Blog / Our America

The Knee: A Short History

June 17, 2020 - By Erri De Luca

In 328 BCE, Alexander the Great added the gesture of genuflection to his court ceremonies, following the practice of his vanquished enemy, Persia. It was an act of humility already practiced in Babylonia—diminishing one’s stature to a greater degree than a simple bow.

The practice is common to many religions and extends to private use, by a suitor in proposing marriage.

The human body is expressly political. To participate in a demonstration is already to declare your role as a single drop, part of a dense liquid channeled into a current. In the bleachers at sporting events, the crowd stands up and sits down, intentionally conveying the image of a human wave. The body has public eloquence that everyone can understand.

The knee is the human organism’s...

Bull Durham, 1965

June 12, 2020 - By Allen Stein

(Photo from "Where are They Now: Ballparks of Bull Durham")

Two decades before the small old ballpark
became a shrine to Hollywood nostalgia
I was there, a college kid, new in town,
sitting alone, ten rows from the field
and five hundred miles...

Cassandra

June 9, 2020 - By Kymberly S. Newberry

(Hurricane Katrina, https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/)

I was seated at my computer, trying to convince myself that watching one of my favorite YouTuber’s “Top Ten Nude Lipsticks” videos was germane to my dissertation research (it was not), when the short audio tone from my “digital assistant” Alexa—yes, I caved and along with 100 million other folks am now dependent on my electronic “customizable living experience” (insert eye roll)—alerted me of a...

End the Occupation

June 4, 2020 - By Jim Hicks

(Photo accompanying Bridget Brennan's article "America is facing a 'double pandemic,'" ABC News, Australia)

“First, let’s get one thing straight. I’ve never set foot in a war zone.” Those were the words that began my last post on this site, on May 23^rd, two days before the cold-blooded killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police. At that time, I wanted to be explicit about the real limits of my knowledge in the area I have spent most...

When will we ever learn?

June 1, 2020 - By Peter I. Rose

(Demonstration in Rochester, New York, on May 30, 2020. Democrat and Chronicle.)

I sat in front of the television set three nights ago, watching replays of a video of the choking death of a hand-cuffed and pinned-down African American by a white policeman in Minneapolis earlier in the week. These were alternated with live pictures of a whole section of the city...