The Amorphous and Complex Global ‘Pink Line’
Mark Gevisser's excellent study of the global weaponization of homo- and transphobia, The Pink Line, provides a superb survey of the promise – and peril – of queer identity.
Culture
Pauline Harmange’s Controversial ‘I Hate Men’ Takes on Blind Privilege
Is misandry the best response to male misogynists? In I Hate Men, Harmange argues that a form of misandry is necessary for women's survival.
‘Black Against Empire’ Assumes a Central and Critical Spot within the Black Panther Canon
Black Against Empire attempts something beyond the scope of power-to-the-people flashbacks of Afros, dashikis, and raised fists: it takes the Black Panther Party seriously as a political entity taking dead aim on American laws and values.
Why Work Doesn’t Work
The idea that we work because we want to, not because we need to, is a pernicious one that labor journalist Sarah Jaffe dissects in Work Won't Love You Back.
‘The Green Book’-Inspired ‘A Parallel Road’ and American Apartheid
Amani Willett's A parallel Road shows how controlling people's right to travel is central to the racist mindset.
Smoking Saved My Life: A Skinny Jewish Kid Comes of Age in the Haze of American Violence
As cool as Marlon Brando, James Dean, Jack Kerouac or Dalton Trumbo, rebel Max "Flaco" Greenbaum grows up in Watts Riots-Vietnam-draft-era L.A. Too smart (and smart-mouthed) for school, the violence of this world is drawn in deep and lingers like the long, slow, life-saving drag of a cigarette.
‘Stealing from the Saracens’ Pursues Its Own Broken Crusade
Diana Darke's stumbling cultural critique, Stealing from the Saracens, shows how desperately Europe needs its own anti-racist language.
The Underestimated Resilience of Peace and Modern Society
While we feast on fictionalized (and real) tales of murder and awfulness, we really just want to live our lives in peace and are not interested in preying upon one another. Our essential goodness has become clear during our times of COVID-19.
Amanda Gorman’s History Lesson: An Inaugural Poem in the Shadow of White Supremacy
From the onset, Amanda Gorman's poem, "The Hill We Climb", dissolves the ideology that a presidential inauguration announces the new and deracinates the present from the past.
Visual Culture’s Power Over You
Visual culture is not just ubiquitous, it's also a potent force.