On Friday, May 27th, Hard Crackers editor Jarrod Shanahan hosted author and Antifada host A.M. Gittlitz for a lively discussion of the latter’s book I Want To Believe (Pluto Press, 2020) at Pilsen Community Books in Chicago, as part of Gittlitz’s #READTHEGREENBOOK Tour. I Want To Believe is a poetic exploration of the life and […]
How a Terrifying Event Became a Commercial for the Police
During the morning rush hour on April 12th, an individual, after putting on a gas mask, set off one or two smoke canisters in a subway car on the Manhattan-bound N line just outside the 36th Street station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He then fired 33 shots from an automatic handgun at passengers. (According to one […]
One Million Dollars
In February 2011, my Brooklyn-based, French-language rock band, Les Sans Culottes, was asked to perform at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Chelsea. The band would perform a couple of songs between various improv skits and the main event was the presentation of a check for one million dollars to one of the Brigade members, […]
Welcome to Chicago!
Last summer when I was planning my move to Chicago, a friend who grew up on the West Side of the city gave me some tips about avoiding car break-ins: always lock my car, avoid driving in certain neighborhoods, only park in well-lit areas, and don’t leave belongings out in the open. He also recommended […]
EDDY GET READY, ROCK STEADY!: The Equals, Eddy Grant, and Trump
Most people who are old enough remember the reggae singer Eddy Grant for his popular radio song in 1983 called Electric Avenue. Fewer know about his earlier seminal London rock combo, the Equals. Eddy Grant is currently involved in a lawsuit against none other than the world’s number one flimflammer, Donald Trump, over copyright infringement […]
Finding Ukraine in the US
I have not been alive, until now, for an invasion of a country in which I personally know dozens of people. I didn’t work or live in Ukraine as an adult; my relation to it resembles that of a diaspora member, but I was born there, and my family’s kin network helped raise me in […]