Originally published in The Washington Post GRAHAM, N.C. — Law enforcement officers fired a spray they described as a “pepper-based vapor” that left demonstrators — including children — coughing at an “I Am Change” march for voter turnout. The racially diverse crowd of about 400 had stopped at a Confederate monument in front of the […]
Is any protest a threat to public safety?
Yes, said this small North Carolina city. Originally published in The Washington Post. GRAHAM, N.C. — ON SATURDAY MORNING, AS 100 demonstrators stood in a small downtown plaza chanting racial justice slogans, Barrett Brown decided to raise the stakes. Brown, the president of the NAACP’s area branch, grabbed a cardboard poster and slipped across the […]
A Woman Not of Her Time
Please click here to be directed to the PDF of “A Woman Not of Her Time,” Carolina Alumni Review, March-April 2020 issue.
Stammer Time
Stutterers reach beyond the medical model of disability. Originally published in The Baffler. Illustration © 2019 by L.T. Horowitz. THE LIGHTS DIMMED IN THE HOTEL BALLROOM. Several hundred people, including myself, waited for the surprise announcement. We were in Baltimore in 2015 for the annual convention of the National Stuttering Association (NSA). It was an […]
ICE Puts Immigrants Into a Cruel Catch-22
By complying with one government agency, Samuel Oliver-Bruno exposed himself to deportation by another. Originally published in The Nation. LAST MONTH, SAMUEL OLIVER-BRUNO WAS SUMMONED to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) support center in Morrisville, North Carolina. After living in the United States for more than two decades, the 47-year-old drywall installer was […]
“We’re At that Tipping Point”
Anita Earls has been the North Carolina GOP’s chief antagonist in the courtroom. Now she’s running for a seat on the state Supreme Court as a GOP threat to pack the court looms. Originally published in Talking Points Memo JUDICIAL RACES IN NORTH CAROLINA tend to be low-key affairs. But the crowd gathered at a […]
Why Southern Schools Are Talking Secession
Citing inefficiencies, North Carolina is considering breaking up its countywide school districts. Critics see this as opening the door to resegregation. Originally published in CityLab. WHEN I MOVED TO DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, in the mid-1980s, the county had two separate school systems. At its center, like a bulls-eye, was the city system, which was overwhelmingly […]
Shutdown
Click here for “Shutdown,” Carolina Alumni Review, January-February 2018 issue. Opens as a PDF.
Citizens of Carolina
Click here for “Citizens of Carolina,” Carolina Alumni Review, September-October 2017 issue. Opens as a PDF.
Durham Residents Counter White Supremacists
The fear was that Klansmen would come to replicate the violence that had just racked Charlottesville. Originally published in The Nation. LAST FRIDAY MORNING, A REPORT spread through my hometown of Durham, North Carolina, that white supremacists were descending on downtown. “We are carefully monitoring the situation,” said an all-points bulletin to city workers, “and are taking precautions […]
