On Father’s Day this year, I took my child to the exhibit “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: The Paradox of Liberty.” This traveling exhibition is part of The Jefferson Monticello’s evolving narrative about Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with his slaves, including Sally Hemings, with whom he had as many as seven children. The first time I heard…
Author: Clio
Blue Lives, Black Lives
I was in Milwaukee recently visiting relatives. The local news was about a recent shooting of a police officer in Racine. On June 17, Officer John Hetland, off-duty at the time, was at Teezers Bar and Grill when a masked man with a gun initiated a robbery. Hetland interceded and was shot dead. A manhunt…
How My Culture Made Me
I am a white man. I identify as white for the same reason that I identify as a man: My culture makes me. This last four-word sentence has two meanings, and they’re both true. ◊♦◊ My culture makes me, that is, my personality has been constructed within my experiences being raised as white and male….
Dodgy Ball
I had thought the issue of dodgeball had been resolved. Dodgeball was extremely popular in my youth. Even though I’ve passed the half-century mark (only just barely), I still have a visceral negative reaction to the thought of that evil red ball heading straight for me. I can still hear the high-pitched bounce of the…
Respecting Gender Non-Conforming Graduates
June is Pride Month. June is also the month most high schools around the country have their graduation ceremonies. There is an intersection between these two events that might slip past the awareness of many people: How schools treat gender non-conforming students (see the glossary at the end for italicized words). ◊♦◊ Dead-naming in yearbooks…
Impact > Intent
As a teacher, I see it a lot: Students will be horse-playing in the hallway, and I’ll tell them to stop. “But he’s my cousin! We’re just playing!” they’ll insist. In their mind, this justifies all sorts of reckless behavior: They don’t intend harm. In adults, the same sentiment shows up in a more nuanced…
when i was a boy
when i was a boy, i was a fragile boy who shattered in the slightest breeze my storms came quickly and violently and even on the sunniest days, the clouds still hung low when i was a man, i was an angry man who screamed and flailed in private in public, i wore a mask,…
The Day is Not as Hopeless as it Seems
As in the fading of my childish dreams, When trees bore fruit of sorrows grim, The day is not as hopeless as it seems. All that yearning filling sloppy reams, But paper yellows and ink will slowly dim As in the fading of my childish dreams. The child is grown, the light that gleams Once…
broken men crawled down the wires
broken men crawled down the wires that weave that were woven labyrinthine overhead bloated shadows of yesterday’s dream dissolving until there are only wisps of what was i had taken it all for granted and now the canopy of wires and wasn’t-wasses blocked out the miserly sun time to pause, to tear down, to rebuild,…
Men and Abortion
Emboldened by the placement of two Conservative justices on the Supreme Court, state legislatures have begun racing to become the test case for overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade case. Alabama has passed perhaps the most extreme of these laws, effectively banning all abortions without exception. Georgia’s law appears to cover miscarriages as well as…