Politics
Documentary The Accidental President Intentionally Forgets the Trump Presidency
We desperately need documentaries to help us understand how Trump won the 2016 election. Not only does The Accidental President fail to perform this type of analysis, but the movie also stymies it, giving those who participated in the grooming and installation of pro-fascist leader a platform from which to manipulate history.
The Cold, Hard Truths About Texas
The blackout has left me with time to reflect on my Texas childhood. A daughter of immigrants, white-washed and shamed for my brownness and non-compliance to the Texas Way, this blackout has ignited an anger I've felt for most of my life. The failure of Texas goes beyond wifi. It is a failure of ethos.
Some Workplace Injuries are No Accident
In the past five months, incidents of women getting threatened, hurt, or killed at their American workplaces appeared on national news. On November 12, the NY Post outed a paramedic as a sex worker, resulting in a barrage of threats. The exposure also jeopardized her job. On January 6, we saw Congresswomen hide in their offices in lockdown while gallows were being erected for them outside their work building. On March 16, we learned that six women in Atlanta were killed when a mass shooter came into their place of work. It’s clear from these incidents that the prestige, location, or salary of a woman’s job has no bearing on how safe she is at work. When society normalizes gender-based violence in the home, it also normalizes gender-based violence in the workplace.
Matt Gaetz: an Extraordinarily Ordinary Creep
What makes the accusations against Matt Gaetz so plausible is the ubiquity of men like him. Many of them work for state, like my former coworker John William Gunde, a high school teacher arrested for sex with a minor, currently on paid administrative leave.
How to Break Up With the Non-Profit Pyramid Scheme. For Now.
I’ve only been out of work for 11 days at this point. Yet I awake each morning to an attached PDF, an embedded link, or a “heads up” on some new job. Through the morning haze, it’s typically the first alert I see on my phone. For some asinine reason, everyone finds grounding in their […]
Sandwich Expert David Brooks Weighs In On the Education of Black and Brown Children
Elitist sandwich expert and NYTimes columnist David Brooks writes that the desire of public school teachers not to die of covid is a disaster for children. Myriam Gurba disagrees.
Democrats Should Listen to David Frum If They Want to Lose Elections
David Frum warns Democrats not to give residency to Latinx frontline workers. Don't listen. Biden’s immigration policy as voter enfranchisement: a coalition of Latinx voters and newly naturalized citizens will be the next Georgia swing
This Isn’t My First Coup. But It Is the First One I Have A Problem With
It's no secret that the US has long undermined self-governance in Latin America while pretending to be the greatest exporter of democracy in human history. I recall an aphorism attributed to Porfirio Diíaz, "Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States." With that lens, I see this coup attempt as evidence of how weak US institutions, beliefs, and democracy truly are.
Don’t Call Me Resilient
Using the word "brave" exalts certain traumatized people as heroic and casts others as failures. All victims of assault deserve to have their experiences dignified with validation, not just those who earn it through "bravery."
Fascism Goes to School
The classroom is where many white women may mimic the power of a strongman and the power asymmetry widens when a white teacher is placed in charge of a racially minoritized class of students.
When You Can’t Claim It, But You Can’t Escape It
Revisiting one of our favorite pieces from Tasteful Rude: “Are you Black?” my first crush, a white boy, asked me as we played together in the sandbox at school. I wasn’t sure. I thought of my nickname “negrita” but I didn’t know how to explain that I’m the darkest in my family or why it seemed perfectly natural to be identified by my pigmentation. When I couldn’t answer, he ran away from me.
Myriam Gurba Speaks to Feminist Giant Mona Eltahawy About Revolution
In the same way that I believe the protests must riot and must loot and must burn shit down, I believe we have a right to defend ourselves. Not just to defend ourselves, I believe we have a right to riot and loot and burn shit down when it comes to these fucking fascist predatory fucks who are in home and on the street.