Police departments across the nation must develop nonviolent 'rules of engagement,' so that they don't reflexively respond to suspected crimes with violence. This will require more in-depth training in the behavioral psychology of conflict resolution so police have tried-and-true techniques of preventing and de-escalating violence.

My father provided some very important guidance in how we deal with conflict and polarization.

After acknowledging that most law enforcement personnel are fair-minded and do a difficult job, it only takes one exception to create a terrible tragedy.

Among her many accomplishments, my mother is often identified as the leader of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday movement.

Use missteps as stepping stones to deeper understanding and greater achievement.

My family loves Mark McGwire.

Not surprisingly, my parents' generation did everything they could to make life easier for their own children. Was that good for us? I wonder. It certainly didn't do us any good from a cultural point of view. I'm struck by how few boomers have embraced adult culture in middle age.

I am a member of the 'sandwich' generation, that group that must simultaneously care for elderly parents and support children.