writing in response to your “Dear Friends” column of June 12. I found your focus on diversity at a recent Saturday morning gathering of staffers and board members to be troubling. I cannot fathom the weak, irrational deduction that goes, “because the (fill in the blank) is diverse, our staff or our movement or […]