VOL. 40 | ISSUE 39 | July 1-7, 2020
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metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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Vol. 40 | Issue 39 | July 1-7, 2020
Publisher - Chris Keating Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen
News & Views Feedback/Comics ................. 5 News ...................................... 6
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief - Lee DeVito Music and Listings Editor - Jerilyn Jordan Investigative Reporter - Steve Neavling Copy Boy - Dave Mesrey
ADVERTISING
Informed Dissent ................ 14
Regional Sales Director Danielle Smith-Elliott Multimedia Account Executive Jessica Frey Account Manager, Classifieds - Josh Cohen
BUSINESS/OPERATIONS Business Support Specialist - Josh Cohen Controller - Kristy Dotson
Feature
CREATIVE SERVICES
New Red Order want you to rethink colonialism ............. 16
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Arts & Culture Savage Love ......................... 20 Horoscopes .......................... 22
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Feedback
NEWS & VIEWS Bye-bye, trolls
Why we banned comments on Metro Times By Lee DeVito
It’s with a sigh of relief that I can announce we’ve decided to pull the plug on the comments section below Metro Times’s articles. This decision came after much discussion at the MT office. There’s been a backlash against comments sections going on for a few years now, with outlets like Popular Science, NPR, VICE, Reuters, Mic.com, and locally, MLive, all ditching them. On paper, they were a great idea, a utopian notion of the World Wide Web providing an instantaneous “platform” for “dialogue” between reader and creator (with perhaps a dash of cynically pumping up page views for ad revenue thanks to repeat visitors). And sure, I’ll miss the insights of some of you who added thoughtful perspectives that our articles missed, especially when you chimed in with the occasional correction to a factual error. In reality, comments sections everywhere routinely devolve into racism, misogyny, Hitler (via Godwin’s Law), spam, and personal attacks. It’s even worse for women journalists, who are called names far more vicious than their male counterparts. I refuse to believe some of you aren’t 13-year-olds, but I know some of you are grown men. Ideally, there would be a web editor who could moderate the comments, but with staff cuts in recent years that isn’t really possible. At one point, I tried to add a catch-all warning above our comments section saying, “Don’t be a jerk or else we will ban you.” That didn’t really help. And in recent weeks, I spent too much time I don’t have playing whacka-mole, trying to ban a troll who kept creating new accounts (and even new IP addresses) so he could impersonate other commenters and just generally cause chaos. I don’t think this is what whoever came up with the comments section in the first place originally had in mind. Do you? So bye-bye, comments section. Honestly, I won’t miss it one bit. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “How DARE Metro Times stifle free speech!” Well, is it really free speech if the trolls are granted anonymity and are held to a different standard than our
own writers? As editor in chief, I actually care about what’s published on Metro Times, and that should be extended to the comments section. Plus, with comments sections being at the bottom of the article, it was as if the trolls were literally getting the last word. And some of you seemed to be skipping reading the article and going straight to the comments section anyway. Social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have famously distanced themselves from the responsibilities of moderating what their users post because they claim they aren’t “publishing companies.” Well, we are a publishing company. So why should we act like a social media platform? And speaking of social media platforms, you can still comment on our Twitter or Facebook posts. (Side note: Someone once said Donald Trump was like someone walked out of a comments section and was elected president, and to a large degree I believe that’s true. For nearly a decade, Trump posted his grammatically-challenged conspiracy theories and childish attacks on the internet with no consequence other than it forced the mainstream media to talk about Barack Obama’s birth certificate or Rosie O’Donnell or whatever. I think about this often.) People act like comments sections are some unalienable human right, but there’s really no historical analog for them — except for maybe the old-fashioned letters to the editor. Remember those? We have a small one in the print edition of Metro Times, but people don’t really seem to write letters or emails anymore. In recent months, I’ve been scraping together the best comments from the web to use in print, but pretty much only “Harry Palmer” and “Myth Buster,” among our most thoughtful and reasonable commenters, had anything actually smart to say week after week. If you really want your voice to be heard, guess what? You can still do that! You can email comments or corrections to letters@metrotimes.com. I promise you I’ll read them. And if it’s good enough, maybe we’ll print it in our letters to the editor page. You know, like the good old days — before comments sections.
See, we already got a thoughtful letter! Michael Z: Well, you did it, you maniacs. You blew it up. Successfully ruined Disqus, and proved that being anonymous online just makes you have the ability to be an asshole. While I am disappointed, I welcome the return to just reading the articles. They are truly thoughtful, and the only people that may not find it good material have truly lost their minds to blind partisanship. Just as how I can read certain articles from The Detroit News, and actually agree with some of it, but not all of it. It sucks that there will be no more discussions about different
topics, but when it degrades to a full-on Troll Fest, nothing else can be done, but to stop the madness known as racism exposing itself. If there is one lesson to take from this, is that racism is not only not dead, it’s in full denial of itself being racist. I knew they were around, but to see everyone come out the woodwork like this? It proves that there needs to be change, or else people would not fight so hard to keep things the same. I wish everyone that I had positive, articulate discussions well. And then Trolls? I got four words for you. GTFO. Be safe, out there. Email letters@metrotimes.com.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS
Robert Williams.
ACLU
Computer error
Detroit police arrest wrong Black man based on facial recognition technology error, ACLU says By Steve Neavling
A 42-year-old Black man
said Detroit police unjustly arrested him after facial-recognition technology incorrectly flagged him as a shopli ting suspect. Robert Williams was arrested in January at his home in Farmington Hills in front of his wife and two young daughters and locked up for 30 hours. He was accused of stealing watches from Shinola. While in jail, police showed him two blurry surveillance photos of the suspect. “This is not me,” Williams recalls saying in a video about his arrest. “I hope you all don’t think all Black people look alike.” e said one o the officers responded “The computer must have gotten it wrong.” It wasn’t until later that night that Williams was released from jail, his attorney, V ictoria Burton-Harris, said. The charges have been dismissed. “But the damage is done,” BurtonHarris, who is running for Wayne C ounty prosecutor, wrote in an op-ed for the AC LU on Wednesday. “Robert’s DNA sample mugshot and fingerprints all of which were taken when he arrived at the detention center are now on file. His arrest is on the record. Robert’s wife, Melissa, was forced to explain to his boss
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why Robert wouldn’t show up to work the next day. Their daughters can never un-see their father being wrongly arrested and ta en away their first real experience with the police.” The AC LU of Michigan lodged a complaint against Detroit police. Facial-recognition technology has come under fire because e perts say it’s unconstitutional, unreliable, and racially biased. Studies have shown that the software misidentifies people o color more often than white people, which Metro Times reported in a cover story in July 2 0 19 . U .S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib was criticiz ed for warning about the technology’s bias, and saying police should hire Black analysts to review the footage because non-Black people can also have a bias. “Analysts need to be African-Americans, not people that are not,” Tlaib told Detroit Police C hief James C raig during a tour of his department’s Real Time C rime C enter, according to a video published by Th e Detroit New s. “I think non-African-Americans think AfricanAmericans all look the same. Detroit Police C hief James C raig repeatedly claimed the technology would not lead to false arrests, and suggested Tlaib’s comments were racist. “It’s a software. It’s biometrics,” C raig told Fox & Friends. “And, to put race in it ... we’re talking about trained profes-
sionals. y staff goes through intense training with the FBI, and so they’re not looking at race, but it’s measurements. We were appalled when she made this statement.” Detroit police did not respond for comment. