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"title": "Understanding My Nephew's Generation—Or Trying To",
"headTitle": "Understanding My Nephew’s Generation—Or Trying To | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906504\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"A young man stacks rocks in a riverbed\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My nephew, Reggie Cole, stacking stones in a dry riverbed near Auburn, CA. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>fter I enter my debit card information into my nephew’s phone, confirming the purchase of a Sacramento-to-Oakland Greyhound ticket so he can attend the funeral of a friend who’d passed from fentanyl poisoning, I hand the phone back, asking if this was the first close friend he’s lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, he replies—another buddy of his died at the start of the pandemic. COVID-19 related. Damn. I offer my condolences, and really didn’t know what else to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 18 years old, my nephew Reggie is a struggling high school super-senior who has dreams of being a mechanic—and even bigger dreams of racing the Le Mans in France. But right now, he’s staying on my couch, trying to figure out life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I place myself in his shoes: At 18, I was working multiple jobs and was headed to college. But a number of my close friends who weren’t going to college were dying of gunshots, losing their minds while popping pills, and/or being hit with charges that would start them on a path of living in and out of incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906505\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906505\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Reggie at the SFMoMA, posing in front of a sculpture of stacked fake human brains. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reggie at SFMOMA, posing in front of a sculpture of stacked fake human brains. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I can help my nephew understand gun violence and mass incarceration. But I don’t know what it’s like to deal with deaths from fentanyl and COVID. I don’t know what it’s like to be 18 right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The morning after our convo we grab breakfast, I pass him a few bucks, and drop him at the Greyhound. Then I sit down for work, opening my phone to read an Associated Press story about overdoses reaching a record high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My nephew’s friend is one of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/overdodse-deaths-fentanayl-health-f34b022d75a1eb9776e27903ab40670f\">the estimated 100,000\u003c/a> people who’ve died of an overdose in the past 12 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">M\u003c/span>y nephew represents the story of so many young people right now. Trying to figure it all out from a couch, a cot, a passenger seat in a car or a park bench. And the worst part: the guidance of older folks, such as myself, doesn’t quite fit what they’re experiencing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re dealing with a school system that was dysfunctional pre-pandemic, and was all but obliterated when learning became “distanced.” They’re looking for a job in a market where employers are reportedly seeking workers, but it gets tricky if you don’t have a GED or a driver’s license; the latter is basically a necessity for joining the gig economy. And a number of development resources, like trade schools, are either shuttered or aren’t accepting new students. I know, I’ve called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way the cost of housing has impacted Reggie’s generation, I’m happy he isn’t living in his car, like some of his peers. But by definition, he is functionally “homeless.” Despite floating from couch to couch, he wouldn’t be counted on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official government homeless assessment report\u003c/a>. And to think: African Americans already make up a disproportionate amount of homelessness in this country. I wonder how steep of an undercount that is?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the issue of increasing \u003ca href=\"https://inequality.org/great-divide/updates-billionaire-pandemic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wealth inequality\u003c/a>. California, the land of economic disparities, is the place where the food that feeds the world is grown, but people who pick it are paid pennies. There are a multitude of millionaires and a heap of homelessness homies. What’s to become of an undereducated, informally skilled young Black man?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a student of this stuff—you know, this whole “Black man in America” thing. During my late teens and early 20s, I worked as a resident assistant in Howard University’s largest freshmen male dormitory, and as a teacher in Oakland’s African Male Achievement program. I’ve read and written more pieces on the topic than I can count. Plus, shit, I’m a Black man in America. I live this too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you don’t have to be Black, a man or even America to know that your late teens and early 20s are an extremely important period in life. It’s when a simple decision, or a set of them, can affect the rest of your life, and possibly even generations of your family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906509\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Artist Dana King and my nephew Reggie met and instantly clicked on their shared love of racing.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Dana King and my nephew Reggie met and instantly clicked on their shared love of racing. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I’m stressing him. Not just about finding a job, gaining skills and finishing school. But starting with making handwritten to-do lists that include the simple things. Because the failures he’s faced in life have left his self-esteem depleted, and now it’s on him to build himself back up through seeing his own incremental successes. Because that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I encourage visiting the library and spending time in cafes, taking time to read books, because that mediative period is needed, even if it’s just a few minutes. Because that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I push him to exercise and eat well, because we’ve been miseducated about the importance of a healthy diet, and need to make a drastic change. Because, again, that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He dismisses my sermon about how Red Hot burritos and Cup O’ Noodles aren’t sufficient, and knocks me off my fake-vegan hill by telling me that I cook like a woke white man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s comedic. Sincere. A lil’ hard headed and forgetful. But he has potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> regularly talk to groups of students who are Reggie’s age and younger. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve led virtual discussions with students at Rudsdale High School about the importance of their worldview and telling their stories through photos, and I’ve talked to students at Madison Park Academy Elementary School about the importance of simply showing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past Friday, I was underdressed as I sat on a panel about fatherhood at Contra Costa College’s African American Male Symposium. We answered questions about the metamorphosis that occurred when we found out we were having children, and our favorite thing to do with our kids. My five year-old daughter sat in the front row, spacing out on her tablet. My nephew sat next to her, and was surprisingly paying attention. He even asked a question: “How do you not repeat the mistakes of your father?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was funny, because the whole time I’m up there talking to this room full of over 100 high schoolers, I just wanted to blurt out that we adults don’t have it together either. We don’t have \u003cem>the answers.\u003c/em> With crumbling infrastructure, failing public schools, an unjust criminal justice system and an ongoing housing crisis, I’m sorry, but this generation, like the generation before mine, has failed my nephew and his peers. I have absolutely no idea how they’re going to deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906510\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906510\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Aside from racing cars, Reggie loves fishing. In fact, he's taught me more about fishing than anyone. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aside from racing cars, Reggie loves fishing. In fact, he’s taught me more about fishing than anyone. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yesterday, lightweight frustrated that my advice wasn’t helping much, I had a timely learning experience in the DMV parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My nephew is inside, taking a written driver’s license test—you know, so he can enter the gig economy and stop taking the bus back and forth to Oakland. Outside the building, another young Black man is in the parking lot, smoking a Black & Mild near the popped hood of a Honda. The young man calls me “OG” and asks for a jump. We try it, but my hybrid isn’t built for that shit, or maybe his car just isn’t receptive. Whatever the case, it doesn’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He calls a tow truck as I look up the nearest auto parts store; we talk the whole time. Well, he talks. I listen. He tells me about his automobile blunders, what music he listens to on his battery-draining sound system, and how badly he has to get to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tow truck comes, the young man thanks me and gives me a fist bump through my driver’s side window before leaving. Not long after, my nephew comes back from his test. I ask him how it went.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During our ride home, we don’t listen to music—instead, I keep asking questions, and listen to him.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Like his peers, my 18-year-old nephew faces unprecedented challenges in the world. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906504\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"A young man stacks rocks in a riverbed\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/7BF815C4-7B0E-46C8-8A94-F82A096555B3.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My nephew, Reggie Cole, stacking stones in a dry riverbed near Auburn, CA. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>fter I enter my debit card information into my nephew’s phone, confirming the purchase of a Sacramento-to-Oakland Greyhound ticket so he can attend the funeral of a friend who’d passed from fentanyl poisoning, I hand the phone back, asking if this was the first close friend he’s lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, he replies—another buddy of his died at the start of the pandemic. COVID-19 related. Damn. I offer my condolences, and really didn’t know what else to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 18 years old, my nephew Reggie is a struggling high school super-senior who has dreams of being a mechanic—and even bigger dreams of racing the Le Mans in France. But right now, he’s staying on my couch, trying to figure out life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I place myself in his shoes: At 18, I was working multiple jobs and was headed to college. But a number of my close friends who weren’t going to college were dying of gunshots, losing their minds while popping pills, and/or being hit with charges that would start them on a path of living in and out of incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906505\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906505\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Reggie at the SFMoMA, posing in front of a sculpture of stacked fake human brains. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_4697-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reggie at SFMOMA, posing in front of a sculpture of stacked fake human brains. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I can help my nephew understand gun violence and mass incarceration. But I don’t know what it’s like to deal with deaths from fentanyl and COVID. I don’t know what it’s like to be 18 right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The morning after our convo we grab breakfast, I pass him a few bucks, and drop him at the Greyhound. Then I sit down for work, opening my phone to read an Associated Press story about overdoses reaching a record high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My nephew’s friend is one of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/overdodse-deaths-fentanayl-health-f34b022d75a1eb9776e27903ab40670f\">the estimated 100,000\u003c/a> people who’ve died of an overdose in the past 12 months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">M\u003c/span>y nephew represents the story of so many young people right now. Trying to figure it all out from a couch, a cot, a passenger seat in a car or a park bench. And the worst part: the guidance of older folks, such as myself, doesn’t quite fit what they’re experiencing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re dealing with a school system that was dysfunctional pre-pandemic, and was all but obliterated when learning became “distanced.” They’re looking for a job in a market where employers are reportedly seeking workers, but it gets tricky if you don’t have a GED or a driver’s license; the latter is basically a necessity for joining the gig economy. And a number of development resources, like trade schools, are either shuttered or aren’t accepting new students. I know, I’ve called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way the cost of housing has impacted Reggie’s generation, I’m happy he isn’t living in his car, like some of his peers. But by definition, he is functionally “homeless.” Despite floating from couch to couch, he wouldn’t be counted on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official government homeless assessment report\u003c/a>. And to think: African Americans already make up a disproportionate amount of homelessness in this country. I wonder how steep of an undercount that is?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the issue of increasing \u003ca href=\"https://inequality.org/great-divide/updates-billionaire-pandemic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wealth inequality\u003c/a>. California, the land of economic disparities, is the place where the food that feeds the world is grown, but people who pick it are paid pennies. There are a multitude of millionaires and a heap of homelessness homies. What’s to become of an undereducated, informally skilled young Black man?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a student of this stuff—you know, this whole “Black man in America” thing. During my late teens and early 20s, I worked as a resident assistant in Howard University’s largest freshmen male dormitory, and as a teacher in Oakland’s African Male Achievement program. I’ve read and written more pieces on the topic than I can count. Plus, shit, I’m a Black man in America. I live this too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you don’t have to be Black, a man or even America to know that your late teens and early 20s are an extremely important period in life. It’s when a simple decision, or a set of them, can affect the rest of your life, and possibly even generations of your family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906509\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906509\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Artist Dana King and my nephew Reggie met and instantly clicked on their shared love of racing.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_5820-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Dana King and my nephew Reggie met and instantly clicked on their shared love of racing. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I’m stressing him. Not just about finding a job, gaining skills and finishing school. But starting with making handwritten to-do lists that include the simple things. Because the failures he’s faced in life have left his self-esteem depleted, and now it’s on him to build himself back up through seeing his own incremental successes. Because that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I encourage visiting the library and spending time in cafes, taking time to read books, because that mediative period is needed, even if it’s just a few minutes. Because that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I push him to exercise and eat well, because we’ve been miseducated about the importance of a healthy diet, and need to make a drastic change. Because, again, that’s what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He dismisses my sermon about how Red Hot burritos and Cup O’ Noodles aren’t sufficient, and knocks me off my fake-vegan hill by telling me that I cook like a woke white man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s comedic. Sincere. A lil’ hard headed and forgetful. But he has potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> regularly talk to groups of students who are Reggie’s age and younger. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve led virtual discussions with students at Rudsdale High School about the importance of their worldview and telling their stories through photos, and I’ve talked to students at Madison Park Academy Elementary School about the importance of simply showing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past Friday, I was underdressed as I sat on a panel about fatherhood at Contra Costa College’s African American Male Symposium. We answered questions about the metamorphosis that occurred when we found out we were having children, and our favorite thing to do with our kids. My five year-old daughter sat in the front row, spacing out on her tablet. My nephew sat next to her, and was surprisingly paying attention. He even asked a question: “How do you not repeat the mistakes of your father?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was funny, because the whole time I’m up there talking to this room full of over 100 high schoolers, I just wanted to blurt out that we adults don’t have it together either. We don’t have \u003cem>the answers.\u003c/em> With crumbling infrastructure, failing public schools, an unjust criminal justice system and an ongoing housing crisis, I’m sorry, but this generation, like the generation before mine, has failed my nephew and his peers. I have absolutely no idea how they’re going to deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13906510\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13906510\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Aside from racing cars, Reggie loves fishing. In fact, he's taught me more about fishing than anyone. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/IMG_0400-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aside from racing cars, Reggie loves fishing. In fact, he’s taught me more about fishing than anyone. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yesterday, lightweight frustrated that my advice wasn’t helping much, I had a timely learning experience in the DMV parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My nephew is inside, taking a written driver’s license test—you know, so he can enter the gig economy and stop taking the bus back and forth to Oakland. Outside the building, another young Black man is in the parking lot, smoking a Black & Mild near the popped hood of a Honda. The young man calls me “OG” and asks for a jump. We try it, but my hybrid isn’t built for that shit, or maybe his car just isn’t receptive. Whatever the case, it doesn’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He calls a tow truck as I look up the nearest auto parts store; we talk the whole time. Well, he talks. I listen. He tells me about his automobile blunders, what music he listens to on his battery-draining sound system, and how badly he has to get to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tow truck comes, the young man thanks me and gives me a fist bump through my driver’s side window before leaving. Not long after, my nephew comes back from his test. I ask him how it went.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC5947182069\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first it may seem like an odd-pairing: a white guy who is a silver-spoon-fed techie from the East Coast and a Black woman from Oakland who is a hard working natural genius in the field of engineering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But through a series of events that unravel in the new play, “Cofounders”, the two learn to co-exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The worlds of art and tech are often pitted against one another, especially in the Bay Area. The conflict between the two groups often centers on issues of race, gender, class, housing, and accessibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/msryannicole/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Nicole Austin\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/adeshamusic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adesha Adefela\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.beaucantrap.com/\">Beau Lewis\u003c/a> are the trio behind the tale that addresses these issues, both on and off the stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toward the end of the play, the actors break “the fourth wall,” and ask for audience involvement in addressing the aforementioned issues. These are things that the audience members are dealing with themselves, as the cast strategically has preformed this play in front of tech companies and arts organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The play, a product of \u003ca href=\"https://www.rhymecombinator.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rhyme Combinator\u003c/a>, serves as a tool to spark critical conversations across communities, and even identify common ground between two cultures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week, we talk art and tech, and what can be done to curb the perceived divisions between the two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"slug": "journey-to-the-edge-of-california-mono-lake",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he shores of Mono Lake are sandy, salty, still, silent. A peaceful patch of nature where man-made structures aren’t visible: houses and buildings, as well as social constructs. When I visited last month, I was removed from the isms that often dictate everyday life, for a brief moment at least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mono Lake felt like a new world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">For further evidence that I was on a different planet: \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/Cp4H3uXl1Lk?t=180\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the tufa\u003c/a>. They’re these alien-looking limestone pillars that have grown over years and years and years and years, as freshwater springs beneath the lake’s surface combine with the lake’s saltwater, making calcium carbonate. There’s a gigantic mountain range to the west and a crater just a mile or two to the southeast. Both the valley where the lake sits and the islands that emerge from the lake’s water were created by volcanic activity throughout the ages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lived in California for 30 years, and this whole time a totally different world was just a few hours from my crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never thought before to venture out here. I’d look at the map of California and think there was nothing to see in the far eastern part of the state. I’d imagine that it’s just rural white folks who probably don’t like me. I’d convince myself that exploring nature isn’t for Black kids who grew up in the neighborhood. I’d drive loops around Oakland, Richmond and Vallejo, but aside from family trips to Reno or Tahoe, I never ventured to those mountains in the distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>But I needed to see this world.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13904240\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"A glimpse of the morning sun shown through an O-shaped piece of tufa.\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A glimpse of the morning sun shown through an O-shaped piece of tufa. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Algae, birds, shrimp, and these loudly buzzing bugs that have adapted to the nutrient-deficient terrain—alkaline flies—are the noted inhabitants, so says the self-guided tour signs. One sign notes that, in 1941, water was diverted from the lake’s tributaries to the Los Angeles aqueduct. This resulted in water levels dropping and exposure of dry-salty terrain, even causing \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-mono-lake-dust20180705-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toxic dust storms\u003c/a>. In 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board Water started a strategic effort to get the lake’s water back to its natural level, a goal still unmet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tufa, some reaching 10 to 12 feet high, reminded me of that scene in old movies when a warlord casts a curse on the town’s people, turning them into stone where they stand. I imagined a warrior in one tower’s shape. In another I saw something that looked like a llama. I laughed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>My goofy ass woke up 4am to drive about 200 miles to see some rocks. Nerd.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at least I got a break from the world I know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904242\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904242\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The morning sun shines its first light on the Tahoe Basin. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The morning sun shines its first light on the Tahoe Basin. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>his is the first trip in a series of adventures in my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900274/hitting-the-road-and-building-a-northern-california-bucket-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Northern California Bucket List\u003c/a> series. I started at Mono Lake because of its remote location and its history. It also pushed me out of my comfort zone to travel alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wee hours, sunlight greeted me in the Tahoe Basin. Nothing like seeing the sun rise over a mountain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The road led me through the mountains, out of California and into Nevada. Just across the state line, I stopped at a gas station where unleaded fuel was around $3.99 per gallon. Pickup trucks, camouflage clothing and lots of American flags. I knew what world I was in. Getting a full tank in a place where I was the only Black face later proved to be a smart move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After an hour, passing Topaz Lake and a giant scar in the land where fire had threatened a nearby housing stucture, I reached the Mono Lake Basin overlook. The air at the Mono Lake basin overlook was so fresh, I almost forgot that wildfires were burning a hundred miles away. After running around the south end of the lake for an hour or two—getting familiar with the geological terrain, reading signs, doing some bird watching—I realized that there wasn’t much more that I could do. In the end, it’s a big pile of stones.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I left Mono Lake and took the\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> June Lake Loop, a road that goes around Grant Lake, Silver Lake, Gull Lake and June Lake. As I drove past Grant Lake, one of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-droughts-government-and-politics-science-business-76709d5854394905e0f46880ed6dab9c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the state’s many depleted reservoirs\u003c/a>, I pulled over to take a photo of the lake that looked more like a pond.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I picked up my jaw, got back in the car, and hit the road. I was on pace to be home by sunset, which was important to me. I wanted to get out of this world before it got dark. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904244\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"What remains of Grant Lake.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What remains of Grant Lake. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the trip back I drove through Lee Vining, a town on the western side of Mono Lake, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOq80Krs4O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">premium unleaded was $5.69 per gallon\u003c/a>. (Told you getting a full tank earlier was a wise decision.) Across the street, I stopped at Mono Cone, a 1950s-esque hot dog and burger joint that offers soft-serve ice cream, and joined the line outside. \u003cem>My Black ass probably wouldn’t have been able to eat here back in the day\u003c/em>, I thought to myself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then, standing there in line, nothing was said to me. Not a single interaction, for better or for worse. No friendly hellos, nor odd stares. Nothing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The self-imposed thoughts of where I’m \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be and preconceived notions about groups of white folks got to me. I jumped back in the car without making a purchase.\u003cem> I’ll eat when I get home. \u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the way Black folks have been confined to certain neighborhoods in this country, venturing out into rural spaces can be alarming—almost alien. I didn’t want to deal with my underlying fear, and how that fear is rooted in real stories. I just wanted to get back on the other side of \u003ca href=\"https://soj51.org/map/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the proposed “State of Jefferson”\u003c/span>\u003c/a> dividing line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are actual hot springs in the area, and I didn’t even consider stopping to see them. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11640709/how-this-ghost-towns-curse-backfired-on-park-rangers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bodie\u003c/a>—the ghost town I’d heard about—yeah, you know damn well I didn’t drive through there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mission was complete: I stepped into another world, I saw the rocks, I got uncomfortable. Now I wanted to get home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904247\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The salt water and fresh water of Mono Lake create a blueish green tint. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The salt water and fresh water of Mono Lake create a blueish green tint. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> drove the speed limit, hands at ten-and-two as I turned curves and watched for sheriffs and highway patrol. My laminated KQED press pass, a license to go places and ask questions, strategically rested in my cup holder in clear view, in case it’d help if I got pulled over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I drove through Placerville, a place that just this year removed \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-30/placerville-is-keeping-the-nickname-hangtown-after-dropping-a-noose-from-its-logo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a noose from the city’s logo\u003c/a> (but kept the nickname of “hangtown”), I marveled at the charred portions of Eldorado National Forest. People in bright orange and yellow work clothing scaled wooden poles, replacing wires and other infrastructure that wildfires had recently demolished. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pine trees on the mountainside were scorched—no needles on their branches, but still standing, looking like a sea of oversized Charlie Brown Christmas trees. I rolled up my window to block the smell of smoke, but couldn’t dodge the reminders of racism, a crumbling infrastructure and a changing environment. Ahhh, back to the manmade structures I know so well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so much more to see out there. These are features of the natural world that I can’t even wrap my mind around. A crater? Volcanoes? Massive fires? \u003c/span>A prehistoric salt lake thousands of miles up in the mountains where stone towers climb toward the sky?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13904238\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"A piece of tufa that looks like the side profile of a warrior.\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A piece of tufa that looks like the side profile of a warrior. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I needed this trip. I needed the reminder that this place that was stolen from natives about two hundred years ago by folks who claimed that God sent them to spread their beliefs. And we aren’t too far removed from that time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The structures have advanced. And when I say structures, I mean houses and buildings as well as social constructs. But the elements—the isms—within these structures are as old as the tufa pillars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being cognizant of this only makes my internalized oppression scream. It’s hard to quiet that voice in my head that’s heard all the stories about this land and who has “a right” to it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s enough to have you bogged down in one world; comfortable and complacent with the structures that have been created for us. All the while missing the peace that exists in another world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "I drove to Mono Lake to see natural beauty—and was reminded of the same old toxic societal structures.",
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"title": "Journey to the Edge of California | KQED",
"description": "I drove to Mono Lake to see natural beauty—and was reminded of the same old toxic societal structures.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he shores of Mono Lake are sandy, salty, still, silent. A peaceful patch of nature where man-made structures aren’t visible: houses and buildings, as well as social constructs. When I visited last month, I was removed from the isms that often dictate everyday life, for a brief moment at least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mono Lake felt like a new world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">For further evidence that I was on a different planet: \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/Cp4H3uXl1Lk?t=180\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the tufa\u003c/a>. They’re these alien-looking limestone pillars that have grown over years and years and years and years, as freshwater springs beneath the lake’s surface combine with the lake’s saltwater, making calcium carbonate. There’s a gigantic mountain range to the west and a crater just a mile or two to the southeast. Both the valley where the lake sits and the islands that emerge from the lake’s water were created by volcanic activity throughout the ages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lived in California for 30 years, and this whole time a totally different world was just a few hours from my crib.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never thought before to venture out here. I’d look at the map of California and think there was nothing to see in the far eastern part of the state. I’d imagine that it’s just rural white folks who probably don’t like me. I’d convince myself that exploring nature isn’t for Black kids who grew up in the neighborhood. I’d drive loops around Oakland, Richmond and Vallejo, but aside from family trips to Reno or Tahoe, I never ventured to those mountains in the distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>But I needed to see this world.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13904240\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"A glimpse of the morning sun shown through an O-shaped piece of tufa.\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4530-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A glimpse of the morning sun shown through an O-shaped piece of tufa. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Algae, birds, shrimp, and these loudly buzzing bugs that have adapted to the nutrient-deficient terrain—alkaline flies—are the noted inhabitants, so says the self-guided tour signs. One sign notes that, in 1941, water was diverted from the lake’s tributaries to the Los Angeles aqueduct. This resulted in water levels dropping and exposure of dry-salty terrain, even causing \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-mono-lake-dust20180705-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toxic dust storms\u003c/a>. In 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board Water started a strategic effort to get the lake’s water back to its natural level, a goal still unmet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tufa, some reaching 10 to 12 feet high, reminded me of that scene in old movies when a warlord casts a curse on the town’s people, turning them into stone where they stand. I imagined a warrior in one tower’s shape. In another I saw something that looked like a llama. I laughed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>My goofy ass woke up 4am to drive about 200 miles to see some rocks. Nerd.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at least I got a break from the world I know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904242\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904242\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The morning sun shines its first light on the Tahoe Basin. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4444-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The morning sun shines its first light on the Tahoe Basin. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>his is the first trip in a series of adventures in my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900274/hitting-the-road-and-building-a-northern-california-bucket-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Northern California Bucket List\u003c/a> series. I started at Mono Lake because of its remote location and its history. It also pushed me out of my comfort zone to travel alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wee hours, sunlight greeted me in the Tahoe Basin. Nothing like seeing the sun rise over a mountain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The road led me through the mountains, out of California and into Nevada. Just across the state line, I stopped at a gas station where unleaded fuel was around $3.99 per gallon. Pickup trucks, camouflage clothing and lots of American flags. I knew what world I was in. Getting a full tank in a place where I was the only Black face later proved to be a smart move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After an hour, passing Topaz Lake and a giant scar in the land where fire had threatened a nearby housing stucture, I reached the Mono Lake Basin overlook. The air at the Mono Lake basin overlook was so fresh, I almost forgot that wildfires were burning a hundred miles away. After running around the south end of the lake for an hour or two—getting familiar with the geological terrain, reading signs, doing some bird watching—I realized that there wasn’t much more that I could do. In the end, it’s a big pile of stones.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I left Mono Lake and took the\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> June Lake Loop, a road that goes around Grant Lake, Silver Lake, Gull Lake and June Lake. As I drove past Grant Lake, one of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-droughts-government-and-politics-science-business-76709d5854394905e0f46880ed6dab9c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the state’s many depleted reservoirs\u003c/a>, I pulled over to take a photo of the lake that looked more like a pond.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I picked up my jaw, got back in the car, and hit the road. I was on pace to be home by sunset, which was important to me. I wanted to get out of this world before it got dark. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904244\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"What remains of Grant Lake.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4554-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What remains of Grant Lake. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the trip back I drove through Lee Vining, a town on the western side of Mono Lake, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOq80Krs4O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">premium unleaded was $5.69 per gallon\u003c/a>. (Told you getting a full tank earlier was a wise decision.) Across the street, I stopped at Mono Cone, a 1950s-esque hot dog and burger joint that offers soft-serve ice cream, and joined the line outside. \u003cem>My Black ass probably wouldn’t have been able to eat here back in the day\u003c/em>, I thought to myself. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then, standing there in line, nothing was said to me. Not a single interaction, for better or for worse. No friendly hellos, nor odd stares. Nothing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The self-imposed thoughts of where I’m \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be and preconceived notions about groups of white folks got to me. I jumped back in the car without making a purchase.\u003cem> I’ll eat when I get home. \u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the way Black folks have been confined to certain neighborhoods in this country, venturing out into rural spaces can be alarming—almost alien. I didn’t want to deal with my underlying fear, and how that fear is rooted in real stories. I just wanted to get back on the other side of \u003ca href=\"https://soj51.org/map/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the proposed “State of Jefferson”\u003c/span>\u003c/a> dividing line.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are actual hot springs in the area, and I didn’t even consider stopping to see them. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11640709/how-this-ghost-towns-curse-backfired-on-park-rangers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bodie\u003c/a>—the ghost town I’d heard about—yeah, you know damn well I didn’t drive through there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mission was complete: I stepped into another world, I saw the rocks, I got uncomfortable. Now I wanted to get home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904247\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"The salt water and fresh water of Mono Lake create a blueish green tint. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4522-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The salt water and fresh water of Mono Lake create a blueish green tint. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> drove the speed limit, hands at ten-and-two as I turned curves and watched for sheriffs and highway patrol. My laminated KQED press pass, a license to go places and ask questions, strategically rested in my cup holder in clear view, in case it’d help if I got pulled over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I drove through Placerville, a place that just this year removed \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-30/placerville-is-keeping-the-nickname-hangtown-after-dropping-a-noose-from-its-logo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a noose from the city’s logo\u003c/a> (but kept the nickname of “hangtown”), I marveled at the charred portions of Eldorado National Forest. People in bright orange and yellow work clothing scaled wooden poles, replacing wires and other infrastructure that wildfires had recently demolished. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pine trees on the mountainside were scorched—no needles on their branches, but still standing, looking like a sea of oversized Charlie Brown Christmas trees. I rolled up my window to block the smell of smoke, but couldn’t dodge the reminders of racism, a crumbling infrastructure and a changing environment. Ahhh, back to the manmade structures I know so well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s so much more to see out there. These are features of the natural world that I can’t even wrap my mind around. A crater? Volcanoes? Massive fires? \u003c/span>A prehistoric salt lake thousands of miles up in the mountains where stone towers climb toward the sky?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13904238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13904238\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"A piece of tufa that looks like the side profile of a warrior.\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/IMG_4516-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A piece of tufa that looks like the side profile of a warrior. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I needed this trip. I needed the reminder that this place that was stolen from natives about two hundred years ago by folks who claimed that God sent them to spread their beliefs. And we aren’t too far removed from that time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The structures have advanced. And when I say structures, I mean houses and buildings as well as social constructs. But the elements—the isms—within these structures are as old as the tufa pillars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Being cognizant of this only makes my internalized oppression scream. It’s hard to quiet that voice in my head that’s heard all the stories about this land and who has “a right” to it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s enough to have you bogged down in one world; comfortable and complacent with the structures that have been created for us. All the while missing the peace that exists in another world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Jennifer Hough’s Harassment Lawsuit Against Nicki Minaj and Her Husband, Explained",
"headTitle": "Jennifer Hough’s Harassment Lawsuit Against Nicki Minaj and Her Husband, Explained | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If you’ve been having some trouble keeping up with all of the Nicki Minaj drama circulating on the internet these last few weeks, you are not alone. Chances are, most of what you’ve heard has revolved around Nicki’s assertion that one of her cousin’s friends got swollen testicles from the COVID vaccine, which apparently made him impotent, which apparently made his girlfriend leave him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/nickiminaj/status/1437532566945341441\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truly, a tweet this preposterous is impossible for the internet to ignore, which is why \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KevzPolitics/status/1438183898358366208?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister debunked Minaj’s claims\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gaybonez/status/1440709750182670343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter is still roasting her for it\u003c/a> almost two weeks later. For some observers, however, the testicular Minaj tweet looks an awful lot like a deflection; a distraction from the very real legal trouble she and her husband, Kenneth “Zoo” Petty, are currently embroiled in. Legal trouble that could do Minaj’s reputation a lot more damage than asking people to “pray on it“ before they get vaccinated. And yesterday, that legal trouble hit daytime TV when Jennifer Hough made a heart-rending appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough’s interview follows a civil lawsuit she filed on Aug. 13 against Minaj and Petty. According to legal \u003ca href=\"https://www.eonline.com/news/1298910/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-petty-sued-by-his-sexual-assault-accuser\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents obtained by E! News\u003c/a> last month, Hough’s suit accuses the couple of a litany of serious offenses. These include: harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment, witness intimidation and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The suit also accuses Minaj of threatening and attempting to bribe Hough. At one point, E! reports, the suit states:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>As a direct result of the actions of Defendant Minaj and Defendant Petty, [Hough] has been traumatized her entire life. Plaintiff has moved to multiple states to avoid intimidation and harassment by Defendant Minaj, Defendant, and their allies, legal teams, and fans.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>If you haven’t been following along in real time, you might be wondering where all of this stems from. To explain, we have to go way back to 1994. Specifically, Sept. 16, 1994—the day a 16-year-old Hough accused a 16-year-old Petty of rape. Hough reported that Petty approached her while she waited at a Jamaica, Queens bus stop, pressed an object to her back, forced her into a nearby house, fought against her objections, and raped her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Petty was subsequently charged with first degree rape, but on April 5, 1995, he pleaded guilty to—and was convicted of—attempted rape in the first degree. (The \u003ca href=\"https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/SomsSUBDirectory/ReCaptchaServlet?offenderId=7370&g-recaptcha-response=03AGdBq24_X-gC_S78M_WKF0HaXwprUMZF07B0VeGUImVtZ_zP2DF0VkiBGy6kgbpM3Jcx1Gj3AZYgqNI0A_VNZHWQfaDbr1halHa3bZyK-O1KA917OUOqk1CW5RwIAS3RZG-9m-Z3X0KAVrGG1VVEoMdRIhq2z3yqCaK3nkOQzNsw1Zq-TRC1W9USrFXA4pglgwZDjknoKGzaGzIPTlvhvrqUQSf9MG51xuL2JcZO2BBMDeE2QBp9g0LBkZdZEDabs2a9XMkEq2Vsg65He2gxVCOXXCopmBxIByMnVZwsg0DG3QamQCVGKFgtpJ-9Am9Bak0PPLhuMd8NfAO0XVmt34APkTDozwMBQpLOTHGf5s2SMHimbHW1WBl8GEMhikDqOofhd7VKcyVmVanSBY82Q7LdlvLyDflkAkamEiPSYHSUhxn6kj_oBi4iWxeU7ToUKlyXQdL8Nfpch7ghtRSTPnkG2A36-_1uDA&Submit=Search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">offense listed on his conviction\u003c/a>, however, states that “Actual, Sexual Intercourse” took place. It also states that he was in possession of a “Knife/cutting instrument” at the time of the attack.) Two days before his 17th birthday, Petty was sentenced to “18 to 54 months” in a state penitentiary. He served nearly four years for the attack on Hough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='futureofyou_438664']On his release, Petty returned to Queens and promptly began a relationship with a 17-year-old Nicki Minaj—then known by her real name, Onika Tanya Maraj. But Petty didn’t stay out of trouble for long. By 2006—just one year before Minaj would release her first mixtape, \u003cem>Playtime is Over\u003c/em>—Petty pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges, following a 2002 incident in which he shot and killed a man named Lamont Robinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8533743/who-did-nicki-minaj-marry-kenneth-petty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Petty served seven years\u003c/a> before entering a supervised release program in 2013. He stayed in the program until 2018—the year he reunited with Minaj.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that time, the couple’s reunion prompted the internet and tabloid media to begin reporting on Petty’s prior convictions in earnest. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2018/12/22/nicki-minaj-boyfriend-kenneth-petty-manslaughter-shot-three-times-stomach/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report from TMZ\u003c/a> that year, titled “Nicki Minaj’s BF Manslaughter Case Was Cold-Blooded,” stated:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>We’re told Petty drove to the crime scene with a group of cohorts, hopped out of the car, walked across the street where Robinson was hanging out, pulled out a gun … and shot him in the stomach three times. Our sources say he then fled in the vehicle with the group.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>This kind of media attention quickly put Minaj on the offensive. In June 2019, she included Petty in her video for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3a1sz2Bp_E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Megatron\u003c/a>.” The track includes the lyrics, “I fuck him like I miss him / He just got out of prison / Bitches be talking shit / But they ain’t got a pot to piss in.” The following month, during a featured spot on Chance the Rapper’s “Zanies and Fools,” Minaj rapped: “I met my husband when I was 17 out in Queens / If you love it, let it go, now I know what that means / While he was up North for a body, I bodied everybody and got known for my body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also in 2019, during an episode of her Apple Music show, \u003cem>Queen Radio\u003c/em>, Minaj claimed that Petty was “wrongfully accused … when he was 15 years old.” (Petty’s arrest record clearly states he was 16 at the time of Hough’s assault.) Minaj went on to claim that Hough had attempted to recant her accusation, but didn’t after she was threatened with legal penalties for doing so. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-pettys-campaign-to-silence-his-sexual-assault-victim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hough has denied this\u003c/a>.) Minaj also used the phrase, “White is right,” implying that Hough was a white woman. She is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/britneyxmariah/status/1440695471572283411\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On another occasion, while defending Petty on Instagram in relation to the Hough case, Minaj claimed: “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship. But go awf Internet. y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life.” In \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> interview, Hough also denied that she and Petty dated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_109382']Undeterred by Petty’s criminal history, or the negative publicity it was attracting, Minaj married him in October 2019. After moving from New York to Minaj’s home in L.A., Petty was pulled over by Beverly Hills police. The police discovered that Petty had failed to register as a sex offender when he moved to California—a condition left over from his 1995 conviction. On Sept. 9, Petty pleaded guilty during a virtual court hearing on the matter. He is expected to be sentenced in January 2022 and faces up to 10 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us back to Hough’s appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> yesterday. Hough, visibly nervous and frequently tearful, cut a sympathetic figure. “I’m tired of being afraid,” she said. “I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation have put me in a different type of fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough went on to claim that, over the last couple of years, Minaj and Petty had “sent people” repeatedly to try and negotiate a financial sum with her, in an attempt to buy her silence. She said that after consistently refusing to cooperate with the couple, threats on her life were made. “The last message I received,” Hough said, “was that I should’ve taken the money ’cause they’re gonna use that money to put on my head.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPugv3HtrqA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-pettys-campaign-to-silence-his-sexual-assault-victim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daily Beast\u003c/a> article from March confirms that Hough had moved three times in 2020 alone, out of concern for her personal safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough’s appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> is bound to raise her public profile to a degree that might get uncomfortable for her. But it also caused something of a Minaj backlash on social media last night, even as the rapper attempted to boost the voices of her defenders by \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ritaeatspitas/status/1440832709236981769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“liking” their positive posts\u003c/a> about her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> was a means for Hough to take back a narrative Minaj has used her considerable platform to try and control for the last three years. It was a means for Hough to show her humanity beyond salacious tabloid headlines. And it was a chance to explain the emotional and mental scars wrought by what happened to her in her teens, and how the fallout of that case continues to affect her now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, on the track “Nip Tuck,” Minaj compared herself to Teflon. She may have spoken too soon.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Here’s everything you need to know about the back-and-forth between Minaj and Kenneth Petty and rape survivor Hough.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you’ve been having some trouble keeping up with all of the Nicki Minaj drama circulating on the internet these last few weeks, you are not alone. Chances are, most of what you’ve heard has revolved around Nicki’s assertion that one of her cousin’s friends got swollen testicles from the COVID vaccine, which apparently made him impotent, which apparently made his girlfriend leave him.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Truly, a tweet this preposterous is impossible for the internet to ignore, which is why \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KevzPolitics/status/1438183898358366208?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister debunked Minaj’s claims\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gaybonez/status/1440709750182670343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter is still roasting her for it\u003c/a> almost two weeks later. For some observers, however, the testicular Minaj tweet looks an awful lot like a deflection; a distraction from the very real legal trouble she and her husband, Kenneth “Zoo” Petty, are currently embroiled in. Legal trouble that could do Minaj’s reputation a lot more damage than asking people to “pray on it“ before they get vaccinated. And yesterday, that legal trouble hit daytime TV when Jennifer Hough made a heart-rending appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough’s interview follows a civil lawsuit she filed on Aug. 13 against Minaj and Petty. According to legal \u003ca href=\"https://www.eonline.com/news/1298910/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-petty-sued-by-his-sexual-assault-accuser\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents obtained by E! News\u003c/a> last month, Hough’s suit accuses the couple of a litany of serious offenses. These include: harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment, witness intimidation and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The suit also accuses Minaj of threatening and attempting to bribe Hough. At one point, E! reports, the suit states:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>As a direct result of the actions of Defendant Minaj and Defendant Petty, [Hough] has been traumatized her entire life. Plaintiff has moved to multiple states to avoid intimidation and harassment by Defendant Minaj, Defendant, and their allies, legal teams, and fans.