Fuck Columbus

Good morning. Here's your yearly reminder that Christopher Columbus was a monster and Columbus Day is a shameful stain on our country. Some talking points: 

1) By 1492, virtually no one except idiots thought the world was flat, kind of like today. Columbus proved literally nothing. 

2) Columbus didn't discover a damn thing. First of all, you can't "discover" a place where people have already been freaking living, but if you're coming from a colonizer mindset, he still didn't discover anything. Europeans had been to North America a number of times already. Besides, Columbus didn't set foot in what is now the United States; dude smashed his ship into the Bahamas. 

3) Columbus was one of the founding fathers of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Kidnapping human beings from their home, shipping them like cattle across the ocean, and selling them to Spanish assholes is, I hope we can agree, not awesome.

4) Columbus was a sociopath. In addition to enslaving human beings, he also committed a litany of other violent atrocities, including: rape of women and children, murder by beheading, public dismemberment, child sex trafficking, feeding human beings to his dogs, and other things that would make Jeffrey Dahmer sick. And he didn't just do this to indigenous people; he also abused the Spanish settlers who came to Hispaniola, who he starved and beat regularly. His atrocities were so severe that in 1500 Columbus was taken back to Spain in chains to be punished. 

5) No one gave 1/3 of 1/2 of a shit about Columbus until the mid-19th century when Washington Irving wrote a book about him, and for some reason we decided to use this (largely fictional) book to teach history instead of the thousands of available primary sources describing what actually happened. We've only been celebrating this shit as a nation since the 1930's, largely because a Catholic organization is good at lobbying. 

While this may seem like a small matter, Columbus Day is an offensive indicator of just how little regard we as a nation have for the indigenous people of this country. Despite being the original inhabitants of our vast nation, only about .9% of our population is comprised of native people. Relegated to reservations, indigenous Americans struggle to thrive, having the largest poverty and unemployment rates of any group in the United States. 25% live in poverty. Only 30% have health insurance. Substance abuse, particularly alcohol addiction, is an epidemic. 4 in 5 Indigenous women have experience violence in their lifetime. 

None of this happens in a bubble. What started with Columbus continued through Andrew Jackson and continues to this day with Standing Rock and the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Lauding Columbus as if he was a hero is a slap in the face to every Native American and every decent human being in this country. In short: fuck Columbus. 

Please, if you live in a state where this holiday is celebrated, write your local officials to demand that today is celebrated as Indigenous People's Day. Write your national leaders to encourage them to make a nationwide change. 

While you're at it, please consider a donation today to an organization that helps Native Americans: 

American Indian College Fund: https://collegefund.org/ourwork/

American Association on Indian Affairs: https://www.indian-affairs.org/

Native American Rights Fund: https://www.narf.org/

Halloween Viewing For The 2020 Dumpster Fire

What's up, ghouls?

To be honest I've been having a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit, what with it being the end of democracy and human decency, but I'm not going to let 2020 take Halloween away from me. So no matter what happens in the next month or so, I've got a horror movie for everything. 

If the world goes back on lockdown: Oldboy - this Korean thriller surrounds a man held captive for 15 years who, after escaping, finds that the outside world is more fucked up than his prison cell. The shocking ending will be seared into your brain wrinkles forever and it will be a while before you ever eat dumplings again, but it's worth it. 

If Trump goes up in the polls: The Dead Zone - Christopher Walken can see your future when he touches you, but what really makes this movie appropriate is Trump stand-in Greg Stillson, a narcissistic politician whose nonstop publicity stunts and propaganda drive the world toward a nuclear holocaust. The happy ending will be a comfort to you as we hurtle ever-faster toward The Void.

If Amy Coney Barrett gets a confirmation hearing: Carrie - an abused, traumatized young woman takes bloody revenge on her tormentors, climaxing in the ultimate revenge on the religious fanatic who was responsible for her ruined life. If (god forbid) we have to listen to this asshole spew her cult propaganda all over the memory of RBG while dozens of white man who would definitely call Carrie "Cassie" take choice away from young women, I'm going to watch the finale 60 times in a row. 

If the GOP Covid deaths are covered up: The Autopsy of Jane Doe - a mysterious young woman's body protects her by hiding her cause of death. The reason is, of course, as sinister as Mitch McConnell. It's a taut, funny, cruel little twisty flick that you should definitely add to your list. 

