Subterms
A few days ago, Quaker Oats announced it would retire its 130-year-old brand of pancake syrup and breakfast foods, Aunt Jemima. The company acknowledged that the Aunt Jemima character was based on a racial stereotype. In the aftermath of the decision, other companies, among them Mars Food, followed suit announcing that it was time to […] More
The impact of the #MeToo movement has no doubt been useful in getting us to speak about the traumas we experience in various spaces. But there is more to be done. Every institution, ranging from private to public, which includes professional, religious, political, educational and social organizations, is not exempt from its reach. However, when […] More
Social media platforms started out humbly, existing simply as a way to connect with old friends, share photographs and inform your social network of changes in your life. However, as social media continues to grow, the effect and influence it has on the world at large are undeniably far more impactful than initially envisioned. Since […] More
Germany is the great latecomer in Western Europe. For much of its history, Germany was a territorial space occupied by dozens of autonomous political entities — kingdoms, principalities, duchies, margraviates, free cities. It was not until 1870 that Germany was united. By then, the world had largely been divided among Europe’s great powers. The German Empire […] More
There seemed to be a lot more bright stars in the sky in recent weeks, even over Washington, DC. Then suddenly, as national “leaders” slept wrapped in a bubble of delusion while disease was taking its ghastly toll, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, pleaded for another breath to the unyielding knee of a police […] More
Who needs reporters to cover the drama that takes place in the streets of the United States? People with cameras on their cellphones have conveniently replaced traditional news teams. The news media merely selects the videos shot by ordinary people that it will broadcast. The star journalists and the experts they invite to chat with […] More
Eric Cervini’s story of one man’s struggle touches on many others and leaves the reader wanting 500 pages more Frank Kameny picketing in a still from a documentary, The Lavender Scare. Photograph: PBS Trained at Harvard and Cambridge, Eric Cervini is an LGBTQ historian. His debut, subtitled The Homosexual vs the United States of America, falls […] More
In ordinary times, for the bulk of the American population, presidential election years resemble a period of deep moral sleep whose fitful dreams are stimulated by a media that plays a role not unlike that of the Freudian unconscious. It proposes various devices that include the tracing of candidates’ gaffes, the unveiling of reported scandals […] More
