The story of the Miami language over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is one of fracture and dissolution. In this it is not unique among Native languages—or cultures. In fact, it’s difficult to talk about one without the other.
On a snowy, ten-degree day in January 2009, my girlfriend and I woke up and randomly found our way to Gary, Indiana. We had Broadway to ourselves. At that time, the former Sheraton Hotel (since demolished) loomed menacingly over downtown.
When I have written about Roseland it is usually about tragedy and trauma as the result of generations of neglect. When I tell white people where I live, their response always begins with a recollection
Blue City, Red State is forthcoming anthology from Belt Publishing, to appear in October 2018. We’re collecting essays about living blue in a red state—whatever that means to you
Lorain, Ohio used to be louder. In the steel corridor, along West 28th, you’d hear the roar of the blast furnace from inside U.S. Steel’s plant, the melting of iron ore into hot slabs or billets, the ding of pipe crashing down off the lifts.
First he came for the cast of Hamilton, but I did not speak out, for I am not in the cast of Hamilton. Then he came for Meryl Streep, but I did not speak out, for I am not certified national treasure Meryl Streep.
Somewhere between his 12th and 13th hour inside a Chicago Police interrogation room, Lindsey Smith decided to confess to a murder he didn’t commit. The year was 1972. Multiple officers had pistol-whipped, stomped on and beaten him, again and again.
What the history of one Cleveland neighborhood can teach us about race and housing inequality.
In addition to leaving thousands stranded in dangerous refugee camps overseas, the current battle over immigration also has a withering effect on resettlement programs here in the United States.
I’m obvious, driving slowly down the residential side streets on Chicago’s South side, looking left and right at the Victorian-style homes in Pullman. Though I have lived in Chicagoland all my life, I am seeing this neighborhood for the first time.
On days with significantly bizarre but altogether pleasant weather, Midwestern politeness stifles me from responding to small talk observations of “unseasonably warm weather” with thoughts on climate change.
For several years, Ryan Schnurr watched media coverage of Lake Erie algae blooms with a growing sense of unease. [...]