Vox Populi

A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature. Over 16,000 daily subscribers. Over 7,000 archived posts.

Mike Males: Why Conservative Parts of the U.S. Are So Angry

Republican America is poorer, more violent, and less healthy than Democratic America. But Republicans’ blame is misplaced.

December 21, 2022 · 2 Comments

Charles Davidson: Foster’s Pie Pan

He was a kind and gentle old fellow with a smudged face and scruffy beard. On his best days he appeared as tarnished and weather-beaten as his tin pie pan still does even now.

November 24, 2022 · 8 Comments

Lisa Fay Coutley | Shelter: Michigan

He wants me
to believe he met Jesus in Memphis
after his car went dead & he forgot
& forgot & forgot to feed his dog.

August 29, 2022 · 8 Comments

Andrew Bacevich: What Would Martin Say?

The attention given to racism of late has had exactly that unintended effect — relieving Americans of any obligation even to acknowledge the insidious implications of materialism and militarism.  In that sense, even now, two of King’s giant triplets barely qualify for lip-service.  In the political sphere, they are either ignored or, at best, treated as afterthoughts.

April 18, 2022 · Leave a comment

Elizabeth Romero: The Sisters Who Raised Me

Now I thank the black butterflies, the Sisters who raised me.
Sister Jane, who taught me how to garden and identify weeds.
Sister Marie Therese, kind and soft. Sister May Bride
Who defied authority to comfort me when I was disgraced.

April 16, 2022 · 8 Comments

Jake Johnson: Poor People’s Campaign Readies ‘Massive, Nonviolent’ Effort to Save Democracy

“We are not in this for a moment, but for a movement,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. “Our deadline is victory.”

January 17, 2022 · 1 Comment

Richard Hoffman: Good Will and Salvation

hold your tongue
so nobody ever knows
or suspects your real
origins, your actual class

December 28, 2021 · 2 Comments

Video: America’s Native Prisoners of War

Aaron Huey’s effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people — appalling, and largely ignored — compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later, his haunting photos intertwine with a shocking history lesson.

November 25, 2021 · 1 Comment

Video: Nadine Burke Harris | How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime

Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain.

August 12, 2021 · Leave a comment

Sushma Subramanian: Suffering the Heat of Climate Change, Cities Seek Retribution

Baltimore is suing major oil and gas companies for spurring the climate crisis and the rising temperatures that have an outsized impact on low-income, urban areas.

August 5, 2021 · Leave a comment

Video: Hurray For the Riff Raff | PA’LANTE

Winner of the 2019 Jury Award at SXSW, Director Kristian Mercado Figueroa’s music video PA’LANTE performed by Hurray for the Riff Raff  takes us inside the Puerto Rican experience of life post Hurricane Maria and the pressures facing an estranged family attempting to reconnect amid the wreckage.

July 24, 2021 · Leave a comment

Mel Packer: Angie’s Place

Where back in the corner, there’s always some guy in a Pirates ballcap with skin like an old leather shoe who’s nursing the cheapest beer on tap….

June 19, 2021 · 3 Comments

Joya Misra: Millions of American parents will soon get a monthly allowance — 4 questions answered

Child poverty is extremely high in the U.S., relative to other rich countries, primarily because for decades it has spent less on supporting families with children. Nearly 1 in 5 American children live in poverty.

March 16, 2021 · 1 Comment

Video: Black Owned — Jackson

Introducing Black Owned, a film series exploring the Black entrepreneurial spirit and its essential contribution to the American economy through the perspectives of business owners.

February 20, 2021 · Leave a comment

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