October 2023 Monthly Roundup
Happy All Hallows’ Eve, Waywards reader.
Here are the pieces I wrote for commission that were published this month:
Solitary Confinement Punishes Vulnerable Populations Inside a San Mateo County Jail / Solitary Watch; The Kansas City Defender; The Davis Vanguard / 10-12-23
Sex and the Single Parent / Giddy / 10-22-23
As for current work, I’m waiting to get suggested edits back on a piece I submitted earlier this month, and I’m (slowly) putting together another feature I hope to get commissioned.
I also wrote some poetry this month. I’ve included versions of those poems below this image of me shooting hoops a few days ago.
An Early Memory
A late eighties Illinois winter
Lots of snow
It covered the car window
I picked up the scraper with the brush
To clean it off
My dad, in a rush
Ran toward me
He was angry
I could tell by his face
As he approached
My mom moved apace
And let him know
I was just trying to help
He didn’t know how I felt
To see him irate
He misunderstood, though
I was just trying to be good
And help clear off the snow
I’m Stronger Than You Ever Thought I Could Be
Hating me
Berating me
Is it affecting me?
With my sensitive, contemplative proclivities
And concern for people’s needs
You might mistakenly
Misconstrue such tendencies
As softness, timidity or fragility
If that’s the case, you’re lazily
Misreading me
Looking only superficially
Then pretending you don’t see
Someone hardened, having been regarded flippantly
Toughened, having been treated degradingly
Burned but transformed, alchemically
By your acidity
By you deceiving and misleading me
Before neglecting then rejecting me
Ignoring my incredible potency
How, despite, or because of it all, I’m inexplicably
Brimming with intensity
That intimidates you to a remarkable degree
Thus you refrain from offering an apology
So, are you affecting me?
Respectfully,
Yes, if by that we mean you’re aiding me
Contributing to my integrity
Shaping me
Enabling me
To tell it all less ineffectually
More poetically
More intellectually
Arousing sapiosexuality
Pain transfigured erotically
You’re triggered, excitingly
Moved libidinally
Can that other person bring
This depth of feeling
The passionate, tender care you’re seeking
These heartfelt, exhilarating
Words you’re reading, that I’m speaking
They penetrate your very being
As I simultaneously
Amplify ambivalence and insecurities
It’s okay; be furious with me
Some can relate, emotionally
To those who resonate with this energy
Feel free to affirm the following, repeatedly
I’m stronger than you ever thought I could be
For the Best of the Midwest
A poem for a place where I spent most of my first thirty years
Where I was raised, where I laughed and shed tears
For all the people there whose ways shaped the person I see now when I look into mirrors
And for those who made waves and amazed, and for influences I hold dear
From the Shawnee Wine Trail, up to Goose Island for that pale ale
Shout out to the ol’ Infoshop in Carbondale, and to worker-owned Pilsen Community Books sales
Horseshoes are fabled but not those in the stable
Looking for a meal? Find Dublin’s Pub and D’Arcy’s Pint in the field, they’ll set the table
Harold’s chicken and a six pack, Common called that a good combination
Plant-based? Sam & Gertie’s offers that, the Uptown vegan Jewish deli destination
Dairy-free pizza at Kitchen 17; Giordano’s dishes deep for those who eat meat and cheese
Checking the Little Egypt scene? Quatro’s is great; further north, it’s Papa Del’s, please
Jeremy Allen White was cooking in The Bear, and was great in Shameless as Lip Gallagher
The show was raw and hilarious; Emmy-caliber work from Ms. Rossum and Mr. Macy too there
IRL, take the L to Truth Restaurant, Bronzeville’s go-to breakfast spot
Mario’s in Greenville serves slices many laud; hit up the Bond County Fair for food in August
Legends is true to its name; the pub has some of the best sandwiches in Champaign
For fun and games, Edwardsville has Edison’s Entertainment with an arcade and bowling lanes
Hillsboro has an indie store for vinyl fans, the record shop is called Gold Pan
Nearby local bands, like The Chapman Brothers and Swampdaddies, have played classic jams
Now, The Beach Boys were partial to girls from California, and Morrisson loved that LA woman
But Midwestern gals, I adore ya; women near Collinsville’s catsup bottle over to Bloomington
Ladies waiting for the weekend tailgate and who bar crawl down Green Street ‘til late
Real ones; ditto those in the “toxic donut,” Altgeld Gardens, and Redbirds at Steak ‘n Shake
For the young Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonios and future models like Naperville’s Stacy Arthur,
Palatine’s next Christina Moore, from That ‘70s Show, and DeKalb ladies like Cindy Crawford
And the fine women from Pontiac, like the inimitable Natasha Williams-Blach
For U of I grads, way back, taking shots at Kam’s and receiving seeds where Morrow Plots is at
Past and present, Fightin’ and Flyin’ guys get buckets in what used to be Assembly Hall
As for RSOs, the Orange Krush shows how to appreciate college basketball
Remember the greats like Johnny ‘Red’ Kerr, Kendall Gill, Dee Brown and D-Will
All had game that was nice, cold as ice
After New York, the Hawks would depart for the Tri-Cities of Moline, Rock Island and Davenport
“Sirius” is the Alan Parson’s Project work of art heard at the United Center before games start
MJ’s team in ‘91 against the Bad Boy Pistons showed up stronger and evinced persistence
