Category Archives: Story

The Great Alignment: Three Paths, One Human Heart

Today is a day that hasn’t happened in a century. In a rare cosmic and cultural coincidence, Fat Tuesday, Lunar New Year, and the start of Ramadan have all landed on the same 24-hour stretch. At first glance, these traditions … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanity, In the News, Story | Tagged beads, culture, dragon dance, faith, Fat Tuesday, heritage, king cakes, Lunar New Year, Maya Angelou, prayer, pre-dawn meal, Ramadan, red envelopes, reflection | 1 Comment

The Blueprint of Hope: Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson

When we talk about the history of the American presidency, we often focus on the winners – the names etched into the granite of the White House. But sometimes, the person who doesn’t win the office is the one who … Continue reading →

Posted in In the News, Story | Tagged A&P, apology, barack obama, boycotts, Chicago, civil rights, Coca-Cola, Cuba, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., economic justice, Fidel Castro, Fighting Shirley, Geraldine Ferraro, Grant Park, Gulf crisis, human shields, I Am Somebody, international peace, Kermit the Frog, Martin Luther King Jr., Monica Lewinsky, NAACP, Operation Breadbasket, Operation PUSH, peacemaker, Pepsi, Poor People’s Campaign, Presidential Medal of Freedom, protest, psychological breakthrough, PUSH-Excel, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, rainbow, Rainbow Coalition, Rainbow Connection, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. William Holmes Borders, Robert Goodman, Saddam Hussein, SCLC, Selma, Sesame Street, Shirley Chisholm, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Sr., the rejected, Unbought and Unbossed, White House | Leave a comment

The Presidents’ Day Patchwork: Why Your Holiday Depends on Your Zip Code

Tomorrow is Monday, February 16, 2026. Are you wondering, Who is off on Presidents Day? For some of us, that means a glorious morning of sleeping in and searching for mattress sales. For others, it’s just another 9-to-5, and perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in In the News, Story | Tagged abraham lincoln, advertising, alabama, arkansas, boxing, bury the hatchet, calendar, california, christmas eve, clinton, curse, curse breaker, Daisy Gatson Bates, Daisy Gatson Bates Day, Declaration of Independence, delaware, Dutch, elections, English as a Second Language, ESL, Farewell Address, february, federal holiday, first president, florida, george washington, Governor DeSantis, history, holidays, indiana, James K. Polk, James Madison, jeopardy!, John Tyler, left-handed, lefties, lincoln, long weekend, marketing, Martin Van Buren, november, obama, oil painting, pedantic, political holiday, presidents day, presidents day sale, presidents trivia, punctuation, reagan, Return Day, Ronald Reagan, speeding ticket, state holiday, Teddy Roosevelt, The Curse of Tippecanoe, third monday, thomas jefferson, three day weekend, trivia, U.S. citizen, U.S. Semiquincentennial birthday, Ulysses S. Grant, washington's birthday | Leave a comment

The Rule of Law Be Damned: The Human Cost of Unbridled Power

In a federal courtroom in Texas on January 31, 2026, Judge Fred Biery issued a ruling that should shake the conscience of the country. “Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanity, In the News, Story | Tagged acute lymphoblastic leukemia, asylum, bait, blue bunny hat, cancer, chemotherapy, compassionate release, constitution, criminals, cruelty, deportation, deportation quotas, detention center, dilley, Elvis Joel Tipan Echeverria, fifth amendment, fourth amendment, human decency, ICE, ice agents, ice brutality, immigration, immigration court, innocent, judge fred biery, leukemia, liam conejo ramos, los angeles, maher tarabishi, medical neglect, minnesota, new orleans, no criminal history, physical abuse, pneumonia, pompe disease, rights abuses, rule of law, sepsis, spider-man backpack, stage 4 cancer, texas, texas federal judge, unbridled power, uphold constitution, us citizen, wael tarabishi | Leave a comment

The Dirt is Speaking: From Cyrus the Great to the 2026 Fight for Human Rights

A 2,500-Year-Old Idea That Still Haunts Today’s Politics Growing up Persian, whether in Iran or Irangeles (aka Los Angeles), London, New York, or San Francisco, you probably have heard of Cyrus the Great. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump made … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanity, In the News, Story | Tagged 3.5% rule, autoritarian rule, Babylon, birthplace of human rights, censorship, crackdowns, cultural tolerance, Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus the Great, desctruction, dignity, dissent, Donald Trump, equality, erasing cultures, erica chenoweth, forced worship, freedom, greg bovino, human dignity, human rights, identity, iran, justice, king, kristi noem, morality police, power, protection, protection of conquered people, protests, religious freedom, repression, restoration, roots, Scientific and Cultural Organization, slavery, UNESCO, united nations, United Nations Educational, voice | 1 Comment

Alex Pretti: A good man killed by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs

Statement from the family of Alex Pretti, Michael and Susan Pretti: We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for … Continue reading →

Posted in In the News, Story | Tagged Alex Pretti, American veterans, Donald Trump, hero, ICE, icu nurse, kindness, last act, minneapolis, minnesota, nurse, pepper sprayed, VA hospital | Leave a comment

Breaking Boundaries: Queen of Chess and the Woman Who Refused to Play Small

Earlier today on Good Morning America, a new documentary spotlighted the extraordinary life and career of Judit Polgár, widely regarded as the greatest female chess player of all time. The film, Queen of Chess, tells a story that goes far … Continue reading →

Posted in Story | Tagged best player, Bobby Fischer, challenge stereotypes, chess, documentary, Garry Kasparov, gender equality, gma, good morning america, grandmaster, Judit Polgár, perseverance, prodigy, queen of chess, stereotypes, women breaking barriers, women in chess, women in competition, women in sports | Leave a comment

Why María Corina Machado Won the Nobel Peace Prize

In October 2025, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a global honor given to people who have worked to promote peace, human rights, and democratic freedoms. Machado’s win was about her peaceful fight for … Continue reading →

Posted in Story | Tagged civic action, democracy, democratic change, fair elelections, freedom, human rights, María Corina Machado, nobel peace prize, Norwegian Nobel Committee, peace, venezuela | Leave a comment

How “Heated Rivalry” Helped a Hockey Player Find His Voice – And Went Viral

The sports and entertainment world has been buzzing recently – not just about the wildly popular hockey romance TV series Heated Rivalry, but about the powerful real-life impact it’s having off-screen. Heated Rivalry — a series based on Rachel Reid’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Story | Tagged ccrave, falling in love, game changers, gay, hbo max, heated rivalry, hockey, hockey players, jesse kortuem, lgbtq+, luke prokop, masculinity, rachel reid, secrecy, secret, storytelling, tough guy, true self | Leave a comment

From Patient to Healer: Mesfin’s Full-Circle Journey in Ethiopia

Imagine being a kid in a small village in Ethiopia, your heart failing, and your future uncertain. That was Mesfin Yana Dollar. At just 15, he faced a life-threatening heart condition – one that local medicine couldn’t fix. But then … Continue reading →

Posted in Story | Tagged cardiac perfusionist, ethiopia, heart surgery, mesfin yana dollar, rick hodes | Leave a comment