George Moses Horton: A Biographical Sketch & several poems; from local sources George Moses Horton George Moses Horton (1797-1893) could rightly be called North Carolina’s first professional poet. Born enslaved by Chatham County yeoman farmer William Horton, young George Moses Horton loved the rhyming sounds of hymns, and yearned to be able to … Continue reading More Juneteenth: A Remarkable, Neglected Black Carolina Poet
“In 2025 . . . celebrations of Juneteenth are being cut back or even canceled. Corporate sponsors and local governments, as well as the national government, are pulling back their support for festivals and Juneteenth events.” [Not here. Juneteenth-related posting all day.] Background, by Heather Cox Richardson: “Juneteenth [is] the celebration of the announcement in … Continue reading Juneteenth Is Alive Here — 2025
Tom Edsall writes a very valuable weekly column in the New York Times, and he’s paid a lot of attention to the rise of Artificial Intelligence. Like other observers, he’s particularly concerned about AI’s developing impact on jobs and society, present and future. In his June 5 column, Edsall picks the brains of several scholars … Continue reading Yikes!! AI Is Coming for My JOB — Even Though I’m Already Retired!
Here it is: I didn’t vote for Hubert Humphrey for president in 1968. Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon, by less than one percent. And as Andy Young had warned me, it’s been (almost) all downhill from there. Not that I voted for Nixon instead. Or for George Wallace, the fiery segregationist Alabama governor, who carried … Continue reading My True Confession, from 1968: All Downhill from There
Last month I attended two presentations by the new AFSC Director of Quaker Engagement, Brian Blackmore, at Durham and Chapel Hill Meetings here in North Carolina. Blackmore, just a year in the job, is the successor to Lucy Duncan, a longtime AFSC staffer who was unceremoniously fired in early 2022 when she tried to start … Continue reading AFSC: When the Slides Went Awry, And The Key Questions Weren’t Asked . . .