Sorry to be a ‘Negative Nelly’ (& co-opt a Lou Reed lyric again), but pull up a stool and let me tell you why the Covid crisis is really just a mirror to a species already in its death throes – the ‘Last Great American Whale.’ Fake news? It all started when a ‘system of […]
Archives for August 2020
Roundtable Discussion II on the Anti-Police Brutality Insurgency
Can a movement be built that relies upon different forms of action without being substantially limited by the political views that perhaps inform the least militant of the protestors? Importantly, young people, frequently including teenagers, have been at the forefront of many of the most militant protests. What kinds of other experiences might sustain and […]
The Shebeen
Here’s a bit of a lingo lesson. A shebeen, according to Wikipedia, is an illegal establishment (in Ireland, Scotland and South Africa) that specializes in the sale of distilled alcoholic beverages and is typically regarded as slightly disreputable. In the era of COVID, let’s visit the world of shebeens. I grew up in South Africa, […]
Mask down, fists up: a day at work in the library
Like most workers, I don’t wake up in the morning thinking I’m going to get swung at while at my job. I’m a librarian, not a professional boxer or an MMA fighter. But on a Monday afternoon in August, in this glorious year 2020, that’s just what happened. I asked a library visitor to pull […]
It’s All About Me
One of these things is not like the other: a marriage collapses – a global pandemic takes hold. That’s what I tried to tell myself as I nosed at my overturned life like a furtive lizard from the underside. I was reminded of a ‘childhood episode:’ that time I made lightning hit the school. Once […]
“I experienced a lot of violent shit and never once did it cross my mind to call the police”: A conversation with STiCKii and ShaeShae
Having spent the last decade organizing against police violence and for queer youth of color in Springfield, MA, STiCKii and ShaeShae break down their thoughts on the protests against police violence. STiCKii: My dad was black and he passed away when I was 4, leaving me to be raised half the time by his family […]