LOS ANGELES -- In June, a 70-year-old Filipino American man was punched in the face at Don Knabe park in Cerritos, California.

The assailant told the man to "go back to your country."

A month later, dozens of Asian American senior citizens practiced self-defense moves in the same park where the attack occurred.

Wearing sun visors and fanny ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — It's not where anyone expects to see a clutch of Black and brown city kids with multicolored hair and nose rings walking silently through a labyrinth.

But past the rows of corn, the roadside crosses and the Trump flags off a gravel road in Wright County about 75 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, youngsters pondered the big ...Read more

I am grateful my wife and I are both healthy and my work has not been interrupted during COVID-19. But even with good health and work, emotionally the pandemic is still uncomfortable and scary and not a whole lot of fun. As a couple, we keep trying to make things better. In the past, we could just do whatever we wanted, but these days, we have ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In a small stucco house in a retirement community near Santa Cruz, an 81-year-old witch is writing a television series.

She calls it "Baba Boogie and the Berkeley Broads."

The premise goes like this: Baba Boogie is a reluctant immortal — old and tired. All her friends have passed on, but she herself cannot die until she finds...Read more

I have a client in her mid-30s —we’ll call her Sam — who went on a date last week with a guy who we’ll call Jason. Sam texted me the morning after the date saying, “I had what I thought was a great date with Jason last night… Great convo and connection, talked for 3+ hours, he kissed me at the bar and when I was getting an Uber.” ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- Professor Leah Hollis has built a career studying workplace bullying in higher education, examining how it affects women and people of color.

At Morgan State University, she alleges in a federal lawsuit, she experienced that subject firsthand.

In a complaint filed this summer, Hollis says the school has paid her tens of thousands ...Read more

DETROIT -- Colandra Boyd-Hopson was panicked earlier this year, worried she was close to losing her family's home after falling behind on her monthly payments.

Her husband, the family's primary breadwinner, had died last year after contracting the coronavirus.

To make things worse, she didn't qualify for pandemic aid because she was buying her...Read more

SAN DIEGO —A Santa Clara County judge is on a mission to honor Japanese Americans who were put into internment camps during World War II — most of whom were American citizens and California residents — by having them sign their names on historic flags.

On Sunday, Judge Johnny Gogo brought two antique 48-star American flags to the Buddhist...Read more

How did you get your name? Most of us know the answer. Most are proud of their given name and of the story behind it (excepting a certain “boy named Sue”).

For reasons beyond the scope of this article, in many cultures one marriage partner may adopt the surname of the other. In other situations, one may move the family name to a middle name...Read more

In her many years as the director of the animal ambassador programs for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, Julie Scardina was a favorite guest on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and the "Today" show. Thanks to her high TV profile, the energetic animal lover brought adorable baby penguins, a blanket-wrapped baby gibbon and a free-flying Scarlet ibis to...Read more

Swatches of fabric come to me in my mailbox every day now — a brightly patterned piece my friend saved from a trip to Senegal in her 20s; the bandana my cousin’s beloved therapy dog wore to nursing home visits; a tattered old dish cloth embroidered, “Be kind to one another.”

“I’ve been saving this piece all these years for some ...Read more

It's been a rough year for the garden. By mid-July the tally was 49-0 with rabbits, squirrels and raccoons for the win.

They grazed through petunias, lilies, sunflower starts, destroyed phlox and mowed an expanse of zinnias like a lawn tractor with zero-turn radius.

The main component of my flower garden was tufts of fur from rabbit tails. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA 19—John Kelly and his wife, Christina, had held on to their son's childhood belongings, his Lego blocks and Beanie Babies, thinking that if they ever became grandparents, the kids might like to play with their father's old toys.

That "someday" vanished in November, gone with their only child, Thomas, age 30.

His dresser, bed, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Empty liquor bottles rest like grave markers on a Baltimore street corner. Here, men show their love for the departed with expensive bottles.

Crown Royal whisky. Limited edition Hennessy cognac. Imported tequila. Top shelf for Anthony Covington.

In the mornings, however, city crews clear out the bottles left to mark the spot ...Read more

When I was a graduate student, one of the parenting memes then emerging from within the mental health professional community had it that “children deserved explanations.” The flip side of that very progressive notion was that parents should never say “Because I said so” in response to “Why?” or “Why not?”

One of the books I read...Read more

Recently, I answered a question about a new puppy that was having trouble sleeping in his bed without whining and barking through the night. I suggested some crate-training tips, but I’ve had lots of emails from across the country offering a few other ideas.

Here's a collection of those tips, along with my thanks.

DEAR JOAN: We got our new ...Read more

Q. What would family court think of my ex, a mother who prompted our separation (we were never married, but have two children together) and then three months later proceeds to move in with my brother? What’s good ex-etiquette about that?

A. I don’t know the specifics of your case, and I have learned from years of experience to never form an...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Beneath the glinting green dome of a mosque off Malcolm X Way in South Los Angeles, a spiritual leader in his late 80s is hammering home a vital message: African American Muslims must be engaged in their community and not let others make decisions for them.

Imam Abdul Karim Hasan embraced Islam more than 60 years ago after ...Read more

According to the history books, which I used to read only before final exams, there once was an American pioneer named Johnny Appleseed, who introduced apple trees to large parts of the Midwest, where they produced fruit that personal computers were eventually named after.

An updated part of the story concerns Johnny’s disreputable cousin, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Last month, images of Philly’s newest public artworks went viral on social media when users posted about artist Miguel Antonio Horn’s most recent sculpture: An eight-piece structure of humanlike figures, made of aluminum plates, floating about 20 feet above ground, on a bridge that connects two buildings on Cuthbert Street, ...Read more