So many captivating things to report on today – still in the mode of looking at people whose hearts are not cold as stone.

For one, there is the magnificent speech by Mitch Landrieu, Mayor of New Orleans, addressing the removal of monuments dedicated to the cause of the confederacy.  One of the best sentences in it:  “The Confederacy was on the wrong side of history and humanity. It sought to tear apart our nation and subjugate our fellow Americans to slavery. This is the history we should never forget and one that we should never again put on a pedestal to be revered.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/opinion/mitch-landrieus-speech-transcript.html

Then there is a fabulous article on African American activists in the 1850s, who were living examples of how individual engagement and courage can change history.  Kantrowitz’s writing is clear, historically oriented and instructive for all of us who try to apply lessons of the past to the present.

http://bostonreview.net/race/stephen-kantrowitz-refuge-fugitives

And finally, there is Bessie Springfield – 1930s Black motorcycle queen road tripping through the states! Read it in awe.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bessie-stringfield-motorcycle-queen?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=273d72b811-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_05_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-273d72b811-66214597&ct=t(Newsletter_5_22_2017)&mc_cid=273d72b811&mc_eid=1765533648

Photographs today are stone stoops in Maryland, Virginia and Louisiana.