She didn’t want me to write about her. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. She gave me permission, but she had no interest when I pitched my idea to her. The Queen of Providence “No, no,” she said, “That’s not me. That’s not who I am.” I assured her that I’ve gotten used to disguising the identity […]
In 1991, tensions between the African-American and Hasidic Jewish populations of Crown Heights, Brooklyn erupted into riots following the death of a 7-year-old Caribbean-American boy when a car driven by a Jewish man veered onto the sidewalk and the subsequent stabbing of a young Jewish scholar. Enter Anna Deavere Smith — playwright, author, actress and […]
Of all the words of strength and unity heard in Indian Country, “empowerment” is one of the loudest. Stemming back to the Indigenous civil rights movements of the 1960s, empowerment represents a sense of self and civic pride — the reclamation and preservation of tribal governance, identity and community after centuries of loss and erosion. […]
Newport Polo takes place every Saturday during the summer, and continues through late September. One of their biggest matches of the year took place on Saturday, August 24, when USA took on England. The event features field-side seats for the serious fans, as well as food and drink options and a swath of rented tailgate […]
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is a classic piece of theater. This play showcases what Miller did best — bring sweeping epic dramas to American theater that dealt with “the regular guy.” Sons is a play about family, war and doing the right thing. In more recent years, the play has become a footnote in pop […]
Everybody (in Rhode Island) of a certain age has a Buddy Cianci story. For me, Buddy threw out the first pitch at my Little League Opening Day games and posed for a pic with us when we won the championship in 1982. I have clear memories of scrawling “Cianci Sucks” in the wet cement that […]
For his second published work, Alexander Smith packs a plethora of thought-provoking circumstances into seven stories that take up 60 total pages. While each story is short, Smith manages to spin a complete tale, proving that less can be more. He created intriguing story ideas that all encompass other realms of reality, though most of […]
After years of research, science has come to the realization that pets can play an important role in our mental and physical health. With apologies to cat lovers, the newest studies have found that dogs are especially beneficial. The sheer number of skills and services they can provide boggles the mind. CHILDREN AND DOGS For […]
Enough already! Enough with the shootings and the anti-hug policies. No more deportations of sick babies. Quit the Twitter fights over semantics. Cancel cancel culture. And for fuck’s sake, if you don’t agree with someone, don’t use the forward momentum of your car as a counter-argument. Let’s fight this fall of decency by declaring this […]
For some of us, the year begins in September. It’s not a unanimous feeling that Providence is a college town, but something about Labor Day weekend, when the students return and the city seems to fill up a bit more, gives the impression that we still adhere to a schedule once followed by television and […]