A Modest Proposal for 2020

Here’s the bottom line: we need low-cost methods to occupy the spawn of the servant class during working hours. “Covid Kim” Reynolds is having such a hard time convincing teachers to go back to school that the State of Iowa has relaxed requirements for substitutes. You can now teach in Iowa with no background check….

Call for Submissions: Crowdsourced Collage

Inspiration doesn’t just hit you. You have to go looking for it. I often find it with other people, in cafés or at public parks or in friends’ homes. There’s always an external source that inspires the idea that motivates the action. In this case, the action is gluing things on top of other things….

Breasia Terrell, 10, is Missing

Update 15 Jun 2020: Breasia is still missing. Her captor may have stashed her somewhere with the idea he’d return when the heat was off. Please check abandoned buildings, basements, old campgrounds, etc. Lost in Davenport, Iowa. Local searchers have reason to believe she may have gone into the Mississippi.

This Fight is Far From Over

TC Boyd isn’t impressed by worldwide protests against police brutality, and he’s here to remind us that police violence isn’t the one thing that isolates and degrades Black America. True equality is a long-term, uphill battle – or rather, a war composed of many battles – that doesn’t end with justice reform.

What Really Happens at an Iowa Freedom Riders’ Protest

On Thursday, June 4, twelve days after the death of George Floyd, there was a peaceful protest in downtown Iowa City.

Commemorating Juneteenth

It’s a shame so many celebratory events had to be canceled this year due to COVID, but many of them have moved online! Like the Juneteenth Music Festival. It streamed live yesterday on the 18th, but you can still watch it here! Or the Juneteenth Jubilee. This one has a $5 ticket price, but some…

Our Family’s First COVID-19 Death

Aunt Geri’s heart stopped on May 20th and never restarted. She couldn’t be declared dead until May 23rd, however, because she kept breathing. The medical staff at her memory care facility, her hospice nurse, and her children still can’t understand how or why she was able to live for three days without a heartbeat. The…

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Update 8 June 2020: I wrote and posted this on the 5th, and my Wordpress dashboard listed it as “Public”. The post failed to appear on my blog until today, however, and that was after I fussed with it a lot. I know I probably shouldn’t read anything into it, but I have made a mental note. And now a literal note. Also, this: Minneapolis City Council members intend to defund and dismantle the city’s police department!

Upshots of Quarantine

The future looks ever bleaker. The minimum projected death toll is around 100,000. To put that in perspective, it’s more than 33 times the number of deaths on 9/11/01. Why do I use that as a bench mark? Because it’s an image of collective death a majority of the population can recall and understand. And…

You’re Killing Your Mother

There are still no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in my area, but I’ve been under quarantine since Sunday evening anyway. In just a few short days, hospitals will be totally overwhelmed, and I’m determined not to be among the ER visits contributing to the death toll. People who would have been fine with a little…