UT Disappoints

I always had such pride that I sent my girl from Park Slope, Brooklyn  to UT not knowing a soul.  When I stepped foot on this university campus in 2005 the first thing that I noticed was it's diversity.  OK, not Brooklyn diversity with Black and White, but ethnic diversity.  Asian, Latino, East Asian and even kids raised in the suburbs of Houston!  But today I am saddened and ashamed.  To think that someone would think they could get away with pinning signs on students with "Illegal Immigrant" and rewarding a $25 gift card if you catch one.  I am married to a son of Holocaust survivors.  He and his sister were the first set of twins born in Berlin in 1946 that were not gassed for being Jewish. Their father was taken to Siberia when they were only ten weeks old. This after surviving the death camps. My in-laws wore Jewish stars identifying themselves as Jews to the populace. I will protest and be counted as someone who loves UT and volunteers her services to students but will criticize every racist behavior and action that occurs on this campus.

12 Years A Slave/Violet Crown

Steve McQueen's film is a harrowing and painful viewing experience.  The performances by so many of the actors are gut wrenching and truthful.  A special shout out to Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o for their extraordinary work. The sadism of the slave owners and their slave masters is sometimes too difficult to watch so I covered my eyes and wept.  The beatings, the forced separations, the indignities, the cruelty to people is almost unbearable to take in.  This is what makes a great dramatic film.  This hammered my heart.