En route to winning the first of six chips; we can’t accept not trying, per Jordan’s insistence
Haskell Wexler got “Medium Cool” and used footage from the ‘68 DNC convention unrest
Tip of the hat to the director of “Minding the Gap,” and to Fred VanVleet, Rockford’s finest
Candace Parker helped the Sky hang a banner; she also engages in witty NBA on TNT banter
Just east of the river, a young D-Miles hooped with flair; check out his Knuckleheads candor
Tip of the hat to all the others from around the way who had “Hoop Dreams”
Like the great guard from Cabrini-Green who tragically hurt his knee playing for St. Joe’s team
Respect for Simeon alum D-Rose, who after winning MVP and tearing his ACL still wasn’t done
Like Peoria’s Shaun Livingston who won championships after injuring multiple ligaments
In the ‘60s, SNCC’s Fannie Rushing educated kids at Freedom Schools in the Windy City
MLK worked with tenants who were struggling vis-à-vis slum landlords who were shitty
Reggie Brown and a crew inspired by the BPP started a free breakfast program downstate
The cadre at 401 N. Washington survived when officers opened fire; police bullets totaled 778
Before that, Elijah Parish Lovejoy stood opposed to enslavement; the famed editor in Alton
Murdered by a mob just before turning 35 years old; free speech and abolition he exalted
Later, the Warrior Princess, investigative journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, was a crusader
Taking on those who’d oppress she ignited an anti-lynching campaign and ran a newspaper
Mother Jones rests down in Mt. Olive, alongside “her boys” who died in the Battle of Virden
A Forest Park monument for the Haymarket martyrs; on May Day some pay respects in person
Alinksy helped folks organize in “The Jungle” that Sinclair exposed; life there was hard
Recall the neighborhood council in Back of the Yards and a pragmatic primer that mentions farts
In the mid-90s, multiple strikes against three multinationals went down in Decatur
Abraham Lincoln back in the nineteenth century said, “Capital is only the fruit of labor”
Circa 2012, CTU educators showed what social movement unionism can do
In 2023, Chitown workers with UAW affirmed they can build community through the union too
A poster of East STL’s Joyner-Kersee hung on the cafeteria wall when I was in elementary
We took a field trip to a site near her city one year to see Cahokia Mounds and walk up history
Litchfield used to have drive-in movie shows; as a youth, at times, we prepared for tornadoes
Drill, like rap that began around 2010—or Joliet’s George Mikan, DePaul’s center who went pro
Sufjan Stevens dropped an ill album of note in 2005
Electric blues men—Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy—made music come alive
From Libertyville, Tom Morello shreds and scratches; The Nightwatchman can slay
From the aughts and still, to this day, few if any rappers dare to diss or battle Lupe
Bradbury was born in Waukegan and on the page turned up the temperature to 451 fahrenheit
There’s a scene in Kubrick’s Space Odyssey in which HAL 9000 mentions a germane lab site
Raised in Oak Park, Hemingway made bells toll and the earth move, expressing the heart
Roger Ebert got his start at The Echo and The News-Gazette; later, he picked movies apart
Astute readers bear witness to the contrarian nuance of Northwestern’s Laura Kipnis
As regards her work, not everyone gets it; for a while she was on some students’ shitlist
Long ago, Second City, John Dewey founded Laboratory Schools for progressive pedagogy
Tommy Curry, PhD, helped establish Black Male Studies and wrote his dissertation at SIUC
Black feminist and abolitionist Dr. Beth Richie is a UIC Woman of the Year awardee
Researcher in residence Mariame Kaba works against prisons so people can be free
You don’t fight racism with racism, Fred Hampton believed; you fight it with solidarity
To you, peace, if you’ll fight for it, and “power anywhere there’s people,” he said with sincerity
Home to a grand prairie network more than 500 miles in length; hot summers, winters with sleet
Just beyond that bridge over the Mississippi up to Cloud Gate (The Bean looks neat)
Beside one of the Great Lakes and bordering Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana
From Marion to Harrison, from Centralia to Granite City to the old capitol Vandalia up to Urbana
It’s not all great, but there’s a lot that’s Luvabull, like the dancers
So cheers to those who go hard, in the style of Bonnie Blair, with or without the fanfare
I tried to make a Mosaic, like Marc Andreesen; something to browse, sans hypertext transfer
For the best of the US Midwest, I offered something akin to Robert Burns’ “The Answer”
Perhaps not as poetically adroit, but what seemed significant to me here I alloyed
Memories from when I was a little boy and a young man, driving up I-57 past Savoy
Seasons of pain and joy, not far from fields of corn and soy
Enough with the noise. Now rejoice! This is for where I’m from and for the people and places in Illinois!
As it so happens, I intend to travel back to Illinois on my birthday in mid-November this year, barring any unforeseen events or unexpected circumstances that could crop up between now and then. Assuming the plans don’t get derailed, we’ll see what gifts my old stomping grounds offer up when I return. And the next time you receive a monthly update, Waywards reader, it will be the dawn of a new age (for me, personally, at any rate). Until then, enjoy some candy, make a wish and gift yourself something nice for me, should the suggestion appeal to you.