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>If you haven’t been following along in real time, you might be wondering where all of this stems from. To explain, we have to go way back to 1994. Specifically, Sept. 16, 1994—the day a 16-year-old Hough accused a 16-year-old Petty of rape. Hough reported that Petty approached her while she waited at a Jamaica, Queens bus stop, pressed an object to her back, forced her into a nearby house, fought against her objections, and raped her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Petty was subsequently charged with first degree rape, but on April 5, 1995, he pleaded guilty to—and was convicted of—attempted rape in the first degree. (The \u003ca href=\"https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/SomsSUBDirectory/ReCaptchaServlet?offenderId=7370&g-recaptcha-response=03AGdBq24_X-gC_S78M_WKF0HaXwprUMZF07B0VeGUImVtZ_zP2DF0VkiBGy6kgbpM3Jcx1Gj3AZYgqNI0A_VNZHWQfaDbr1halHa3bZyK-O1KA917OUOqk1CW5RwIAS3RZG-9m-Z3X0KAVrGG1VVEoMdRIhq2z3yqCaK3nkOQzNsw1Zq-TRC1W9USrFXA4pglgwZDjknoKGzaGzIPTlvhvrqUQSf9MG51xuL2JcZO2BBMDeE2QBp9g0LBkZdZEDabs2a9XMkEq2Vsg65He2gxVCOXXCopmBxIByMnVZwsg0DG3QamQCVGKFgtpJ-9Am9Bak0PPLhuMd8NfAO0XVmt34APkTDozwMBQpLOTHGf5s2SMHimbHW1WBl8GEMhikDqOofhd7VKcyVmVanSBY82Q7LdlvLyDflkAkamEiPSYHSUhxn6kj_oBi4iWxeU7ToUKlyXQdL8Nfpch7ghtRSTPnkG2A36-_1uDA&Submit=Search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">offense listed on his conviction\u003c/a>, however, states that “Actual, Sexual Intercourse” took place. It also states that he was in possession of a “Knife/cutting instrument” at the time of the attack.) Two days before his 17th birthday, Petty was sentenced to “18 to 54 months” in a state penitentiary. He served nearly four years for the attack on Hough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On his release, Petty returned to Queens and promptly began a relationship with a 17-year-old Nicki Minaj—then known by her real name, Onika Tanya Maraj. But Petty didn’t stay out of trouble for long. By 2006—just one year before Minaj would release her first mixtape, \u003cem>Playtime is Over\u003c/em>—Petty pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges, following a 2002 incident in which he shot and killed a man named Lamont Robinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8533743/who-did-nicki-minaj-marry-kenneth-petty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Petty served seven years\u003c/a> before entering a supervised release program in 2013. He stayed in the program until 2018—the year he reunited with Minaj.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that time, the couple’s reunion prompted the internet and tabloid media to begin reporting on Petty’s prior convictions in earnest. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.tmz.com/2018/12/22/nicki-minaj-boyfriend-kenneth-petty-manslaughter-shot-three-times-stomach/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report from TMZ\u003c/a> that year, titled “Nicki Minaj’s BF Manslaughter Case Was Cold-Blooded,” stated:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>We’re told Petty drove to the crime scene with a group of cohorts, hopped out of the car, walked across the street where Robinson was hanging out, pulled out a gun … and shot him in the stomach three times. Our sources say he then fled in the vehicle with the group.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>This kind of media attention quickly put Minaj on the offensive. In June 2019, she included Petty in her video for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3a1sz2Bp_E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Megatron\u003c/a>.” The track includes the lyrics, “I fuck him like I miss him / He just got out of prison / Bitches be talking shit / But they ain’t got a pot to piss in.” The following month, during a featured spot on Chance the Rapper’s “Zanies and Fools,” Minaj rapped: “I met my husband when I was 17 out in Queens / If you love it, let it go, now I know what that means / While he was up North for a body, I bodied everybody and got known for my body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also in 2019, during an episode of her Apple Music show, \u003cem>Queen Radio\u003c/em>, Minaj claimed that Petty was “wrongfully accused … when he was 15 years old.” (Petty’s arrest record clearly states he was 16 at the time of Hough’s assault.) Minaj went on to claim that Hough had attempted to recant her accusation, but didn’t after she was threatened with legal penalties for doing so. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-pettys-campaign-to-silence-his-sexual-assault-victim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hough has denied this\u003c/a>.) Minaj also used the phrase, “White is right,” implying that Hough was a white woman. She is not.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>On another occasion, while defending Petty on Instagram in relation to the Hough case, Minaj claimed: “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship. But go awf Internet. y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life.” In \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> interview, Hough also denied that she and Petty dated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Undeterred by Petty’s criminal history, or the negative publicity it was attracting, Minaj married him in October 2019. After moving from New York to Minaj’s home in L.A., Petty was pulled over by Beverly Hills police. The police discovered that Petty had failed to register as a sex offender when he moved to California—a condition left over from his 1995 conviction. On Sept. 9, Petty pleaded guilty during a virtual court hearing on the matter. He is expected to be sentenced in January 2022 and faces up to 10 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us back to Hough’s appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> yesterday. Hough, visibly nervous and frequently tearful, cut a sympathetic figure. “I’m tired of being afraid,” she said. “I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation have put me in a different type of fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough went on to claim that, over the last couple of years, Minaj and Petty had “sent people” repeatedly to try and negotiate a financial sum with her, in an attempt to buy her silence. She said that after consistently refusing to cooperate with the couple, threats on her life were made. “The last message I received,” Hough said, “was that I should’ve taken the money ’cause they’re gonna use that money to put on my head.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/SPugv3HtrqA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/SPugv3HtrqA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/nicki-minaj-and-husband-kenneth-pettys-campaign-to-silence-his-sexual-assault-victim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daily Beast\u003c/a> article from March confirms that Hough had moved three times in 2020 alone, out of concern for her personal safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hough’s appearance on \u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> is bound to raise her public profile to a degree that might get uncomfortable for her. But it also caused something of a Minaj backlash on social media last night, even as the rapper attempted to boost the voices of her defenders by \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ritaeatspitas/status/1440832709236981769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“liking” their positive posts\u003c/a> about her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Real\u003c/em> was a means for Hough to take back a narrative Minaj has used her considerable platform to try and control for the last three years. It was a means for Hough to show her humanity beyond salacious tabloid headlines. And it was a chance to explain the emotional and mental scars wrought by what happened to her in her teens, and how the fallout of that case continues to affect her now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, on the track “Nip Tuck,” Minaj compared herself to Teflon. She may have spoken too soon.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How 9/11 Truthers and Conspiracy Theorists Got a Foothold—Even in the Bay Area",
"headTitle": "How 9/11 Truthers and Conspiracy Theorists Got a Foothold—Even in the Bay Area | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast month, Spike Lee came under fire for including the voices of 9/11 conspiracy theorists in his four-part HBO series, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14324128/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>Lee hastily edited his documentary after objections poured in from journalists who had seen previews, and who had expressed dismay at the inclusion of interviewees expressing the view that the official narrative of Sept. 11, 2001 was false. Chief among these interview subjects was Richard Gage, a San Francisco-based architect, and the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ae911truth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13882786\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final-160x176.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/spike-lee-hbo-documentary-richard-gage.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Slate\u003c/em>‘s Jeremy Stahl\u003c/a> called Gage’s segment, “surreal and demoralizing.” Stahl noted that “Gage is responsible for peddling some of the most pernicious and long-running lies about the 9/11 attacks, which is why I was surprised that Lee, HBO, and WarnerMedia might be lending his group any amount of time.” Stahl continued, “In terms of conveying facts, this is a bit like presenting COVID-19 vaccine skeptics in a debate alongside Anthony Fauci.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gage has been at the helm of \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth \u003c/em>since founding the group in 2006. Since that time, he has brought together a group of almost 3,500 architects and engineers who continue to argue publicly that planes alone could not have been responsible for the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and Tower 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure, Lee removed the 30-minute segment from Episode 4 that gave voice to Gage, alongside other 9/11 conspiracy theorists. (Lee did not take the time, however, to cut a moment in Episode 3 in which a flight attendant who knew the crew of United 93—the plane that crashed in Shanksville—expressed his belief that the plane was shot down.) Also cut from Episode 4 was Shyam Sunder, who led a three-year, $16 million investigation for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sunder was originally seen explaining how the commercial flights did, in fact, bring down the three World Trade Center structures. He got cut when the truthers did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his\u003cem> Vanity Fair \u003c/em>review of the series\u003cem>,\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/spike-lees-911-doc-promoted-conspiracy-theories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Hoffman\u003c/a> asserted that both sides of the conversation had not been equally represented in the original episode anyway. “The initial cut of \u003cem>Epicenters\u003c/em> didn’t merely touch upon conspiracy mongers and so-called 9/11 truthers—it exalted them.” Hoffman reported, “In the original version of the film, we see footage of buildings on fire that don’t come down, then controlled implosions that, on the surface, certainly look similar to what happened at the World Trade Center. It all zooms by rather quickly, but the images are striking … There’s no mention, meanwhile, that journalists have been debunking 9/11 conspiracies since at least 2005.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wenty years after the tragedy, there is a broad sense that 9/11 conspiracies are as nonsensical and absurd as QAnon narratives about Satanic politicians and cannibalistic pedophiles. That one of the key leaders in the truther movement is from the Bay Area might come as a surprise to many who currently live here. Especially after the Bay’s Area’s COVID response solidified the region’s reputation for well-informed and rational responses to crises. What many have forgotten, however, is the atmosphere that originally gave birth to 9/11 conspiracies in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_12086811']September 11, 2001 was the first major event in American history to have its narrative guided by the internet in addition to mainstream news coverage. Social media as we know it today may not have existed, but people found new and creative ways to freak each other out online. At one point, eBay even had to ban any and all sales of items that sellers claimed came from the World Trade Center rubble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://911digitalarchive.org/search?query=mark+d+philips&query_type=keyword&record_types%5B%5D=Item&record_types%5B%5D=File&record_types%5B%5D=Collection&submit_search=Search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The September 11 Archive\u003c/em> has emails\u003c/a> on its website that capture the uniquely strange mood of the time. In some of those messages, internet sleuths shared photos of the attack’s aftermath, claiming to see the faces of both Satan and Osama Bin Laden in the smoke pouring from the towers. \u003ca href=\"https://www.markdphillips.com/satan-in-the-smoke/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">One of the most infamous pictures\u003c/a> was taken by then-\u003cem>Associated Press\u003c/em> photographer Mark D. Phillips. His website still features what he refers to as his “Satan in the Smoke” image and claims it was “one of the first electronic viral images.” A\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TomKludt/status/907209357846355968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> similar image by Carmen Taylor\u003c/a> was also shared widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>False stories and conspiracies spread with such ubiquity in the weeks after the attacks that, on Sept. 28, 2001, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> felt the need to post an entire column debunking them. Among other things, the paper clarified that a commuter train was not buried in the World Trade Center subway station, and that a rescue worker did not survive an 82-story fall by clinging to debris. The \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> also confirmed that a photo of a man purportedly standing on the North tower’s observation deck, as a plane approached behind him, was a total fabrication. It was easy to debunk—the North tower didn’t even have an observation deck. The spread of these rumors via email and hastily made websites was a precursor to the memes and falsehoods we see spread on social media today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13902670\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-800x551.png\" alt=\"A man stands on the World Trade Center's observation deck with New York City's skyline behind him. In the left of the photo is an approaching commercial airplane. \" width=\"800\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-800x551.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-1020x702.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-160x110.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-768x529.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-1536x1057.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM.png 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image, dubbed “Tourist Guy” by the internet, was purported to have been taken on 9/11. It was a fake. That didn’t stop it making the rounds online in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks. \u003ccite>(Wikipedia/ \"Tourist Guy\")\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]S[/dropcap]an Francisco, like major cities all over the country, was immediately on edge following 9/11. In the two days after the attacks, there were 30 bomb scares in San Francisco alone, including at several mosques and the Embarcadero Center. The crisis was unlike anything most Americans had ever experienced and the public response was often deeply irrational as a result. As Spike Lee notes in his HBO series, in the year that followed 9/11, five California-based Muslim, Sikh and Christian men lost their lives in hate crimes that targeted just about anyone with brown skin. Similar attacks occurred around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13891175']All of this was taking place less than a year after the agonizing—and contested—election that saw Bush elected over Al Gore, who had won the popular vote. After the 9/11 attacks, and subsequent racial profiling and wars, the political splits that had formed in the aftermath of the 2000 election became even more pronounced. On one side, there was a \u003ca href=\"https://johnsimonds.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/9-11-eagle-crying.gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flag-waving fervor\u003c/a> that bordered on the jingoistic. On the other, there was a deep sense of suspicion that bordered on outright paranoia. That mood was aggravated further in 2004 with the release of Michael Moore’s \u003cem>Fahrenheit 9/11\u003c/em> documentary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore’s film began with the assertion that George W. Bush stole the 2000 election. It then made business links between the Bush and Bin Laden families, before breaking down the various ways members of the Bush administration financially benefited from the wars that followed Sept. 11. The film pointed to the tragedy in New York as an excuse to invade Iraq and, additionally, to violate American civil liberties with the Patriot Act. Moore’s weren’t brand new concepts, but putting them all together in one film gave conspiracy theorists a compact list of motives to point to when trying to argue that “9/11 was an inside job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg-be2r7ouc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem> Fahrenheit 9/11\u003c/em> was not a movie that existed on the margins. It is, to this day, the largest grossing documentary of all time. It won the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the Best Documentary prize at the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. And while it didn’t question whether or not those planes could have brought down the World Trade Center, it did tell America, in no uncertain terms, not to trust the government. It told viewers that their worst suspicions about the Bush administration were true. And it primed audiences for a conspiracy movie that emerged online less than a year later, that would prove to be a major foundation for the truther movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Loose Change—\u003c/em>a film that was made by three young men with $6,000—reached four million people in four months. It attempted to prove that the three World Trade Center buildings were brought down by controlled demolitions, not planes (among many other theories) and it was treated by a great many viewers as a serious piece of filmmaking. A\u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/08/loosechange200608\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> May 2006 article in \u003cem>Vanity Fair\u003c/em>\u003c/a> wondered aloud if \u003cem>Loose Change \u003c/em>was “the first internet blockbuster.” The magazine also made links between the film’s success and polls that claimed: “42% of Americans now believe that the U.S. government and the 9/11 commission ‘concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks.'” One \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>/CBS News poll from that year found that 53% of respondents thought “the Bush administration was hiding something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_25472']Those conspiratorial notions were, at the time, fairly mainstream. And that was reflected all over the Bay Area by a sudden preponderance of flyers, bumper stickers and stenciled messages that declared that “9/11 was an inside job.” That narrative was further pushed by a 2004 book by California-based scholar David Ray Griffin. Richard Gage has cited Griffin’s \u003cem>The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 \u003c/em>as a key inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his, then, was the atmosphere in which \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em> sprang up in San Francisco. It was born from a terrifying and uncertain period in which indulging and exploring conspiracy theories helped Americans wrestle back a sense of control. But as Spike Lee just discovered, most Americans who lived through 9/11 and the fraught years that followed are now desperate to move on. Many of the Gen Z teens who grew up in the shadow of 9/11 treat \u003ca href=\"http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2015/07/teenagers_and_9_11_trutherism_jokes_how_these_memes_became_a_phenomenon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">truther narratives as far more worthy of mockery\u003c/a> than serious analysis. And in 2021, when election disinformation can inspire a violent raid on the nation’s capitol, conspiracy theories seem the almost exclusive domain of dangerous fringe groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That one of the biggest truther organizations in America sprang up out of San Francisco does, on some level, reflect the independent spirit and suspicious minds that have always had a niche in the city. But more than that, organizations like \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em> are an echo of the rabbit hole America fell into after Sept. 11, 2001. They are a bygone reflection of our nation as it tried desperately to make sense out of an event that inherently couldn’t be made sense of. And they are a time capsule of how traumatized people tried to regain a sense of their own power during a period where many felt powerless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spike Lee, ultimately, was right to remove those outdated conspiratorial narratives from \u003cem>NYC Epicenters. \u003c/em>But the truthers themselves should not be erased from history. They remain a reminder to us all of what mass trauma can do to a national psyche.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">L\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ast month, Spike Lee came under fire for including the voices of 9/11 conspiracy theorists in his four-part HBO series, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14324128/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>Lee hastily edited his documentary after objections poured in from journalists who had seen previews, and who had expressed dismay at the inclusion of interviewees expressing the view that the official narrative of Sept. 11, 2001 was false. Chief among these interview subjects was Richard Gage, a San Francisco-based architect, and the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.ae911truth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13882786\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/Rae-Alexandra-KQED_180_final-160x176.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/spike-lee-hbo-documentary-richard-gage.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Slate\u003c/em>‘s Jeremy Stahl\u003c/a> called Gage’s segment, “surreal and demoralizing.” Stahl noted that “Gage is responsible for peddling some of the most pernicious and long-running lies about the 9/11 attacks, which is why I was surprised that Lee, HBO, and WarnerMedia might be lending his group any amount of time.” Stahl continued, “In terms of conveying facts, this is a bit like presenting COVID-19 vaccine skeptics in a debate alongside Anthony Fauci.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gage has been at the helm of \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth \u003c/em>since founding the group in 2006. Since that time, he has brought together a group of almost 3,500 architects and engineers who continue to argue publicly that planes alone could not have been responsible for the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and Tower 7.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure, Lee removed the 30-minute segment from Episode 4 that gave voice to Gage, alongside other 9/11 conspiracy theorists. (Lee did not take the time, however, to cut a moment in Episode 3 in which a flight attendant who knew the crew of United 93—the plane that crashed in Shanksville—expressed his belief that the plane was shot down.) Also cut from Episode 4 was Shyam Sunder, who led a three-year, $16 million investigation for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sunder was originally seen explaining how the commercial flights did, in fact, bring down the three World Trade Center structures. He got cut when the truthers did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his\u003cem> Vanity Fair \u003c/em>review of the series\u003cem>,\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/spike-lees-911-doc-promoted-conspiracy-theories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Hoffman\u003c/a> asserted that both sides of the conversation had not been equally represented in the original episode anyway. “The initial cut of \u003cem>Epicenters\u003c/em> didn’t merely touch upon conspiracy mongers and so-called 9/11 truthers—it exalted them.” Hoffman reported, “In the original version of the film, we see footage of buildings on fire that don’t come down, then controlled implosions that, on the surface, certainly look similar to what happened at the World Trade Center. It all zooms by rather quickly, but the images are striking … There’s no mention, meanwhile, that journalists have been debunking 9/11 conspiracies since at least 2005.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>wenty years after the tragedy, there is a broad sense that 9/11 conspiracies are as nonsensical and absurd as QAnon narratives about Satanic politicians and cannibalistic pedophiles. That one of the key leaders in the truther movement is from the Bay Area might come as a surprise to many who currently live here. Especially after the Bay’s Area’s COVID response solidified the region’s reputation for well-informed and rational responses to crises. What many have forgotten, however, is the atmosphere that originally gave birth to 9/11 conspiracies in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>September 11, 2001 was the first major event in American history to have its narrative guided by the internet in addition to mainstream news coverage. Social media as we know it today may not have existed, but people found new and creative ways to freak each other out online. At one point, eBay even had to ban any and all sales of items that sellers claimed came from the World Trade Center rubble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://911digitalarchive.org/search?query=mark+d+philips&query_type=keyword&record_types%5B%5D=Item&record_types%5B%5D=File&record_types%5B%5D=Collection&submit_search=Search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The September 11 Archive\u003c/em> has emails\u003c/a> on its website that capture the uniquely strange mood of the time. In some of those messages, internet sleuths shared photos of the attack’s aftermath, claiming to see the faces of both Satan and Osama Bin Laden in the smoke pouring from the towers. \u003ca href=\"https://www.markdphillips.com/satan-in-the-smoke/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">One of the most infamous pictures\u003c/a> was taken by then-\u003cem>Associated Press\u003c/em> photographer Mark D. Phillips. His website still features what he refers to as his “Satan in the Smoke” image and claims it was “one of the first electronic viral images.” A\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TomKludt/status/907209357846355968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> similar image by Carmen Taylor\u003c/a> was also shared widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>False stories and conspiracies spread with such ubiquity in the weeks after the attacks that, on Sept. 28, 2001, the \u003cem>San Francisco Examiner\u003c/em> felt the need to post an entire column debunking them. Among other things, the paper clarified that a commuter train was not buried in the World Trade Center subway station, and that a rescue worker did not survive an 82-story fall by clinging to debris. The \u003cem>Examiner\u003c/em> also confirmed that a photo of a man purportedly standing on the North tower’s observation deck, as a plane approached behind him, was a total fabrication. It was easy to debunk—the North tower didn’t even have an observation deck. The spread of these rumors via email and hastily made websites was a precursor to the memes and falsehoods we see spread on social media today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13902670\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-800x551.png\" alt=\"A man stands on the World Trade Center's observation deck with New York City's skyline behind him. In the left of the photo is an approaching commercial airplane. \" width=\"800\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-800x551.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-1020x702.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-160x110.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-768x529.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM-1536x1057.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-07-at-6.12.48-PM.png 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image, dubbed “Tourist Guy” by the internet, was purported to have been taken on 9/11. It was a fake. That didn’t stop it making the rounds online in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks. \u003ccite>(Wikipedia/ \"Tourist Guy\")\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>an Francisco, like major cities all over the country, was immediately on edge following 9/11. In the two days after the attacks, there were 30 bomb scares in San Francisco alone, including at several mosques and the Embarcadero Center. The crisis was unlike anything most Americans had ever experienced and the public response was often deeply irrational as a result. As Spike Lee notes in his HBO series, in the year that followed 9/11, five California-based Muslim, Sikh and Christian men lost their lives in hate crimes that targeted just about anyone with brown skin. Similar attacks occurred around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>All of this was taking place less than a year after the agonizing—and contested—election that saw Bush elected over Al Gore, who had won the popular vote. After the 9/11 attacks, and subsequent racial profiling and wars, the political splits that had formed in the aftermath of the 2000 election became even more pronounced. On one side, there was a \u003ca href=\"https://johnsimonds.