Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Intersectional Environmentalism (Hacks and Resources). Second Place in Sustainability Hacks Challenge.
Despite sustainability being second nature in Black and Brown homes, often unknowingly, the sustainability community is often dominated by white people making it difficult for BIPOC to feel included in the conversation. Additionally, "cruelty-free" options can be tone deaf and completely disregard environmental racism. Major distributors like Amazon are exploitative, therefore, not everyone is comfortable supporting unethical companies that are often included in posts about zero waste options.
By Gabriella Pomales5 years ago in The Swamp
Book Review: “Too Much and Never Enough” by Mary L. Trump
Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book, and I’ll tell you exactly why. Nearly everyone has tried to explain the dystopian apocalyptic nightmare that is the reign of Donald Trump as POTUS, even those who initially supported him during his 2016 election campaign. Since the mass movements that have developed during his presidency, the environmental crises, the Flint Water problems and many more, Donald Trump is more inactive than evil - even his Twitter account is more alive than his want to remove the dark stains that protrude through American History and are seemingly slipping through the cracks in his power once again. Again, everyone has written a book or thought about writing a book about why they cannot really understand how Donald Trump is still president through all of this, but I was more apprehensive about reading this particular one not because it was by his niece but because it was dealing with something that from research, I know to be a touchy subject: Donald Trump’s mental health.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Man in Office
Dear Man-in-Office, Whether or not you know it, you are truly screwing this country over. You recently signed some executive orders in the hopes of stimulating our economy and helping those who are out of work or those having become very stretched thin by the pandemic by giving them money or a deferment to pay bills/taxes. Of course, this all hinges on your being re-elected (there is always a catch with you).
By Colleen Sweeney5 years ago in The Swamp
‘Boys State’ is a Fascinating Look at a Very American Event
“The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever being one.” – Billy Connolly Since 1935, The American Legion has sponsored Boys State (and Girls State, which is somehow a separated event, even in the 21st Century, but we’ll get back to that), a national civics program designed to immerse seventeen-year-olds into the nuts and bolts of public governance.
By MovieBabble5 years ago in The Swamp
How the West was Radicalized
As I signed my name on the ‘Locker Cleanout List’, I remember thinking to myself; I suppose I won’t see my friends for some time. By this time, school had been closed for a couple of weeks. A virus had appeared in our country and spread to my community a month prior and now we all had to finish the school year at home. Of course, unannounced interruptions to education were something that my generation had become accustomed to by this point.
By Patrick O'Neill5 years ago in The Swamp
Kunta Koin
Kunta Coin aka US Slavery Tax The time has come for the American Negro to stand up. We have been on our knees for nearly 500 years begging the United States Government to atone for the sins of their Fathers. We have bled for this country long before they even knew what the color scheme or catchy slogan would be. For the Black Man, Woman and Child this has never been the Land of the Free or the Home of the Brave. How can you Cowards be Brave if you continuously hide behind hooded sheets and Walls of Blue.
By DreadPirateBob5 years ago in The Swamp
Morality in America
Since I was a child, I believed firmly in the principles I was taught that America was built on the foundation that all people are created equal and deserved of the opportunity to pursue happiness while living on American soil. As I grew up, I held these teaching to be true without ever questioning or looking at the reality of the state America is in.
By Justin Perryman5 years ago in The Swamp
Why the Upcoming Election Matters
Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis posted a savvy article in Rolling Stone, entitled The Unraveling of America. Its thesis that America's generally atrocious handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, under our "buffoon of a president," laid bare a decay and decline that already was well underway, in racism and income inequality, is well-evidenced and well-argued, and undeniable. But I disagree with Davis on two important points, one historical, the other up and coming.
By Paul Levinson5 years ago in The Swamp
Black Lives Shattered
Black Lives Shattered The same rules don’t apply to “us”, oh no it’s always been different for our kind. The differences between us & them are something I know all to well. Tis not a complaint about whether or not life is fair, for if your one of us you know the answer to that question. NO no no no no no no, hell no. Without question the challenges we face in America as African Americans are unique to us. Not to say other ethnicities don’t face their own or even similar issues as blacks in the United States.
By Olaniyi Ayanlaja5 years ago in The Swamp
