Political violence is a bad thing from any perspective, but there is a long tradition of it. In the classic 1970 collection of over one hundred primary source documents American Violence, the earliest account is Pilgrims versus Puritans from 1634 and the most recent, two years before the book was published, are the Chicago Riots […]
It should be abundantly clear to anybody who has read my work over the last years of published pieces here at Motif: I love the city of Providence. Everything about it to me exudes quiet charm, limitless narratives, and alluring architecture, all set to the soundtrack of an artsy yet brutalistic urban landscape. This admiration […]
On November 25, 2023, Brown Student and Palestinian-Irish American, Hisham Arwatani, was shot in Burlington, Vermont, while visiting family during his Thanksgiving break. He, alongside two of his friends, was taking a walk while wearing Keffiyehs and speaking a mix of English and Arabic when they were unprovokedly shot at. One was shot in the […]
At this point, what more can be said about the orange stain on our country that is Donald J. Trump? From his blatant racism and misogyny, to his constant grifting and obvious lies, it’s become all too clear that he has absolutely no intention of putting any American first except for his billionaire cronies. This […]
The members of the PVD City Council who asked on May 14 to fly a Palestinian Arab flag in their chamber and in front of City Hall, and held a May 16 sidewalk ceremony attended by cheering supporters, engaged in an act of clueless privilege: They are not threatened by terrorists whose explicitly stated goal […]
As I write this, I’m listening to the Grateful Dead’s legendary 1977 Cornell concert — considered by many Deadheads to be the band’s finest live performance. I only started listening to the Dead last year, and truthfully, my first reference to them was Jerry Garcia’s quirky cameo in the stoner classic Half Baked. Not exactly […]
Could life on planet Earth get any worse? That was the zinger that immediately popped into this reporter’s mind, as I thought about a permanently altered landscape buried in every conceivable piece of crap one might imagine. Yes, I am referring to the place we call home…..Earth. Humans just can’t get enough of their consumptive […]
As an immigrant from Venezuela who has already lived through a Trump administration, I want to address the growing fear within our community about the potential for increased deportations and anti-immigrant policies under this new political climate. My message is simple: While the challenges are real, we must not let fear paralyze us. This is […]
While there were plenty of surprises on the national front, election results in Rhode Island held little drama or surprise. To the extent there are unanticipated results, they are in the margin – although Trump lost, he made a better showing than expected. Patricia Morgan, arguably the most coherent Republican to run for anything in […]
Preface (2024) Looking back on my essay after 24 years, finishing this preface the day before Election Day in 2024, I am struck both by how prescient my original thoughts were and how shocked I would later be by the end stage of Trumpism, utterly horrified by the attack on the Capitol on January 6, […]