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/9-11-eagle-crying.gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flag-waving fervor\u003c/a> that bordered on the jingoistic. On the other, there was a deep sense of suspicion that bordered on outright paranoia. That mood was aggravated further in 2004 with the release of Michael Moore’s \u003cem>Fahrenheit 9/11\u003c/em> documentary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore’s film began with the assertion that George W. Bush stole the 2000 election. It then made business links between the Bush and Bin Laden families, before breaking down the various ways members of the Bush administration financially benefited from the wars that followed Sept. 11. The film pointed to the tragedy in New York as an excuse to invade Iraq and, additionally, to violate American civil liberties with the Patriot Act. Moore’s weren’t brand new concepts, but putting them all together in one film gave conspiracy theorists a compact list of motives to point to when trying to argue that “9/11 was an inside job.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/yg-be2r7ouc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/yg-be2r7ouc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem> Fahrenheit 9/11\u003c/em> was not a movie that existed on the margins. It is, to this day, the largest grossing documentary of all time. It won the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the Best Documentary prize at the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. And while it didn’t question whether or not those planes could have brought down the World Trade Center, it did tell America, in no uncertain terms, not to trust the government. It told viewers that their worst suspicions about the Bush administration were true. And it primed audiences for a conspiracy movie that emerged online less than a year later, that would prove to be a major foundation for the truther movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Loose Change—\u003c/em>a film that was made by three young men with $6,000—reached four million people in four months. It attempted to prove that the three World Trade Center buildings were brought down by controlled demolitions, not planes (among many other theories) and it was treated by a great many viewers as a serious piece of filmmaking. A\u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/08/loosechange200608\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> May 2006 article in \u003cem>Vanity Fair\u003c/em>\u003c/a> wondered aloud if \u003cem>Loose Change \u003c/em>was “the first internet blockbuster.” The magazine also made links between the film’s success and polls that claimed: “42% of Americans now believe that the U.S. government and the 9/11 commission ‘concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks.'” One \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>/CBS News poll from that year found that 53% of respondents thought “the Bush administration was hiding something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those conspiratorial notions were, at the time, fairly mainstream. And that was reflected all over the Bay Area by a sudden preponderance of flyers, bumper stickers and stenciled messages that declared that “9/11 was an inside job.” That narrative was further pushed by a 2004 book by California-based scholar David Ray Griffin. Richard Gage has cited Griffin’s \u003cem>The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 \u003c/em>as a key inspiration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>his, then, was the atmosphere in which \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em> sprang up in San Francisco. It was born from a terrifying and uncertain period in which indulging and exploring conspiracy theories helped Americans wrestle back a sense of control. But as Spike Lee just discovered, most Americans who lived through 9/11 and the fraught years that followed are now desperate to move on. Many of the Gen Z teens who grew up in the shadow of 9/11 treat \u003ca href=\"http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2015/07/teenagers_and_9_11_trutherism_jokes_how_these_memes_became_a_phenomenon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">truther narratives as far more worthy of mockery\u003c/a> than serious analysis. And in 2021, when election disinformation can inspire a violent raid on the nation’s capitol, conspiracy theories seem the almost exclusive domain of dangerous fringe groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That one of the biggest truther organizations in America sprang up out of San Francisco does, on some level, reflect the independent spirit and suspicious minds that have always had a niche in the city. But more than that, organizations like \u003cem>Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth\u003c/em> are an echo of the rabbit hole America fell into after Sept. 11, 2001. They are a bygone reflection of our nation as it tried desperately to make sense out of an event that inherently couldn’t be made sense of. And they are a time capsule of how traumatized people tried to regain a sense of their own power during a period where many felt powerless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spike Lee, ultimately, was right to remove those outdated conspiratorial narratives from \u003cem>NYC Epicenters. \u003c/em>But the truthers themselves should not be erased from history. They remain a reminder to us all of what mass trauma can do to a national psyche.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>ugust 2021 was a lot. The return to in-class learning. The COVID vaccine debates. The massive fires, big earthquakes and huge storms. And the music. Thank the powers that be for the music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendrick Lamar dropped one verse and smoked your top five rappers, Kanye West took off that goofy red hat and dropped an album, Aaliyah’s discography finally became available on streaming platforms, and The Lox got their flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, meanwhile, music headlines were overshadowed by the unexplained series of events that led to the death of\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901310/baba-zumbi-zion-i-dies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Zion I’s Baba Zumbi\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I tested positive for COVID on the same day that Zumbi, a talented artist and friend who I’d seen two months prior at my best friend’s birthday party, was involved in a mysterious conflict at Alta Bates Hospital. While overcoming a case of COVID, Zumbi reportedly became involved in a physical altercation with hospital staff. Berkeley police responded. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901310/baba-zumbi-zion-i-dies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zumbi ended up dead\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spent a week-plus quarantining and staring at my phone—scrolling, contemplating current events and critically thinking about what it all means—you know, in the larger context of this “freedom” we’re all inherently pursuing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, thank God for music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All my time has been focused on my freedom now,” says Ms. Lauryn Hill, opening her verse on the track “Nobody” from Nas’ latest project \u003ci>King’s Disease II\u003c/i>. The album, a follow up to Nas’ 2020 Grammy-winning \u003ci>King’s Disease\u003c/i>, dropped the first week of the month and quickly topped Billboard’s hip-hop charts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ms. Hill’s extended barrage of bars on “Nobody” are packed with quotable lines, but nothing spoke to me like the idea of spending every second engaged in the process of emancipation. “Focused on my freedom now.” What an idea. Now I can’t stop thinking: \u003ci>shit, I wanna spend my time focusing on my freedom, too\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, in a lot of ways, my time is spent indirectly paying for continued oppression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=234OiGtOvII\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">E\u003c/span>xactly 20 years ago, Nas was in a dispute with Jay-Z that would be well-documented in a Summer Jam performance, multiple interviews, and of course music—starting with Jay’s “The Takeover,” featured on Jay-Z’s album \u003ci>The Blueprint\u003c/i>, which dropped Sept. 11, 2001. We all know what else happened that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was a first-year high school student, living in a small apartment in South Berkeley and attending the Athenian College Preparatory School, 45 minutes away in the town of Danville. A scholarship offered to me through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.abetterchance.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Better Chance\u003c/a> program landed me at school in one of the wealthiest places in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every morning I’d get on a big ‘ole Twinkie bus at Berkeley BART and pursue a \u003ci>better chance\u003c/i> of getting out of the hood, going to college, and eventually finding freedom. Between my taped-up Sony headphones and beneath my tightly wrapped durag, my big head bobbled on the back of the bus—I don’t know what I was bumping, but I can tell you that my brain was already brewing up ways to break bondage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted freedom. Economic freedom, specifically. I was told that academia was the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That first month of school, I got real familiar with the connection between my oppression locally and the oppression of people around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13901531']In response to how our friends and neighbors with roots in the Middle East were being treated post-9/11, I worked with my schoolmates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/amis_umi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Agzja Carey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/norah-alyami-5a385511/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norah Alyami\u003c/a>, to organize a rally in front of Oakland’s City Hall. The keynote speaker was \u003ca href=\"https://www.daveyd.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davey D\u003c/a>, a journalist I knew from his KMEL days, and who I’d grow to admire and even mimic in his ability to mix hip-hop, politics, and the fight for freedom into one conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two decades later, life has evolved. Davey is a person I can call with hard journalism questions—I literally did just a few days ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nas is seeing great success as of late; he even has a classic instrumental in a\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CSzRrJQHnQ0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Tiffany and Co. advertisement\u003c/a>… but he’s still overshadowed (for better \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901650/that-beyonce-jay-z-and-basquiat-ad-for-tiffanys-does-have-some-upsides-you-know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">or for worse\u003c/a>) by Jay-Z, who along with Beyoncé was also featured by the same high-end jewelry company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And earlier this month, as the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda forces gained control of Kabul, it became clear that our 20-year war effort, launched after 9/11, had failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I watched the news clips of people running toward large moving jets, even clinging on as the planes took off—just to fall to their deaths. It was reported that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/human-remains-plane-departing-afghanistan/#:~:text=Human%20remains%20were%20found%20in,clamoring%20to%20get%20on%20board.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">human remains were found\u003c/a> in the wheel well of one of the airplanes. For me, it was further clarification of what had been long suspected: this country’s “war on terrorism,” its sacrifice of both civilians and civil liberties, had been pointless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I broke from my anger-inducing news intake to experiment with my COVID-driven lack of taste. I ate cloves of garlic whole and lemons with the rind still on, just for kicks. I couldn’t read my books, so I balanced my intake of important headlines with clips of crate-mountain conquerors falling to their doom for the whole internet to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when all else failed, I revisited classic hip-hop albums as an escape. Scarface’s \u003ci>The Fix\u003c/i>, Snoop Dogg’s \u003ci>The Last Meal\u003c/i>, tracks from Foxy Brown’s \u003ci>Broken Silence\u003c/i> and Curren$y’s \u003ci>Pilot Talk\u003c/i> trilogy. I dug up the lesser-known Nas and Lauryn Hill track, “It Wasn’t You,” as well as the staple “If I Ruled The World”—another song about the pursuit of freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlp-IIG9ApU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alone time ate at me. How confined am I? Is my freedom found solely in music? Even then, I pay streaming services or take in unwanted advertisements to taste my source of liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How has my push toward freedom led to further oppression? How much have I given to big business? How much revenue have I generated for millionaires with adverse views? Hell, how much have I personally contributed to this country’s war efforts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in high school when our government started the longest war in this nation’s history. I entered the workforce shortly thereafter. Every legal dollar I’ve ever earned has been taxed and, in one way or another, used as fuel in this war machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many guns have I indirectly purchased? How many were distributed in Black and brown communities overseas? How many have ended up back in my own neighborhood?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many cops’ salaries have I contributed to? How many of those cops have harassed me, pulled over people I know for no reason, or killed someone who looks like me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are the unforeseen byproducts of working toward what I perceive as financial freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CPBy3rqh3z0/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>his is far from a complaint. I know the significance of being an African American person who gets paid to read and write. I write about artists, creators of color, working-class folks, and disenfranchised Black Americans who have whole bloodlines full of family who were deemed unworthy of the right to read, write, and pursue freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I write about them; I write about us. But I’m still not free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“… focused on my freedom now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>August, Black August, is a time we look to honor those who’ve radically committed themselves to the pursuit of freedom. It encompasses Marcus Garvey’s birthdate, Nat Turner’s rebellion, The Haitian Revolution, and George Jackson’s death, as well as the date that Dr. Huey P. Newton was killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On that day, Aug. 22, the site where Dr. Newton is set to be honored with a bust created by Dana King \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS676K9r03y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was defaced.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no freedom, not even in death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This August has been rough. There have been a couple of deaths in my inner circle and some unnecessary family drama. I’ve spent ample time reflecting on the nonsense I’ve traversed in my pursuit of freedom. And I’ve gotten wrapped in the pessimism that comes with the potential of dealing with COVID-19 and its variants for another six months, another year, maybe more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hope for economic, political, or any other substantive form of freedom has turned bleak. I don’t think it’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more music is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every Thursday I look forward to new music dropping. After a week of working and inching slowly forward without finding the freedom I’d been told about, at least there’s music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I celebrated every track \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rexxliferaj/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a> dropped this summer, got juiced when I saw \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS5e3UFlBfz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ruby Ibarra\u003c/a> in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, and while I despise the NFL, I love that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CTLhzBtlEhm/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stunnaman 02\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS5Mpt5p8K_/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">providing the soundtrack\u003c/a> for the region’s remaining pro football team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closest I’ve ever been to liberation is within the confines of my headphones. I choose what music I’m going to ride to before I put on my seatbelt. There’s hardly a moment where my house is silent, even if it’s just some instrumentals playing softly in the other room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I need music all the time. Every moment is focused on my freedom.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>ugust 2021 was a lot. The return to in-class learning. The COVID vaccine debates. The massive fires, big earthquakes and huge storms. And the music. Thank the powers that be for the music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendrick Lamar dropped one verse and smoked your top five rappers, Kanye West took off that goofy red hat and dropped an album, Aaliyah’s discography finally became available on streaming platforms, and The Lox got their flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, meanwhile, music headlines were overshadowed by the unexplained series of events that led to the death of\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901310/baba-zumbi-zion-i-dies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Zion I’s Baba Zumbi\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I tested positive for COVID on the same day that Zumbi, a talented artist and friend who I’d seen two months prior at my best friend’s birthday party, was involved in a mysterious conflict at Alta Bates Hospital. While overcoming a case of COVID, Zumbi reportedly became involved in a physical altercation with hospital staff. Berkeley police responded. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901310/baba-zumbi-zion-i-dies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zumbi ended up dead\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spent a week-plus quarantining and staring at my phone—scrolling, contemplating current events and critically thinking about what it all means—you know, in the larger context of this “freedom” we’re all inherently pursuing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, thank God for music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All my time has been focused on my freedom now,” says Ms. Lauryn Hill, opening her verse on the track “Nobody” from Nas’ latest project \u003ci>King’s Disease II\u003c/i>. The album, a follow up to Nas’ 2020 Grammy-winning \u003ci>King’s Disease\u003c/i>, dropped the first week of the month and quickly topped Billboard’s hip-hop charts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ms. Hill’s extended barrage of bars on “Nobody” are packed with quotable lines, but nothing spoke to me like the idea of spending every second engaged in the process of emancipation. “Focused on my freedom now.” What an idea. Now I can’t stop thinking: \u003ci>shit, I wanna spend my time focusing on my freedom, too\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, in a lot of ways, my time is spent indirectly paying for continued oppression.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/234OiGtOvII'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/234OiGtOvII'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">E\u003c/span>xactly 20 years ago, Nas was in a dispute with Jay-Z that would be well-documented in a Summer Jam performance, multiple interviews, and of course music—starting with Jay’s “The Takeover,” featured on Jay-Z’s album \u003ci>The Blueprint\u003c/i>, which dropped Sept. 11, 2001. We all know what else happened that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was a first-year high school student, living in a small apartment in South Berkeley and attending the Athenian College Preparatory School, 45 minutes away in the town of Danville. A scholarship offered to me through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.abetterchance.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Better Chance\u003c/a> program landed me at school in one of the wealthiest places in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every morning I’d get on a big ‘ole Twinkie bus at Berkeley BART and pursue a \u003ci>better chance\u003c/i> of getting out of the hood, going to college, and eventually finding freedom. Between my taped-up Sony headphones and beneath my tightly wrapped durag, my big head bobbled on the back of the bus—I don’t know what I was bumping, but I can tell you that my brain was already brewing up ways to break bondage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted freedom. Economic freedom, specifically. I was told that academia was the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That first month of school, I got real familiar with the connection between my oppression locally and the oppression of people around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In response to how our friends and neighbors with roots in the Middle East were being treated post-9/11, I worked with my schoolmates, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/amis_umi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Agzja Carey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/norah-alyami-5a385511/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norah Alyami\u003c/a>, to organize a rally in front of Oakland’s City Hall. The keynote speaker was \u003ca href=\"https://www.daveyd.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Davey D\u003c/a>, a journalist I knew from his KMEL days, and who I’d grow to admire and even mimic in his ability to mix hip-hop, politics, and the fight for freedom into one conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two decades later, life has evolved. Davey is a person I can call with hard journalism questions—I literally did just a few days ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nas is seeing great success as of late; he even has a classic instrumental in a\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CSzRrJQHnQ0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Tiffany and Co. advertisement\u003c/a>… but he’s still overshadowed (for better \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901650/that-beyonce-jay-z-and-basquiat-ad-for-tiffanys-does-have-some-upsides-you-know\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">or for worse\u003c/a>) by Jay-Z, who along with Beyoncé was also featured by the same high-end jewelry company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And earlier this month, as the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda forces gained control of Kabul, it became clear that our 20-year war effort, launched after 9/11, had failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I watched the news clips of people running toward large moving jets, even clinging on as the planes took off—just to fall to their deaths. It was reported that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/human-remains-plane-departing-afghanistan/#:~:text=Human%20remains%20were%20found%20in,clamoring%20to%20get%20on%20board.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">human remains were found\u003c/a> in the wheel well of one of the airplanes. For me, it was further clarification of what had been long suspected: this country’s “war on terrorism,” its sacrifice of both civilians and civil liberties, had been pointless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I broke from my anger-inducing news intake to experiment with my COVID-driven lack of taste. I ate cloves of garlic whole and lemons with the rind still on, just for kicks. I couldn’t read my books, so I balanced my intake of important headlines with clips of crate-mountain conquerors falling to their doom for the whole internet to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when all else failed, I revisited classic hip-hop albums as an escape. Scarface’s \u003ci>The Fix\u003c/i>, Snoop Dogg’s \u003ci>The Last Meal\u003c/i>, tracks from Foxy Brown’s \u003ci>Broken Silence\u003c/i> and Curren$y’s \u003ci>Pilot Talk\u003c/i> trilogy. I dug up the lesser-known Nas and Lauryn Hill track, “It Wasn’t You,” as well as the staple “If I Ruled The World”—another song about the pursuit of freedom.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/mlp-IIG9ApU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mlp-IIG9ApU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The alone time ate at me. How confined am I? Is my freedom found solely in music? Even then, I pay streaming services or take in unwanted advertisements to taste my source of liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How has my push toward freedom led to further oppression? How much have I given to big business? How much revenue have I generated for millionaires with adverse views? Hell, how much have I personally contributed to this country’s war efforts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was in high school when our government started the longest war in this nation’s history. I entered the workforce shortly thereafter. Every legal dollar I’ve ever earned has been taxed and, in one way or another, used as fuel in this war machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many guns have I indirectly purchased? How many were distributed in Black and brown communities overseas? How many have ended up back in my own neighborhood?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How many cops’ salaries have I contributed to? How many of those cops have harassed me, pulled over people I know for no reason, or killed someone who looks like me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are the unforeseen byproducts of working toward what I perceive as financial freedom.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>his is far from a complaint. I know the significance of being an African American person who gets paid to read and write. I write about artists, creators of color, working-class folks, and disenfranchised Black Americans who have whole bloodlines full of family who were deemed unworthy of the right to read, write, and pursue freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I write about them; I write about us. But I’m still not free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“… focused on my freedom now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>August, Black August, is a time we look to honor those who’ve radically committed themselves to the pursuit of freedom. It encompasses Marcus Garvey’s birthdate, Nat Turner’s rebellion, The Haitian Revolution, and George Jackson’s death, as well as the date that Dr. Huey P. Newton was killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On that day, Aug. 22, the site where Dr. Newton is set to be honored with a bust created by Dana King \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS676K9r03y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was defaced.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no freedom, not even in death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This August has been rough. There have been a couple of deaths in my inner circle and some unnecessary family drama. I’ve spent ample time reflecting on the nonsense I’ve traversed in my pursuit of freedom. And I’ve gotten wrapped in the pessimism that comes with the potential of dealing with COVID-19 and its variants for another six months, another year, maybe more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hope for economic, political, or any other substantive form of freedom has turned bleak. I don’t think it’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But more music is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every Thursday I look forward to new music dropping. After a week of working and inching slowly forward without finding the freedom I’d been told about, at least there’s music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I celebrated every track \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rexxliferaj/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rexx Life Raj\u003c/a> dropped this summer, got juiced when I saw \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS5e3UFlBfz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ruby Ibarra\u003c/a> in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>, and while I despise the NFL, I love that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CTLhzBtlEhm/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stunnaman 02\u003c/a> is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CS5Mpt5p8K_/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">providing the soundtrack\u003c/a> for the region’s remaining pro football team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closest I’ve ever been to liberation is within the confines of my headphones. I choose what music I’m going to ride to before I put on my seatbelt. There’s hardly a moment where my house is silent, even if it’s just some instrumentals playing softly in the other room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I need music all the time. Every moment is focused on my freedom.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "America's Love Affair with the British Royals is Exiting its Honeymoon Phase",
