Danny Duncan Collum, author of the novel White Boy, teaches writing at Kentucky State University in Frankfort.
Posts By This Author
A Dream Come True
For the past eight years, the Solidarity-led opposition in Poland has carefully charted a course toward democracy and self-determination.
Black to the Future
As the folks at Mazda are always reminding us, the 1980s-going-on-'90s are really the 1950s.
Nestle Boycott: The Sequel
As you might recall, in the late 1970s and early '80s, a broad international coalition of church, health-care, and community groups waged a 7-year-long campaign against Nestle S.A
Flagged Out
There's something reassuring about the fact that the flag, the old Stars and Stripes, can still kick up so much popular controversy.
Old Thinking and New Weapons
The month of August marks the 44th birthday of the nuclear age. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
The Real Deal on Dope
The usual rap on TV cop shows is that they trivialize real life-and-death matters into a glossy package of sanitized violence designed to sell soap and soda pop.
Paying the Savings and Loan Bill
When Mr. Bush came back to Washington, the crisis in the savings and loan industry finally emerged on the public agenda.
The Last Dear Abbie Letter
For this future cultural analyst, the legendary '60s were an after-school special.
Say a Prayer for the Salt of the Earth
Political philosophers tell us that one of the great driving forces of human history is the tension between individualism (or liberty) and community (or equality).
Someday in the far-distant future...
Someday in the far-distant future, some 23rd-century Mel Brooks may make a satirical film called The History of the World: Part MCXXXXVII.
The Iron Curtain of Secrecy
Winston Churchill's metaphorical Iron Curtain between East and West may be lifting in these days of glasnost, detente, and other foreign phrases.
Talk Radio
The ad line for the new Oliver Stone-Eric Bogosian film, Talk Radio, gets my first nomination for The 1989 William Jennings Bryan "Cross of Gold" Award.
Growing Terror and Limited Rights in Northern Ireland
With the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, terrorism, as human tragedy, media sensation, and political catch-all, is back with a vengeance.
Twenty-Five Years Later
As this is written on November 22, 1988, the pop-cultural atmosphere is a-swamp with remembrance of things Kennedy.
The State of the Union: Perspectives on the Post-Election Political Terrain
An Opening for Populism
The Shock of Recognition
In the waning weeks of 1988, a wave of shocks hit the Middle East. The source of the shock wave was not an earthquake or, for once, an aerial bombardment. The earth, in fact, stood still.
A Red-Letter Year
The 1987-88 pop culture season was definitely a red-letter year. And the letter was Hawthorne's scarlet "A." That's for adultery, in case your high school lit is rusty.
Cinematic Presidencies
Ronald Reagan, it is said, has run America's first cinematic presidency, often taking his ideological cues and policy prescriptions from his familiar world of the silver screen.
Hussein's Middle East Gambit
The revealing nature of America's closest friends in the Arab world