She’s lovely, innocent, and deserves to enjoy a developmentally appropriate holiday free of un-wanted touch, and yet that human right is often undermined by “socially accepted” norms. In an article about brainwashing, the writer Julia Layton states, In psychology, the study of brainwashing, often referred to as thought reform, falls into the sphere of “social influence.” […]
In one of my first posts of the school year, I discussed how we as educators each find our tipping point for intolerable acts regarding children. At the end of the article I described the tensions of being mixed-race during the start of school integration, and a heinous situation that developed for me. Not only […]
If you’re a woman you’ve probably had your Harvey Weinstein moment, and you probably didn’t report your abuser. I get it. After my attempt to garner help from a perp-supporting yard teacher failed miserably, I gave up believing by seven years old, that I had any right to safety. In fact I came to believe […]
November 8, 2017 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. The Octopus Literary Salon 2101 Webster Street. #170 Oakland, CA I will be doing a reading/workshop at the Octopus Literary Salon, wherein I intersperse memoir readings with dialog about trauma research and recovery. RSVP via Facebook.
Date: Sunday October 29 Time: 12:00 pm – 01:30 pm Sports Basement 2727 Milvia St. Berkeley A reading from Laurie Panther’s memoir: true stories Interspersed with a discussion of trauma research and recovery. RSVP for this event on Facebook.
(In my second blog I told the true story about a gang of boys dragging me to the “pussy-bushes” in 3rd grade) Then came 5th grade when a lone troubled boy stalked me in the hallways at recess, using the packed passageways as cover as he repeatedly pressed his groin against me. After months of […]
(Link to Ken Burns Documentary on Vietnam) Periodically my brother sent photos home to assure my mother that he was alive, and his selection of photos reveals a lot. This picture of him with prostitutes is the most normal thing he could come up with during his second combat tour. And sadly, when he arrived […]
My great uncles on my mother’s side were small time crooks who used guns to rob the local armory. My father adopted the attitude that guns were manly and virtuous — if used correctly (I grew up with a loaded gun in the house). So after adopting my brother Larry, he took his new son […]
Yesterday’s post was heavy, so today I’m going to give my brain, and your brain a spa day with some humor. Humor also helps the brain regulate…dopamine levels, reports a Stanford research team in the December 4, 2003, issue of the journal Neuron. Dopamine, also known as “the reward hormone,” is a neurotransmitter that regulates […]
I wasn’t sure for a moment whether to laugh or cry because I failed to save a draft before an “open-tab-over-load” forced me to reboot. Thanks (or maybe no thanks) to Google docs my brain now assumes everything is being backed up automatically, so my heart raced when I realized this platform was different. However […]