"headTitle": "America’s Love Affair with the British Royals is Exiting its Honeymoon Phase | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When I moved from the U.K. to San Francisco in 2002, I quickly grew accustomed to answering random questions about the royal family from curious Americans. Most of them were either about the family tree (“Who’s Harry and William’s dad again?”), the power structure (“Can the queen make laws?”) and the culture (“Do British people actually like them?”). But since \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> premiered in 2016 and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103656/i-stayed-up-all-night-to-watch-the-royal-wedding-so-you-didnt-have-to\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan tied the knot\u003c/a> in 2018, I’ve noticed the American appetite for royal gossip has increased to a degree that feels—to me at least—rather unprecedented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No royal spouse has ever so swiftly or smoothly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13893693/after-oprah-interview-harry-and-meghan-slammed-by-british-press\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called the royal family out on their BS\u003c/a> the way Markle recently did. And no TV show (or book for that matter) has ever highlighted the deep dysfunctions within the British royal family quite so effectively or succinctly as \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em>. Crucially, what both have done so successfully in tandem, is to expose the rot that lies beneath what was previously perceived by many Americans to be a dignified institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While aspects of the show are fictionalized, \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> alone has, in short shrift, made Americans aware of scandals long known to the British people. Storylines include \u003ca href=\"https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/television/fact-checking-the-crown-season-two\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">King Edward VIII and Prince Philip’s ties to Nazi Germany\u003c/a>; Prince Charles’ appalling treatment of Princess Diana; Princess Diana’s prolonged attempts at self-destruction; \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-06-mn-239-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Queen Elizabeth’s secret cousins\u003c/a>, hidden away because they were developmentally disabled; \u003ca href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a14382214/antony-armstrong-jones-illegitimate-child-polly-fry/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Princess Margaret’s husband’s secret child\u003c/a> with another woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13882981']Running in tandem with all of this retroactive tea-spilling is a real-time horror story involving the queen’s middle son, Prince Andrew. He is currently being sued in a federal court by Virginia Roberts Giuffre over sexual assault allegations. Giuffre says that when she was 17, she met Andrew (41 at the time) through Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is currently awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in the same Brooklyn prison where Epstein died in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giuffre—who is only four years older than Andrew’s eldest daughter—has spent the last decade publicly asserting that she was abused and trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell. She says this led to her being sexually assaulted by the prince on three separate occasions in 2001. Prince Andrew has denied any and all knowledge of Giuffre, despite photographic evidence proving that the two at least met in Maxwell’s London apartment that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13901985\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13901985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/Screen-Shot-2021-08-26-at-12.45.39-PM-800x487.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The now infamous photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre in 2001, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London apartment, when Giuffre was 17.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Between those allegations, \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em>’s exposés, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13893693/after-oprah-interview-harry-and-meghan-slammed-by-british-press\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview\u003c/a> in March, the questions I get asked about the royal family have recently taken quite the turn. Now, they’re less about the family structure and the royal duties, and more about whether or not the family is a racist institution that gets away with whatever the hell it likes. Indeed, the family is now seen as messy enough over here to garner comparisons by my American friends to the Kardashians. I keep having to dejectedly point out that the analogy only works if all of the Kardashians’ homes, vehicles, bank balances and bodyguards were funded by American taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new American understanding of just how much drama the royal family produces means an increasing amount of American interest in content about the Windsors. Season 2 of \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> directly inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTeLsRxbSAY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Margaret: The Rebel Princess\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a PBS series about the queen’s sister, which is also available on Amazon Prime. Netflix offered up \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNILDb-wXW8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Royal House of Windsor\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a documentary series that rehashes storylines from \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> through a purely factual lens. In 2017, to mark the 20th anniversary of her death, National Geographic released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKvOJ_d8Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Diana: In Her Own Words\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—a documentary about William and Harry’s mother that also lived on Netflix for a while. That same year, the brothers presented their own film about her—\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hkdZSOGK58\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, on HBO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HBO’s most recent royal offering, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGxOken3-lc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Prince\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—an animated series that presents Prince George as a tyrant, a la Stewie from \u003cem>Family Guy—\u003c/em>demonstrates that the cracks in the royals’ overseas image are beginning to show. The cartoon drew ire for its satirical focus on the real-life prince—George is 8 years old, the oldest son of Prince William and Kate, and third in line to the throne. But the entire family is presented as over-privileged, insular and grossly out of touch with the real world—arguments that have been made about them for decades in the U.K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_103656']Still, pop culture has more royal content coming to feed the appetites of American audiences. On Sept. 6, Lifetime is releasing its third (third!) \u003cem>Harry and Meghan\u003c/em> drama—\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCWVDn2Xku8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Escaping the Palace\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. On Nov. 5, we’ll get \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYTtrABWy_o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Spencer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—a dramatization of the week in 1992 that Princess Diana decided to leave Prince Charles, starring Kristen Stewart. Social media blew up last week after the first trailer was released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Season 5 of \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> doesn’t even drop until late-2022, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2021/08/20/first-photos-of-new-princess-diana-prince-charles-the-queen-in-netflixs-the-crown-season-5/?sh=fae09ba43e83\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">photos of the new cast\u003c/a> also trended on Twitter in August, after Netflix released them with some fanfare. The new season will probably be the juiciest yet, given the fact that the conduct of the queen’s children—and their spouses—throughout the ’90s was mortifying for all concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> will have its work cut out choosing from potential storylines from that decade. After all, that was the period in which three out of four of the queen’s children broke up with their spouses, even though divorce was a royal taboo. To make matters worse, a cringeworthy, \u003ca href=\"https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/royal-scandal-camilla-parker-bowles-charles-tampon-conversation/fa0fa78d-8494-4595-a2f5-4f808fa0dfd2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sexually explicit phone conversation\u003c/a> between Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles—recorded when he was still married to Diana—leaked to the public in 1993. Around that same time, Princess Diana’s 1986 affair with Major James Hewitt was exposed. Then Prince Andrew’s wife, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/toe-sucking-photo-drove-sarah-22405395\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson was photographed\u003c/a> poolside, having her feet kissed by a new boyfriend. And, of course, there was the national outcry that Queen Elizabeth faced when she and the royal household took five days to publicly respond to the death of Princess Diana. That miserable week in 1997 was well dramatized in 2006’s \u003cem>The Queen\u003c/em>, for which Helen Mirren won the Best Actress Oscar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqL42sjb96I\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I assumed for many years that Americans asked me about the royal family because they thought the institution was glamorous. That idea certainly seemed to be at the forefront of conversations when Markle joined their ranks. Now, I wonder if the American fascination with the Windsors has quickly turned into something else—relief to be from a country founded on democratic principles instead of regal bloodlines. Just as Markle was rudely awoken to the inner workings, protocols and messes of the royal family, so too was America. And, as Prince Andrew’s legal troubles unfurl, stateside perceptions of the royal family are bound to get worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13866072']A \u003ca href=\"https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/articles-reports/2021/02/17/british-royals-popular-america-poll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouGov survey\u003c/a> this year about which royals are most popular with Americans is revealing. Prince Charles (the next king) and Prince Andrew are already regarded as the least popular, with, respectively, 47% and 43% of respondents viewing them as “very/somewhat unfavorable.” Their lesser-known siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, scored only 12% and 19% in the same category.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the queen remains a popular figure on both sides of the Atlantic (68% of surveyed Americans viewed her as “very/somewhat favorable”), it would be foolish to assume that such reverence extends to the rest of her family. America is merely in the middle of getting a crash course in what the royal family is all about. And what will soon become evident is what has been obvious on British soil for much longer—when it comes to the royal family, the more you know about them, the less likable they become.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When I moved from the U.K. to San Francisco in 2002, I quickly grew accustomed to answering random questions about the royal family from curious Americans. Most of them were either about the family tree (“Who’s Harry and William’s dad again?”), the power structure (“Can the queen make laws?”) and the culture (“Do British people actually like them?”). But since \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> premiered in 2016 and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103656/i-stayed-up-all-night-to-watch-the-royal-wedding-so-you-didnt-have-to\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan tied the knot\u003c/a> in 2018, I’ve noticed the American appetite for royal gossip has increased to a degree that feels—to me at least—rather unprecedented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No royal spouse has ever so swiftly or smoothly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13893693/after-oprah-interview-harry-and-meghan-slammed-by-british-press\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called the royal family out on their BS\u003c/a> the way Markle recently did. And no TV show (or book for that matter) has ever highlighted the deep dysfunctions within the British royal family quite so effectively or succinctly as \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em>. Crucially, what both have done so successfully in tandem, is to expose the rot that lies beneath what was previously perceived by many Americans to be a dignified institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While aspects of the show are fictionalized, \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> alone has, in short shrift, made Americans aware of scandals long known to the British people. Storylines include \u003ca href=\"https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/television/fact-checking-the-crown-season-two\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">King Edward VIII and Prince Philip’s ties to Nazi Germany\u003c/a>; Prince Charles’ appalling treatment of Princess Diana; Princess Diana’s prolonged attempts at self-destruction; \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-06-mn-239-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Queen Elizabeth’s secret cousins\u003c/a>, hidden away because they were developmentally disabled; \u003ca href=\"https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a14382214/antony-armstrong-jones-illegitimate-child-polly-fry/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Princess Margaret’s husband’s secret child\u003c/a> with another woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Running in tandem with all of this retroactive tea-spilling is a real-time horror story involving the queen’s middle son, Prince Andrew. He is currently being sued in a federal court by Virginia Roberts Giuffre over sexual assault allegations. Giuffre says that when she was 17, she met Andrew (41 at the time) through Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is currently awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in the same Brooklyn prison where Epstein died in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giuffre—who is only four years older than Andrew’s eldest daughter—has spent the last decade publicly asserting that she was abused and trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell. She says this led to her being sexually assaulted by the prince on three separate occasions in 2001. Prince Andrew has denied any and all knowledge of Giuffre, despite photographic evidence proving that the two at least met in Maxwell’s London apartment that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13901985\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13901985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/Screen-Shot-2021-08-26-at-12.45.39-PM-800x487.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The now infamous photo of Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre in 2001, at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London apartment, when Giuffre was 17.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Between those allegations, \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em>’s exposés, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13893693/after-oprah-interview-harry-and-meghan-slammed-by-british-press\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview\u003c/a> in March, the questions I get asked about the royal family have recently taken quite the turn. Now, they’re less about the family structure and the royal duties, and more about whether or not the family is a racist institution that gets away with whatever the hell it likes. Indeed, the family is now seen as messy enough over here to garner comparisons by my American friends to the Kardashians. I keep having to dejectedly point out that the analogy only works if all of the Kardashians’ homes, vehicles, bank balances and bodyguards were funded by American taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new American understanding of just how much drama the royal family produces means an increasing amount of American interest in content about the Windsors. Season 2 of \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> directly inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTeLsRxbSAY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Margaret: The Rebel Princess\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a PBS series about the queen’s sister, which is also available on Amazon Prime. Netflix offered up \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNILDb-wXW8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Royal House of Windsor\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a documentary series that rehashes storylines from \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> through a purely factual lens. In 2017, to mark the 20th anniversary of her death, National Geographic released \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9EKvOJ_d8Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Diana: In Her Own Words\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—a documentary about William and Harry’s mother that also lived on Netflix for a while. That same year, the brothers presented their own film about her—\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hkdZSOGK58\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, on HBO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HBO’s most recent royal offering, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGxOken3-lc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>The Prince\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—an animated series that presents Prince George as a tyrant, a la Stewie from \u003cem>Family Guy—\u003c/em>demonstrates that the cracks in the royals’ overseas image are beginning to show. The cartoon drew ire for its satirical focus on the real-life prince—George is 8 years old, the oldest son of Prince William and Kate, and third in line to the throne. But the entire family is presented as over-privileged, insular and grossly out of touch with the real world—arguments that have been made about them for decades in the U.K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Still, pop culture has more royal content coming to feed the appetites of American audiences. On Sept. 6, Lifetime is releasing its third (third!) \u003cem>Harry and Meghan\u003c/em> drama—\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCWVDn2Xku8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Escaping the Palace\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. On Nov. 5, we’ll get \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYTtrABWy_o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Spencer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—a dramatization of the week in 1992 that Princess Diana decided to leave Prince Charles, starring Kristen Stewart. Social media blew up last week after the first trailer was released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Season 5 of \u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> doesn’t even drop until late-2022, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2021/08/20/first-photos-of-new-princess-diana-prince-charles-the-queen-in-netflixs-the-crown-season-5/?sh=fae09ba43e83\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">photos of the new cast\u003c/a> also trended on Twitter in August, after Netflix released them with some fanfare. The new season will probably be the juiciest yet, given the fact that the conduct of the queen’s children—and their spouses—throughout the ’90s was mortifying for all concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Crown\u003c/em> will have its work cut out choosing from potential storylines from that decade. After all, that was the period in which three out of four of the queen’s children broke up with their spouses, even though divorce was a royal taboo. To make matters worse, a cringeworthy, \u003ca href=\"https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/royal-scandal-camilla-parker-bowles-charles-tampon-conversation/fa0fa78d-8494-4595-a2f5-4f808fa0dfd2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sexually explicit phone conversation\u003c/a> between Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles—recorded when he was still married to Diana—leaked to the public in 1993. Around that same time, Princess Diana’s 1986 affair with Major James Hewitt was exposed. Then Prince Andrew’s wife, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/toe-sucking-photo-drove-sarah-22405395\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson was photographed\u003c/a> poolside, having her feet kissed by a new boyfriend. And, of course, there was the national outcry that Queen Elizabeth faced when she and the royal household took five days to publicly respond to the death of Princess Diana. That miserable week in 1997 was well dramatized in 2006’s \u003cem>The Queen\u003c/em>, for which Helen Mirren won the Best Actress Oscar.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/mqL42sjb96I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mqL42sjb96I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>I assumed for many years that Americans asked me about the royal family because they thought the institution was glamorous. That idea certainly seemed to be at the forefront of conversations when Markle joined their ranks. Now, I wonder if the American fascination with the Windsors has quickly turned into something else—relief to be from a country founded on democratic principles instead of regal bloodlines. Just as Markle was rudely awoken to the inner workings, protocols and messes of the royal family, so too was America. And, as Prince Andrew’s legal troubles unfurl, stateside perceptions of the royal family are bound to get worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://today.yougov.com/topics/entertainment/articles-reports/2021/02/17/british-royals-popular-america-poll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouGov survey\u003c/a> this year about which royals are most popular with Americans is revealing. Prince Charles (the next king) and Prince Andrew are already regarded as the least popular, with, respectively, 47% and 43% of respondents viewing them as “very/somewhat unfavorable.” Their lesser-known siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, scored only 12% and 19% in the same category.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the queen remains a popular figure on both sides of the Atlantic (68% of surveyed Americans viewed her as “very/somewhat favorable”), it would be foolish to assume that such reverence extends to the rest of her family. America is merely in the middle of getting a crash course in what the royal family is all about. And what will soon become evident is what has been obvious on British soil for much longer—when it comes to the royal family, the more you know about them, the less likable they become.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "An Afghan Author on Losing Her Homeland—For the Second Time",
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"content": "\u003cp>The week \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/15/1027847038/taliban-forces-sweep-into-kabul-as-talks-underway-on-transfer-of-power\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Afghanistan fell to the Taliban\u003c/a>, I had gone out of town with my parents and in-laws. While my children played, their parents and grandparents sat riveted to our phones, speaking in fragments. Thoughts interrupted. Plates half eaten. Nothing was whole anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is too cruel to ask if it hurts more the first or second time a homeland is lost. I know one never becomes numb to it. Across social media, family and friends were relatively silent as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/08/1025909600/taliban-seizes-2-more-provincial-capitals-in-afghanistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one province after another fell\u003c/a>. Forty years of conflict means that generations—plural—of Afghans carry with them some form of trauma or loss. The headlines of that week were making an inevitability clear. We braced ourselves for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028448554/what-kabul-looks-like-2-days-after-the-taliban-took-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">what might unfold in Kabul\u003c/a>, the seat of power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902074\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13902074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sparks Like Stars’ by Nadia Hashimi. \u003ccite>(William Morrow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I was thinking of my parents when I wrote a line in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974051047/reclaiming-family-and-memory-in-sparks-like-stars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">my most recent novel\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Sparks Like Stars\u003c/em>. “Your Kabul is gone,” a soldier shouts at a girl freshly orphaned and traumatized by the 1978 coup. New flags were raised then just as they were this month. In the stretches of time when Afghanistan wasn’t burying empires, it has thrived and progressed. Both my parents left Kabul in their 20s and never saw a day of conflict. The city has a sweetness to people who grew up wandering the bustling markets and storied gardens and their hearts break when they see these sites defiled by war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Images are the worst. They offer no buffer. Some have been shared and reshared like the one of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/afghanistan-kabul-baby.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mother passing her baby over the barbed wire fence of the airport’s walls\u003c/a>. I wonder if she felt relief when she stared into her empty hands. We saw people fall from the sky. Twenty years ago, I stood on a Brooklyn street while, a few miles away, people leaped to their deaths rather than be consumed by toppled towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many other displaced communities, we have people “back home.” We have schools and non-profits we support. Our phones have been abuzz with international calls. The technology is deceiving. Their pleas are crisp and clear as if they were half a block and not half a world away. Surely, there must be someone we can call on their behalf, some magical email address to which we can submit their names and the names of their children. They are afraid. A journalist lost a loved one in a Taliban attack targeting him. One laid pipes alongside Americans and Germans. They make their case to us. They speak English. They have degrees. Their daughters are bright and promising. They will pray for us for all their days if we can just find a way to lift them over the huddled masses yearning to breathe free and slip them through the blocked gates of the airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our routines have partially crumbled. My 11-year-old son ate olives for breakfast. The children are patient with us. With just a glance at the gun-slinging Taliban, they know these are the bad guys. But they have also watched the X-Men and Spider-Man, and they want to know why the good guys can’t defeat the bad guys. They’ve grown up on happy endings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of my earlier novels about Afghan refugees—\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://nadiahashimibooks.com/when-the-moon-is-low/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When the Moon is Low\u003c/a>\u003c/em>—closes with a bit of ambiguity regarding a character’s fate, not something I’d recommend to other writers. Over the years, I’ve received dozens of messages from frustrated readers. I’ve told these readers that a tidier ending felt disingenuous to the struggles of those fleeing a dangerous homeland. Thus far, 20 people, mostly women, have died at the Kabul airport. We won’t see novels inspired by their lives because tragic last pages don’t sell books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13901335']So many friends have reached out offering notes of support that I scarcely have the time to reply to everyone. I want to spend my time here, in the soft petals of these messages rather than the thorns of the comments section. \u003cem>Afghans didn’t have the will to fight\u003c/em>, they say. As if tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers died of a mysterious illness rather than fighting for their country. \u003cem>They don’t believe in women’s rights\u003c/em>. \u003cem>Two decades of war and nothing’s changed.