If you start forgetting what day/week/month it is: Happy Death Day - it's Groundhog Day featuring a murderer in a baby mask, which is especially apt if you, like me, picture Trump as a giant, psychotic toddler on adderall. It's funnier than it is frightening, so if you're a scaredy-cat, this one is for you. 

If the eviction moratorium is lifted: Drag Me To Hell - a loan officer is subject to a gypsy curse when she opts to foreclose on an old woman's house instead of giving her an extension. I adore this movie. It has everything: goat demons, cat-eating, corpse vomit, lost buttons, and an attempt at gumming someone to death. It's a helluva good time. 

If your news alerts won't leave you TF alone: It Follows - an inescapable force won't stop following you, even when you think you're safe. In the movie, you scan sex your way out of the curse; unfortunately the news just keeps coming. 

If your liberal friends excuse/ignore racism: Get Out - if you haven't seen this masterpiece already, you're a dummy, but without giving too much away... white people are creeps who fetishize black culture and black bodies while happily profiting from white privilege. It's not only a powerful and important movie for all of us to watch, it's also funny, scary, and chock-full of fantastic performances.

If Trump tries to hide the truth: The Changeling - this movie is about buried secrets (literally). You can only keep a secret buried for so long. It will keep screaming to be revealed, even if people die. This ghost story is one of the best out there. Period. An un-freaking-forgettable seance scene is the cherry on top of one of the best horror movies ever made.

If your kids are doing virtual learning: The Babadook - first, if you're at home with your kids and trying to work and trying to teach them and trying not to drink yourself to death, my props to you. I don't know how you're still standing. This is a frightening, complicated movie about grief and pain, but it's the scene in the car featuring an unhinged, screaming child that's kept me on a strict birth control regimen ever since. Hopefully you can keep your Babadook in the basement. 

If everything seems to be going wrong at once: Cabin In The Woods - there is not much I can say about this movie that won't spoil it, so I'll just say this: this is a movie about the arrogance and ineptitude of our government and the dehumanization of people. It's also a movie where every possible monster that could be unleashed is unleashed. It's probably one of my top 5 movies of all time. Not horror movies, all movies. It's a wild ride with a lot to say, and you'll have fun. Just watch it. You'll love it. 

If the bad news stops upsetting you: Videodrome - the only thing worse than feeling terrible about the state of the world is feeling totally numb about the state of the world. It stars noted lunatic Trump lover James Woods, but please don't let that deter you from watching this. This flick is all about how the increasingly sick, violent, and gratuitous media invades our minds and becomes part of us. It's made for the VHS era, but substitute the internet and it's more relevant than ever. Bonus points for starring Debbie Harry and for a gun made out of human flesh. 

If all else fails, just watch Halloween. It's a good movie. 

Stay strong and stay spooky, friends. 

Fuck You + Thank You - 9/25/20

Boy-oh-boy, am I angry. I suppose being this angry is better than staring out the window like I'm freaking Emily Dickinson on Xanax, but not much. 

Since we're all still trapped inside and my neighbors would probably be upset if I screamed into the void for the next 3 months, how's about a little fuck you list? 

Hey, Daniel Cameron: fuck you, you fucking coward. I suppose I should have expected less from a Mitch McConnell protégé and a Cheeto Mussolini sycophant, but somewhere in my cold little heart I thought you might put on the pretense of giving a shit, but of course I was wrong. Breonna Taylor was murdered in her home by three wildly irresponsible "officers" and all you did was charge one of them for the bullets that missed her. While I appreciate the well-rehearsed frog in your throat, let's be real with each other: you never intended to charge a single one of those cops in her death. You've been preparing for this moment for 6 months, knowing full well that anything less than some rah-rah blue lives matter bullshit would be Republican suicide. I'm sure you'll be successful this way, but I want to tell you something about your long-jowled GOP friends, especially Donald Trump: they don't give a damn about you. Your Black mother or sister or brother or hell, even you, could be gunned down in the street and they would come to the defense of your killers. If they saw you in their neighborhood in anything less than khakis and a polo, they'd call the cops. If you exercised your right to open carry in KY, they'd shoot you on sight, and just like the cops that murdered Breonna Taylor, they'd leave you to bleed out instead of helping you. You exist to be their "Black friend" in times of trouble, but they'd leave you to die in a heartbeat if it meant another dollar in their pocket. I hope you know that. 

