Between the Academy Awards and March Madness, the month is full of illusions and forsaken dreams. But even when the sun sets on some aspirations, we see glimmers of hope for the years ahead.

In this issue of InTheFray, we explore what it means to come to grips with and bid adieu to forsaken dreams. We begin with Courtney Traub’s poignant look at the ways France is confronting its colonial past, for better or worse, nearly a half-century after the fall of empire, in Grappling with ghosts.

Out of America and in Guatemala, Lucian Tion seeks to escape the daily grind of American life, only to find himself surrounded by dozens of other tourists also seeking “a place to relax and unwind” that looks remarkably familiar.

Meanwhile, in India Meera Subramanian observes her cousin’s marriage to a woman he scarcely knows and offers insight on her ancestors’ ritual of family-planned matches in Arrange me, arrange me not.

Back in the United States, Judith Malveaux discovers The party’s over when she returns to her native New Orleans a few months after Hurricane Katrina. There, in the place she once called home, Malveaux discovers the optimism she maintained about her city from afar has vanished.

And in A state of (dis)integration ITF Contributing Editor Michelle Caswell reviews Jonathan Kozol’s latest book, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, and discovers just how illusive Brown v. Board of Education’s promise of equal education has become.

On a lighter note, in Moundridge, Kansas, Katy June-Friesen shows us the magic of Old Settlers Inn, where people from across the state go to share their stories and listen to brilliant Songs from a Kansas stage.

Rounding out this month’s stories is Margo Herster’s stunning visual exploration of the way intimacy with one’s partner hinders and aids one’s sense of self in Colors of love. Offering further insight into Herster’s project, Patty Swyden Sullivan reviews The art of photographing the young and in love.

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to tell us about the activist in your life that you’d like to see ITF interview for our soon-to-be-launched Activist’s Corner. Email activists-at-inthefray-dot-org with the person’s name, a couple sentences about the person and why you think s/he’d be such an interesting interview subject, and, if possible, the person’s contact details.

Thanks for your help, and thanks for reading!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner