Democrat-Gazette online

As I write this, American and Ukrainian leaders are in Saudi Arabia, meeting to discuss the possibility of bringing an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, or as our officials put it, "whether Ukraine is committed to pursuing peace with Russia."

When I read that, it reminded me of a quote my mother kept on our family bulletin board in the kitchen of the home where I grew up: "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." --Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Given that definition I wonder whether true peace between those two countries ever will be possible.

In my Comp 1 classes we are working on essays that explain a concept. Similar to a definition essay, the exercise illustrates the power of words; specifically, the power of the person who gets to decide what they mean. I try to empower my students by showing them that they can define who they are and encourage them not to give up that power to any haters. We talk about words like American, Southern, hillbilly, Christian; and concepts like patriotism, family, love, and success. There are dictionary definitions of these words, of course, then there are all the different ways they can be used and understood. For good and for ill.

I wrote........

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