PHILANTHROPY: phi-lan-thro-py (noun) Synonyms:  benevolence /generosity/altruism Definition: “An act or gift done or made  for humanitartian purposes; goodwill to fellow members of the human race.” Sometimes a word suggests that there’s much more to it than meets the eye, showing itself in a different light from the usual definition. This is true of philanthropy. When you think of the word philanthropy, what comes to your mind?  Very likely some of the biggest, most powerful names in our world, going  back to Alfred Nobel and Andrew Carnegie up to today’s Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, all of them individuals whose contributions have made a lasting impact on  society. These top tier…

I was almost through reading a book I was enjoying when  I came across a sentence that made me stop and read it again.  “A child should know that they are loved.”  Yes, that was what it said.  “Child,” a singular noun, was paired with a plural pronoun.  The author was a well-respected magazine editor and writer of several books and scads of articles. How did he blunder like that? I did a little checking and found that it was no blunder. A lot  of people are treating the  language like that these days. English teachers have always taught—yea, preached—that a pronoun is a substitute  noun, and that a singular…

I’m sure you’ve noticed the  two-letter word that has made its way into  nearly everyone’s vocabulary and is increasing in popularity daily.  That  word is AI (Artificial Intelligence). The importance of  Artificial Intelligence dominates conversations  today, but we don’t have to  know much about technology  in order to be familiar with AI.  We deal with it when we  call customer  service  at our bank or at our cable provider or even at our doctor’s office. Insstead of getting a live  customer “servant,” we get a  voice that offers us the Main Menu and tells us  how  to  respond to its prompts. If you tell it the last four digits of…

On my way back home from running an errand not long ago, I saw a fence where I hadn’t seen one before.  Curious Kate that I am,  I started looking around as I drove and saw that there were quite a few fences already ensconced in our neighborhood.   I knew that a number of the barriers  had gone  up around backyards and sideyards, but I had suddenly become aware of seeing  some new ones, a few of them running the length of  the sideyards. Thankfully, none of them are across the front. There’s still the clear space of lawns. We don’t have deer here in this neighborhood  as we did…

  From time to time,  certain words  or phrases pop up in our language usages, catch on with the public, and stick around, at least for a while.  One such phrase in recent times is “walk back.” I think it originated with journalists who have used it when a politician or some other  prominent person  retracted or “took back”  something they said. Applying the  negative words to  the individual  made him or her look guilty of equivocation or weakness or even outright lying. Well, I don’t know what it says about me, but I had to walk back one of my pronouncements. For years I was adamantly against having  any…

  If you listen to the news on television and the radio or read the newspapers, you’ll agree that people are worried about the state of our planet. The Earth doesn’t seem to be able to hold up in its present condition.  Scientists are sounding the alarm, holding conferences and summits to discuss the problem and get the word out,  mostly to those they think are causing the problem. The dire warnings hinge on climate change. The United Nations and world leaders are collaborating on strategies  to  help preserve the planet and life on it. Well, one billionaire who foresees  a terrifying scenario for humanity on Planet  Earth  wants to…

  It’s that time again—time to put the spotlight on women. It seems that thinking about  women in a deeply  consequential way is reserved for one day in the year. The rest of the time, it’s business as usual. But there doesn’t need to be  a lot of hyperbole about women, their specialness, and their gifts to humankind. Nineteenth century society did that already. At that time, women were considered delicate and precious,  genteel creatures incapable of participating in public life.  They were unique beings to be kept under wraps, their anatomical parts not to be seen or spoken about. In this regard, you may read with amusement  linguist Albert…

It’s both a month for love and a month for celebrating  the African American experience. February is loaded. It boasts  two major cultural events: Valentine’s Day, the day for love, and Black History Month, a time to assess and appreciate Black heritage.  It’s ironic  that the  the  love month  is paired with the experience of Black Americans, a seeming incongruity in light of the  prevailing racial attitudes in our nation. Yet, the two are not mutually exclusive; however, having them both occupying the same space  points up  the reality that being the recipients of genuine expressions of love hasn’t been  a  part  of  the Black  experience—here in the U.S.— or…

    A year  ended and another began—seamlessly, effortlessly—like turning on  a light in a dark room. One moment there’s darkness, the next light.  It happened—with precision, unaided.   We went to bed, and when we awoke this morning, there it was—a new year.  We couldn’t do anything to hold it back. What shall we do  with it now that it’s here? Make  big resolutions  we very likely won’t keep? I’ve been thinking  about what to do with this marvelous gift of a new year, and the word defenestration came to mind. Yes, it’s a strange one, but it has a lot of potential for helping us do something positive about…