Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Tall girls from Iowa

Caitlin Clark in her Iowa uniform

Caitlin Clark changed never shrinks.

Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via Getty Images

Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."

So, what could Nelson Mandela and Caitlin Clark possibly have in common?

Both are conclusive proof that “the times, they are a-changin’.” Also, neither the former president of South Africa nor the basketball superstar “shrink” to accommodate others’ ideas of how they should live. Neither “plays small.”


Mandela helped end apartheid in South Africa 30 years ago. In his inaugural speech in May 1994, as he was sworn in as the country’s first Black president, he spoke of what it takes to overcome the most daunting obstacles, often those we have no control of, like the color of our skin.

Other things we have no control of: our sex (at least at birth,) and our height. Just 30 years ago, women, still considered the “weaker” sex, were preferred smaller. They needed “bigger” men to “take care” of them — basically a parent/child relationship, unfair to both sexes. “Shrinking” girls were common then.

How exactly does one shrink, anyway? Oh, there are ways. A tall girl can shrink herself by slouching, wearing whisper-thin shoes, remaining seated — anything not to tower over the boys. A short boy might do the opposite: sneak lifts into his shoes or hang upside down like a bat to “stretch” himself. Not long ago, tall girls and short boys were considered an unfortunate result of genetic dice, or even medical problems. Hormonal therapies were available to help a short male attain increased height by delaying his puberty. Hastening a tall female’s puberty had the opposite effect: Though it likely would not qualify her to shop in the petite section, she might “shrink” to a more desirable height.

Fast forward 30 years and bring on 6-foot-tall Caitlin Clark from Des Moines, Iowa, one of the most recognized figures in sports, men’s or women’s. Her NCAA legacy is the stuff of legend. All-time leading scorer, breaking the men’s Division 1 record with a career total of 3,685 points. (But who’s counting?) The Big Ten’s all-time leader in assists and a unanimous AP preseason All American. The list of her accomplishments goes on and on. After sporting No. 22 on her University of Iowa jersey (now retired), she was picked first in the WNBA draft in April and now plays for the Fever wearing the same No. 22. She is all of 22 years old. Must be her lucky number.

But it is not luck. It is not shirking, and not shrinking. It is a combination of talent and hard work, with a huge dose of commitment thrown in. Renowned for her shooting range, but just as much for her passing ability and assists, Clark shares both the ball and the accolades with her teammates. She will not lose her false eyelashes during the game, and won't be assessed fouls for using profanity. She is real; she is nice. Little girls want to be like her when they grow up; big girls want to be her now.

Caitlin Clark makes Iowans proud. She makes sports fans everywhere proud. But sports fan or not, one cannot help but be dazzled by her. “The Caitlin Clark effect” has been credited for the surging popularity of women’s basketball, changing everything for women’s sports.

Keep the faith, share the ball, make the most of your abilities, practice what you’re good at. Basketball and life are not so different. The stakes are high in both; both are tough and often unfair. Mandela spent 27 years in prison. Then he became first Black president of South Africa? A “girl” breaking the NCAA Division I scoring record? Impossible! Or so they said.

Oh, no! Neither Caitlin Clark, when missing a shot, nor Nelson Mandela, when missing a third of his life in prison, “shrank” so others wouldn’t feel insecure around them. They simply got on with their game. Whether “Caitlin Clark fever” continues with the Indiana Fever remains to be seen. This much is certain, however: She will not “play small.”

If looking for a sign the world is going in the right direction — often two steps forward, one back, yet still the right direction — remember Nelson Mandela from South Africa and think of Caitlin Clark and tall girls from Iowa, from everywhere. Tall girls and short boys, Black people and white people and sky-blue or pink people, all people.

We each bring something no one else can to that big table called Life.

We each bring our one and only self.

Read More

Shifting the Spotlight: Trump’s Epstein Strategy Echoes His 2016 Playbook

A photograph of US President Donald Trump and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is displayed after being unofficially installed in a bus shelter on July 17, 2025 in London, England.

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Shifting the Spotlight: Trump’s Epstein Strategy Echoes His 2016 Playbook

This morning, many of us awoke to a jarring juxtaposition of headlines: The Wall Street Journal published a column revealing that Jeffrey Epstein received a birthday album filled with bawdy letters—including one from President Donald Trump. And shortly thereafter, news broke that Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, citing mounting political pressure and intensifying public scrutiny.

Late last night, Trump took to Truth Social, posting that he had requested Bondi release “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,” framing the controversy as a “SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats.”

Keep ReadingShow less
American flag, megaphone

In confronting the Trump administration's discriminatory treatment toward specific states, all of us need to be inventive and courageous.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov/pexels.com

To Stand Up for Constitutional Democracy, It’s Time for State Officials To Take Drastic Action

Sometimes, it turns out that two wrongs do make a right. In politics, a steadfast commitment to doing the morally right thing disadvantages the victims of lawlessness and injustice.

The famous Italian political thinker, Niccolo Machiavelli, captured this political imperative in 1532, when he explained that “a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore, if a Prince wants to maintain his rule, he must be prepared not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.”

Keep ReadingShow less
When Democracy’s Symbols Get Hijacked: How the Far Right Co-Opted Classical Imagery
brown concrete building under blue sky during daytime
Photo by Darryl Low on Unsplash

When Democracy’s Symbols Get Hijacked: How the Far Right Co-Opted Classical Imagery

For generations, Americans have surrounded themselves with the symbols of ancient Greece and Rome: marble columns, laurel wreaths, Roman eagles, and the fasces. These icons, carved into our government buildings and featured on our currency, were intended to embody democracy, civic virtue, and republican ideals.

But in recent years, far-right movements in the U.S. and abroad have hijacked these classical images, repackaging them into symbols of exclusion, militarism, and authoritarian nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

The B-2 "Spirit" Stealth Bomber flys over the 136th Rose Parade Presented By Honda on Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, California. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

After a short and successful war with Iraq, President George H.W. Bush claimed in 1991 that “the ghosts of Vietnam have been laid to rest beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.” Bush was referring to what was commonly called the “Vietnam syndrome.” The idea was that the Vietnam War had so scarred the American psyche that we forever lost confidence in American power.

The elder President Bush was partially right. The first Iraq war was certainly popular. And his successor, President Clinton, used American power — in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere — with the general approval of the media and the public.

Keep ReadingShow less