Slim’s, with its red banner and neon OPEN sign, is a retro self-serve burger joint in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood. It is small. It is hot. And every day, Eduardo works in its kitchen. Eduardo is an undocumented immigrant who was born in Mexico City. He went to school outside the city, in a makeshift elementary … Read more
As the coronavirus spreads, it continues to take a toll on cities and towns all across the United States. The response to this ubiquitous contagion, however, appears much more variant: Some states are just now reopening, some have been reopened for more than a month, some are closing again, and others are doing nothing. These … Read more
It takes a lot for “bad cable customer service” to make the news, yet Ryan Block’s infamous 2014 phone call with Comcast managed to do just that. Block, a tech journalist, had made the decision to switch cable providers and just needed the cable company to disconnect his service. As he quickly realized, the representative … Read more
Seven inmates have been executed in 2020, amid a global pandemic. Forty-one more executions are scheduled for the next four years and there are 2,500 people currently on death row. Yet substantial research suggests that the death penalty is an inefficient and unjust treatment that has failed both the innocent and guilty, especially due to … Read more
Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, tissues. These items were the first to be frantically bought out from local supermarkets as the coronavirus started to ravage the nation, leaving empty shelves staring back at unlucky shoppers. However, their absence was temporary. As the pandemic rages on, many are finding that one commodity remains a scarce resource: space. … Read more
“You are who I love, you who stands at the courthouse with the sign that reads NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE” – Aracelis Girmay, “You Are Who I Love” Discomfort Liberalism assesses solidarity as an abstract concept rather than a strongly-held moral value. In this framework, unity is reduced to a comforting idea that focuses only … Read more
George Floyd died on Monday, May 25. He was known among his family and friends for his compassionate character and “beautiful spirit.” However, he died in a matter of minutes at the hands of Derek Chauvin, an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department. Since then, protests have erupted across the country, demanding justice for Black … Read more
During the 2020 presidential primary, many voters were concerned above all with choosing a nominee who could defeat President Donald Trump in the general election. According to a HuffPost/YouGov poll, the majority of registered Democrats (51%) said they prioritized nominating a presidential candidate who seemed most likely to win against Donald Trump in November 2020, … Read more
On May 25, onlookers recorded Minneapolis police officers kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds, killing him. It was a horrifying reflection of the long history of police violence against Black people in the United States. Floyd’s murder sparked an ongoing wave of protests … Read more
Samantha O’Sullivan is President of Harvard’s Generational African-American Students Association. “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass first posed the question in a speech on July 5, 1852, and since then, it has rung, largely unanswered, in the ears of our country. As a little Black girl growing up in Chocolate … Read more