In early February, I decided that reading The New York Times was a better use of my time. I could read Patterson’s transcript, a win win, as I would understand the information better, avoid the ridicule accompanied with a light post-lunch doze, and have more time for the activities I found to be more intriguing.
On my first day of this practice, I read about lobster shortages in Maine. I doubted the viability, and use, of this new routine. The second day, I read about black infant mortality in the United States and the impact of systemic racism on health. To any in this class, the topic is not new. I explored it last year for my seminar paper, and have written about it on numerous other occasions. It comes up frequently in my discussions with skeptics of structural inequities, or the need for radical leftist work.
That day, when I opened Linda Villasenor’s longform manifesto in another browser tab (typically reserved for things I intend to return to and, in reality, never do), I was captivated. I read and read and read, my back corner seat a convenient location for covert laptop shenanigans. And then, I cried. Admittedly, freshman year, that was not an uncommon practice, but doing so in the school bathrooms is an all time low. I did not eat lunch, another rarity for a hangry gal.
I have yet to finish my research into the issue, in fact questioning if I want to become a doula just to mitigate some of the effects, and I don’t believe I will in the near future. My grandfather taught me to be a problem solver. I suppose it’s only natural the problems that intrigue me the most are those that cannot be immediately solved, only mitigated.
I passed AP Gov just fine, perhaps because, The New York Times helped me understand our systems of government in ways our civics curriculum couldn’t fathom.
On my first day of this practice, I read about lobster shortages in Maine. I doubted the viability, and use, of this new routine. The second day, I read about black infant mortality in the United States and the impact of systemic racism on health. To any in this class, the topic is not new. I explored it last year for my seminar paper, and have written about it on numerous other occasions. It comes up frequently in my discussions with skeptics of structural inequities, or the need for radical leftist work.
That day, when I opened Linda Villasenor’s longform manifesto in another browser tab (typically reserved for things I intend to return to and, in reality, never do), I was captivated. I read and read and read, my back corner seat a convenient location for covert laptop shenanigans. And then, I cried. Admittedly, freshman year, that was not an uncommon practice, but doing so in the school bathrooms is an all time low. I did not eat lunch, another rarity for a hangry gal.
I have yet to finish my research into the issue, in fact questioning if I want to become a doula just to mitigate some of the effects, and I don’t believe I will in the near future. My grandfather taught me to be a problem solver. I suppose it’s only natural the problems that intrigue me the most are those that cannot be immediately solved, only mitigated.
I passed AP Gov just fine, perhaps because, The New York Times helped me understand our systems of government in ways our civics curriculum couldn’t fathom.
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