“The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.” – Utah Phillips Of all that the so-called Facebook Papers revealed, most interesting, I think, is the fact that on social […]
One of the primary things I’ve learned over the past twelve years working in the nonprofit space is that, first, we know how to solve many of the challenges we face–climate change, poverty, you name it. And second, that we […]
After another week of mass shootings and police murder of unarmed Black men and boys; of despicable voter suppression laws; of political cowardice; and of corporate doublespeak, I’ve had it. For how much longer are we going to pretend that […]
Nowadays, especially in the wake of last summer’s police murder of George Floyd and the subsequent global protests, you can hardly take a (virtual) step without running into some mention of DEI, or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The passage of the American Rescue Plan Act is good news for a nation still reeling from the ongoing pandemic and resultant economic crisis, but it is perhaps even better news for another element of America that is sick: our democracy.
How lovely it would be to live in a nation where
poetry put down insurrections. Then I might bang out
this stanza and go sue a wolf for stealing the moon.
On a drizzly morning walk I stopped to let a hearse go by,
its pitch-black paint sweating polish, and as I waited
for the procession I thought about who profits from tragedy,
the business of loss, and who profits no matter what,
When statues topple, they do little heaving.
You will not see them celebrate long their fall
or mount the wreckage on a wall.
(Who are you to ask that they applaud
your moment of awakening?
To be trapped in an era, this era,
is the poet’s nightmare and delight. O future
readers—if there will be readers—what will you make
of this? What shall I—what shall we—bequeath you?
A friend texted to say it’s irresponsible to protest during a pandemic. All those people
crowded together become vectors for the virus, which doesn’t care about race. I hadn’t
thought of Covid-19 as post-racial, the enlightened bug.