I tried to lose myself in books. Our house is packed with them, and we keep adding more. Like my mother, I love mystery novels and can plow through one in a single sitting. Some of my recent favorites...
Given my inability to explain this mess, I decided to let other voices tell the story this time.
Along the way, I’ve tried not to make the same mistake twice, to learn, to adapt, and to pray for the wisdom to make better choices in the future.
I wish so badly we were a country where a candidate who said, My story is the story of a life shaped by and devoted to the movement for women’s liberation would be cheered, not jeered. But that’s not...
Early on the morning of November 9, when it came time to decide on what I’d say in my concession speech, I remembered those words. Inspired by them, I wrote these: To all the little girls who are watc...
Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us...
When any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone.
Learn to take criticism seriously but not personally.
That was some weird shit, George W. reportedly said with characteristic Texas bluntness. I couldn’t have agreed more.
Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you. Easier said than done.
So I’ve never had much respect for activists who are willing to sit out elections, waste their votes, or tear down well-meaning allies rather than engage constructively. Making the perfect the enemy o...
Republicans persuaded whites in places like West Virginia to vote against their economic interests by appealing to them on cultural issues— in other words, gays, guns, and God.
My mistakes burn me up inside. But as one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver, says, while our mistakes make us want to cry, the world doesn’t need more of that.
I went back to de Tocqueville. After studying the French Revolution, he wrote that revolts tend to start not in places where conditions are worst, but in places where expectations are most unmet. So i...
Do I feel empathy for Trump voters? That’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot. It’s complicated. It’s relatively easy to empathize with hardworking, warmhearted people who decided they couldn’t in goo...
Bill was watching Trump’s speech on television. He couldn’t believe it. Neither could I. Eventually everyone left, and it was just us. I hadn’t cried yet, wasn’t sure if I would. But I felt deeply and...
Forward-thinking teachers and school administrators across the country are creating a whole range of alternatives to cookie-cutter teaching and evaluation methods, such as the use of student portfolio...
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. —Friedrich Nietzsche (and Kelly Clarkson)
Strength is what it’s all about. Trump doesn’t think in terms of morality or human rights, he thinks only in terms of power and dominance.
One thing that has never been a hard choice for me is serving our country. It has been the greatest honor of my life.