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Red Flag Laws Should Not Target Mental Illness — from the South Seattle Emerald

by Brian Bergen-Aurand Following last week’s murder of five journalists at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, several more states have passed or are seriously considering passing “red flag laws” or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs). Such laws allow police officers, family members, and domestic or intimate partners to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms […] … Continue reading

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“Bodies of Music, Bodies of Soil”–from Singapore Review of Books

Australian poets Andy Jackson’s Music Our Bodies Can’t Hold and Tanya Thaweeskulchai’s A Salivating Monstrous Plant feature poems about the body. This is a body living in space and time. Although there is joy and pleasure here, the body is often under threat — from operation, society, nature. In Music Our Bodies Can’t Hold Jackson […] … Continue reading

“I am not sure it is mine.”–Notes on Writing in Helen Keller’s THE STORY OF MY LIFE
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“I am not sure it is mine.”–Notes on Writing in Helen Keller’s THE STORY OF MY LIFE

by Brian Bergen-Aurand Almost halfway through Helen Keller’s The Story of my Life, which first appeared in installments in Ladies’ Home Journal throughout 1902, is a chapter recalling what Keller labels “the one cloud in my childhood’s bright sky.” Chapter 14 tells the tale of the author’s first adventure in writing–her composition at the age … Continue reading

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Review: Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen by Guy Standing–from Make Wealth History

I forget where it was that I first came across the Basic Income, but it seemed obscure at the time. There was almost no debate about it in mainstream media outlets. The idea has a rich history and it clearly had supporters, but the organisations campaigning for it had websites that looked niche and out […] … Continue reading

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Essay: Searching for a Collective Movement in “Progressive” Seattle—from the South Seattle Emerald

by Renea Harris-Peterson & emily warren Seattle, celebrated for its progressive positions on many issues, still struggles to push past the façade of “liberalism” into the true realm of equity. Lack of rent control, the police force being under investigation, woefully underfunded education, and the proposal to build a new youth incarceration facility are just […] … Continue reading

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Essay: Terrance Hayes Says in Times Like These, Poets Need to Poet–from the South Seattle Emerald

by Brian Bergen-Aurand Throughout the day on Thursday, poet and teacher Terrance Hayes gave a series of talks on the campus of Bellevue College. His topic was “Social Justice for Black Lives,” and he addressed it through a morning presentation before faculty, students, and staff; a later question and answer session moderated by English professors […] … Continue reading