What was it like to survive one of the earliest acts of international aviation terrorism?On September 6, 1970, twenty-year-old Mimi Nichter was aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 741 when it was hijacked and diverted to the Jordanian desert. Passengers were held for six days in extreme conditions, and Mimi—falsely accused of being an Israeli soldier—was among those taken hostage as war broke out around them.In this powerful interview, Mimi discusses her memoir, Hostage: A Memoir of Terrorism, Trauma, and Resilience, sharing what it was like to endure captivity, confront trauma, and ultimately find resilience.Mimi Nichter is a cultural and medical anthropologist, public speaker, and professor emerita at the University of Arizona. She is the recipient of the Margaret Mead Award and the George Foster Practicing Medical Anthropology Award, and her essays have appeared in HuffPost, Newsweek, and Brevity.🔔 Subscribe for more author interviews and powerful conversations.💬 Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below.https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/potomac-books/9781640126978/hostage/
While I am not a huge fan of censorship, I am even more adamant about eliminating racism. And for this reason, I could not hold my tongue. When I read that some of the Dr. Seuss books were being pulled from the public, I had to investigate. After all, it was Dr. Seuss books which fueled my interest in poetry, right behind Poe. So, it was a shocker to learn about this removal of books. Of course, there is a big rush on book sales for the censored books. I must wonder what that is about, but this is not the place to research that.
With cancel culture at a high point, it is easy to simply say, I am not going to have anything to do with Dr. Seuss. Rid my shelves of his books. Well, that is easy enough as I do not have one single Dr. Seuss book on my shelves. But let us hold on for a moment. As that old worn-out cliché of “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” comes to mind, that is what seems to me to apply in this situation.
On the Seussville page of the Random House website dedicated to Dr. Seuss, there a statement about the removal of the six books: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.” Stating this is because: “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”
Was Ted Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss indeed a racist man? After reading this well-written article on Dr. Seuss Art I learned a lot about how Ted Geisel evolved. And I had to reflect how, personally, I was also affected by the evolving of influences.
As a child and a baby boomer, I saw and heard so many expressions and artistic depictions of characters which would make my heart hurt. For many years, there were some expressions of which I was naïve, but once I learned what they meant, I no longer used them. Ironically, I also learned some expressions from people who were making jokes about their own heritage. What I did learn is that if you are of a certain culture and you make a joke about yourself, then that is retaining your own power, but do not tell that joke to anybody else, because it is hurtful, disrespectful. That is how I learned about self-deprecating humor. I have a hard time even uttering some expressions, such as in reading poetry and would rather not. It physically hurts my brain and heart.
As an in-home influencer, my father was heard making some expressions, but over the years he evolved. And when I read about Ted Geisel and how he evolved, I must believe it to be true. He was a military veteran, and he earned the highest honor of the Legion of Merit, same as my father did. Dad’s was for exemplary service throughout this military career. Both Dad and Geisel were praised for raising the morale of the troops.
Troops were of many races and cultures and I lived amongst all of these folks in school and in neighborhoods. And in these neighborhoods, the kids got close to each other. One of my first best friends was a black girl and her mother welcomed me, fed me, and encouraged the relationship as did my own mother. Mom had evolved, as well, as she grew up in a time when there were race wars and she was called “poor white trash” and had a scar from a brick hurled at her on the way to school. She did not fight back. She could have held that as a reason to hate, but she released it to us as a reason to love.
I am still mixed about my feelings about Ted Geisel, but I will always appreciate Dr. Seuss for those books which influenced me as a writer, and who helped me to expand my imagination, and to see possibilities with word play. There will be no books purchased by me. I have evolved, in a way, and this is because I no longer read Dr. Seuss, but if a child puts the book in my lap, it is pretty much a sign that it is time to read and to be sure and animate. But, if they happen to have a copy of a book with expressions or photos which are racially wrong, I will give them a good reason why it is a book which I do not support. And I do believe that education is the key to awareness and making each of our own decisions.
