Debra Zimmerman Murphey
E-mail: murpheywrite@aol.com
Twitter: @debrazmurphey
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When I Was A Young Newspaper Journalist I Interviewed A Holocaust Survivor Who Lived In Southern Maryland
For those who died, for those who survived, for Jews today who are alive, we remember the millions who were targeted. However, we see that peace and love are still elusive concepts at times, even as mankind and people profess an unwavering love of, and servitude to, God. When I worked as a newspaper reporter…
We Are America
We are not America
because we close off hope
We are America because we let it in
A Watershed Election: The United States is Greater than Misogyny, Fear-Mongering & Intimidation
Almost a century after women gained, through the 19th Amendment, the right to vote and other protections followed, America faces a new era of racism, sexism, nationalism and knee-jerk reactions to the concept of “other.” The feminist movement is a historic, but sometimes-tenuous, thread in the fabric of America. The current hammer of misogyny proves…
Knowing
People eventually know — as I know — this flaxen gift of life will slip. The spindly legs of a sick child or the bony, veined hands of old women remind us of breaking. But also that living moves when Gaia speaks. On a Sunday morning, fresh blooms go on an old grave where new tears fall. But the grief dwindles hours later against the slope of a partner’s body. Fingers arched, someone peels a layer off. And the citrus hangs like summer air. But it is not the fruit, or the granite tombstone, or the baby’s footprint, that prove…
Shaming Female Sexuality Perpetuates What Women Face and Sexual Assault Victims Endure
The dozens of sexual-assault claims against Bill Cosby strike me on multiple levels. Even though we live in an era that is meant to typify major advancement in women’s rights and issues through the centuries, it seems like we are sometimes still in the dark ages. Based on systemic, religious and cultural influences, there are…
Thanks Giving
What does thankfulness really mean? Thankful we are alive? Thankful we can fish in the streams and pick fruit off vines? Thankful for a man’s hand at the small of your back? Thankful for a woman’s yearning eyes? Thankful when we can stop breathing in memories from the leaving trains? Thankful for a reverberating heart…
Does a Cup Mean More than Our Unraveling Humanity?
I’m pretty sure that the Shakespearean metaphor that all the world’s a stage, and each of us actors, couldn’t be more meaningful than it is today. And I am convinced that the stage and theater represent a bizarre comedy-drama. This week, we learned that some conservative Christians are peeved with Starbucks over a cup. Let…
Is Hillary Clinton Really the Feminist of This Era?
Ever since Hillary Clinton announced another bid to run for president, there has been something I’ve wanted to address. While it could be about the email controversy or Benghazi or the Clintons’ foundation, it’s not. This week, the mainstream press and social media were all aflutter over an interview Hillary Clinton did, and I had…
Outdoor Chapel
This is the way I feel when the earth spills and bends all around me: A mixture of life and lifeless. It is like being delivered, quickly, into a circle of both knowing and peacefulness. It stills you to the point of a breathless, motionless ghost but also jolts you. The viscid air, the dizzied…
Tackling Ebola in 2015: Better PR is Needed to Help Manage Crisis
I have both a professional and personal interest in the Ebola crisis. As someone with journalism and healthcare public relations (PR) experience – and as the daughter of a career foreign service officer who lived in Western Africa – I’ve watched as the world has cumulatively crawled toward a response. When I was a year…
History is Made as Voters Elect New Majority of Commissioners in Charles County
No matter whether you are happy or disappointed with the outcome of Maryland’s gubernatorial race, what happened in Charles County, Md., on Tuesday proved the validity of two adages: all politics is local and government is for the people and by the people. The resounding defeat of a charter form of government and the landslide…
Why PR Pros Shouldn’t Neglect Audio — News Feature for TCI
Welcome to Tobin Communications, Inc.’s new “PR Podcast” series. Through these audio interviews, we’re asking experts to provide compelling viewpoints that we hope will get you thinking differently about how content and communications are leveraged in today’s competitive – and often time-sensitive, cyclical or trend-affected – information environment. Today, we focus on the impact of…
Debra Zimmerman Murphey 