Speak Easy
Speak Easy is a blog for thoughtful essays, commentaries and opinions on current events, ideas and life in the Philadelphia region. The blog is powered by your submissions. Submit an essay now, and it will be considered for publication on the site.
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Recent Articles
Finding true social security while waiting at Two Penn Center
We were still getting used to our new status: retired.
5 years ago
As a formerly incarcerated individual, I am determined to write the narrative instead of letting someone else write it about me.
5 years ago
As a Mexican immigrant, the El Paso shooting scared me, but I won’t be silent
The mass shootings in El Paso and Gilroy have horrified me. I won’t allow my fear to silence me. Instead, I will use it to resist and fight against white supremacy.
5 years ago
Como inmigrante de México, El Paso me asustó, pero no permitiré que me silencie
Los asesinatos en El Paso y Gilroy me han horrorizado. Pero no permitiré que mi miedo me silencie, lo utilice para resistir y luchar contra la supremacía blanca.
5 years ago
Camden Mayor: City can’t afford to go back to the days before tax breaks
An op-ed from Camden Mayor Frank Moran says the city can’t afford to go back to the days before tax breaks brought new businesses.
5 years ago
How corruption in forensic science is harming the criminal justice system
There are plenty of reasons for forensic misconduct. But there is also the reality that many crime labs lack proper oversight.
6 years ago
Old age can be harmful to your health
Mother Nature loves to give and gives generously. Anything that she's given, though, she’ll manage to get back later.
6 years ago
Youth in Pa. residential institutions unsafe, disconnected, denied quality education
Lack of adequate oversight by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has resulted in children being put in harm’s way.
6 years ago
How we’re cheapening the value of words in the age of exaggeration
Look for a raft of fresh metaphors when the new Congress is seated in January.
6 years ago
Seeing what really matters at Christmas
In Philadelphia, there's a very special song that reminds us of what Christmas is really all about.
6 years ago
To understand the migrant crisis, first we must listen
We hear these stories so rarely — and almost never in the asylum seekers’ own voices.
6 years ago
It was the early ’70s when I sat with Grandma to watch “I Love Lucy.” We’d sit on the couch in her wood-paneled den, ...
6 years ago
A jazz legend’s Philadelphia home fading away
John Coltrane's vacant house on North 33rd Street is deteriorating but still bears marks of the composer's achievement.
6 years ago
Kyrie Irving and the politics of cynicism
According to a 2016 survey, a third of American teachers are open to the idea that climate change might be naturally occurring instead of something caused by humans.
7 years ago
What ‘Sex and the City’ taught me about love, life, and politics
For many reasons, we should stop viewing politicians as our soulmates or as "the one."
7 years ago