The Thread: The Stories We’ve Been Told
It’s just their story, and we don’t have to believe a word of it.
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Posts Tagged: election
You Need to Vote Next Tuesday
Vote Tuesday. Vote for Democrats.
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The Friends of Dorothy Have Something to Say to Kansas
As we move backward in time, we must beware of yellow brick fallacies. Also: poppy fields, flying monkeys, and entrepreneurial wizards.
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Sunday Rumpus Poetry: Three Poems by Faisal Mohyuddin
when to survive this day and the next/four years’ worth will require many/more small, nourishing acts of/self-indulgence and sweet defiance.
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What I’ll Tell My Children: On Being ‘F***Able’ under the Regime of President-elect
It’s time to take responsibility for compliancy.
...moreThis Week in Trumplandia
Welcome to This Week in Trumplandia, a new Rumpus column in which I, your passionate, sometimes angry, mostly emotional, Aries/Taurus cusp host, will highlight PEOTUS-related news that you need to know. Who am I? I’m a freelance writer from Philadelphia (also, the biggest fan of Buffy) who wants to make a difference and stand against the […]
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Touring Trump’s America on Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad won the National Book Award on Wednesday night. In his acceptance speech he told us, “We’re happy in here; outside is the blasted hellhole wasteland of Trumpland. Be kind to everybody. Make art and fight the power.” Not only was this apt for the evening, but it also describes the […]
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The Storming Bohemian Punks the Muse #10: Art Lives!
Sunday: I work through the voting guide, propositions, and candidates, making my decisions. My partner, Argyle C, Klopnick (ACK!), is sure, now, that Hillary’s victory is certain. I ‘m not yet a believer. I think Trump is electable. Monday: I’m catching the excitement. My female cousins and my sisters post pictures of themselves in white […]
...moreThis Week in Short Fiction
Following last week’s election results, the writing world has been full of voices reminding us of the power of words to protest, to heighten awareness, and to effect change. Whether through poetry, essay, memoir, fiction, or otherwise, words are an important vehicle for reaching those who need support, challenging those who need to be called out, […]
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Reimagining America
I’m a performer, and in hard times, this job gets harder. I make music when the nation mourns, and my music can sound like hope.
...morePoem of the Day: “I’ll Be Here” by Robert Creeley
I’ll Be Here There is a lake of clear water. There are forms of things despite us. Pope said, “A little learning,” and, and, and, and—the same. Why don’t you go home and sleep and come back and talk some more. —Robert Creeley (via The Poetry Foundation)
...moreWhere were you when the world broke?
Not in your echoing womb, to scream at you across your fields to wake up, not part of your denial that Earth is burning, dehydrated, suffocating on itself— I stood in a blue state while you bled the red of its people—(Our people: recall how they grew up across Holt Street, Maple Street from us, […]
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United We Stand
No one knows exactly what the next four years will bring. But we are always stronger when we protest together.
...moreThe America We Live in Now
I don’t consider myself a political person. To me, there are no “wrong” political beliefs. I believe that democracy means respecting everyone’s right to her opinion. And if I were forced to declare my own political views, I would have to reluctantly admit that, out of cynicism and self-interest, I find myself increasingly leaning towards […]
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FUNNY WOMEN #145: The Mother of All Jobs
Why do you think God gave you those narrow hips, if not for wearing blue suit pants?
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Dedicate Your No-Trump Vote: Padma Viswanathan
Is it that she is an immigrant to the US and was an immigrant to Canada before that, a brown woman on both sides of the border, viewed with suspicion that sometimes gets explicit?
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The Rumpus Interview with Sara Benincasa
Comedian Sara Benincasa opens up about her latest book Real Artists Have Day Jobs, adjusting to success, Venn-diagramming love, and the loss of Morley Safer.
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: Something’s Happening Out There
The big crowd stretched form the gold-domed State House to Park Street. I had the urgent feeling that we were part of something. That we counted.
...moreIf Hillary Clinton Wrote a Dystopian YA Novel
There was no denying it, Athena was lost. She had walked the road to Deasey Castle for many years, but now, no matter what road she took, the glorious castle spires were no closer. Escape the never-ending political sideshow for some fun fictional role-playing and follow Athena Kindness, warrior and opportunistic people-pleaser, through selections of […]
...moreTrump Rally Halted by Hip-Hop
The nominee’s scheduled event at Chicago on Friday night was cancelled due to the overwhelming attendance of protesters chanting lyrics to Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” Trump may still be steamrolling his way into other cities and we don’t condone any violence that may have occurred in the rally, but it’s nice to see ignorance cower in the […]
...moreThe Man with the Biggest Mouth
“The guys with the biggest mouths are always the most fragile.” –Donald Trump, at a rally in New Orleans, March 4th 2016 Leaving the airplane hangar, thousands of Trump 2016 signs sandwiched under the arms of red, white, and blue t-shirts and American flag windbreakers, I find myself unlucky enough to be walking behind a […]
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The Last City I Loved: Washington D.C.
DC is traffic circles, non-working fountains in some circles’ centers, jammed downtown corridors and quiet Anacostia neighborhood streets no taxi driver wants to know after midnight. It’s Muslim taxi drivers unfurling prayer mats in alleyways near the homeless guy singing to himself
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A Case for the Wasted Vote
Voting for a third party is the way I choose to voice my dissent. It’s a vote toward realignment, a recalibration, of our political system. The dominant parties are stricken with tunnel vision; their economic promises are distracting us from other critically important issues
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