Articles on PR for People

FEBRUARY 2025 MAGAZINE

Social justice never goes out of fashion. In our cover story this month, Yonkers Historian Mary Hoar writes about Tuskegee Airman Ivan McRae. Dr. Peter Corning’s Antidote for Lies and Liars is reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. Tim Girvin assembles a touching and artistically brilliant tribute to his mother, the artist Lila Lee Shaw Girvin. Going back to basics is a good thing. In The Many Faces of Our People, I’ve noted what our mission was fourteen years ago and what it is today: We want you to be inspired and we want you to fall in love with the beautiful diversity of humanity. – Patricia Vaccarino


We Are In Uncharted Waters

Even after three weeks, it is hard to accept the startling changes in the world flooding from the Trump administration. If more citizens had read Project 2025, would that have changed their votes and the outcome of the last election? Did we mistake the playbook as less consequential than it has turned out to be?


Death Comes Home | Creativity, Motherhood and Lila Lee Shaw Girvin

Everyone has a powerful connection to their mothers. My mother, Lila Lee Shaw Girvin died this past week. And it called into contemplation all of the things that one thinks about in death—of anyone near. You’re thinking, “they were here, now they’re gone. Forever.”


Book Review: hearing voices poems by Barbara Ruth Saunders

Barbara Ruth Saunders’ debut poetry collection is a shining example of the small things that sustain us. These small things might be people, a sense of place, or the objects in our lives that we hold near and dear to our hearts. What emerges in this poetry collection are the larger truths about humanity.


Words Matter

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”    –Mahatma Gandhi


The Many Faces of Our People

Our publication is now going into its fourteenth year. Our aim is, as always, to recognize people who are making a difference in the world. Through the years we have covered the full range of humanity regardless of color, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, age, religion, class, economics or politics.


An Antidote for Lies and Liars

Lies have significantly influenced the course of human history – sometimes for the better, but very often only for personal/political advantage.  In fact, lying is not even a uniquely human trait, although we are the masters and the most prolific practitioners. Here is a review, and a suggested “antidote”.


Ivan McRae: Yonkers Tuskegee Airman

Yonkers Historian Mary Hoar writes about Tuskegee Airman Ivan McRae, who made a lifelong commitment to community service. Ivan McRae believed in the non-violent tradition of the American Civil Rights movement. His brave actions helped to forever change the history of the American Armed Forces. He is a shining example of what it takes for one man to make his mark on the world.


BOOK REVIEW: Children in Prison by Jerome Gold

Jerome Gold’s earlier book, Paranoia and Heartbreak: Fifteen Years in a Juvenile Facility (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2009), captures his experience of working with juvenile offenders. Ten years later, his book Children in Prison offers greater context, shedding light on the children whose lives have been stunted, short circuited, and hardwired to fail. 

 


A Conversation with Presidential Historian Rick Shenkman

Rick Shenkman discusses the close election and how voters chose a populist demagogue, Donald Trump. Rick is also an award-winning political journalist and founder of the revered History News Network. His extensively-researched books on the behavior of American voters include Just How Stupid Are We and Political Animals.