When the mainstream media world talks about the importance of balance, or "both sides of the story", what they are really doing is justifying also talking to the rape victim's attacker, to the cop who murdered the Black man, to the violent right wing in Venezuela, to the coup plotters, and to the company that... Continue Reading →
Who Owns the Words?
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potty series, was asked by her publisher Barry Kunningham to use just her initials (she made up the K), as he thought boys might be wary of a book written by a woman. Many people assume that Harper Lee is a man, Charlotte Bronte originally published as Currer Bell... Continue Reading →
Writing for liberation exercise: Combating stereotypes
In the story and creative world, there's two fairly obvious things wrong with stereotypes: They tend to reinforce prejudice and discrimination, and reduce the particular group of humans down to just a few elements (but people are complex and aren't just their appearance or intelligence or food choices). They are boring to read and don't... Continue Reading →
Why we need to hear less from academics
Many believe that academics are the neutral gods above us, who look down at the world and see things clearly. Academics are the “experts” of society that are quoted and interviewed in the media, despite having minimal participation in that society. They hog the intellectual limelight, while others on the ground do the hard yakka... Continue Reading →
Little poem: What I Mean When I Say Survivor
This is one of Brenna Twohy's shorter poems, honest and confronting and for basic female dignity, as always. I, too have loved men who named my mouth ashtray, mistook me for a place to leave burning things when they were done.