The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is home to one of the largest collections of items in the Smithsonian network. With nearly eight hundred fifty thousand items to its name, there’s hardly a corner or corridor lacking something to show. Even its loneliest nooks — a path leading only to a small seating […]
The National Museum of the American Indian: An Overview Read More »
Washington, DC, like other hotbeds of culture, has many claims to local and national fame. Its monuments, museums, and political institutions attract visitors and transplants from far and wide. Half-smokes and mumbo sauce are distinct and delicious products of the District. The influence of go-go music and Georgetown’s Blues Alley club reach well beyond their
Love, Hope, and Art: The Murals of Luis Peralta Del Valle Read More »
The American news cycle has been buzzing for months with a particularly bizarre political story. As the nation faces record-high numbers of asylum seekers at the Southern border, three Republican governors—Greg Abbott of Texas, Doug Ducey of Arizona, and Ron DeSantis of Florida—have resorted to busing thousands of migrants to Democratic stronghold cities Washington, New
Migrant Busing: Where Do the Games End? Read More »
African Americans have wondered for centuries how to get their most stubborn and bigoted countrymen to use their common sense and sympathize with them. Each generation, free or enslaved, has brought forth the birth of new methods and the reconfiguration of old ones as a means of survival. The sycophantic slave or servant, the Negro
No Sense, No Shame Read More »
Weird television darling Nathan Fielder has finally made the big time. After expanding his following as the star of Comedy Central’s Nathan for You from 2013 to 2017, a comedy reality series in which he attempts to help real struggling business owners through increasingly bizarre business tactics—staging a viral video to attract visitors to a
We Could All Use a Rehearsal, and Nathan Fielder Wants to Give Us One Read More »
Poetry, undeniably, is on the rise. However, just a decade ago, the US Census Bureau’s annual Survey of Public Participation in the Arts reported that its readership was experiencing a 20-year skid, and that Americans were more likely to knit or attend a jazz or even classical music concert than they were to read a
Poetry’s Past, Present and Future Read More »
One year after Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection, I found myself wondering why the America he left us felt so divided. Why it felt especially divided. Though it’s simple enough to see that he broadened our divisions, his divisiveness wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking in itself. Prior to Trump, the country certainly had no shortage
Politics Are Still Not the Problem Read More »
National restaurant chain Alvin’s has come under fire following a string of thematic advertisements and promotions that have been called “frighteningly tone-deaf.” The multi-billion-dollar burger franchise most recently raised eyebrows with a Pride Month ad campaign that CEO Ruben Parham said was designed “to uplift and pronounce support for some of the most targeted and
Fake News: Alvin’s Read More »
One year ago, I and three hundred thirty million Americans experienced the first ever federally recognized Juneteenth. Regular readers might remember that mine began less than exceptionally. When I heard two days prior that Juneteenth had been declared a federal holiday, all I could think about was how little of an impact that news would
Reflections on My Second Federally Recognized Juneteenth Read More »
James Patterson, the world’s bestselling author of the past ten years, has faced considerable backlash since claiming in The Sunday Times that white men, especially older ones, have a harder time finding writing jobs than most. In last Sunday’s interview, the “Alex Cross” author went so far as to cite “racism” as the source of
James Patterson Implies: The Hills We Die On Read More »
