Upstate, by Kalisha Buckhanon

“Baby, the first thing I need to know from you is do you believe I killed my father?”

The first line of Antonio’s letter to Natasha is written from a jail cell. He’s been accused of murdering his abusive father. Her letter in reply is full of uncertainty, but also overflowing with support and love.

We eavesdrop on the trial from Antonio’s point of view, and from the outside it’s easy to see how the cards are stacked against him from the beginning. His letters from prison reveal his struggle to keep up with school and focus on the future when so much in his life is hard and threatening.

Meanwhile, Natasha’s life is moving forward. High school is a struggle, but she’s committed to it. She goes on a trip to Paris with her French class. Her world is getting bigger by the day, and college is just ahead.

These letters between the two span a decade. They talk about everything: his prison sentence, her struggles with high school, the changes in their families and in their Harlem neighborhood, and eventually, the details of the crime that has separated them.  Despite the flaws they reveal, both Natasha and Antonio are easy to root for, both as a couple and as individuals. Eventually they both change, grow up, and grow apart. Bittersweet, but a lot like real life.

Show Your Pride

Historically, Pride month marks the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, the raid by NYC cops on a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Although the movement for gay rights had already been active for decades, the raid, typical of the harassment suffered by the gay community, sparked outrage and catalyzed the movement. The next year saw the first Pride march to commemorate the riots, and every year since you can find marches and parades in cities across the U.S.

For years I worked at a bookstore on the northside of Chicago that specializes in feminist and gay and lesbian literature. Not only was the store a destination for all Queer reading essentials, we hosted regular author and community events. Although all the big name authors would tour in the fall, June was always packed with Pride events featuring local LGBT poets, historians, activists, and artists. The energy was palpable–the store would be filled with members of a supportive, thriving community. I haven’t been to a parade in a few years, but for me, Pride month is still about community.

Setting the Record Straight

Just the other day someone told me, with a great deal of authority in his voice, that there just aren’t very many good science fiction writers who are women. I can’t imagine the look that passed across my face while I tried to take in the absurdity of that statement.

While it may be true that women writing science fiction are less well known than their male counterparts,  and their titles are harder to find in bookstores, there are plenty of them out there, and they are writing smart, fun, and challenging sci-fi.

So how do you go about finding all of these great women sci-fi writers? There are a few reliable web resources, like the Feminist SF wiki, which not only provides an A-Z list of women writers, but also allows browsing by theme, characters, or format. The website for the Tiptree award, which annually honors titles that explore or expand the concept of gender, is also a good place to find contemporary SF by women. And Gwyneth Jones, a science fiction writer and critic, has a great top 10 list if you’re looking for a quick starting place.

Happy Equal Pay Day

As a “holiday”, this one sucks, and I hope we can stop “celebrating” it really soon. Equal Pay Day was created as a way to bring attention to the wage gap between men and women in the U.S. This date was chosen because, on average, women must work to Tuesday to make the same amount as a man earned the previous week.

If you’re unfamiliar with the issue of wage discrimination, this FAQ is a good place to start. You might also be interested in a recent White House report “Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being“, which provides a snapshot of women’s lives today, along with a view of the trends that have shaped our recent history. Then take a look at the PSC Library resources below for a deeper understanding of gendered issues in the workplace.

Poetry? Poetry.

I don’t have stats on this, but I’m willing to bet that the farther you get from high school, the less likely you are to read much poetry. For one, you no longer have an English teacher forcing you to recognize the difference between iambic pentameter and free verse. For two, as you get farther into your twenties you’re probably not going to get as many scribbled love poems or copy and pasted song lyrics declaring undying devotion. It’s just the way things go. And I think that’s ok. There’s a lot to read–from trashy novels, to the daily news, to celebrity bios. All fun and informative and way less complicated (and less cheesy) than those poems you read in high school.

So why am I writing a blog post about poetry? How can I possibly convince you to overlook all the bad experience you might have had with poetry and try again? Take a minute and think of your current favorite song . You know, the one that gets you out of bed in the morning, that you sing in the shower, that is getting you through your break up, that is set as your ringtone. Ok, you know how that song makes you feel every time you hear it? That’s what poetry can do. It can make you feel that way.

Getting Perspective on the Middle East

I have to admit that I have been taken by surprise by the extraordinary events happening in the Middle East. Although I keep up with the news, I think it was easy for the casual reader (like me) to miss the significance of Tunisia’s revolution. It wasn’t until the protests began in Egypt that I even had a clue of the domino effect happening in the region. And in large part I owe that realization not just to the New York Times or NPR coverage, but to Facebook and Twitter. The postings and repostings of videos showing people in the streets of Cairo protesting an oppressive government and displaying solidarity in the face of violence were not only moving, but created a connection for me to these places that otherwise are just names on a map.

Now with our attention directed towards a violent revolution in Libya, I’m reminded that none of these uprisings happened as suddenly as they seemed to me. There have been smart journalists and historians writing about the issues in the Middle East for some time, and I turn to them to understand the history of the region, and how that history has created the current political climate.

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, by Lawrence Wright
The Looming Tower was included in “A Reading list for the Egypt Crisis” (Compiled by Alexander Star for the New York Times ArtsBeat) for its focus on Islamic fundamentalist movements, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood.

Star says “[The Looming Tower] suggests that Mubarak’s torture cells radicalized Egyptian Islamists such as the future al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and helped bring about the Sept.11 attacks.”

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award Finalist.