Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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The Courage & Vision of Medgar Evers
“One hundred fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 years after the March on Washington, we celebrate the spirit of our ancestors, which has allowed us to move from a nation of unborn hopes and a history of disenfranchised votes to today’s expression of a more perfect union . . . Where our paths…
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Is Springfield America's Second Gayest City?
Springfield, Massachuestts was chosen as the Advocate’s second most LGBT friendly city in America this January, beating out other big names like St. Louis and Seattle. The Advocate publishes a list of America’s Gayest Cities every year, and chose Tacoma, Wash. as this year’s winner. Springfield was the only New England city chosen besides Providence,…
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Citizens United
U.S Representative Jim McGovern introduced two constitutional amendments to overturn Citizens United in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. Rep. McGovern’s first amendment, HJ Res 20, would restore Congress’ and the states’ authority to regulate campaign spending. The second amendment, HJ Res 21, would overturn Citizens United and clarify that constitutional rights apply to living persons, not…
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Cookie Day at the State House
Repeated rallying cries of “Housing!” echoed off the marble wall of the State House on February 13th. Concerned citizens gathered in the State House’s Nurses’ Hall to demand 20 million dollars in additional funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) in the 2014 fiscal year budget. The event, known as “Cookie Day” for the…
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Youth Homelessness
I’ll be the first to give credit, when and where it is due. We are fortunate to live in a state that considers and integrates equality and diversity in many of our policies and services. It’s a walk through Boston’s Downtown Crossing or one visit to an organization like Bridge Over Troubled Waters, however, that…
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Enough Already
As I sat here writing this column on a cold, snowy Sunday morning, I was channel surfing. I landed on one of the Sunday morning shows. Usually, I hardly ever watch these shows; I don’t have much time for them. This morning, I watched, and ten minutes into it I remembered why I usually don’t—the…
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James Baldwin: A Prophet in Exile
Millions of African-Americans migrated from the Jim Crow South in search of a better life. The North represented The Promised Land—free of the limits on Black mobility and opportunity so rampant in the southern states. In Notes of a Native Son, America’s greatest essayist, James Baldwin recalls there was no milk and honey to be…
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Bayard Rustin: Are Gay Rights the New Civil Rights?
Bayard Rustin was an openly gay black man, helped introduce Gandhian nonviolence to the African-American civil rights movement. His pacifism landed him in jail for refusing to participate in World War II. He was part of the first Freedom Rides in 1947, helped to found the Congress for Racial Equality, and was National Field Secretary…
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Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all the…
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Detox Blues, Part I
I kept drinking the wine so the withdrawal from the Klonopin wouldn’t hit me. I didn’t want to have a seizure out here in the country. My wife, Sascha, had already gone into detox at a place called Canterbury Farm. Serenity House said that they had an opening for me, but not until Monday. It…
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