When I first found out I was to become a father, I was curious if there were any good books on fatherhood out there. Perhaps I was a little envious of my wife, who seemingly had a mountain of interesting, truthful, down-to-earth books on motherhood -- The Hipmama Survival Guide, The Mother Trip, Mothers Who Think, The Big Rumpus, and many others. I read all of these, but I wanted something of my own, something that talked about fatherhood in the language and experience of the world I lived in. But all I could find was Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood and related titles, and while I don’t have anything against the Coz, he just ain’t my style. He didn’t speak to me. --read more >>

There are an astounding number of people who go hungry in the U.S., despite the imagery we see on TV and the hollow lies of our government. There is a stigma attached to hunger. People do not go around talking about it. To do so prompts immediate judgment from the middle class regarding laziness, stupidity, and other classist stereotypes. Because of this, you may work with single parents who are going hungry so they can feed their kids and never know it. Minimum wage does not cover rent plus childcare costs, much less food demands. Most single parents working minimum wage jobs are the opposite of lazy; they work 24/7. Their "work" does not end with an 8 hour shift at "work," and the profits of their labor do not go to them, but to business owners, giving them "just enough for the city," as Stevie Wonder sings.--read more >>

It all started years ago, when a thoughtless boyfriend gave me a backhanded compliment. He told me that if he were to create the perfect woman he would give her my boobs, but he'd make both of them like the left one because it was bigger.

"Bigger?" I asked. "One side isn't bigger. They're perfectly the same."

"Yes, they are perfect, but not the same. And if I were making my perfect woman, they'd both be like the left one." --read more >>

I'd always get pissed off when, on IRC in a punk chat room, people would just assume I was white. Even when I gave them my pics, they'd think of every ethnicity but black to guess as my race.

When I would tell them, "Well, I'm half black and half white," they'd be shocked.

"You're black???" would invariably be the reply. "Wow, I've never met a black punk." --read more >>

How Can They Make History So Boring? Emma Goldman, May Day, and The American Experience

by Gordon Edgar

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I carry the word bipolar with me. Memories of long anxious nights spent in hospital beds linger in my mind. For a time, lithium held me steady. I rarely felt manic and started to believe the sickness had passed. Then something broke. --read more >>

For those who follow the news about the American occupation of Iraq, the name Jeremy Hinzman might sound familiar. Hinzman is an American infantry soldier who went AWOL, brought his family to Canada, and is claiming refugee status because the military will not recognize his conscientious objection to performing combat duty. As a result, he has been the subject of numerous news articles in publications from around the world. The name Nga Nguyen, on the other hand, is not quite so familiar. Nga is Jeremy's wife, and the mother of their 22 month-old son, Liam. --read more >>