“I’m about to lose her,” yelled a volunteer firefighter in Wall, Texas on July 4. Chief John Manera’s team of unpaid men without swiftwater rescue training were stopping the current from dragging a woman to near-certain death. In a video capturing the operation, two men are submerged up to their necks, their orange flotation devices […]
Tag: July 4
Posted inOpinion
How Do You Celebrate a Country That Doesn’t Love You Back?
Last month, my mom sent me a video of a little girl named Galilea from Dallas. She’s sitting on her gray couch, clutching a brown plush dog, remembering her mom’s voice, her clothes, and the way she would say goodnight. “My mom is supposed to be with us,” she says. “ICE took her away.” On […]
Posted inOpinion
Happy July 4. Everything You Love About America Was Made by Black People.
Black women are intrinsic to the fabric of America. Grace Wisher, a Black girl from Baltimore, assisted in the creation of the American flag. Harriet Tubman led Union soldiers to victory at the Combahee Ferry Raid during the Civil War. There is no United States without Black people. It was Black women and men who […]
Posted inOpinion
This Fourth of July is Red, White & Bleak
It’s almost the Fourth of July, and I have no idea what to do with it this year. I guess I could grill something? Or wave a sparkler and pretend things are normal? But it just feels bizarre, like clapping for a magic trick while the magician bleeds out backstage. The red, white, and blue […]