To begin with, let me say I have been lucky, lucky, lucky during the pandemic. I’ve been able to work with almost no disruption. I’ve been healthy, and my family has been healthy. Now we’re vaccinated. Most of the people we know have made it through this year in pretty good shape, which is, of course, a miracle not enjoyed by lots of other people. So relatively speaking, we are very fortunate.

That said, this year has sucked. I’m only beginning to realize some of the ways it has sucked, now that things are loosening ever so slightly. Last week…

Gabriela Medina was around 10 years old when she first learned in school that the United States’ president was her president, too. The Congress she’d heard about? The one that met thousands of miles away across the ocean? Well, they made laws that applied to her as well, laws that often superseded the ones enacted by leaders at home in Puerto Rico.

But what really stuck with Gabriela was something so fundamentally unfair, so mind-blowingly unjust, it began shaping her political identity. As a Puerto Rican living in the archipelago, she would never be able to choose who represented her…

I watched the Derek Chauvin trial in my office rather obsessively throughout the last month, and while the case for his guilt seemed to grow more overwhelming by the day — and it was pretty overwhelming in the first place — I, like a lot of Americans, was skeptical that there would be a conviction, based on, you know, American history. So Tuesday’s conviction was a relief, albeit several clicks short of equaling the scales. Justice was done. But as so many have pointed out, the conviction was a rarity. There is another trial next month, in the death of…

Active Voice

Chi Ossé describes his relationship with activism and advocacy as an awakening — one that transpired last summer after the murder of George Floyd led him and his friends to protest on the streets of New York City. The 23-year-old activist became so inspired by the collective demonstrations that he and his peers attended marches and vigils almost daily. Realizing that people were listening to his voice and following his lead, Ossé organized Warriors in the Garden, a collective of activists dedicated to nonviolent protest. The collective’s efforts spread far beyond marching, with clothing drives, business fairs, and voter registration…

What’s President Joe Biden’s position on the legal travails of Representative Matt Gaetz? Where does he stand on the removal of some Dr. Seuss books from publication? What public comments did he make about the Japanese golfer who won the Masters last weekend? What does President Joe Biden think about NFTs? After copious research, I believe the answers to those questions are none, he doesn’t, he didn’t, and he almost definitely has no idea what that is.

I keep trying to articulate just what we are currently experiencing as a country, and I think I’ve found a good comparison. Do…

Are we done with being at home?

We’ve explored every cranny and mended every drape in our houses and apartments. And now with a few more degrees of warmth in the air and the rising possibility of a shot or two in our arms, many of us are thinking about the open road.

But before your finger actually hits the buy button on that online reservation, it might be worth taking a pause and considering what staying home has done for the planet. In spite of all of its miseries 2020 was the year our country finally went on a…

Active Voice

Nadya Okamoto has no problem talking about her period. Growing up in a household with a single mom and two sisters kept the floor open for all things menstruation. At age 16, during morning commutes to school, she would chat with homeless women who first introduced her to period poverty, a global issue affecting women and girls who don’t have access to sanitary products.

After researching the crisis more, Okamoto realized she had yet to hear about the issue because of the stigma surrounding menstrual cycles. It’s not widely known that 40 U.S. states tax tampon sales. Recognizing her privilege…

Don’t judge me, but I collect VHS. I swear I’m not a hipster. I’m a first-year millennial, and VHS tapes truly are the sacred texts of my people. The holy, acrid smell of seemingly ageless plastic as the cassette slides from its box. The ritual before inserting it into the VCR: Hinge the flap, spool the tape taut with your fingertips, and check the rewind status. Perhaps denominational differences in household pre-watch observances: popcorn and a Coke, read the back of the box, pillow fort.

The nostalgic benefits of VHS extend to content as well. Original trailers, title cards, and…