I kept finding the same anguish, the same doubt; a self-contempt that neither irony nor intellect seemed able to deflect. Even DuBois’s learning and Baldwin’s love and Langston’s humor eventually succumbed to its corrosive force, each man finally forced to doubt art’s redemptive power, each man finally forced to withdraw, one to Africa, one to Europe, one deeper into the bowels of Harlem, but all of them in the same weary flight, all of them exhausted, bitter men, the devil at their heels.

The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril

I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death; rather, it was an active, palpable agent in the world.

Try to be as honest as possible.

I'd like to think that "President Obama believed deeply in this democracy and the American people."

To anyone out there who has ever been assaulted: You will never be alone. You are never alone. We have your back. I've got your back.

Instead of giving in to cynicism and division, let's move forward with the confidence and optimism and unity that define us as a people.