I wrote a piece on Trump this summer that just appeared in Digital Review in an issue dedicated to the past year. I hope you enjoy it. I'll be back with some more stuff in a political vein soon.
Trump Time
Trump Time
Hello, friends
Post-rally Thoughts
April 16, 2015
Today in the East Bay nobody is dying in front of my house. Nearby, in Oakland, Richmond, Hayward and all the other rough parts, somebody is shot or stabbed or lying dead in a pool of blood on the hard street, or expiring alone in an apartment, a victim of his or her own despair. Death hangs in the Read More
10 Comments
Comments
Apr 16, 2015 9:32 PM EDT
Okay, I'm not a stranger. Wish I'd been there, representing our faculty union, standing shoulder to shoulder with workers who really need a raise, a break. Good column. Keep blogging!
- Alvarado O'Brien
Apr 16, 2015 9:58 PM EDT
While I'm not a stranger, I am perhaps your biggest fan. This is a gift. You are a gift. Sharing, widely, thrilled and elated. Moved. So moved.
- Sara
Apr 17, 2015 9:25 AM EDT
Terrific post on a very important topic! To prevent the perpetration of violence by desperate people, I'd add that in addition to raising the minimum wage, we need to have more and better programs in place to ensure that mentally ill people will be able to get treatment easily, but not guns.
- Lucy Day
Apr 17, 2015 11:27 AM EDT
I'm not a stranger either, but my husband's pants are so worn out you can see his underwear, and his shoes are even worse. Even though he works gruelingly hard as a small business owner, there is never any money left after he covers his overhead expenses. And me? I have three graduate degrees, and all I have to show for them is well over a hundred grand in student loan debt and little hope of ever paying it off.
I don't think I'll be getting a gun, but I will admit sometimes I fantasize about getting a pitchfork and heading for the hills.
Another one of your biggest fans,
Mira
- Anonymous
Apr 17, 2015 7:54 PM EDT
I appreciate the commentary and the articulation of that commentary through the highly charged vignette of escalating energies in disparate individuals representing communities who are now finding they have more things in common then they may have realized-- humanity. As always, enjoyed your perspective, voice, sensibility and craft.
- Ali
Apr 17, 2015 7:59 PM EDT
Nor am I a stranger. But, I’m moved to join the conversation.
The world needs more reality-based grit, like I can always count on to come from Steve.
You've spoken so many truths here. What comes to mind, after driving past an elementary school in East Oakland this afternoon, is the absolute inequity that persists within America's education system, beginning with preschool and exponentially rising to the universities. I’m deeply saddened and frustrated by the rich continuing to have access to quality academics, while the poor are discouraged and challenged to access such information.
The boy in Blackhawk has it all, down to being captain of the lacrosse team. The girl in East Oakland. Well, what does she have?
Earlier this week, my students and I were having a discussion on a similar topic. It became clear that those with a certain high school GPA were incredibly supported by their high schools to apply to Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc. Those with “lesser” GPA’s were told to attend a community college, or, if they wished, to apply to a CSU. They might get in, if they tried hard enough.
- Hillary
Apr 18, 2015 7:19 PM EDT
Wow. Spot on. The inequities are blatant, yet ignored. When the Occupy Movement occupied the Civic Center in downtown Oakland/downtown NYC/downtown Anywhere - who cared? The rich turned away, dismissive, unseeing, uncaring. What's the point of occupying those spaces that are disregarded? It's like the riots when the 'hoods are burnt. Why didn't they, say, occupy the Claremont Hotel? The Hamptons? The exclusive enclaves where the "job creators" play? Yes, the gun lies on the seat...silent...waiting.
- gz
Apr 18, 2015 9:30 PM EDT
Are you a stranger, friend? GZ? If so, please contact me so I can fulfill my end of the bargain. My email link is on my homepage. At any rate, thank you for the response!
- Stephen Gutierrez
Apr 19, 2015 12:20 PM EDT
The mark of the good writer is the ability to put into words that which everyone feels but cannot find the words to express. Thanks, Steve, for putting into words exactly how I feel. Freedom, real freedom, takes great sacrifice and a lot of work. Many, myself included, are willing to settle for comfort or the damn-near comfortable. I'm a work in progress, but I will try to get outside of my head and help who I can. That's all we can really do.
- Matt
Apr 19, 2015 3:37 PM EDT
What a searing portrait of the societal suicide pact that is ignoring class inequity. Thank you from another big big fan, who remains in awe of your voice, your urgency, your words--gorgeous and pissed and full of life--reminding us what strong honest words can do.
- Mariah