In the ever-changing political landscape, it seems something new has emerged: the Era of Antics. There was a time in American history when our representatives were meant to be the best of us. Founding Father James Madison expressed his belief in Federalist No. 10 that U.S. representatives’ “wisdom may best discern the true interest of […]
Burning Through Time: A Historical Exploration of Self-Immolation
What were you taught from a young age to do when you are on fire? Stop, drop, and roll. That is because fire is the most painful and damaging experience to the human body. Mere seconds of exposure to flames can fry off nerve endings, melt tissue, char bone, and cause irreparable destruction. So why […]
Is Age Just A Number For Minority Youth?
Citizen. Immigrant. Rich. Poor. Veteran. Able-bodied. Democrat. Republican. Our rights, privileges, and immunities are continuously determined by the different labels we’re granted by the institutions that govern us. Labels are guarded by black and white lines, with many set indicators placing each of us in these rigid categories. In our legal system, many of our […]
Why I Was Wrong About Trump
Last April, I wrote an article titled “It’s Time to Accept That Trump is Irrelevant.” Given the current state of the primaries, it speaks for itself why that spectacularly wrong prediction is so laughable in highsight (for those who disagreed with me all along, this is your time to be smug). While I was clearly […]
The Era of Debtors’ Prisons
Red and blue lights flash in the rearview mirror as you’re driving in St. Louis. Annoying, but not the end of the world, you think as you pull the car to the curb. Maybe you’re over the speed limit, or your expiration sticker expired, or you have an outstanding arrest warrant from a failure to […]
At the Bargaining Table with Dark Brandon
Frustrated exhaustion is an unfortunate mental state to be in while trying to make decisions as a voter. One candidate has promised to “improve” upon his previous four-year disaster by becoming a dictator, so it seems like this November will be yet another exercise in harm prevention that feels antithetical to what meaningful political involvement […]
The Politics of Time
If you traveled back in time to August 14, 1935, and told someone that in our era, Social Security is one of the most important government programs and protecting it is a priority for both political parties, they probably would have been shocked and not believed you. Even though President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just […]
The Nursery
Kudzu is a fast-growing, invasive species of vine predominantly from the South. It’s known for overtaking buildings, forests, and fields, and is notoriously impossible to kill. In the breadbasket Cradle, The Kudzu grows like any other crop. A fruit of nature’s labor—-mining long past, Here to lay in a bed of vine; “Come,” beckons the […]
The US Hand in the Russia-Ukraine War
Nearly all American eyes are on the showdown between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, but what if I were to tell you that the citizens of another country are eying this election even closer? It is very likely that the fate of the Russia-Ukrainian War will be decided on November 5th, […]
A Tribute to Cairo, Illinois History
Cairo, Illinois, has gained widespread media attention for being an abandoned ghost town at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers—and perhaps more startlingly, it is known as the city whose intense racial violence killed it. Featured in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Cairo has a less-than-stellar history […]