COVID-19 will devastate Mississippi's African American community
Business Insider, April 22, 2020
How It Ends: The Message from Mississippi
On Building Community in a Divisive Era Scoundrel Time, January 28, 2018
On Language and Truth
How the mysteries of poetry can help a writer expand the boundaries of language.
ORIGINS, OCTOBER 2017
Eudora Welty’s Jackson: “The Help” in Context
Eudora Welty's "Where is the Voice Coming From?" helps show a full picture of Mississippi in 1963.
National Public Radio, August 17 2011
Escaping the Summer Heat in a Bookmobile
A look back at the joys of summer reading on an old bookmobile
National Public Radio, August 10, 2010
Bordellos, Bandits, and One Big Mississippi Adventure
On a youthful first encounter with William Faulkner’s The Reivers.
National Public Radio, July 3. 2012
At Ole Miss, A Valedictory to the Old South
A look at the ever changing mind of the American South.
The Washington Post, September 21, 2008
Before He Had His 'Dream,' King Wrote a Letter
A look at the significance of Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail
The Washington Post, January 16, 2005
The Confederate Flag Finally Falls In Mississippi
News Desk, The New Yorker, July 1, 2020
Emmett Till is No Less Powerful, 63 Years Later
On What the Life and Death of Emmett Till Still Means in a Black Lives Matter World
The Clarion Ledger, August 28, 2018
Color is Everywhere
On the beautiful and mysterious photography of William Eggleston
The Oxford American, December 9, 2016
Michigan’s National Poets
Four U.S. Poets Laureate have taught at the University of Michigan. The author shares his memories of three of them.
Michigan Today, April 13, 2011
DNA is Only One Way to Spell Identity
Genetic testing suggests that white and black Americans have more in common than they suspect. Will this change our perception of race?
The Washington Post, January 1, 2006
Affirmative Action and After
Now is the time to reconsider a policy that must eventually change. But simply replacing race with class isn’t the solution.
The American Scholar, Winter 2009
I Know What He Means
An analysis of the comments made by Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond’s Birthday Party in 2002.
The Washington Post, December15, 2002
Ole Miss is Still Torn 25 Years After Meredith
A meditation on the integration of the University of Mississippi 25 years later
The Washington Post, September 27, 1987