In the wake of another mass shooting on a school campus, politicians from Trump down are floating the idea of formally encouraging teachers to be armed. Trump has even suggested that teachers willing to do so be given a bonus. I’m a high school teacher, and most teachers I’ve spoken to think this is a…
Author: Clio
White Gaze, Black Panther, Animal House
Black Panther premiered this week to tremendous box office numbers. As of this writing, it is just shy of $200M domestically, and over $350M globally. That indicates tremendous support across all races and nationalities. At the same time, there is a small but vocal component of the white audience that has mocked the film. Some…
97%
97%. 97% of mass shooters are men. If there were a 97% chance of rain, I’d carry an umbrella. If I had a 97% chance of winning the lottery, I’d buy a ticket. If 97% of venomous spiders had fuzzy legs, I’d know which ones to avoid. Ninety-seven percent of mass shooters are men. Now,…
The Girl in the Pink Fuzzy Sweater
When I was 12 years old, a girl in a pink fuzzy sweater decided I was cute. I don’t remember her name, but it was something white and suburban and smelled of watermelon lip gloss. Her hair was teased in a Farrah Fawcett frame. Meanwhile, I was a nerdy little kid a year younger than…
i want to write my flesh
i want to write my flesh and stretch the words slowly out along the curls of vapor escaping my lungs i want to write my flesh and let it seize upon my sinews until they snap and scream and leave my muscles sore i want to write my flesh on leaves of slate and crystal…
Assault, Complicity, and the Husband Stitch
Men, let’s talk. But first, I have some reading for you. Start with Carmen Maria Machado’s “The Husband Stitch.” You might find it a difficult read, as I did; it is not a standard narrative, but instead jumps around in tone and style. But it’s well worth the effort. In the middle is a passage…
This Voice
This voice says: Shut up. This voice says that nobody wants to hear from another broken white man. This voice says that there are people who suffer more than you, people who face obstacles so large that you can’t even imagine it. This voice says there have been enough white men talking. It’s time to…
Why There’s No ‘White History Month’
This week marks the beginning of Black History Month. Every February, black educators around the country deep-dive into the contributions of African-Americans while the mainstream white-centered media pulls out the same five Famous Black People to profile over and over. If you’re white, that means you’ll hear about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X,…
Hoodies, Hats, and Cultural Nuance
I am a high school teacher. A decade ago, I was in a corporate job, working as a market research analyst. If you’d asked me then what a teacher had to worry about, I would have mentioned content knowledge, administrators, parents, and homework. What would I not have mentioned? Hats. Hoods. The things students wear…
Boys Do Cry
In responding to Michael Wolff’s new book about him, Donald Trump tweeted that Steve Bannon “cried when he got fired.” I’m not a fan of Steve Bannon. Based on what I’ve seen, I doubt that he really did cry, at least not in front of Donald Trump. I think this because, as older American men,…