feed the balance of the people.

I was teaching Voices of Protest this week, and like my students, I was startled by the familiarity of speeches delivered 75 years ago. 

‎"How many men ever went to a barbecue and would let one man take off the table what's intended for 9/10th of the people to eat? The only way to be able to feed the balance of the people is to make that man come back and bring back some of that grub that he ain't got no business with!" - Huey Long

This infographic is worth meditating on as well. 

the imprisonment of a race.

Last Friday I trekked out to Princeton for the Center for African American Studies' conference "The Imprisonment of a Race." The conference was the brainchild of an undergraduate student in molecular biology. Originally from Inglewood, California, he was troubled by the fact that more young black men go to prison than to college. He wanted to raise awareness about the issue, so he went to CAAS. He expected maybe a professor and some kids in chairs in a classroom. What he got, however, was to help plan a conference that brought together some of the finest scholars writing about race and incarceration today. It was the kind of event that made me feel grateful to live where I do; it's a gift to have access to the resources of the Ivies.


It was a major event for me. It wasn't just that it was a networking event, or that there was some really interesting research I hadn't heard about yet-- though both of those things were big draws. It was the power of sitting in a room with several hundred people having a consciousness-raising experience.  The research was provocative-- I learned about, for instance, how children are policed and conditioned to punative punisment in schools and neighborhoods, how census counting of inmates in prisons rather than their neighborhoods of origin means less money for already poor communities (reproducing the circumstances of poverty that spawn most crime), and how it costs the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania twice as much to incarcerate a prisoner than to pay the tuition of a student at Penn State. I heard the voice of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a political prisoner on death row-- that he joined our conference by phone, with the periodic interuptions of a recording us telling us that the phone could be being recorded, added a potent sense of urgency to the day's proceedings. I heard research I am familiar with-- how prison riots and internal resistance show that "the carceral state is, in fact, fragile," and how during the Progressive era whites were treated for poverty, blacks were neglected because of their assumed criminal pathology, and these events laid the foundations for mass incarceration. I heard all of the familiar statistics about incarceration in America- how of 2 million people incarcerated today, half are African-American, how 5 million people in this country are disenfranchised because they committed felonies. Everyone agrees that there are evil people who should be locked up, but that locking up for non-violent crimes and racist policing have occurred on such a grand scale of inequality that it they have become less effective, and indeed, manifestations of the fundamentally undemocratic nature of American governance and a need for a continued human rights struggle.


I heard over and over again:
Prisons destroy the spirit.
Prisons do not correct behaviors.
Prisons undermine family life. 
Prisons produce fractured citizenship that encourages recidivism. 
Prisons are the only policy Democrats and Republicans seem to be able to agree on. 
Prisons-- in all their dehumanizing, demonizing, unjust incarnations-- are evidence of our society in it most realized form (Foucault). 


The word "suffering" must have been said a hundred times.


There were moments when I felt close to tears. I feel that way when I read about prisons, too-- a sense of despair that these institutions are so entrenched that they seem beyond reform. 


It was a blessing, then, to round out the day with a conversation between public intellectual Cornel West and Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow.  West offered me hope-- he reminded me that I have the power, in our my own life, to infuse my work with a spiritual motivation. He spoke plainly, truthfully: Justice is love practiced in public. Michelle Alexander reminded me that for everything I'd heard, I have a responsibility to bring awareness to the issues surrounding incarceration and inequality.  I can change the words I use- I don't have to use the term "felon" to describe the formerly-incarcerated because I can use my language to show others than I believe in forgiving those who have done their time. I can work for reform and rule shifting but I can also work for a revolutionary transformation of culture.  There is hope in that. 


My favorite quote came from Khalilah Brown-Dean, and I think I might have to embroider it to hang over my desk as I write my dissertation:

"My research is my advocacy."

a radical turn.

When I was in Utah, I got involved with protest culture. Utah's is distinctive; participatory democracy goes a long way in the state and many groups have successfully found ways to build awareness about their causes. It was exciting to find opportunities to express my beliefs in the public sphere, particularly as I became more aware of my own politics and values after leaving the Church.


I took a class called "Urban Crime" this semester. It was poorly titled; its focus extended well beyond the urban and I learned very little about crime. In fact, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what constitutes a real crime and what crimes are constructed by society for sake of maintaining order and reducing risk to the middle-class.  That I came to conclude there is such a distinction is evidence, perhaps, that the crime part wasn't necessarily a misnomer.


The emphasis of the course was on incarceration.  There are over 2 million people presently incarcerated in the United States right now; over 7 million people have been incarcerated.  Up until very recently, historians have done little to explore incarceration and the punitive process in the United States.  I read the works of sociologists, legal scholars, historians.  I found their arguments very persuasive.  


The penal system in America is, amongst developed nations, one of the most punitive in the world.  Our systems of lawmaking, policing, prosecution, sentencing, and warehousing prisoners rest on racialized assumptions.  The poor and the non-white are disproportionately punished.  Politicians use crimefighting for political currency. A culture of fear has been built up, granting government carte blanche to prevent risk. The humanity of criminals and their potential to reform is, in many states, off the table.  While there are those who do deserve to be in prison, it is taken for granted that every person in prison deserves to be there.  The impact of incarceration on communities, partners, children, families is not a part of how we, as a nation, think about crime.


I point this out-- and give you this summary of what I took from fifteen books and probably as many articles-- because I recognize that I have developed this habit of blowing up my Twitter feed when a story pertaining to criminality or incarceration hits me a certain way.  There are things I never noticed that are now everywhere.  I am at the beginning of an activist moment.  I will stake my career on it; I believe the system is that unjust.  So bear with me this raised consciousness.  




If you can get your hands on this month's Journal of American History, make sure you seek out this article. If not, check out the JAH Podcast. It will give you some insight into the import of this emerging field of study and the scholars influencing my thinking.

what is the matter with pennsylvania?

Nothing like a little indulgent historical writing for you. I love that in 1935 you could publish an incredulous essay on your state's mediocre national political contributions. Russ uses the phrase "What is the matter with Pennsylvania?" so many times that it merits a bumper sticker.

"Pennsylvania has become used to pulling the chestnuts out of the fire for others, by throwing its huge electoral vote for the Presidential candidate from some other state. Like a good-natured muzhik, it does all the work and gets none of the credit. One second-rate President, one Vice-President who is often not even mentioned in our history books, two or three well-known Congressmen, not one Chief Justice, a fair showing in several cabinet positions and a good record in one or two others, a string of political bosses whose only reputation comes from machine politics and corruption, an imperviousness to reform, and until recently, a total lack of pride (perhaps justified) in the state's contributions to history? In fine, a century and a half of utter futility. What price glory!"

William A. Russ Jr, "What is the matter with Pennsylvania?" Pennsylvania History  2, No. 1 (January, 1935), pp. 17-35. Accessed on JStor today.

For more on Pennsylvania political culture, check out this episode of This American Life from October 2008.

an election day blessing.

"Government requires make believe. Make believe that the king is divine, make believe that he can do no wrong or make believe that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Make believe that the people have a voice or make believe that the representatives of the people are the people. Make believe that governors are the servants of the people. Make believe that all men are equal or make believe that they are not.


The political world of make-believe mingles with the real world in strange ways, for the make-believe world may often mold the real one. In order to be viable, in order to serve its purpose, whatever the purpose may be, a fiction must bear some resemblance to fact. If it strays too far from fact, the willing suspension of disbelief collapses. And conversely it may collapse if facts stray too far from the fiction."


-Edmund Morgan, Inventing the People, quoted in Larry Kramer's The People Themselves, 34


May your highest ideals be joined by your deepest pragmatism on this Election Day. May you see through all the fictions to find the facts. Please vote- your voice needs to be heard to make this whole democracy thing work!

confronting the hard parts.

I like what I do. It's a privilege to tell the stories of others. I've enjoyed meeting the people I study. I love going to conferences, I love going to class, I love the feeling the feeling of opening up a box and not knowing what I'm going to find. The challenges of interpreting the past engage me deeply. I have made a lot of sacrifices because being a historian is so satisfying and rewarding that I want to do it for my whole life, and I want desperately to learn how to do it well.

I love to study New Right conservatives. I admire their passion and temerity. Their rhetoric and writing captivates me. Making sense of a time in which my parents came of age and the moment I was born into has great appeal for me. I have come along way since I started studying these people, and I really, genuinely appreciate what they have to say and how they challenge my worldview.

I say all this because today I had to confront the aspect of my topic I hate the most. It's impossible to write about the New Right without talking about abortion.  For many social conservatives, it's the reason they mobilized, the one thing in the world that they would give anything to change.

I hate reading about it. I hate talking about it. I would do anything to avoid it all together.

The descriptions in pro-life literature, while well-intentioned, are often grizzly and grotesque. They depict excessive and unusual procedures, and overemphasize poorly handled situations.  I concede that it is purposeful and deliberate language. But I think that by and large pro-life accounts are as decadent as the behaviors they are intended to critique.

It has little to do with the fact that I'm pro-choice. I believe that women should have  access to safe medical procedures should they elect to do so. I stand with Linda Gordon in acknowledging that women have made this choice throughout history regardless of its legality, and with Barack Obama who feels that unwanted pregnancies should be prevented through affordable birth control and comprehensive sex education. Like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I believe that it is not a question of either / or. But my politics seldom enter the picture. I am guided by professional ethics and exercise a level of restraint that others have called judicious and even admirable. What I write is not about me. I am not trying to change anybody's mind, nor am I open to my mind being changed.

I just don't like reading about blood and tissue. Needles, suction, disposal, no thank you. I think it's a terrible way to spend the day. It makes me miserable. I don't find it enjoyable to try to understand what's going on in the text; I find it so abhorrent that I struggle to get motivated when I have to address the issue. It's impossible to focus on, requiring breaks, endless coffee, snacks, checking of blogs, email, twitter, and anything that might offer relief from the task.  If someone called and said, "Hey, would you like to come clean my toilet?" I would probably opt for that.  My work ends with descent into exhaustion and then unsatisfying naps. I wind up feeling drained and find it near impossible to shake off the dirty feeling I get from reading this rubbish. To use a turn of phrase from my Mormon days, it offends my spirit.

I love what I do. I love what I study. I wouldn't change my path even if I could. 

But what do we do with the parts of our jobs- our vocations- that we hate? 

vacation and mildly depressing politics sandwich.

Yes, it's true, borne out by my Twitter feed and many annoying facebook updates to tease and taunt- I'm in the UK and loving it. I decided to share this photo because it features prominent quadriceps gifted to me by the ODT, so you know, I can be a schmuck and brag about how fit biking's made me. With this picture I can also brag about how good the 9% apple cider is, but you know, I think that's pretty obvious.

Anywho, if you get the chance, check out Frank Rich's commentary on the recent spate of right-wing violence and conspiracy theories. Obviously, conspiracies are nothing new, but I think Rich is correct that the lack of conservative / Republican leadership on the issue isn't helping and will cause further problems. Interesting stuff to chew on.

Here also is a fascinating summation of the Iranian elections. I too believe that the election was stolen and think it's a total bummer because well, the implications suck.

What, you're depressed now? Yah, well here's some tips on what to take to people who invite you over (I liked the idea of bringing a giant jar of Nutella) and a funny food oriented photo from the Tesco grocery store offering a good pairing for Father's Day. Best to eat our feelings when it comes to domestic and international politics.


p.s. I laughed, I cried, I peed a little: "45 Ridiculous Pictures of Boy Bands." I miss the 90s!

rally for the cause.

As an uninsured person for the summer and someone who pays high high premiums for student health insurance during the school year, I can't even begin to tell you how important it is that you urge your Senators to support Kennedy's Health bill, which you can read about here.  Please, please, please, on behalf of healthy young people everywhere, please, please please? It'll only take a second... you can find your Senator's contact info here.  Remember, an email means ten people feel the same way as you- a phone call means a HUNDRED people feel the same way. 

on staying out of the way.

A fascinating article about what Bill Clinton's up to these days.

thank you sweet jesus.

"Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway"

Off topic: This story on face transplants made me teary eyed.

a minimalist, a structuralist, and a pragmatist, oh my.

For once, I think Maureen Dowd was spot on with her article "When Character Corrodes" about the tragicomedy of Republicans' sudden call for checks and balances. The article alludes to this bit about how Obama's experience with constitutional law will impact how he selects a Supreme Court justice. I am absolutely thrilled about Obama getting the chance to choose-- I don't think any president in recent history has been as well equipped to make such a nomination.

Recalling the horrified way my Constitutional Law professor in my undergrad reacted to Alito's confirmation (which occurred during the course of the class), I like to imagine she is somewhere in Ballard doing a little jig. Exciting stuff, for sure.

Bonus: An informational first-hand account about what it's like to live in the Dutch welfare state. My inner libertarian is quieted as the socialist on the other shoulder tells me how fantastic this is.

briefly.

I found this article fascinating-- studies have found that only 20% of Americans identify as liberal but yet Obama has a 70% approval rating. I loved that the #1 word people chose to identify him with was "intelligent." It's interesting that doing the job well bridges the gaps between political philosophies. That's change I can believe in! (as opposed to change that other people can't believe in... my nerdy little self went ga-ga over the linked video and website-- I must study these people)

Also in conservatism... Princeton's Julian Zelizer is writing for my beloved moderately conservative news site The Daily Beast. I may or may not have almost peed my pants over this. What can I say, I love the idea of making smart people political commentators (what a concept!). Step aside, Meghan McCain! (she is driving me nuts lately... she clearly has no idea wtf she's talking about when she can't even differentiate between conservatives and Republicans... oy)

this is genius.

days like this drive me to online shopping.

Wild day in the world / on the internet today:

Obama is waging war on pirates

And trying to nationalize the student loan system.*

People are trying to forgive their spouses**

and others are fainting on Glenn Beck like it's a tent rivival.

Spain is putting the smackdown on torture since our courts won't

because they are too busy not being good.***

Ok, so maybe it was mostly a good day for reading The Paper. But still, kind of a wild mess huh? Watch this to wind down (free for a limited time!).

*the discomfort I feel over stuff like this-- even though it's for the good of the students-- ME-- is really making me wonder if I'm a fiscal conservative, or maybe if having GWB for president for my entire adult life screwed me up to the point that I can never be on the same side as the Prez.

**I liked this article because I felt like yelling at the whole planet this afternoon. Very tense afternoon. I pretended that I, like the main character, got to throw my fit.

***I could talk about the Supreme Court all day. Fascinating stuff.

in which rachel maddow says 'teabagging' like eighty times.

Until conservatives learn to read Urban Dictionary, liberals will continue to mock them mercilessly... and push through a socialist agenda.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Absolutely mindblowing-- it's like the MSM no longer needs Colbert or Stewart to mock the news for them.

why i love meghan mccain.

After taking the weekend off from my thesis-- annoyed with changes proposed during my defense that I have no desire to integrate (while I am sure they are very good ideas)-- naturally, it would be the thing keeping me from falling asleep. Turning away from the pages of suggestions to the internet, it occured to me that I have a touch of Stockholm syndrome.

One of the things I like best about The Daily Beast is that it includes voices of conservative writers. I don't have the patience for actual conservative blogs, but I enjoy it when there is an effort at balance in the mainstream media. As The Times has been in flux in this regard (thank goodness they got rid of William Kristol!), The Daily Beast has stepped up. Furthermore, the conservatives they have writing for them are women-- women who aren't afraid to offer some scathing critiques of the movement and the GOP.

I can't lie. I am a junkie for conservative politics. Sure, I'm basically a socialist when the water meets the road, but being as my professional development requires that I set my own politics aside, I get to be as interested as I want. Admitedly, I study conservatives because they shock me. I like a kum-bay-ya history of the women's movement as much as any feminist, but prefer the intellectual gymnastics I have to do when confronted with a bunch of pro-life libertarians calling their legislators about porn and the gay agenda. I just don't get the same sense of wide eyed fascination when I read about lesbian baseball teams.

Anyways, everyday when I read the news and the commentary I ask myself how on earth the conservative movement is ever going to regain its strength. It's turned into kind of a sad story, really, kind of like the Democrats after McGovern, Dukakis... basically every candidate they put forth between LBJ and WJC really. So in all of this tragedy (or maybe it's a comedy) I have been surprised to find that Meghan McCain, daughter of the unsuccessful Senator from Arizona, has become one of the few reasonable voices amidst the cacaphony of crazies (Rush, 14 year old boy, etc. etc.).

The Girl McCain is not a particularly great writer-- there is a laissez faire approach to the editing of her work that does her no favors. But the ideas are good, when she doesn't paint herself into the corner of acknowledging her privledge or naivete. That she can stay afloat with so many caveats says a lot more about the movement than the person. I tried really hard to be dismissive but then I realized her perspective is unparalleled. Though I love David Brooks, it's a shit time to be preaching old school, preReagan sermons and nobody wants to try out his good ideas anyways.

