Tag: reconstruction

The Truth About John Henry

01/07/201707/17/2018

The Controller shrugged his shoulders. “Because it’s old; that’s the chief reason. We haven’t any use for old things here.” “Even when they’re beautiful?” “Particularly when they’re beautiful. Beauty’s attractive, and we don’t want people to be attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.” From The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, […]

The Truth About John Henry

May 1866: the first mixed-race jury in Virginia convenes to indict Jefferson Davis (the trial was never completed). On the same day, a man named John Henry stands trial for burglary. This one time a tour van broke down about halfway between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Pretty soon I was crashing in Denver, bookshop-hopping down Colfax Avenue. The third […]

Studs & The Greatest

I hear it’s better late than never. Thanks to WFMT Chicago & The Studs Terkel Radio Archive, you can now hear two absolute all-star American heroes—oral historian with the heart of gold, Studs Terkel, and the one and only fighter-poet Muhammad Ali—hashing it out on the radio in 1975. As per usual Studs, the interview sounds […]

More Dangerous Than 1000 Rioters: A Fireside Chat with Freddy Martinez, Director of Lucy Parsons Labs (LISTEN)

Who is Lucy Parsons? In the 1920’s the Chicago Police Department called her “more dangerous than a thousand rioters.” She was a writer, orator and activist who came north from Texas under threat of the Klan for her interracial marriage and involvement in the rebellious activity of registering black people to vote. Lucy’s better known as the […]

Dear Diary

Dear Diary, I am going out in the rain for 1. Flonase 2. Whiskey 3. Toilet paper. Jane said in a pinch, merge 1 & 2. I’m not sure if she means swallow Flonase or pour whiskey up my nose. Luckily they have all 3 at Walgreens, plus notebooks. Dear Diary, This could be the hardest […]

That’s The Key, Boys! A Q&A With (The) Quincy Jones

My senior year I got kicked off the high school newspaper. Before that, I got to interview an esteemed alumnus—none other than The. Quincy. Jones, who was back in town for the dedication of our newly built theater in his name. A much-shortened version of this interview appeared in the school paper. Later, the journalism teacher was caught, let’s say, crossing the […]