By Juan Espinosa, Courtesy of La Cucaracha They say, we learn from our mistakes. David Carrillo, 51, wants the young men and women he encounters to learn from his mistakes. As a 19-year-old gang leader, Carrillo was convicted of first degree murder of a young man in 1993 who wanted to quit the gang. He … Continue reading Life, after Life without Parole
Who is Penny Arcade? A Life of Art and Revolution
By Ky Penny Arcade, a revolutionary voice of the marginalized, and fixture of the New York City underground performance art scene will take the stage at Lithic Bookstore in Fruita Colorado on September 19 and 20, for two evenings of spoken word. Arcade has been influencing the course of art and politics through theater, cultural … Continue reading Who is Penny Arcade? A Life of Art and Revolution
The Art, Politics, and Exploitation of Ana Mendieta
by Ky The art market exploits creatives just like any other industry under capitalism. The art market additionally perpetuates harm against and has historically dismissed many artists who emotionally express themselves, particularly women and women of color, until they gain mainstream acceptance and profitability. It fails to address core systemic issues like colonialism, racism, patriarchy, … Continue reading The Art, Politics, and Exploitation of Ana Mendieta
Finding Hope in the Grand Valley’s History of Resistance
Yet, there are still lessons to be learned about how we can resist in the coming years. There is inspiration to be found in the bravery of those who have fought before us, there is a pattern of direct action and civil disobedience to studied, there are precedents of welcoming Japanese-Americans into our community to strive for, and there is a narrative of perseverance, as even anti-socialist suppression and the rise of the KKK could not keep the socialists or their ideas from moving forward. What will some future historian write about our resistance to MAGA fascism? Will we leave them something to write about? Will some future radical find inspiration in our derring-do, find courage in the stands we make today, or find resolve in our actions in the face of hopelessness? We hope so.
Finding Beauty Everywhere: The Photography of Aiden McVay
Old Colorado City, Colorado Springs 2021 Unhoused Man, Grand Junction. Aiden's first portrait, 2021. Self-Portrait mid-seizure. “My body is tighter than a yo-yo. The pain is so intense it feels as if I’m on fire. The rumbling in my stomach is like a volcano waiting to explode. The spasms are crumpling up my muscles and … Continue reading Finding Beauty Everywhere: The Photography of Aiden McVay
Change Making and Story Telling: A Conversation with Margaret Killjoy
Take the history of fiction… Ursula le Guin of course, but also Tolstoy. There’s this entire huge, influential lineage that descends from Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchism. Oscar Wilde…. famous as a playwright and a witty gay man, but he wrote one of the better and most widely-read anarchist socialist tracts of the 19th century, one that gets into everything we’re talking about now… it’s called The Soul of Man Under Socialism and in it he argues that the point of art isn’t to make socialism, the point of socialism is to enable us to make art. He also like, bailed anarchists out of jail. The Modern Library wrote a list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. Three of the top 5 were written by anarchists
The Revolutionist 