Sunday Roundup!

Yesterday I spent the day with the Op-Ed Project, thinking more about this new craft (it's been over a year, but it still feels very new) of public writing. It was an inspiring day and I left it even more committed to developing my public voice and, even more importantly, working to amplify the voices of others.

Speaking of which, last Sunday I published my remarks from a conference on "Going Public: A Medievalist on CNN." Thank you all for reading and sharing, as I think it's important. My question - what do we owe society when we reach an important conclusion? - dovetails nicely with the mission of the Op-Ed Project.

I wrote two other pieces on writing. Hyperscribal Society rambles through some of the implications of all the writing we do now. More importantly, I've been asked for Advice for Writers lately. I have no real advice, but I do have some advice to readers - share. And share from the least visible to the most visible.

On Monday, I wrote about a lawsuit involving an Arab man from Dearborn, MI, beaten by police. He has a psychological disability. I wrote:

In the wake of Ethan Saylor's death, some advocates suggested developing a universal "I'm disabled" hand-signal or even a t-shirt so that police will know not to beat people who are disabled for being non-compliant.
But I have a better idea.
Don't beat people for being non-compliant.

I stand by that radical idea.

I also linked to a great set of videos about disability and inclusive society. I like that they acknowledge that inclusion can be tricky and awkward, but also that you can get past that awkwardness pretty easily.

Finally, I wrote about the layered nature of privilege (thinking about the Princeton boy who has no white privilege) in There Is No Meritocracy and then revealed the exciting news that McDonald's Solves Gender Norming with Hot Pink Purse.

It's been a good writing week. Next week the Chronicle is publishing my next essay, and this one is a big one as I think it's the precis of a book. I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts.