Essays

 
 

Nick Sharp: A Human Singularity

Nicholas Andrew Sharp passed away last month, leaving behind fourteen children, twenty-five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and Linda, his loving wife of fifty-five years. He also left behind the rest of us, who either knew him personally, or knew of his existence through acts of humanity that echoed from him through those he touched. 

By Charles McGuigan 05.2024


 
 
 
 
 

Santa Claus Was Not White, He Was a Person of Color

Emboldened by a president who was endorsed by white supremacists (the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, among others), chowderheads, back in December of 2016, on around the feast day of Saint Nicholas, commenced a racist firestorm on social media and even tried to shut down that nightmarish entity of Minnesota origin—the Mall of America.

By Charles McGuigan 12.2020


Bending the Arc with $25 Million for Historic Justice Initiatives

 Virginia is bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice thanks to a new budget item proposal from Governor Ralph Northam

On December 11, the Governor Northam announced a proposed budget that will include nearly $25 million to transform historic sites and advance historic justice efforts.


Monument Avenue Soon To Be “A Road Less Traveler”

When the monuments began to come down last month, they were like bowling pins, falling in slow motion. A massive ball of outrage, molded from centuries of racism and inequity, struck the pocket perfectly—no spare; just a resounding, if protracted, strike.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2020


A.P. Hill: The Last Man Standing

When my son Charles attended Linwood Holton Elementary School, it always struck me as odd that his Black classmates, every single day, had to look at a statue to a man who fought to preserve the enslavement of Black people.

By Charles McGuigan 07.2020


 Searching for Stonewall Jackson

In his book, “Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America”, Ben examines, in fairly minute detail, just about every facet of this enigmatic, and tight-lipped wizard of warfare, a man of glaring contradictions.

By Charles McGuigan 01.2020