Hey, Mitch McConnell: fuck you, you fucking hypocrite. You just couldn't wait until her body was even cold, could you? You had to open your lipless turtle mouth and lie right to our goddamn faces immediately, didn't you? Nothing's gotten your heart racing like this since the last time you tried to destroy democracy or walk up three stairs, and you just couldn't wait. You have no shame, so my vitriol probably won't work much. You've never hesitated to chose the most reprehensible, morally decrepit path and now is no exception. I don't have high hopes for you to lose your senate seat, but I do look forward to witnessing your slack-jawed disappointment as you watch your evil empire crumble before you.  I can wait. You're getting old, and if they end up selling tickets to your plug-pulling livestream I'll be the first to sign up for that Eventbrite. In the meantime, may you never find a moment's peace and may every one of your favorite foods taste like Trump's morning McDonald's shit. 

Speaking of shit... Hey, Donald Trump: fuck you, you fucking lunatic. Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ, what in the ever-loving fuck is wrong with you? You've said so many crazy things in the last day/week/month that I don't even know where to start. You're not the king of America, you're an elected official who works for everyone who lives here,  even the 66 million of us who didn't vote for your sorry ass. You petty, petulant child. You humiliate this country every single day. You, much like your blobfish friend Mitch, have no shame, but I assure you that the rest of us feel deep shame every time you open your dried up, crusty butthole of a mouth. I assure you, when you lose on November 3, and you WILL lose, it won't matter what you do. If it takes a month to confirm Biden as the winner, fine. If you have to be dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming, that's fine too. If you hire all the soulless lawyers your filthy money can buy, it still won't matter. You'll be a loser, just like you've always been, except this time, your corrupt, wannabe mafioso ass is going to prison, and that will be one of the best days this country has ever seen. So fuck you. Fuck you and everything you stand for. Fuck the white supremacists who support you. Fuck your cokehead sons and your Stepford wife daughter. Fuck your wax museum son-in-law and your hostage wife who recoils when you try to hold her hand. Fuck the bootlickers in congress you're blackmailing, and fuck the ones you've managed to actually convert to authoritarianism. Fuck all of them, but most of all, fuck you. Your time is coming. 

I'm gonna make a hard turn here, because there's someone I need to thank. 

Hey, Ruth Bader Ginsberg: thank you. Before I was born, you were already fighting for me. You made it possible for me to attend college at a state school. You made it possible for me to get a mortgage and my own bank account. You preserved my right to have control over my choice to have children. If I do make the choice to have children, you protected me from being fired for making that choice. You allowed me to serve on a jury, or for me to have other women on my jury if I'm charged with a crime. You helped me to have the option of marrying who I love, regardless of their gender. You fought for me to have equal pay. You even loved the art form to which I have devoted my life. You did these things for ALL of us, and more, and for that my gratitude is unending. Your strength, determination, and leadership have paved the way for countless women to be in the room where decisions are made. Until your last day, you fought for us, carrying our democracy on your shoulders. I don't know what happens when we die, but I hope wherever you are, you know that we are continuing to fight in your name. Thank you. Thank you for everything. 

Keep fighting, friends. 

The weight.

My friends, like so many of you, my heart is heavy. Hea. Vy. 

The events of the past 4 years, of the past 4 days, of the past 4 hours, 4 minutes, 4 seconds have begun to convince me that we no longer have a country worth saving. Honestly, what the hell is left? When black and brown human beings are gleefully and repeatedly gunned down with little thought, what are we even trying to save? 

A government littered with criminals and sycophants? 

A place where white men with guns can storm a capitol building with no repercussions? 

A police force so obstinate and drunk on their own power that they would rather blindly support murderers than do their sworn duty? 

A country where innocent, sleeping Breonna Taylor can be gunned down in her own home while her murderers walk the streets? 

Where people extend support to those who shot Jacob Blake in front of his children? 

Where a 17-year old child so indoctrinated by propaganda and gun culture can freely walk the streets with an automatic weapon, supported and encouraged by those ordered with protecting us? 

Where Michael Brown was murdered for shoplifting but double-murderer Kyle Rittenhouse was taken in easily? 

Where our own president has broken the law 20 times since I started this sentence, but he continues to consume oxygen while Eric Garner and George Floyd and Sandra Bland will never breathe again? 

Fuck it. Split it up and let these monsters live in a theocratic police state governed by mobster-wannabes and their enablers. Thomas Jefferson raped enslaved children and George Washington gnawed on cherries with his nasty-ass wooden teeth. America is not worth saving. Let them have it. Let's turn 1/4 of this place into West Sweden. 

