May 2021 – Philip Nel

Breaking up with your favorite racist childhood classic books (Washington Post)

May 16, 2021Philip NelChildren's Literature, Fascism, Nostalgia, Racism, Seuss

Head on over to the Washington Post for “Breaking up with your favorite racist childhood classic books,” in which I point out that It is possible to cancel a culture. There were once more than 300 indigenous languages spoken in the United States. Only about 175 of those languages remain today. Colonization, genocide, forced

That’s what storms were made for. #PlagueSongs, no. 32

Another of the great happy-sad songs, though – on balance – happier than sad. Introduced by Bing Crosby in 1936, it has music by Arthur Johnston and the lyrics by Johnny Burke (who also wrote the lyrics to “Swinging on a Star,” another hit for Crosby). You likely know the chorus, but not the prologue. I