We Should Consider Building An Interurban Trolley System

I recently joined a Facebook group of transportation buffs called "New York's Railroads, Subways & Trolleys, Past & Present" (85,000 members). The site's profile photo of trolleys crossing the Brooklyn Bridge brought to mind E. L. Doctorow's historical novel, Ragtime (Random House, 1975).

There's a scene in which a character travels from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to, I think, Springfield, Massachusetts, by transferring from one trolley line to another. That's one of the most memorable scenes in the book. It would be wonderful if a trolley system like that existed today. Such a system, an interurban one, would help reduce traffic jams and air pollution from automobile emissions.

A Black Heritage T-Shirt

Last week, on the M5 city bus traveling uptown on Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan, I saw a very interesting and unusual sight--a portly, middle-aged white man wearing a black heritage-themed T-shirt. As he stood in the aisle talking to the lady seated next to me and her husband who stood next to her, I was able to jot down what was printed on the shirt:

"Dream Like Martin
 Challenge Like Rosa
 Inspire Like Barack
 Write Like Maya
 Build Like Oprah
 Educate Like W.E.B.
 Fight Like Malcolm
 Believe Like Thurgood
 Speak Like Frederick
 Stand Up Like Colin
 Lead Like Harriet
 Champion Like Ali"

Obviously this was a man with respect for black historical figures and was not shy about showing it.

I have a co-worker at the call center who proudly shows his afrocentricity by wearing T-shirts with photos of such icons as Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Malcolm X. But I've never seen him wear a T-shirt like the aforementioned one.

I'm not much for wearing logos, slogans, and photos on clothing. But the T-shirt I saw on the bus is worth owning if only to display it as an alternative and a corrective to the profane and narcissistic ones I've seen people wear on the streets of Harlem and elsewhere.