But of course, we can't do that. 

So what do we do? Do we leave? I have no skills except for saying "fuck" a lot and acceptable grammar, so who would even take me? I'll probably have to stay. 

So again I ask: what in the hell do we do? I vote. I protest. I give what I can financially. I try to call out shit whenever I see it. SO many of us do this, and it still feels like we are losing. I've felt deep shame in my country many times in my life (remember GWB?), but not the way I do now. Even if we do manage to remedy some of the wrongs of the last 4 years, how do we ever feel safe here knowing what we know about 50% of the people who live here? 

I don't have the answer. I'm hoping you guys do? A little help, y'all?

Silver linings

I need people to take a breath. 

Before we all lose our minds, let’s remember that the actual PLATFORM being proposed by Biden/Harris is the most progressive in history. It includes:

-A public healthcare option

-A plan to reach net-zero emissions 

-A plan to establish a Climate Justice division of the DOJ

-A call to pass Congressman Bobby Scott’s SAFE Justice Act, an evidence-based, comprehensive bill to reform our criminal justice system

-Two years of community college/professional training debt free 

-A promise to remove Trump’s asylum policies and to stop the separation of parents from children within 100 days 

-Double funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative

-Finally pass the goddamn Equal Rights Amendment 

-Enact the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure equal pay for equal work

And there’s a lot more. 

I think we’ve all been so focused on beating Trump and harm reduction that we haven’t even looked at what is possible with a Biden/Harris presidency. Please, go to the website and do some reading. I think you’ll be happy with what is there.

Regarding Senator Harris and her background as a prosecutor, I also suggest some research there. You’ll find bad things, but you’ll also find good things. Did you know all of the San Fran police unions hate Kamala Harris? There are reasons for that. Regarding marijuana convictions, while she did charge around 1900 people and convict around 24% of them, only 45 saw prison time, about 300% less than her predecessor. She now believes in legalizing marijuana. I AM NOT SAYING IT IS PERFECT, but I am saying it is nuanced. 

Pouting because we didn’t immediately overthrow the government didn’t work the first time, and it won’t work now. I know you’re frustrated and tired and angry (I am too), but this is a good start in a very, very long journey to make America not a garbage place to live. 

Please, go read about these people and what they want to do. Embrace what you can, and keep pressuring them to go further and further. Pressure them to appoint progressives to high level positions (Warren for treasury, anyone?) and to expand on the progressive policies already in process. It is possible, and it also takes time. Lots of time. 

Don’t give up. 

For my friends in the performing arts

Hi, friends. I want to share something. I don't want to do this to talk over the black voices that need to be amplified right now, but I do want to share this as an example of what individuals and organizations can do to begin to repair relationships in our performing arts community.

CW: sexual assault, racism

Several years ago I experienced repeated assaults by a castmate, both in rehearsal and onstage during performances. At the height of #metoo, inspired by the stories of many of my brave friends and colleagues, I shared the full story of my experience anonymously with an opera blog.

In less than 48 hours, I received an email from the director of that production, who had failed to act when this was reported to him. The article hadn't mentioned names, but he recognized himself. He was contrite. He acknowledged my experience and that he was complicit for allowing this to happen. He let me know about the many concrete steps he has taken at his own company (intimacy coordinators, signed zero tolerance policies, etc) to prevent this from ever happening in one of his productions again. He apologized and acknowledged that I had every reason not to accept that apology.

That apology didn't change what happened and it didn't fix it, but it did help me move forward. I forgave him.

Friends in the arts, I'm sharing this to be an example of what we need to be doing. We need to listen to what our black colleagues and friends are telling us and to raise their voices high. We need to acknowledge their experience and our contributions to that experience. We need to offer an apology and we need to not expect people to accept it. Most of all, once we've learned, we need to make active, concrete changes.

Don't get defensive. Don't try to defend your behavior when you know it's wrong. Change. Look deep inside yourself and deep inside your organization and change. Change your heart. Change your mind. Change your behavior. Keep your eye turned inward and continue the work with vigilance.

This is the only acceptable reaction when you've wronged someone, and we have wronged black artists of all kinds. Don't put up a black square or extend Leontyne's broadcast and thing you're done. You're not. If you truly want art to survive, we all have to do our part to save it. It is going to be tough.

Do it anyway.