Desne A. Crossley: A Wallflower and Her Mother
Clueless about west coast Whiteness, for sure. For my anxious mother, this meant I needed her singular brand of watchful encouragement to grow into a whole person, a whole woman—and to be taught some street smarts for life in suburban Palo Alto with its unfamiliar patterns and pitfalls.
Don Krieger: Juneteenth at Carter-Howell-Strong Park in Tallahassee
Two-hundred forty years after America’s Independence Day: “… one in a thousand black men [in America] can expect to be killed by police.
Jim Daniels: Garbage Picking in the Nice Neighborhoods
On Wednesday nights, my brothers and I sometimes hiked a mile or so north further from Detroit, into the stretched world of Bigger—bigger lawns, cars, houses. Some neighborhoods even had … Continue reading
Desne A. Crossley: My Cousin’s Suicide
The first lesson in keeping secrets came in 1962, when I was eight.
William Trowbridge: Breakdown
The foreman led me into a cavernous room that took up most of the ground floor, where three huge machines unspooled 16-ton rolls of tin plate into sheets to be turned into cans. The machines resembled aircraft carriers, with ladders to the control towers.
R.S. Ramirez: Losing My Mother to Trump
Implicit, of course, was the narrative of us and them, of being a certain kind of immigrant compared to the rest. She blended in perfectly, and as her child, I did the same.
Claudia Lefko: Dear Refaat Alareer | A Letter of Gratitude
As per your wishes we’re striving to live—hopefully a deeper and more reflective life, including a life of action against the genocide in Palestine.
Alexis Rhone Fancher: Hermanas
You’re the same, you two, J, my lover, said. Of course you feel an affinity. I stared at the Frida Kahlo self-portrait in his hands. Frida’s soulful sweetness stared back. You … Continue reading
Aliana Alexandra Coella Exclusa: Puerto Rico’s Resilient History Mirrors the Mangrove
Half of the world’s mangroves are in danger of disappearing. Ensuring their survival is essential to Caribbean resistance movements.
Matthew J. Parker: Cancer Dancers
I met Gerenith in 2006. Found her on a dating website that featured women from Cali, Colombia, aka the Salsa Capital of the World.
Everett Rudolph: I’m a brand new activist—here’s what got me to join others in the streets
As a lifelong conservative, my turn to activism has given me insights into what we can do to bring others like me into the movement.
Adam Patric Miller: A Teacher’s Mini-Observation
The American system of education is a wreck. Wealthy schools have a criminally unfair advantage, students are conditioned to adopt a transaction mindset where they only know to peck, peck, peck for the grade. It’s not their fault. We test, test, test.
Mike Vargo: Living in the Republic of Unreality
The practice of living in unreality consists of three sub-practices: Denying real reality. Bingeing on pseudo-reality. And adopting a myth.
