Author: Pardeep Kaleka

“And we will open our hands to the feast without shame. And we will turn toward each other without fear. And we will give up our appetite for despair. And we will taste and know of delight.” – Jan Richardson, “And the Table will be Wide” Fear can be an incredibly helpful emotion; however, fear can also serve as the primal root of disconnection. This is because our feelings can at the same time be healthy and yet be manipulated by both ourselves and others. Fear, especially when it is combined with trauma, can cause us to overestimate threats...

“If I cut you off, chances are you handed me the scissors.” – Social Media Meme Our existence begins and ends with relationships. From a very young age we navigate the complexities of connection with our families, friends, associates, and ourselves. It can be understood that if our life was a book then only a few people would remain for a significant portion of that written journey. As the new year approached, I found myself reflecting on this truth as people shared their New Year’s resolution to cut out the toxic people in their lives. This made me reflect...

“This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring, and that was damn near the death of us all … Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here, and it finishes here! Two men enter, one man leaves.” – Dr. Dealgood, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Reflecting on the most recent presidential debate which saw two candidates engage in one of the ugliest back and forth dialogues in recent history, I wondered to myself; why was it that the American public was left to feel so low following this particular exchange? Even the...

Oftentimes I find myself reflecting on two things; choices and solutions. If the issues that we face are solvable then why don’t we solve them? Because society exists in the poisoned tree of division, apathy, deflection, denial, and inaction. On Thursday, October 10, our city engaged in the “On the Table MKE” discussions sponsored by The Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Our conversations took place at the Milwaukee Asian Market and explored the theme of “The Spiritual Toll of Gun Violence.” Gathered was a collective of advocates, elected officials, faith leaders, survivors, and concerned citizens. The group of sixty included a...