\u003c/em> We have evidence to the contrary, but you can’t change public opinion with 280 characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t waste time arguing which U.S. president screwed this up the most—\u003cem>it’s D, all of the above\u003c/em>—not when women are being told to quiet their talk of women’s rights, for they are too young to die. Not when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028483700/help-afghanistan-refugees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fatigued families and unaccompanied children\u003c/a> are being ushered into auditoriums filled with cots and blankets and bottles of water. I want to bring one of these children home, because it says in a book the Taliban seem to have read upside down that to save one life is to save all of humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ground and surround myself with people who have focused on doing what we can for the people with whom we share a common, troubled ancestry. We share images of hope, not despair. A physics professor promised me that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. I am holding fast to this law as I keep moving. We, a body of \u003ca href=\"http://www.afghanamericans.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">advocates\u003c/a> and volunteers who have gathered to move as a collective, like fish traveling in a streamlined school. We are evading the predations of pessimism and impotence. We are cheating friction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dark waters are made brighter knowing that this moment may be far from happy, but it is also not the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13902073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-800x1040.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1040\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-800x1040.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1020x1326.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-160x208.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-768x998.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1181x1536.jpg 1181w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1575x2048.jpg 1575w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1920x2496.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-scaled.jpg 1969w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Nadia Hashimi \u003ccite>(Zayla Amini)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nadia Hashimi is the author of \u003c/em>Sparks Like Stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=An+Afghan+Author+On+Losing+Her+Homeland+%E2%80%94+For+The+Second+Time&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The week \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/15/1027847038/taliban-forces-sweep-into-kabul-as-talks-underway-on-transfer-of-power\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Afghanistan fell to the Taliban\u003c/a>, I had gone out of town with my parents and in-laws. While my children played, their parents and grandparents sat riveted to our phones, speaking in fragments. Thoughts interrupted. Plates half eaten. Nothing was whole anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is too cruel to ask if it hurts more the first or second time a homeland is lost. I know one never becomes numb to it. Across social media, family and friends were relatively silent as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/08/1025909600/taliban-seizes-2-more-provincial-capitals-in-afghanistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one province after another fell\u003c/a>. Forty years of conflict means that generations—plural—of Afghans carry with them some form of trauma or loss. The headlines of that week were making an inevitability clear. We braced ourselves for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028448554/what-kabul-looks-like-2-days-after-the-taliban-took-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">what might unfold in Kabul\u003c/a>, the seat of power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902074\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13902074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/81ojvltmill_custom-8494a321417ca1b6ef3ba17e9e443a5b70112e23-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Sparks Like Stars’ by Nadia Hashimi. \u003ccite>(William Morrow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I was thinking of my parents when I wrote a line in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974051047/reclaiming-family-and-memory-in-sparks-like-stars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">my most recent novel\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Sparks Like Stars\u003c/em>. “Your Kabul is gone,” a soldier shouts at a girl freshly orphaned and traumatized by the 1978 coup. New flags were raised then just as they were this month. In the stretches of time when Afghanistan wasn’t burying empires, it has thrived and progressed. Both my parents left Kabul in their 20s and never saw a day of conflict. The city has a sweetness to people who grew up wandering the bustling markets and storied gardens and their hearts break when they see these sites defiled by war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Images are the worst. They offer no buffer. Some have been shared and reshared like the one of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/afghanistan-kabul-baby.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mother passing her baby over the barbed wire fence of the airport’s walls\u003c/a>. I wonder if she felt relief when she stared into her empty hands. We saw people fall from the sky. Twenty years ago, I stood on a Brooklyn street while, a few miles away, people leaped to their deaths rather than be consumed by toppled towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many other displaced communities, we have people “back home.” We have schools and non-profits we support. Our phones have been abuzz with international calls. The technology is deceiving. Their pleas are crisp and clear as if they were half a block and not half a world away. Surely, there must be someone we can call on their behalf, some magical email address to which we can submit their names and the names of their children. They are afraid. A journalist lost a loved one in a Taliban attack targeting him. One laid pipes alongside Americans and Germans. They make their case to us. They speak English. They have degrees. Their daughters are bright and promising. They will pray for us for all their days if we can just find a way to lift them over the huddled masses yearning to breathe free and slip them through the blocked gates of the airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our routines have partially crumbled. My 11-year-old son ate olives for breakfast. The children are patient with us. With just a glance at the gun-slinging Taliban, they know these are the bad guys. But they have also watched the X-Men and Spider-Man, and they want to know why the good guys can’t defeat the bad guys. They’ve grown up on happy endings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of my earlier novels about Afghan refugees—\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://nadiahashimibooks.com/when-the-moon-is-low/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When the Moon is Low\u003c/a>\u003c/em>—closes with a bit of ambiguity regarding a character’s fate, not something I’d recommend to other writers. Over the years, I’ve received dozens of messages from frustrated readers. I’ve told these readers that a tidier ending felt disingenuous to the struggles of those fleeing a dangerous homeland. Thus far, 20 people, mostly women, have died at the Kabul airport. We won’t see novels inspired by their lives because tragic last pages don’t sell books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So many friends have reached out offering notes of support that I scarcely have the time to reply to everyone. I want to spend my time here, in the soft petals of these messages rather than the thorns of the comments section. \u003cem>Afghans didn’t have the will to fight\u003c/em>, they say. As if tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers died of a mysterious illness rather than fighting for their country. \u003cem>They don’t believe in women’s rights\u003c/em>. \u003cem>Two decades of war and nothing’s changed.\u003c/em> We have evidence to the contrary, but you can’t change public opinion with 280 characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t waste time arguing which U.S. president screwed this up the most—\u003cem>it’s D, all of the above\u003c/em>—not when women are being told to quiet their talk of women’s rights, for they are too young to die. Not when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028483700/help-afghanistan-refugees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fatigued families and unaccompanied children\u003c/a> are being ushered into auditoriums filled with cots and blankets and bottles of water. I want to bring one of these children home, because it says in a book the Taliban seem to have read upside down that to save one life is to save all of humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ground and surround myself with people who have focused on doing what we can for the people with whom we share a common, troubled ancestry. We share images of hope, not despair. A physics professor promised me that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. I am holding fast to this law as I keep moving. We, a body of \u003ca href=\"http://www.afghanamericans.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">advocates\u003c/a> and volunteers who have gathered to move as a collective, like fish traveling in a streamlined school. We are evading the predations of pessimism and impotence. We are cheating friction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dark waters are made brighter knowing that this moment may be far from happy, but it is also not the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13902073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13902073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-800x1040.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1040\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-800x1040.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1020x1326.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-160x208.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-768x998.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1181x1536.jpg 1181w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1575x2048.jpg 1575w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-1920x2496.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/08/hashimi-2021-headshot_custom-948821dbf9912af7ba341a3aa8ae195ab3dea07b-scaled.jpg 1969w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Nadia Hashimi \u003ccite>(Zayla Amini)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nadia Hashimi is the author of \u003c/em>Sparks Like Stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=An+Afghan+Author+On+Losing+Her+Homeland+%E2%80%94+For+The+Second+Time&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "R. Kelly and Britney TV Docs Tap Into 'Consequence Culture,' Not Cancel Culture",
"headTitle": "R. Kelly and Britney TV Docs Tap Into ‘Consequence Culture,’ Not Cancel Culture | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As the trial of disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901400/opinion-13-years-after-the-last-r-kelly-trial-the-culture-has-changed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unfolds\u003c/a>, it’s tough to imagine reaching this moment without the 2019 Lifetime docuseries \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the six-part project seemed to transform public opinion about the singer in an instant, with detailed, harrowing accounts from women who said Kelly spent decades pursuing underage girls for sex and maintaining abusive relationships. Kelly has denied the allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public reaction—including prosecutors asking other potential victims to come forward and his longtime label, RCA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/686641970/r-kelly-has-been-dropped-by-rca-records-billboard-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dissolving its working relationship\u003c/a> with him—was surprising because journalists had been reporting on similar allegations against the singer since the late 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But cultural critic and filmmaker dream hampton, an executive producer on \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>, says this project hit the world in a crucial moment: Social media spread word quickly, a younger generation was less tolerant, and viewers were drawn in by the power of seeing a succession of survivors telling their stories directly to the camera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“American history isn’t history until there’s a movie about it,” hampton says, wryly. “I was packaging \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> for people who probably didn’t read beyond the headlines. … That’s what I thought I could bring to it. There’s something about a visual [of] someone unpacking their story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbjnkvxIoSI\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A new genre for new sensibilities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Turns out, \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly \u003c/em>was one on a growing list of documentary projects challenging audiences to reconsider old controversies with fresh eyes, informed by the #MeToo movement’s revelations about harassment, assault and trauma. And those films could bring very tangible results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, FX and Hulu’s film \u003cem>The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears\u003c/em> jump-started public conversation about sexist, abusive media coverage of the pop star and the 2008 conservatorship that gave control of her finances to her father, Jamie Spears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13892800']HBO’s four-part \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969425823/allen-v-farrow-digs-deep-into-a-tale-of-celebrity-power-and-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em>\u003c/a> gave a detailed presentation of Dylan Farrow’s allegations from 1992 that her father, superstar director Woody Allen, molested her as a child (the filmmaker has denied those allegations). And HBO Max’s film \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/24/861630479/movie-review-on-the-record-with-russell-simmons-accusers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em>\u003c/a> debuted last year as a chilling account featuring several women who accused rap mogul Russell Simmons of sexual assault in incidents ranging back to the mid-1990s, which he has denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel these documentaries could only have been made now … because the standards of accountability have changed,” says Poh Si Teng, producer of the documentary \u003cem>St. Louis Superman \u003c/em>and an executive at the International Documentary Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The feedback from the web and social media platforms is so much faster, we are holding ourselves more accountable [as a society],” she adds. “In light of all the reckonings from the past year, especially after the murder of George Floyd and the pandemic, more and more filmmakers and participants are going to be bold. They’re going to be ready to speak now. … So these filmmakers can revisit all these old controversies [on] misogyny, conservatorship, child sexual abuse and rape in ways that they could not before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Reconsidering media bullying of Britney\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Samantha Stark, director of \u003cem>Framing Britney Spears\u003c/em>, says she originally planned to just reexamine past media coverage of the pop star. After seeing how “incredibly misogynistic” it all was—demonstrated by a clip in the film of an interviewer asking Spears about her breasts—Stark and her team realized many of the journalists who had reported these stories were male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just had this idea: What if we try to find women to interview instead?” she says. “We got a completely different picture of her: a woman who was business-savvy, who even as a teenager contributed creatively to her work, who had the stamina of an Olympic athlete and knew what she was doing … someone with agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, the filmmakers discovered valid concerns about the fairness of Spears’ conservatorship, originally criticized by followers of the “Free Britney” movement. Suddenly, a fan uprising that some treated like a punchline was inspiring renewed public scrutiny. Most recently, Spears’ father has announced his intention to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901212\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">step down from the conservatorship\u003c/a>, but with no definitive timetable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wRN5muenY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stark says she thought about \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> while making her film, because both projects centered on contentions that people found tough to believe because the alleged abuse was happening in plain sight. And both projects also pointed out the complicity of the general public, which often laughed at comedians’ jokes about Spears’ mental health or Kelly’s proclivities without considering the darker truths behind the punchlines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m the same age as Britney, so when I was watching so much of the footage, I was reliving my [teenage years], when it was OK to bully people and shame them for being different,” says Stark, age 39. “It did feel like we weren’t ready for all these documentaries until now. We do, I think, listen to what women have to say more now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13899317']That’s an idea which resonates for Amy Ziering, co-director of both \u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em> and \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em> with longtime filmmaking partner Kirby Dick. Ziering says, when she was pitching potential distributors on their 2012 documentary about sexual assault in the military, \u003cem>The Invisible War\u003c/em>, she was told no one wanted to hear women’s stories—especially stories of women raped in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em> has seven Emmy nominations and \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em> was part of HBO Max’s opening slate of original programs when the streaming platform launched in May 2020. These days, Ziering says, such films can perform a sort of pop culture jiu-jitsu—leveraging the celebrity that some stars have used to shield themselves to educate viewers, instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Would anyone really care to watch a documentary about conservatorship … no, you watched because it was about Britney Spears,” she adds, saying \u003cem>Allen V. Farrow\u003c/em> dropped important information about how the court system treats custody cases and how allegations of incest are investigated. “What is lovely about these films is we get to capitalize on the culture of celebrity for good—not for marketing … but to actually enlighten people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Not all films have the same impact\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Some critics say these films can be one-sided; Kelly, Allen and Simmons all declined requests to be interviewed for these projects and have denied the crimes they are accused of within them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not every project can have the impact filmmakers anticipate. Drew Dixon, a former record company executive whose accounts of being raped by Russell Simmons and sexually harassed by well-known producer/executive L.A. Reid form the center of \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em>, says the film’s impact was blunted when media star Oprah Winfrey \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/movies/oprah-winfrey-russell-simmons-movie.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pulled out as an executive producer \u003c/a>in early 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost worse than if she’d never been involved … [it] left this shadow of confusion and doubt around the film,” says Dixon. “A lot of the powerful voices in the Black community that could have drawn attention to the discussion about Black women and our unique vulnerability to sexual violence didn’t happen. And frankly, I feel more isolated now than I did before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film, which also explores how Black women’s stories of harassment and assault may have been left out of the #MeToo movement, also faced criticism from some who viewed it as an attack on successful Black men. Both Dixon and \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>‘s dream hampton noted that the subjects of their films still retain support among some Black people, wary of a white-dominated media system going after stars once considered admirable examples of Black achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13875370']Still, Dixon says she has no regrets about participating in the film. “A proliferation of documentaries that center survivors and move the spotlight away from the famous, accused, powerful people … that’s really critically important,” she adds.” That’s how we really humanize the experience and the pain and the real cost of sexual violence for the people who have experienced it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poh Si Teng of the International Documentary Association expects to see many more of these types of films produced, with a tangible impact on the public discourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not cancel culture,” she says, of the way some celebrities have seen their work sidelined after serious allegations. “It’s consequence culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=R.+Kelly+And+Britney+TV+Docs+Tap+Into+%27Consequence+Culture%2C%27+Not+Cancel+Culture&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the trial of disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901400/opinion-13-years-after-the-last-r-kelly-trial-the-culture-has-changed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unfolds\u003c/a>, it’s tough to imagine reaching this moment without the 2019 Lifetime docuseries \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the six-part project seemed to transform public opinion about the singer in an instant, with detailed, harrowing accounts from women who said Kelly spent decades pursuing underage girls for sex and maintaining abusive relationships. Kelly has denied the allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public reaction—including prosecutors asking other potential victims to come forward and his longtime label, RCA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/686641970/r-kelly-has-been-dropped-by-rca-records-billboard-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dissolving its working relationship\u003c/a> with him—was surprising because journalists had been reporting on similar allegations against the singer since the late 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But cultural critic and filmmaker dream hampton, an executive producer on \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>, says this project hit the world in a crucial moment: Social media spread word quickly, a younger generation was less tolerant, and viewers were drawn in by the power of seeing a succession of survivors telling their stories directly to the camera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“American history isn’t history until there’s a movie about it,” hampton says, wryly. “I was packaging \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> for people who probably didn’t read beyond the headlines. … That’s what I thought I could bring to it. There’s something about a visual [of] someone unpacking their story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/vbjnkvxIoSI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/vbjnkvxIoSI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch3>A new genre for new sensibilities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Turns out, \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly \u003c/em>was one on a growing list of documentary projects challenging audiences to reconsider old controversies with fresh eyes, informed by the #MeToo movement’s revelations about harassment, assault and trauma. And those films could bring very tangible results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, FX and Hulu’s film \u003cem>The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears\u003c/em> jump-started public conversation about sexist, abusive media coverage of the pop star and the 2008 conservatorship that gave control of her finances to her father, Jamie Spears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>HBO’s four-part \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969425823/allen-v-farrow-digs-deep-into-a-tale-of-celebrity-power-and-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em>\u003c/a> gave a detailed presentation of Dylan Farrow’s allegations from 1992 that her father, superstar director Woody Allen, molested her as a child (the filmmaker has denied those allegations). And HBO Max’s film \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/05/24/861630479/movie-review-on-the-record-with-russell-simmons-accusers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em>\u003c/a> debuted last year as a chilling account featuring several women who accused rap mogul Russell Simmons of sexual assault in incidents ranging back to the mid-1990s, which he has denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel these documentaries could only have been made now … because the standards of accountability have changed,” says Poh Si Teng, producer of the documentary \u003cem>St. Louis Superman \u003c/em>and an executive at the International Documentary Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The feedback from the web and social media platforms is so much faster, we are holding ourselves more accountable [as a society],” she adds. “In light of all the reckonings from the past year, especially after the murder of George Floyd and the pandemic, more and more filmmakers and participants are going to be bold. They’re going to be ready to speak now. … So these filmmakers can revisit all these old controversies [on] misogyny, conservatorship, child sexual abuse and rape in ways that they could not before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Reconsidering media bullying of Britney\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Samantha Stark, director of \u003cem>Framing Britney Spears\u003c/em>, says she originally planned to just reexamine past media coverage of the pop star. After seeing how “incredibly misogynistic” it all was—demonstrated by a clip in the film of an interviewer asking Spears about her breasts—Stark and her team realized many of the journalists who had reported these stories were male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just had this idea: What if we try to find women to interview instead?” she says. “We got a completely different picture of her: a woman who was business-savvy, who even as a teenager contributed creatively to her work, who had the stamina of an Olympic athlete and knew what she was doing … someone with agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, the filmmakers discovered valid concerns about the fairness of Spears’ conservatorship, originally criticized by followers of the “Free Britney” movement. Suddenly, a fan uprising that some treated like a punchline was inspiring renewed public scrutiny. Most recently, Spears’ father has announced his intention to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13901212\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">step down from the conservatorship\u003c/a>, but with no definitive timetable.