Shandy sat on the couch, pondering what she was to do with her life after her husband passed away. She had always been focused on him and their son and the idea of doing anything different for herself was foreign. In a way, she was puzzled over what was even missing in her life. She had been a loving, supportive wife and mother, by all the ways she cared for her family. By any means, she decided one thing for certain, she had to find out if she really liked who she was and then decide if this also meant she felt self-love. She got up off the couch, ventured out for a hike, and decided to do what made her smile, knowing this would lead to one thing, in theory, that all components of a happy life for her needed to be explored, then she would know what truly fed her soul.
And this is my Six Sentence Story for the week. Come and share yours HERE
Imagine sitting around the table in a coffee house like in the old days. Remember the beatnik days? Then you may be a baby boomer, like me. Perhaps you are more into another scene, open mics at the local coffee shop or bar. Well, it’s now 2021 and we get to do these things virtually. That’s right! You can wear your beanie, scarves, have your favorite beverage and snacks and participate in the Poets Coffee Table Talk held in your home on your computer, tablet, phone…
National Poetry Monthis coming in April. There is something planned for every day of the month. One of many events will be the Coffee Table Talks to be held each Monday night in April. We will have panelists who will speak about a variety of topics, each week being something different. Come join us for one, two, three, or even all four sessions. Take a look and sign up if you would like to join. If you are not wanting to sign up on the Meetup page, go to the comments on this page and provide your email and I will send the link.
Just like in the old days when poets came together, perhaps imbibed, or had some coffee, and talked about the problems of the world and how they would use poetry to speak their minds. This is a Coffee Table Talk. We will have a select group of panelists: Susi Bocks Chyrel J. Jackson Maxima Kahn LaVan Robinson For this event, Susi Bocks will be shar…
Just like in the old days when poets came together, perhaps imbibed, or had some coffee, and talked about the problems of the world and how they would use poetry to speak their minds. This is a Coffee Table Talk. We will have a select group of panelists: Arlene Bice Marcella Remund Zan Johns For this event we will be talking about anthologies of po…
Just like in the old days when poets came together, perhaps imbibed, or had some coffee, and talked about the problems of the world and how they would use poetry to speak their minds. This is a Coffee Table Talk. We will have a select group of panelists: Susan Brearley Aruna Gurumurthy Jill Sharon Kimmelman Barbara Truncellito For this event: Susa…
Just like in the old days when poets came together, perhaps imbibed, or had some coffee, and talked about the problems of the world and how they would use poetry to speak their minds. This is a Coffee Table Talk. For this event, we will be talking about the crafting of a poem. What do you use or do to inspire a poem? Who/what is your muse, do you u…
Clarabelle and Shandy got in the habit of going to thrift shops on Shandy’s day off from work, looking forward to the many bargains, often spending time just looking and reminiscing about this and that. “Oh my goodness, Clair, look at his kaleidoscope, it is just like the one I bought Gerald when he was a child, and he loved it so much, he even researched about how they are made and spent a lot of his quiet time looking through the scope, eventually it became a thing, where for gifts we would buy him a new one, until he had quite the collection.”
“Oh, that is so nice, I love that he had such enthusiasm, no doubt your support helped, by getting him new ones to explore and encouraging his doing research, you are such a dedicated mother.”
“He made it easy for me to be his mother, as he always has had that sense of adventure, always looking for the workings behind things, and I think he will do well in whatever he finally decides to do with his education, but there’s this one thing that really sticks in my mind about the kaleidoscopes, something he said, and it really stayed with me.”
“What is that dear?”
“He said, mom, have you ever noticed that a kaleidoscope has such a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes and that makes me think of the world, and how we are all different, but working together, it makes a beautiful thing, this life, it is just amazing.”
And there you have it! This is my Six Sentence Story and you can do one too. Just go to Girlie on the Edge and check it out!
As a teacher, I will always remain a student. In the classroom of life, l wish to work with and educate others. Whether you’re a teacher, student, or just your average person, here are a few of my "TEACHERble" moments.
Hi! my name is Sebastian (You can call me Seb!) ...welcome to my Blog. I'm a photographer from Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you enjoy my work.
Prolific Pulse Blog 