So M. McCain: I find it refreshing that she takes on Ann Coulter, because AC scares the shit out of liberals and the first thing the RNC et al should be doing is to make itself look less scary (though the selfish part of me says "don't ever stop"). I like that she takes a moderate stance on social issues, and recognizes that base pandering is a dangerous thing when trying to attain electoral majorities. Though the writing was particularly bad in her "Looking for Mr. Far Right" piece, I thought it was a clever way to showcase the shambles of right politics. Her recent body image bit was rational and I think we need as many voices as possible, from whatever side, to protest the way women's bodies are attacked in politics.

Ok, so maybe the standards are low, but I think Meghan McCain is establishing herself as a person to listen to in the conservative movement. Or at the very least, a person liberals can tolerate listening to. I have a pretty high tolerance and even I can't handle the vacuous pundits-- here here for more sensible folks making it look like there's a slight possibility that our two-party system can start working again.

and that's why you don't use a one-armed person to scare someone.

Ever since I woke up this morning the term "gonna teach you a lesson" has been stuck in my head. Immortalized by my favorite episode of Arrested Development, it is an apt description of the major theme of a rally for higher education funding at the Capitol-- "I'm gonna teach those legislators a lesson!" Well we did teach those legislators a lesson, although when we peacefully invaded us their session they tought us a lesson about the fire code because, who knew it, the balconies of the Utah legislature weren't exactly designed to hold 400 bundled up students!* But surely all the kids there learned a lesson about political action and when the budget comes out, we'll see if we actually taught those legislators a lesson. At least they've stopped talking about twenty percent budget cuts, those crazy fuckers.

The real lesson learned today was this:

Don't schedule an interview at the Starbucks at the mall.

Why? Because then you're at the mall, and that section of your budget labeled "shopping" that read "0.00" now doesn't read "0.00" anymore! Gah! The barrage of spring colors at the Gap! Noooooo! I am so weeeak when confronted with pastels!!!!


Pathetic. But my lanta, it is the cutest scarf ever, and the fit of the V-neck cardigans? Don't even get me started.

And while you're not getting me started, don't even get me started on the sublesson of the experience,

Don't go into the Apple Store if you even remotely dislike your PC, let alone hate it.**

You're destined for heartache. I promise.

*But it sure did feel like The Man was keeping us down!

**Didn't buy a Mac yet... but I nearly peed my pants when I saw the Mac Pro HOOKED UP TO 3 FOOT LONG FLATSCREENS. My lanta. WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT MY FUTURE IS SO I CAN BUY OR NOT BUY A NEW COMPUTER?!?!?

hefty tabernacles.

Ok, so this morning I got up at the crack of 8:30. To punish me for getting up early (hey, before nine o'clock is a really big thing for me), my bedroom door locked behind me as I headed towards the bathroom. Stranded in my bathrobe (I was like "really? REALLY?!"), I made some calls to housing and they said they'd send somebody over. Lucky for me I keep all the dirty clothes in the bathroom and I never do laundry so I could actually put something on when the tall drink of water maintenance guy showed up (you know what? maybe not lucky me. maybe I should've left the robe on! it was my cute one) and within fifteen minutes I was back in my room looking at my long and daunting to-do list. Crisis resolved!

However, the lockout was fortuitous: I caught this great clip of the Colbert Report featuring Utah's most ridiculous congressman, Jason Chaffetz (you'll recall he was taking his cot to Washington), getting his ass kicked at leg wrestling and saying things like, "You're not the boss of me, Nancy Pelosi." Awesomeness.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Better Know a District - Utah's 3rd - Jason Chaffetz

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

as a blogger and a liberal, i am obligated to post this.

Say what you will about George Bush, but that guy's got the reflexes of a cat.

pure magic matador.

Per yesterday's dismissive Trek bike post, I will qualify it by saying that I think better design thought has been put into their Gary Fisher Simple City line. Though I don't know that it will get you conversation with a cute guy parking his Bianchi (with a Brooks saddle, no less)... that was nice.

Here's is a dark but intriguing slideshow of Cuba. Castro wants to talk with Obama, and I really hope Barack will take him up on the offer. Our policy on Cuba requires reevaluation and I will be deeply disappointed if the embargo is still hanging on in four years.

For Mark Kozelek week, here's a really lovely live version of Salvador Sanchez.