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/n1wRN5muenY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/n1wRN5muenY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Stark says she thought about \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> while making her film, because both projects centered on contentions that people found tough to believe because the alleged abuse was happening in plain sight. And both projects also pointed out the complicity of the general public, which often laughed at comedians’ jokes about Spears’ mental health or Kelly’s proclivities without considering the darker truths behind the punchlines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m the same age as Britney, so when I was watching so much of the footage, I was reliving my [teenage years], when it was OK to bully people and shame them for being different,” says Stark, age 39. “It did feel like we weren’t ready for all these documentaries until now. We do, I think, listen to what women have to say more now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s an idea which resonates for Amy Ziering, co-director of both \u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em> and \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em> with longtime filmmaking partner Kirby Dick. Ziering says, when she was pitching potential distributors on their 2012 documentary about sexual assault in the military, \u003cem>The Invisible War\u003c/em>, she was told no one wanted to hear women’s stories—especially stories of women raped in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003cem>Allen v. Farrow\u003c/em> has seven Emmy nominations and \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em> was part of HBO Max’s opening slate of original programs when the streaming platform launched in May 2020. These days, Ziering says, such films can perform a sort of pop culture jiu-jitsu—leveraging the celebrity that some stars have used to shield themselves to educate viewers, instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Would anyone really care to watch a documentary about conservatorship … no, you watched because it was about Britney Spears,” she adds, saying \u003cem>Allen V. Farrow\u003c/em> dropped important information about how the court system treats custody cases and how allegations of incest are investigated. “What is lovely about these films is we get to capitalize on the culture of celebrity for good—not for marketing … but to actually enlighten people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Not all films have the same impact\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Some critics say these films can be one-sided; Kelly, Allen and Simmons all declined requests to be interviewed for these projects and have denied the crimes they are accused of within them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not every project can have the impact filmmakers anticipate. Drew Dixon, a former record company executive whose accounts of being raped by Russell Simmons and sexually harassed by well-known producer/executive L.A. Reid form the center of \u003cem>On the Record\u003c/em>, says the film’s impact was blunted when media star Oprah Winfrey \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/movies/oprah-winfrey-russell-simmons-movie.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pulled out as an executive producer \u003c/a>in early 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost worse than if she’d never been involved … [it] left this shadow of confusion and doubt around the film,” says Dixon. “A lot of the powerful voices in the Black community that could have drawn attention to the discussion about Black women and our unique vulnerability to sexual violence didn’t happen. And frankly, I feel more isolated now than I did before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film, which also explores how Black women’s stories of harassment and assault may have been left out of the #MeToo movement, also faced criticism from some who viewed it as an attack on successful Black men. Both Dixon and \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>‘s dream hampton noted that the subjects of their films still retain support among some Black people, wary of a white-dominated media system going after stars once considered admirable examples of Black achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Still, Dixon says she has no regrets about participating in the film. “A proliferation of documentaries that center survivors and move the spotlight away from the famous, accused, powerful people … that’s really critically important,” she adds.” That’s how we really humanize the experience and the pain and the real cost of sexual violence for the people who have experienced it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poh Si Teng of the International Documentary Association expects to see many more of these types of films produced, with a tangible impact on the public discourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not cancel culture,” she says, of the way some celebrities have seen their work sidelined after serious allegations. “It’s consequence culture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=R.+Kelly+And+Britney+TV+Docs+Tap+Into+%27Consequence+Culture%2C%27+Not+Cancel+Culture&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "13 Years After the Last R. Kelly Trial, the Culture Has Changed",
"headTitle": "13 Years After the Last R. Kelly Trial, the Culture Has Changed | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This essay includes allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, testimony is scheduled to begin in a Brooklyn courthouse in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1022231076/r-kelly-abuse-charges-trial-aaliyah-timeline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first of two federal trials\u003c/a> against singer, songwriter and producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/156679430/r-kelly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">R. Kelly\u003c/a>. Across two sets of indictments in New York and Illinois, the one-time R&B king is accused of abusing 11 girls and women over more than two decades; making child pornography; making hush-money payments to silence alleged victims; and building a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/r-kelly-charged-racketeering-including-predicate-acts-coercing-and-transporting-minor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">criminal enterprise\u003c/a> specifically to “prey upon young women and teenagers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_104682']Additionally, the New York prosecutors want to admit what they say is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/23/1019972507/r-kelly-prosecutors-evidence-more-crimes-bribery-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">evidence\u003c/a> that Kelly sexually and physically abused girls and women as far back as 1991, sexually abused a boy, and committed bribery. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and has consistently denied accusations that he abused anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, when I’ve told people that I’m covering the New York trial, they have been confused. Allegations have swirled around Kelly for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/11/683936629/r-kelly-allegations-an-abridged-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">over 25 years now\u003c/a>, and so they ask me: Wasn’t he arrested years ago? Yes: he was arrested most recently in July 2019, and he’s remained in custody for the two years since, awaiting trial. But they may also be thinking of his first big trial in 2008—and those accusations, and that trial, figure into some of the current charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2002, in his hometown of Chicago, Kelly was indicted on numerous child pornography charges after a notorious sex tape circulated: it purportedly showed the singer having sex with and urinating on a female whom prosecutors said was about 14 years old at the time. A full six years later, Kelly went to trial and was acquitted of all charges. The young woman who was thought to be the girl on the tape and her parents refused to testify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That 2008 trial figures heavily into some of the current Illinois charges, which include accusations that Kelly and members of his circle intimidated the girl and her father, and persuaded them to lie to both police and a grand jury. Their subsequent refusal to testify, despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-06-14-0806140185-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 other witnesses\u003c/a> identifying the girl, seems to have swayed many jurors to acquit Kelly. (That same woman, now in her thirties, said in 2019 that she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/arts/music/r-kelly-sexual-assault-tape.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cooperating\u003c/a> with federal investigators.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, it seemed like much of the pop culture conversation was primarily about Kelly and his alleged predilections and behaviors, and not so much about anyone who may have been hurt. In certain ways, the culture has shifted since Kelly last stood on trial. Many fans today seem far less willing to overlook what they perceive as problematic content or context in an artist’s work—whether it’s related to racism, sexism, unfair power dynamics or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900624/the-music-industry-is-holding-dababy-accountable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">homophobia\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_109568']The intervening 13 years have also seen dogged, tenacious reporting on Kelly, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729310654/in-soulless-a-journalist-takes-on-r-kelly-and-the-business-that-made-him-a-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>a book by former \u003cem>Chicago Sun-Times\u003c/em> journalist and music critic \u003ca href=\"http://jimdero.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim DeRogatis\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/695083431/surviving-r-kelly-producer-dream-hampton-takes-on-ecosystem-that-s-supported-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>,\u003c/em> a six-part docuseries helmed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.dreamhampton.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dream hampton\u003c/a> that aired on Lifetime. Both were released in 2019, in the midst of the #MeToo movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early days of #MeToo, many prominent accusers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798222176/the-harvey-weinstein-trial-a-brief-timeline-of-how-we-got-here\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">white women\u003c/a>. But the Kelly-related projects explicitly centered the mostly Black girls and women who allegedly were harmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As those projects were being developed, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/05/06/608802024/-muterkelly-gathers-momentum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#MuteRKelly\u003c/a> movement—founded by two Black women, Kenyette Barnes and Oronike Odeleye—gathered steam in an effort to pressure large entertainment companies to sever their ties with Kelly. In writing about #MuteRKelly, \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em> columnist Christine Emba \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/black-women-deserve-better-will-2019-be-the-year-of-change/2019/01/09\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cited\u003c/a> a 1962 speech by Malcolm X: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimderogatis/jerhonda-pace-r-kelly-me-too-tarana-burke#.vc8K1olGo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview \u003c/a>Barnes gave to DeRogatis for BuzzFeed News in March 2018, she asserted: “We don’t give a damn about Black girls. If R. Kelly was white, every civil rights leader would be marching in every street in this country. If the girls were white, every feminist group would be coming out enraged in droves of pussy hats to march against him. The bottom line is that R. Kelly and his victims are the perfect storm of people we don’t care about. We protect problematic Black men in the Black community, and we discard Black girls in all communities. Essentially, he is the greatest example of a predator in that he went after the most vulnerable that no one cares about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, though, Kelly’s management called #MuteRKelly “a public lynching,” noting that “since America was born, Black men and women have been lynched for having sex or for being accused of it.” At the time, #MeToo founder and activist Tarana Burke \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/01/607448801/-metoo-founder-tarana-burke-responds-to-r-kelly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told me\u003c/a>, “The reality of lynching in America is so, so painful and so real. This is not a public lynching. This is a call for public accountability.” (Moreover, in many cases Kelly’s accusers have said that they were underage girls, not women, when they began sexual contact with him.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_108417']“We have seen 24 years of allegations leveled against R. Kelly, and he has gone unscathed,” Burke continued in that 2018 conversation. “What we are looking for, in our community and out, is some accountability from the corporations that support this person who has a 24-year history of sexual violence perpetrated against Black and brown girls around the country.” (At the end of that year, Burke was one of the victims of a gun threat called into an advance screening of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> in New York; Kelly’s former manager, Donnell Russell, has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/902514816/r-kellys-former-manager-charged-with-gun-threat-to-surviving-r-kelly-screening\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">charged\u003c/a> with making that threat. His case is ongoing.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To a large extent, #MuteRKelly came to fruition, albeit years after Kelly’s commercial and creative peak, and sometimes in highly qualified ways. In May 2018, for example, Spotify \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/10/610051559/starting-with-r-kelly-spotify-pulls-artists-from-playlists-for-hateful-conduct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropped\u003c/a> Kelly from its playlists, the way that \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/2017/05/secret-hit-making-power-spotify-playlist/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many listeners\u003c/a> use the service, rather than seeking out particular artists or songs. If you actively search for Kelly’s music on Spotify, however, it’s still there, as are the songs he wrote and/or produced for other artists, including Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Ciara, Missy Elliott and another artist some listeners consider problematic: Michael Jackson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s been one notable exception: Much of the music by Kelly’s protégée Aaliyah—whom he married in 1994, when she was 15 years old and he was 27—is not on Spotify or other streaming services at all. But in an interesting bit of timing, Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle and the former manager of both artists, \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9610793/aaliyah-music-return-streaming-services-blackground-empire/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced\u003c/a> just days before the Kelly trial began that he is making her recording catalog available to streaming services. The New York prosecutors refer to Aaliyah in their indictment as “Jane Doe #1,” for whom they say Kelly and associates bribed a public official to create a fake ID before their marriage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jan. 2019, Kelly’s longtime record label RCA and its parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/686641970/r-kelly-has-been-dropped-by-rca-records-billboard-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropped him\u003c/a> from their artist roster after \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685912752/the-muterkelly-movement-takes-its-protest-to-the-steps-of-his-record-label\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pressure mounted\u003c/a> from #MuteRKelly. But that decision, apparently made in the wake of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> airing, came 16 years after his last big chart hit, 2003’s “Ignition (Remix).” Furthermore, RCA and Sony never publicly acknowledged having dropped Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long before the most recent wave of accusations and reporting, Black and brown voices were calling for a reckoning. Nearly two decades before \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly,\u003c/em> longtime \u003cem>Chicago Sun-Times \u003c/em>columnist Mary Mitchell wrote many pieces asking why the alleged victims were being dismissed or ignored, and why so many Chicagoans were so eager to \u003ca href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2002/8/8/22613656/r-kelly-2002-trial-fans-rally-cook-county-chicago-sun-times-mary-mitchell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">side with Kelly\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, many fans adored him. Quite a few fellow artists brushed aside the allegations and continued to work with him. And comedians like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafRE74JGZ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Chappelle\u003c/a> joked about the alleged Kelly tape and its contents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the debut airing of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly,\u003c/em> then-\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>culture editor (and now \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/912788259/aisha-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR colleague\u003c/a>) Aisha Harris wrote about how the allegations against Kelly became pop-culture\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/arts/television/surviving-r-kelly-dave-chappelle.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> joke fodder\u003c/a>: “For years,” she wrote, “those who laughed at Kelly were able to ignore the charges against him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_109631']In retrospect, that particular spin cycle is reminiscent of what happened to Britney Spears \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/25/1009859700/opinion-britney-is-the-latest-victim-of-the-industry-machine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in the same era\u003c/a>. (She was one of R. Kelly’s labelmates at Jive and then RCA, and Kelly wrote and produced her song “Outrageous,” released in 2004.) Spears’ public struggles, which became little more than a joke and grist for the 24/7 grind of gossip blogs and cable channels vying for eyeballs, happened nearly simultaneously with Kelly’s Chicago trial. The girl at the center of that trial, like Spears, largely became a punchline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several of the women who have accused Kelly of sexual, physical and/or psychological abuse say that when they met him, they, too, like that girl allegedly featured on the infamous tape, were teenagers attempting to become professional musicians, and hoped that the king of R&B would help them chart their own musical careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the music industry, this is a familiar story. Young men strive to make it in the tough, unforgiving music industry; if they succeed, it’s often at least partly through the help of older male mentors. Young women striving to make it in the tough, unforgiving music industry might also seek the help of older male mentors; after all, there are still \u003ca href=\"https://annenberg.usc.edu/news/research-and-impact/annenberg-inclusion-initiatives-annual-report-popular-music-reveals-little\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">far more\u003c/a> successful men in the business than women. But sometimes, rather than being given guidance or opportunity, they instead are cultivated as sexual conquests—and those dreams fade away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Opinion%3A+13+Years+After+The+Last+R.+Kelly+Trial%2C+The+Culture+Has+Changed&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The first federal trial against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly is finally underway, after over 25 years of abuse allegations.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: This essay includes allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, testimony is scheduled to begin in a Brooklyn courthouse in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1022231076/r-kelly-abuse-charges-trial-aaliyah-timeline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first of two federal trials\u003c/a> against singer, songwriter and producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/156679430/r-kelly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">R. Kelly\u003c/a>. Across two sets of indictments in New York and Illinois, the one-time R&B king is accused of abusing 11 girls and women over more than two decades; making child pornography; making hush-money payments to silence alleged victims; and building a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/r-kelly-charged-racketeering-including-predicate-acts-coercing-and-transporting-minor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">criminal enterprise\u003c/a> specifically to “prey upon young women and teenagers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Additionally, the New York prosecutors want to admit what they say is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/23/1019972507/r-kelly-prosecutors-evidence-more-crimes-bribery-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">evidence\u003c/a> that Kelly sexually and physically abused girls and women as far back as 1991, sexually abused a boy, and committed bribery. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and has consistently denied accusations that he abused anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, when I’ve told people that I’m covering the New York trial, they have been confused. Allegations have swirled around Kelly for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/11/683936629/r-kelly-allegations-an-abridged-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">over 25 years now\u003c/a>, and so they ask me: Wasn’t he arrested years ago? Yes: he was arrested most recently in July 2019, and he’s remained in custody for the two years since, awaiting trial. But they may also be thinking of his first big trial in 2008—and those accusations, and that trial, figure into some of the current charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2002, in his hometown of Chicago, Kelly was indicted on numerous child pornography charges after a notorious sex tape circulated: it purportedly showed the singer having sex with and urinating on a female whom prosecutors said was about 14 years old at the time. A full six years later, Kelly went to trial and was acquitted of all charges. The young woman who was thought to be the girl on the tape and her parents refused to testify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That 2008 trial figures heavily into some of the current Illinois charges, which include accusations that Kelly and members of his circle intimidated the girl and her father, and persuaded them to lie to both police and a grand jury. Their subsequent refusal to testify, despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-06-14-0806140185-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14 other witnesses\u003c/a> identifying the girl, seems to have swayed many jurors to acquit Kelly. (That same woman, now in her thirties, said in 2019 that she was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/arts/music/r-kelly-sexual-assault-tape.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cooperating\u003c/a> with federal investigators.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, it seemed like much of the pop culture conversation was primarily about Kelly and his alleged predilections and behaviors, and not so much about anyone who may have been hurt. In certain ways, the culture has shifted since Kelly last stood on trial. Many fans today seem far less willing to overlook what they perceive as problematic content or context in an artist’s work—whether it’s related to racism, sexism, unfair power dynamics or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900624/the-music-industry-is-holding-dababy-accountable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">homophobia\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The intervening 13 years have also seen dogged, tenacious reporting on Kelly, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729310654/in-soulless-a-journalist-takes-on-r-kelly-and-the-business-that-made-him-a-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>a book by former \u003cem>Chicago Sun-Times\u003c/em> journalist and music critic \u003ca href=\"http://jimdero.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim DeRogatis\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/695083431/surviving-r-kelly-producer-dream-hampton-takes-on-ecosystem-that-s-supported-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>,\u003c/em> a six-part docuseries helmed by \u003ca href=\"https://www.dreamhampton.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dream hampton\u003c/a> that aired on Lifetime. Both were released in 2019, in the midst of the #MeToo movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early days of #MeToo, many prominent accusers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798222176/the-harvey-weinstein-trial-a-brief-timeline-of-how-we-got-here\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">white women\u003c/a>. But the Kelly-related projects explicitly centered the mostly Black girls and women who allegedly were harmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As those projects were being developed, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/05/06/608802024/-muterkelly-gathers-momentum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#MuteRKelly\u003c/a> movement—founded by two Black women, Kenyette Barnes and Oronike Odeleye—gathered steam in an effort to pressure large entertainment companies to sever their ties with Kelly. In writing about #MuteRKelly, \u003cem>Washington Post\u003c/em> columnist Christine Emba \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/black-women-deserve-better-will-2019-be-the-year-of-change/2019/01/09\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cited\u003c/a> a 1962 speech by Malcolm X: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimderogatis/jerhonda-pace-r-kelly-me-too-tarana-burke#.vc8K1olGo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview \u003c/a>Barnes gave to DeRogatis for BuzzFeed News in March 2018, she asserted: “We don’t give a damn about Black girls. If R. Kelly was white, every civil rights leader would be marching in every street in this country. If the girls were white, every feminist group would be coming out enraged in droves of pussy hats to march against him. The bottom line is that R. Kelly and his victims are the perfect storm of people we don’t care about. We protect problematic Black men in the Black community, and we discard Black girls in all communities. Essentially, he is the greatest example of a predator in that he went after the most vulnerable that no one cares about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, though, Kelly’s management called #MuteRKelly “a public lynching,” noting that “since America was born, Black men and women have been lynched for having sex or for being accused of it.” At the time, #MeToo founder and activist Tarana Burke \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/01/607448801/-metoo-founder-tarana-burke-responds-to-r-kelly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told me\u003c/a>, “The reality of lynching in America is so, so painful and so real. This is not a public lynching. This is a call for public accountability.” (Moreover, in many cases Kelly’s accusers have said that they were underage girls, not women, when they began sexual contact with him.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We have seen 24 years of allegations leveled against R. Kelly, and he has gone unscathed,” Burke continued in that 2018 conversation. “What we are looking for, in our community and out, is some accountability from the corporations that support this person who has a 24-year history of sexual violence perpetrated against Black and brown girls around the country.” (At the end of that year, Burke was one of the victims of a gun threat called into an advance screening of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> in New York; Kelly’s former manager, Donnell Russell, has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/902514816/r-kellys-former-manager-charged-with-gun-threat-to-surviving-r-kelly-screening\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">charged\u003c/a> with making that threat. His case is ongoing.