1. Soldiers/Police Attacked their Fellow Citizens. The Boston Massacre was not a battle between soldiers and rebels, but between a peacekeeping force and the people they were meant to protect. In 1770 the colonists were still citizens of England. At the subsequent trial, future US president John Adams defended the British soldiers, but stated: “I […]
Words From The Other Side
Pen Names: Are They Really for You?
I was twelve years old when I decided to write. I pretended to tidy up my backpack until every other student in my seventh-grade AVID class rushed out of the door. The room emptied quickly, until Ms. C and I were the only ones left. “You’re gonna be late to your next class,” Ms. C […]
Writer’s Block
You’re staring at the screen, and you’ve got nothing. Your mind is a void. You type random words and hope a coherent sentence emerges. Still nothing. Your cat gives it a shot with words of her invention and does so with steadfast confidence. Still incoherent, but your cat doesn’t care. Your frustration continues unabated. In […]
The Thing About Missing
The sad truth is we’re all missing someone. And we’re hoping that, wherever they are, they’re missing us right back. —Randomgirl202 There are a lot of things I miss right now. But what I miss most is my friends. Seeing them in person. Hugging them. Loving them, face to face, where some kind of screen […]
(Anti) Social Media, Disposable Friendships, and the Rare-but-Real Honest-to-Goodness Discussion
You are going to think I’m crazy, but I swear it’s true—I have witnessed rational discussions about controversial topics on Facebook. Ain’t lying. It’s for real. One of the first times I encountered such a unicorn was in a down-thread side discussion between a vegan and a cattle rancher. The two people exchanged ideas respectfully […]
The Thing About Crying
“Take your hands out of your pockets, let the water run, don’t worry about tomorrow when yesterday is gone…”—CAAMP, “Of Love and Life” I haven’t necessarily been counting, yet I know it’s been sixteen hours and thirteen minutes since I last cried. In a way that feels like a lifetime, a lifeline, or an accomplishment, […]
