Sonya Harris
Stories
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Anna Qu’s fierce memoir grapples with child labor, immigration, and love
As a teen, Chinese American author Anna Qu was forced by her mother to work in their family's garment factory in Queens, New York. At home she was the family’s maid, and faced punishment for doing things like schoolwork. Qu contacted Child Protective Services to report her mother, but due to bureaucratic bumbling she was left her to fend for herself. Now as an adult, Qu reckons with life, family, and not so easy answers to past trauma in her memoir.
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Civil political discourse is alive and well at 'Civic Saturday'
Social Distancing may be drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean folks are eager to come together just yet. The potential unity among Americans, involving civil civic discourse, continues to prove a bumpy road, to say the least. But according to the speakers in this talk, it’s a journey still worth committing to, having ‘faith’ in, and suffering through, together.
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A democracy worth saving: Author Ben Rhodes on the rise of global nationalism
In his new book After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made, author Ben Rhodes grapples with the dissolving notion of American exceptionalism in a post-Covid world. Using a global lens, Rhodes presents a glimpse of a highly possible democracy-free future, presently modeled by countries like Hungary, Russia, and China.
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'The ingredients for madness': Author Grace M. Cho’s memoir on colonialism, food, and love
Author Grace M. Cho breaks bread with the numerous voices haunting her ‘pained spirit’ in her new novel.
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Author M. Leona Godin shares the trope-free history of 'blindness'
Godin’s new book sheds an intriguing light on the tropes surrounding those on the spectrum of blindness.
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On Asian America: Not backing down
The surge of hate crimes committed against Asian Americans has swelled since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. It's a sad but known truth that racial hatred against Asians (or racial hatred, in general) isn't just a new phenomenon in the US. But neither is standing up to and confronting that hatred...
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2020 Hugo House Fellows share works of ‘Luminosity’ for the new year
Poets and essayists conjure post-holiday light
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Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett discusses ‘that big grey blob’ between your ears
If you’ve ever found yourself wishing you could better understand how the human brain works, then this talk is just for you.
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Best-selling author discusses the fact and fiction in her sequel to ‘The Handmaid’s tale’.
As we approach a spooky time of the year (No, I’m not referring to the US election season) we may be finding ourselves slowly drawn towards unnerving but entertaining cautionary tales. One of those stories just may be the award-winning TV show The Handmaid’s tale based on the best-selling novel by author Margaret Atwood.
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Erica Barnett shakes-up and stirs the conversation around alcoholism and addiction
When Seattle based reporter Erica Barnett took her first sip of alcohol as a young teen, she had no idea just how impactful that moment would later become. Nor did she realize how inadequate rehabilitation centers, inspirational self-help mottos, and truisms about a “rock bottom” (something Barnett never truly felt) would be for her.