Culture
Technically disabled
Like more than 80% of blind and visually impaired Americans, Mr. Davis is unemployed. Like many blind and visually impaired people he is employable and does want to be active in the community.
Black history in Wisconsin
The writing of the the state constitution involves Black suffrage. In 1846, a first draft of the constitution allowed black men to vote. This draft was not adopted. The successful 1848 State Constitution explicitly barred Black men from voting while it allowed all white men, even immigrants who were not citizens, to vote. After statehood, three referendums were held on suffrage for Black men (1849, 1857, and 1865). All were defeated. Citizenship was defined as being white and male.
Contaminated brownfields: how did it come to this in America?
The business is long gone, the buildings removed but the aftermath is not. Left behind is a “brownfield,” a nice word for a site contaminated with deadly poisons, and no one left to pay for clean-up if that’s even possible. And what to do with it once it is cleaned up? Another industrial site, another fence line community in the poorer part of town where the people of color live. There are thousands of brownfields all over America. How did it come to this? No one intended to damage the Earth and make humans sick. We blundered into it.
Proven “pot-ential” for rural communities
Governor Evers’ 2021-23 budget will enable Wisconsinites to bounce back from the pandemic stronger than ever. His budget includes initiatives, like marijuana legalization, that will get our economy back on track and create new opportunities for our rural communities.
A call for equity and sustainable systems
Equity, the fairness with with which we treat one another, has finally become a hot topic. Sustainability, the pursuit of an environment healthy enough to ensure a livable planet for ourselves and for our children has, thankfully, become another. Together they pack a pretty explosive punch! Ignore them and we may find ourselves flat on our backs; the soul of our humanity bruised and battered by tooth and claw competition on a shriveling planet.
Around the world, including here in Wisconsin, small family farmers are being forced off their land by grocery store-scale ...
Grief, worry, hope, and kindness
At the end of January, Will and I suffered the loss of a beloved pet. After talking with friends, we found out that three of them also recently had pets reach the end of their lives. Some lost people in their family as well. Some, like me, are worried about family who are sick.
Retiring the Corporate America flag
Throughout the past few years, so much of what I believed has been turned onto its head. Most notably, my view that corporate influence on government is the greatest threat to democracy.
How we grieve is who we are
Growing up in this environment made me better able to deal with grief. Some would say that I still am too stoic, I appear to uncaring. I am not, however I do grieve, and even cry. Just how I was raised was that we get the important things done first, then we deal with grief later.
America the Beautiful
The same short-sighted, profit-centered thinking that opposed creating the National Parks hinders creating the “good change” we need today.
Some thoughts on the role journalism plays in society
Unity is more than just a good idea; it is vital. That isn’t to say that we must unite to create false equivalencies and accept fiction as though it were fact. We must restore faith in an objective truth, one of the tenets of good journalism.