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To a large extent, #MuteRKelly came to fruition, albeit years after Kelly’s commercial and creative peak, and sometimes in highly qualified ways. In May 2018, for example, Spotify \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/10/610051559/starting-with-r-kelly-spotify-pulls-artists-from-playlists-for-hateful-conduct\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropped\u003c/a> Kelly from its playlists, the way that \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/2017/05/secret-hit-making-power-spotify-playlist/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many listeners\u003c/a> use the service, rather than seeking out particular artists or songs. If you actively search for Kelly’s music on Spotify, however, it’s still there, as are the songs he wrote and/or produced for other artists, including Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Ciara, Missy Elliott and another artist some listeners consider problematic: Michael Jackson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s been one notable exception: Much of the music by Kelly’s protégée Aaliyah—whom he married in 1994, when she was 15 years old and he was 27—is not on Spotify or other streaming services at all. But in an interesting bit of timing, Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle and the former manager of both artists, \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9610793/aaliyah-music-return-streaming-services-blackground-empire/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced\u003c/a> just days before the Kelly trial began that he is making her recording catalog available to streaming services. The New York prosecutors refer to Aaliyah in their indictment as “Jane Doe #1,” for whom they say Kelly and associates bribed a public official to create a fake ID before their marriage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jan. 2019, Kelly’s longtime record label RCA and its parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/18/686641970/r-kelly-has-been-dropped-by-rca-records-billboard-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dropped him\u003c/a> from their artist roster after \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685912752/the-muterkelly-movement-takes-its-protest-to-the-steps-of-his-record-label\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pressure mounted\u003c/a> from #MuteRKelly. But that decision, apparently made in the wake of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly\u003c/em> airing, came 16 years after his last big chart hit, 2003’s “Ignition (Remix).” Furthermore, RCA and Sony never publicly acknowledged having dropped Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long before the most recent wave of accusations and reporting, Black and brown voices were calling for a reckoning. Nearly two decades before \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly,\u003c/em> longtime \u003cem>Chicago Sun-Times \u003c/em>columnist Mary Mitchell wrote many pieces asking why the alleged victims were being dismissed or ignored, and why so many Chicagoans were so eager to \u003ca href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2002/8/8/22613656/r-kelly-2002-trial-fans-rally-cook-county-chicago-sun-times-mary-mitchell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">side with Kelly\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, many fans adored him. Quite a few fellow artists brushed aside the allegations and continued to work with him. And comedians like \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafRE74JGZ8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Chappelle\u003c/a> joked about the alleged Kelly tape and its contents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the debut airing of \u003cem>Surviving R. Kelly,\u003c/em> then-\u003cem>New York Times \u003c/em>culture editor (and now \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/912788259/aisha-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR colleague\u003c/a>) Aisha Harris wrote about how the allegations against Kelly became pop-culture\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/arts/television/surviving-r-kelly-dave-chappelle.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> joke fodder\u003c/a>: “For years,” she wrote, “those who laughed at Kelly were able to ignore the charges against him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In retrospect, that particular spin cycle is reminiscent of what happened to Britney Spears \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/25/1009859700/opinion-britney-is-the-latest-victim-of-the-industry-machine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in the same era\u003c/a>. (She was one of R. Kelly’s labelmates at Jive and then RCA, and Kelly wrote and produced her song “Outrageous,” released in 2004.) Spears’ public struggles, which became little more than a joke and grist for the 24/7 grind of gossip blogs and cable channels vying for eyeballs, happened nearly simultaneously with Kelly’s Chicago trial. The girl at the center of that trial, like Spears, largely became a punchline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several of the women who have accused Kelly of sexual, physical and/or psychological abuse say that when they met him, they, too, like that girl allegedly featured on the infamous tape, were teenagers attempting to become professional musicians, and hoped that the king of R&B would help them chart their own musical careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the music industry, this is a familiar story. Young men strive to make it in the tough, unforgiving music industry; if they succeed, it’s often at least partly through the help of older male mentors. Young women striving to make it in the tough, unforgiving music industry might also seek the help of older male mentors; after all, there are still \u003ca href=\"https://annenberg.usc.edu/news/research-and-impact/annenberg-inclusion-initiatives-annual-report-popular-music-reveals-little\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">far more\u003c/a> successful men in the business than women. But sometimes, rather than being given guidance or opportunity, they instead are cultivated as sexual conquests—and those dreams fade away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Opinion%3A+13+Years+After+The+Last+R.+Kelly+Trial%2C+The+Culture+Has+Changed&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "To Save Live Music, We Need to Get Vaccinated",
"headTitle": "To Save Live Music, We Need to Get Vaccinated | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Offspring drummer Pete Parada received an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE_rkVnIgL/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outpouring of support\u003c/a> earlier this week after he announced he would be unable to tour for the foreseeable future. In an emotional Instagram post, Parada said that a medical condition he has been living with since childhood—\u003ca href=\"https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Guillain-Barr%C3%A9-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guillain-Barré Syndrome\u003c/a> (GBS)—prevented him from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, and that his band now considered him “unsafe” to work with. GBS is a rare and incurable condition that causes the body’s immune system to attack its nerves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given my personal history and the side-effect profile of these jabs,” Parada wrote, “my doctor has advised me not to get a shot at this time. Unfortunately for me (and my family—who is hoping to keep me around a bit longer), the risks far outweigh the benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent figures suggest there may an increased risk of suffering a bout of GBS after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. “There have been 100 preliminary reports of GBS following vaccination,” the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-july-13-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FDA reports\u003c/a>, “after approximately 12.5 million doses administered.” However, there is \u003ca href=\"https://health.clevelandclinic.org/guillain-barre-syndrome-and-covid-vaccine/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no evidence\u003c/a> that the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines carry increased risks for GBS patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE_rkVnIgL/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since I am unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate,” Parada wrote, “it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour. I mention this because you won’t be seeing me at these upcoming shows. I also want to share my story so that anyone else experiencing the agony and isolation of getting left behind right now knows they’re not entirely alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday, Parada’s post had been liked almost 18,000 times, and prompted comments of love, support and vaccine-related outrage. One fan wrote, “The fear, the manipulation and coercion around [vaccines] are truly what is frightening.” Five Finger Death Punch drummer Charlie Engen commented that it was “sickening you even have to explain yourself.” Bad Wolves vocalist Tommy Vext called Parada’s predicament “a fucking disgrace,” and opined that “this all feels like the beginnings of a medical apartheid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those are strong words in a live-music landscape that is still accommodating unvaccinated people. Parada’s announcement (and the outpouring that it prompted) directly followed a weekend in which 100,000 fans a day—including the unvaccinated—descended on the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. Ticket holders without vaccines were permitted at the event with proof of a negative COVID test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/lollapalooza/status/1420865743269339143\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weekend before, Miami’s Rolling Loud Festival attracted daily crowds of 75,000 and had zero COVID-related restrictions for entry. “Fans will have the choice, whether or not they want to be vaccinated or mask,” festival co-founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-gardens/article252927603.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tariq Cheriff told the \u003cem>Miami Herald\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. “That’s basically what we believe in. You got the choice and that’s it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13900368,arts_13900770']While some of America’s most popular festivals—including Coachella, Burning Man and SXSW—have opted to postpone until 2022, many others are still forging ahead this year. COVID restrictions for attendees at each event vary and are at the discretion of the organizers. So, for example, while Napa’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlerocknapavalley.com/health-safety/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BottleRock\u003c/a> will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfoutsidelands.com/health-and-safety/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Outside Lands\u003c/a> is—for the moment, at least—merely saying it “will follow the recommended health and safety guidelines put forth by the authorities.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/covid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stern Grove\u003c/a> says it will have a reservation-only policy and a perimeter, but no requirement to show vaccine status at this time. It is unclear what restrictions will be in place for performers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for music venues, in California at least, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) reports that most of the music venues checking vaccine cards are also accepting negative COVID tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Parada claimed that his decision to not get vaccinated was a medical one, he also shared clear anti-vax opinions later in his post. “I do not find it ethical or wise,” he wrote, “to allow those with the most power (government, corporations, organizations, employers) to dictate medical procedures to those with the least power.” Parada continued: “If it looks like half the population is having a shockingly different reaction to these jabs than was expected—it’s probably because their life experiences have actually been shockingly different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the music industry scrambles to bring back live music, the very least fans and musicians should be doing before heading out to venues is getting vaccinated and/or checking their COVID status regularly with tests. Even then, an abundance of caution should still be exercised. The Netherlands’ Verknipt festival, which took place in mid-July, offers a cautionary example. The two-day outdoor festival required proof of vaccine or a negative test to enter, but still led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/music-festival-in-holland-leads-to-over-1000-covid-infections.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,050 COVID infections\u003c/a>—5% of attendees caught the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make no mistake, the social and personal freedoms we have successfully wrangled back in recent months are a direct result of the vaccine rollout. What most threatens those freedoms now is the highly transmissible delta variant which, data proves, vaccines protect against. (“The rate of breakthrough cases reported among those fully vaccinated is well below 1% in all reporting states,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/well/live/covid-delta-variant-vaccine-symptoms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.) The larger barriers to the freedom of immunocompromised people aren’t COVID safety measures—they’re the dangers posed by a virus that spreads further and faster the less people are vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Offspring drummer Pete Parada just sparked a conversation about vaccines and consent—but the issue is bigger than any one person.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Offspring drummer Pete Parada received an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE_rkVnIgL/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outpouring of support\u003c/a> earlier this week after he announced he would be unable to tour for the foreseeable future. In an emotional Instagram post, Parada said that a medical condition he has been living with since childhood—\u003ca href=\"https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Guillain-Barr%C3%A9-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guillain-Barré Syndrome\u003c/a> (GBS)—prevented him from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, and that his band now considered him “unsafe” to work with. GBS is a rare and incurable condition that causes the body’s immune system to attack its nerves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given my personal history and the side-effect profile of these jabs,” Parada wrote, “my doctor has advised me not to get a shot at this time. Unfortunately for me (and my family—who is hoping to keep me around a bit longer), the risks far outweigh the benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent figures suggest there may an increased risk of suffering a bout of GBS after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. “There have been 100 preliminary reports of GBS following vaccination,” the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-july-13-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FDA reports\u003c/a>, “after approximately 12.5 million doses administered.” However, there is \u003ca href=\"https://health.clevelandclinic.org/guillain-barre-syndrome-and-covid-vaccine/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no evidence\u003c/a> that the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines carry increased risks for GBS patients.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Since I am unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate,” Parada wrote, “it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour. I mention this because you won’t be seeing me at these upcoming shows. I also want to share my story so that anyone else experiencing the agony and isolation of getting left behind right now knows they’re not entirely alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By Wednesday, Parada’s post had been liked almost 18,000 times, and prompted comments of love, support and vaccine-related outrage. One fan wrote, “The fear, the manipulation and coercion around [vaccines] are truly what is frightening.” Five Finger Death Punch drummer Charlie Engen commented that it was “sickening you even have to explain yourself.” Bad Wolves vocalist Tommy Vext called Parada’s predicament “a fucking disgrace,” and opined that “this all feels like the beginnings of a medical apartheid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those are strong words in a live-music landscape that is still accommodating unvaccinated people. Parada’s announcement (and the outpouring that it prompted) directly followed a weekend in which 100,000 fans a day—including the unvaccinated—descended on the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. Ticket holders without vaccines were permitted at the event with proof of a negative COVID test.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The weekend before, Miami’s Rolling Loud Festival attracted daily crowds of 75,000 and had zero COVID-related restrictions for entry. “Fans will have the choice, whether or not they want to be vaccinated or mask,” festival co-founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-gardens/article252927603.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tariq Cheriff told the \u003cem>Miami Herald\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. “That’s basically what we believe in. You got the choice and that’s it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While some of America’s most popular festivals—including Coachella, Burning Man and SXSW—have opted to postpone until 2022, many others are still forging ahead this year. COVID restrictions for attendees at each event vary and are at the discretion of the organizers. So, for example, while Napa’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlerocknapavalley.com/health-safety/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BottleRock\u003c/a> will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfoutsidelands.com/health-and-safety/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Outside Lands\u003c/a> is—for the moment, at least—merely saying it “will follow the recommended health and safety guidelines put forth by the authorities.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sterngrove.org/covid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stern Grove\u003c/a> says it will have a reservation-only policy and a perimeter, but no requirement to show vaccine status at this time. It is unclear what restrictions will be in place for performers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for music venues, in California at least, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) reports that most of the music venues checking vaccine cards are also accepting negative COVID tests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Parada claimed that his decision to not get vaccinated was a medical one, he also shared clear anti-vax opinions later in his post. “I do not find it ethical or wise,” he wrote, “to allow those with the most power (government, corporations, organizations, employers) to dictate medical procedures to those with the least power.” Parada continued: “If it looks like half the population is having a shockingly different reaction to these jabs than was expected—it’s probably because their life experiences have actually been shockingly different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the music industry scrambles to bring back live music, the very least fans and musicians should be doing before heading out to venues is getting vaccinated and/or checking their COVID status regularly with tests. Even then, an abundance of caution should still be exercised. The Netherlands’ Verknipt festival, which took place in mid-July, offers a cautionary example. The two-day outdoor festival required proof of vaccine or a negative test to enter, but still led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/15/music-festival-in-holland-leads-to-over-1000-covid-infections.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,050 COVID infections\u003c/a>—5% of attendees caught the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make no mistake, the social and personal freedoms we have successfully wrangled back in recent months are a direct result of the vaccine rollout. What most threatens those freedoms now is the highly transmissible delta variant which, data proves, vaccines protect against. (“The rate of breakthrough cases reported among those fully vaccinated is well below 1% in all reporting states,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/well/live/covid-delta-variant-vaccine-symptoms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.) The larger barriers to the freedom of immunocompromised people aren’t COVID safety measures—they’re the dangers posed by a virus that spreads further and faster the less people are vaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Central Park ‘Karen,’ Amy Cooper, Remains Unrepentant About Central Park Karen-ing",
"headTitle": "Central Park ‘Karen,’ Amy Cooper, Remains Unrepentant About Central Park Karen-ing | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In God-Just-Shut-Up-Already news, that white lady who made an unhinged call to cops about the man who was birdwatching while Black is back! And—wouldn’t you know it—she’s defending all that dog choking and racism she did in Central Park last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In case you need a refresher, this is what that looked like:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0FByIEijXI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Appearing on the \u003ca href=\"https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/the-real-story-of-the-central-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Honestly with Bari Weiss\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast this week, Amy Cooper phoned in from an undisclosed location to say that, “It’s been a hard year of having to stay silent and watch things be said across the world that were untrue.” Cooper then doubled down on the Scary Black Man narrative that she used during her call to the cops in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13881138']“Suddenly, I heard this loud booming voice behind me,” Cooper said, “screaming something to the effect of ‘Get out of here’ or ‘You shouldn’t be here’—something like that. Whenever you hear something loud, you naturally just startled a little bit. And I turned around and immediately saw this man standing there looking, you know, like he’s very annoyed that I’m in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooper continued: “And then he utters something that sounds to me like a threat. That he’s going to do something to me that I’m not going to like … I’m trying to figure out, ‘What does that mean?’ … Is this guy going to lure my dog over and hit him with his bike helmet? … And if I end up over there, am I going to get hit with this bike helmet?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later still, Cooper says: “It’s really weird because he’s still standing there, you know, same very physical posture, and suddenly out of him comes this voice from a man who’s been very dominant towards me. Suddenly, you know, almost this victimized voice, saying, ‘Don’t come near me. Don’t come any closer.’ Almost like he’s terrified of me. To me that’s even more terrifying now because you’ve gone from screaming at me—if you kept screaming at me, at least it was consistent, but now his whole verbal demeanor has changed. That made no sense to me whatsoever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of her decision to call 911, Cooper says: “I’d looked around. I’d explored all my options. I tried to leave. I tried to look for anyone who was around. There was no noise, no sound. And it was, you know, it was my last attempt to, sort of, hope that he would step down and leave me alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 80-minute podcast, journalist Kmele Foster offers several nuggets of info that the listener is supposed to treat as astonishing revelations, but only offer broader context to the incident. These include the fact that the 911 call Amy Cooper made was almost inaudible to the dispatcher on the other end of the line, so she had to keep repeating herself. In addition, Cooper talks about a sexual assault she endured in her teens that she says impacted her emotional response in the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster spends some time establishing that Christian Cooper was sick of dog walkers in the birding areas of Central Park. There is an audio clip featured in the podcast of Christian Cooper speaking at a community meeting on the matter. Foster also says he found two other people who Christian Cooper had admonished for walking dogs off leash, who said they had felt threatened by him in the park. (Neither wanted to speak on the record.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13882681']All of which is interesting, but fails to answer the most important question of all: Why did Amy Cooper stay in the park, with a man she says was afraid of, when he was specifically asking her to stay away from him? Why did she opt to move closer to him, when she had already retrieved her dog? And why did she call the cops, instead of walking away when she had a clear opportunity to do so?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We already knew the answers to all of those questions; the fundamentals of this story remain unchanged. The fact that Amy Cooper is now trying to persuade us otherwise (after issuing \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUQWd4q3tjA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an apology for her behavior\u003c/a> in May 2020) only serves to make this entire incident even worse.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In God-Just-Shut-Up-Already news, that white lady who made an unhinged call to cops about the man who was birdwatching while Black is back! And—wouldn’t you know it—she’s defending all that dog choking and racism she did in Central Park last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In case you need a refresher, this is what that looked like:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/W0FByIEijXI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/W0FByIEijXI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Appearing on the \u003ca href=\"https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/the-real-story-of-the-central-park\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Honestly with Bari Weiss\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast this week, Amy Cooper phoned in from an undisclosed location to say that, “It’s been a hard year of having to stay silent and watch things be said across the world that were untrue.” Cooper then doubled down on the Scary Black Man narrative that she used during her call to the cops in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Suddenly, I heard this loud booming voice behind me,” Cooper said, “screaming something to the effect of ‘Get out of here’ or ‘You shouldn’t be here’—something like that. Whenever you hear something loud, you naturally just startled a little bit. And I turned around and immediately saw this man standing there looking, you know, like he’s very annoyed that I’m in there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cooper continued: “And then he utters something that sounds to me like a threat. That he’s going to do something to me that I’m not going to like … I’m trying to figure out, ‘What does that mean?’ … Is this guy going to lure my dog over and hit him with his bike helmet? … And if I end up over there, am I going to get hit with this bike helmet?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later still, Cooper says: “It’s really weird because he’s still standing there, you know, same very physical posture, and suddenly out of him comes this voice from a man who’s been very dominant towards me. Suddenly, you know, almost this victimized voice, saying, ‘Don’t come near me. Don’t come any closer.’ Almost like he’s terrified of me. To me that’s even more terrifying now because you’ve gone from screaming at me—if you kept screaming at me, at least it was consistent, but now his whole verbal demeanor has changed. That made no sense to me whatsoever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of her decision to call 911, Cooper says: “I’d looked around. I’d explored all my options. I tried to leave. I tried to look for anyone who was around. There was no noise, no sound. And it was, you know, it was my last attempt to, sort of, hope that he would step down and leave me alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 80-minute podcast, journalist Kmele Foster offers several nuggets of info that the listener is supposed to treat as astonishing revelations, but only offer broader context to the incident. These include the fact that the 911 call Amy Cooper made was almost inaudible to the dispatcher on the other end of the line, so she had to keep repeating herself. In addition, Cooper talks about a sexual assault she endured in her teens that she says impacted her emotional response in the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Foster spends some time establishing that Christian Cooper was sick of dog walkers in the birding areas of Central Park. There is an audio clip featured in the podcast of Christian Cooper speaking at a community meeting on the matter. Foster also says he found two other people who Christian Cooper had admonished for walking dogs off leash, who said they had felt threatened by him in the park. (Neither wanted to speak on the record.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>All of which is interesting, but fails to answer the most important question of all: Why did Amy Cooper stay in the park, with a man she says was afraid of, when he was specifically asking her to stay away from him? Why did she opt to move closer to him, when she had already retrieved her dog? And why did she call the cops, instead of walking away when she had a clear opportunity to do so?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We already knew the answers to all of those questions; the fundamentals of this story remain unchanged. The fact that Amy Cooper is now trying to persuade us otherwise (after issuing \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUQWd4q3tjA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an apology for her behavior\u003c/a> in May 2020) only serves to make this entire incident even worse.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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},
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"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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