Not Quite Communist

Today we’re tackling a myth that just won’t die: the idea that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs—DEI—somehow put unqualified people into jobs at the expense of those who are “more qualified.” You’ve heard it. Maybe at work. Maybe on the news. Maybe from a relative at dinner. It’s everywhere. But here’s the truth: DEI does not lower standards. It raises fairness. And today, I want to clear...

When I think about leadership, I often start by looking at the natural world. Wolves, in particular, have always captivated me. They are creatures of survival, but also of deep community. Unlike lions, which sometimes kill the offspring of a defeated rival to secure their own dominance, wolves do something very different. When a leadership change happens in a wolf pack, the new leader does not des...

A Jan. 25, 1899 issue of Puck magazine published a political cartoon that shows Uncle Sam lecturing four children, which represent different island countries across the globe that America colonized: Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Image: Wikimedia Commons. When Minnetonka mayoral candidate Jonathan Kent asked the rhetorical question, “I would love to hear the ways in which the United S...

Painting of Filipino independence hero Dr. Jose Rizal being executed by the Spanish. Photo: Jorge Lascar via Wikimedia Commons. Friends, someone recently told me that the way I talk about empire and colonialism sounds anti-Western, as if I’m using history to disguise a hidden agenda. But that’s not it. Because empire isn’t just a Western story. Colonialism isn’t just something the Europeans invent...

Photo: Wikimedia Commons. On Michigan Avenue, in front of the Tribune Tower, stands a statue of Nathan Hale. He was young. He was resolute. He was unbowed, even in the face of death. And the words most often tied to him—“I only regret, that I have but one life to lose for my country”—may not have been spoken by him at all. But what matters is that they have been remembered. They have been cherishe...

“Spanish Mission” depicting Christopher Columbus claiming indigenous land for Spain. Painting: EverGreene Painting Studios, 1993-1994, Architect of the Capitol. My friend Allison Mann reminded me this week that all over social media, some folks are doing all sorts of things to prepare for the Rapture—supposedly appointed for tomorrow. Some are selling off property. Some are quitting their jobs. So...

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos takes his second oath of office. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. Today marks the fifty-third anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of martial law in the Philippines. For many, this is history in a dusty textbook. For me, it is family history—blood, language, and memory. I am Ilocano, as Marcos was. That meant my family could not escape the story. Many of my...

President Lyndon Baines Johnson at Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam on October 26, 1966. Photo: Yoichi Okamoto and LBJ Library. Lyndon Baines Johnson’s last words in a public speech before he died were simple but profound, “We shall overcome.” He spoke them in Austin, carrying the weight of the Civil Rights Movement that he had helped advance through the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act, even a...

Antifa is trending again. And whenever that happens, the noise starts to drown out the clarity. Some claim Antifa is a violent mob. Others claim it’s a secret organization. Some even try to convince people that antifascists are the real fascists. But here’s the truth: the idea of antifascism is actually very simple. Let’s break it down. The roots of fascism Fascists, historically and today, stand...

I keep asking myself a question. Why are entertainers the first to be silenced? Why are artists the first to be censored? Why are comedians the first to be shut down? And the answer comes to me: because they are dangerous. Not dangerous with weapons. Not dangerous with armies. Not dangerous with laws. But dangerous with laughter. Dangerous with imagination. Dangerous with truth wrapped in the disg...

Edgewater Mutual Aid Network volunteers packaging food for distribution. Photo: Gerald Farinas. Every Saturday, I work security for the Edgewater Mutual Aid Network. Every Saturday, I watch people line up outside the Edgewater Presbyterian Church building. Every Saturday, I see parents leading their little children by the hand, hoping for a few bags of food to get through the week. And every Satur...

When astronauts look down on Earth from space, they often describe something called the Overview Effect. It’s a psychological shift in perspective, a sudden recognition of Earth’s fragility and unity. From orbit, the national borders we’ve drawn vanish. Nations disappear. The land looks whole, unbroken, like one shimmering organism suspended in the vast darkness of space. Edgar Mitchell, from Apol...

Mexican flags in downtown Chicago. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. When I speak about colonial histories, I do not speak of the past as something gone. I speak of it as something alive. I speak of it as something breathing. And today, I speak of Mexico’s independence. Mexico’s independence is not only about 1810. It is not only about Father Hidalgo ringing church bells in the town of Dolores. It is abou...

Official portrait of Ill. Gov. Jim Edgar. Photo: JimEdgar.com. On this podcast, I often focus on the bigger stories of power: empire, colonialism, and the ways leaders today fall short of what their people need. But this time I want to pause and talk about someone whose name may not come up in every national conversation, yet his passing has left many in Illinois reflecting on what leadership shou...

We continue our conversation on imperialism where we explore stories shaped by colonialism, displacement, and the lingering echoes of empire. Today, I want to take you into a book that doesn’t just tell a story—it draws you into a fog of history, myth, and spirit. Quan Barry’s She Weeps Each Time You’re Born is a novel that feels less like reading and more like entering a dream. I’ve read a lot of...

Philippines Col. Máximo Abad en route to surrender to U.S. forces. Photo: Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. September 13, 1900. A hill with red soil on the island of Marinduque in the Philippines—Pulang Lupa. Filipino fighters led by Col. Máximo Abad surrounded and defeated a U.S. unit commanded by Capt. Devereux Shields. It was a shocking loss for the U.S., which was trying to t...

Today I want to tell two stories—one from Mexico, one from the Philippines—that feel like warnings to us here in the United States right now. The first is the story of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, a group of Irish immigrants who deserted the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War to fight for Mexico. The second is about the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, Filipino patriots executed by the Spanish...

Today is September 11, a day that always carries a heaviness. Twenty-four years ago I was an eighteen-year-old freshman at Loyola University Chicago, living alone for the first time, over 4,500 miles from my home in Hawaii. I remember the weight of that morning as the towers fell, the fear that settled over the city, and the quiet streets near campus that felt like the world had stopped. That day...

Illinois state Sen. Mike Simmons (D) represents the Edgewater neighborhood among others. An LGBTQ African American of Ethiopian descent, his partner and other family members joined our annual commemoration. Juneteenth observes the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to the last pockets of slavery in Texas—two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the executive order. It declares an end to s...