Abigail McGrath
Contribute to Mamma’s Day Bail Out
In the second grade in Mrs. Aranol’s class at P.S. 67 in Brooklyn, we all made Mother’s Day cards to take home. We fashioned...
It’s not easy being green — or Black
If you think it’s not easy being green, try being Black.
When Will Smith won the NAACP award for his film “Emancipation,” all heads in...
Three holidays in January
It looks like we had three holidays in January: Jan. 1, New Year’s Day, Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Day, and Jan. 6, White...
Chanukah, Christmas, and Chwanza?
Maybe if Kwanza was spelled with a “C”, it would not be considered an exclusively “Black” holiday. It is one of the kindest and...
A Frankensteinian solution
Gone are the days when you could put the carcass of a dead bird on the table and have everybody ooh and aah at...
Empty houses on Martha’s Vineyard
Did you notice that smirk on people's faces when they said, “So you live on Martha's Vineyard. What did you think of all those...
The real reason Malcolm X was assassinated
“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
You’ve got to be carefully taught.” –Rodgers and...
Christmas again
When I was a child, my mother and I used to get our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. We took the straggly ones that...
Celebrate Juneteenth? I don’t get it
This week President Biden made Juneteenth an official national holiday. That means you get the day off from work, the Post Offices are closed,...
Martha’s Vineyard’s women take over
It is the year 2050, and the sons we mothers nurtured and raised have accepted the intelligence of women; they listen to us and...
Hot and cold on the way to old
According to Marty Nadler’s grandmother, when asked why she went to Florida in the winter: “Old and cold don’t mix.”
I had no idea how...
An aura of friendliness at M.V. Museum
There is something about museums which can be a tad foreboding. The very word “museum” makes you yawn and think of excuses to stay...
Megyn Kelly ruined Halloween for all of us
Halloween was one of the few holidays when you could have a good time, run around the neighborhood without your parents, and eat enough...
Columbus is no one to celebrate
The second Monday in October, Columbus Day, is coming up. Italians all over America are gearing up for parades and festivities in honor of...
Meeting a Queen and a King
In 1959, Lenny and I ran away to Detroit to get married. My father drove us. He thought we were going to be interviewed...
Did you watch the wedding?
I woke up just a tad before 5 am to watch the fairy tale wedding of people I don’t know, in a country my...
Martin Luther King Jr.: Don’t let his sacrifice be for naught
Back in the 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr. was visiting the Island, my Aunt Dorothy came banging on my door. Dr. King was...
After Charlottesville
On Martha’s Vineyard, where the care, education, and rearing of the piping plover is one of the more important, radical, and divisive events, one...
Eyes finally opened
Update Aug. 8
Abigail McGrath is a resident of Oak Bluffs.
I saw the James Baldwin film, “I Am Not Your Negro,” a biopic, directed by...