boost: Seeing in the Dark on Pipe Wrench

[jesse_the_k]

Seeing in the Dark: A secular sermon on race, grief, accountability, and change.

A brilliant essay by Breai Mason-Campbell is the centerpiece of the first issue of new political magazine Pipe Wrench.

I am working class. How nice that the first time you cleaned your own house, it was because a pandemic prevented your housekeeper from visiting. And, again — I am a single mother of three. Twelve months of having everything on your shoulders got ya down? Try eighteen years. And again — I come from generational heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. These are metabolic disorders resulting from overexposure to stress. Covid-19 has a vaccine. Racism, not so much. 

[… snip …]

My call for respect, recognition, or remuneration amounts to an inappropriate and unwelcome disruption to the way that those in power enjoy living. Because they are uncomfortable, we are wrong. They want to have more than everyone else; it makes them feel safe and powerful. They want an unfair advantage. They deeply believe in rank, and status requires that someone be below you when you look down.

[… snip …]

Now the collective grief that transformed denial about my daily experience of racism into a call to fix it is vanishing into thin air, and I have That Knot in my chest. That White-people-can-only-take-so-much Knot. That if-you-keep- pushing-they-will-turn-against-you Knot. That if-a-fucking-insurgency-in-the-halls-of-the-capital-can’t-change-them-you-damn-sure-can’t Knot. 

https://pipewrenchmag.com/black-grief-pandemic-loss-george-floyd/

I was particularly delighted by Pipe Wrench’s multi-modal design. Reacting to central essay are Poet, Jakky Bankong-Obi; Biblical Scholar, Nyasha Junior; Friend, Hannah Campbell; Sociologist, Shanna B. Tiayon; Fabulist, Fergal Mc Nally; Musician, Nick Clark; Public Servant, Ed Sinclair; Educator, Kristina Daniele; and Journalist, Seyward Darby.