Rachel Corrie and Jonathan Kozol

Yesterday we saw a very well done production of: "My Name is Rachel Corrie" and afterwards heard her parents and sister and others talk about the play and her life. Rachel Corrie was killed at age 23 by an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer just over four years ago in Rafah in Gaza trying to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes there.

The play was written for a single narrator (Rachel Corrie) speaking from her diaries, emails and other writings about her life. The play portrays her as a lively, fascinating individual questioning much in worlds trying to work to make our lives better for All of us humans.

The play is very political, but also very personal and beautiful in exploring what is important in life (for all of us) as well how she was quirky and funny in many ways. I was crying at various times as the seriousness of her life grew once she arrived in Gaza shortly before her death.

I am reading Jonathan Kozol's "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America" a fascinating book helping expose the underbelly of the U.S.'s public school system. Kozol's books are always fascinating and scary as he talks with poor, generally Black children in our inner cities.

Both Corrie and Kozol point to the need for all of us to work in many different ways to help make our planet a better place. They both indict the leadership of the U.S. in multiple ways as well as exposing the need for major changes in much in our lives and the lives of others affected by our lives.

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