I’m not going to mince words about it, folks: I’m leaving town.

It’s fair to say I live my life under the protective wing of white allies.

In 2010, most school districts began to recognize the need to adopt the Common Core Curriculum standards — the hotly debated idea of whether o…

We didn’t make enough of a deal about Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Madison moves fast.

Will they ever get the recognition they deserve without some stupid race-tinged slur or issue to overshadow their moment?

Part of the privilege of writing a column about race and ethnicity is the responsibility to not simply be a crier for every incident of injust…

Many mornings I wake up feeling as though every one of my joints is completely rusted out. On good days, it’s just a piercing headache that be…

Someday in the not-too-distant future, the term “Latino vote” will die out quietly. No more talk of sleeping giants. No more voting “blocs” th…

Kids in cages.

Much of the world hadn’t heard of Kamila Valieva before her pathos-driven free skate routine during the women’s finals at the Winter Olympics …

Back in 2017, mere months after President Donald Trump took office, the education website “The 74” published a pie-in-the-sky editorial. It su…

I recently wrote about the need for public schools in Madison to be of a high enough quality that people want to settle into their careers and…

Two decades ago, I imagined that one of the perks of raising boys instead of daughters would be that they’d never have to bear the pain of the…

Holy cow, did I expect an avalanche of infuriated email when I wrote that the schools need to be open and stay open a couple weeks ago.

January has become the land of 30-day challenges

COVID has divided people. Some of us take the virus as a serious health risk. Others believe it is, at best, a federal overreaction to a mild …

Like so many friends, spouses and other loved ones who aren’t enthralled by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I went to see “Spider-Man: No Way H…

There’s an old saw in psychology: Your perception is your reality.

One advantage of having an outsider tell you what your city is like is that it helps illuminate how others see your everyday reality. Or, more…

Never say that I don’t give credit where credit is due: Madison, you did good.

So often, domestic violence precedes the worst attacks on society

Republicans, unlike Democrats, are good at branding.

Young adults all over America are starting families, having been indoctrinated into believing that if they attended a four-year college, began…

Mother of 19-year-old charged after shooting says 'he's innocent'

Madisonians, it’s time for something completely different from the usual difficult news: A pleasant column! Prepare to feel warm and fuzzy.

‘Gaslighting” is a word people use when they suspect that they’ve been told something designed to make them question their reality and the val…

Beloved white people: Your neighbors of color need you out in the streets.

Few issues are more contentious than what children learn in school.

The linguist and New York Times opinion writer John McWhorter recently asked, “What is it about the University of Wisconsin and race?”

Don’t ignore Hispanic Heritage Month -- it’s not a perfect spotlight on the creativity and energy Latinos bring to this country’s evolution, but it is much better than no recognition at all.

My son was but a month old on Sept. 11, 2001, when his father called to tell me that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New Yo…

I’ve been living in Madison long enough to conclude that there’s no central hub of Hispanic life here as there is in other cities.

Welcome, Afghan refugees!

Soon Madison students will return to schools where smiles — one of the most important currencies in bustling halls and classrooms — will be in…

Columnist Esther Cepeda shares the perspectives of residents of Madison's homeless encampment in Reindahl Park. 

I barely made it to the last day of summer school.

Let me set the scene for you: It was about noon on a spectacularly hot day at Sun Prairie’s Renstone Park. The forecast had called for a high …

What should I write about? Where can I get some good tortas?

The Flamingos, livability, promise of new life beat Illinois' decline