Here’s the completed outpouring of my emotions that will never really be complete. This is dedicated to Philip, Whitney, Lou , ALL the addicts in Kings Park, in Jamaica, Queens, who I transported methadone to (in a paper bag) when I was six years old. To all the addicts at the Sutphin Boulevard methadone clinic who gave me their best gangsta heroin lean and smile when I went there, as a little girl, with my sister to get her “medicine”. To my sister Lorraine who is no longer with us, and to my brothers who are still using, and really, to all of us addicts of an American system of abuse and misuse. This is for you/ us/ them.”
Horse of A Different Color by Gabriella Callender
When we are not injecting heroin
Then we are snorting cocaine
When we are not snorting cocaine
Then, we are smoking crack, or Crystal meth
When we are not smoking crack or Crystal meth
Then, we are popping pills
When we are not popping pills
Then, we are drinking alcohol
When we are not drinking alcohol
Then, we are eating sugar
When we are not eating sugar
Then, we are glued to our mobile device, computer screen or television
sometimes
All
At
the
Same
Time.
When we are not glued to our mobile device, computer screen or television
Then.
Then.
then
We are sleeping.
Talking to each other should not be a result of a coke induced all night get together.
There should be rehab centers for people who are addicted to disassociation, compartmentalization and straight up lies.
This country is in a methadone haze of disconnect, a fix, trying to fix a fix that can never be fixed.
Not with no fix, anyway.
To the pusher called American Capitalism, I see you.
I see that stolen eagle feather perched in the side of your red, white and blue velvet pimp hat.
Loud, fake polyester threads hidden underneath your fiber of skin.
There are no more places for you to hide.
The dust is everywhere
Your processed white powder has been cooked, smoked, inhaled and injected across all of America the not so very beautiful.
The land of the ME and the home of the slave.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.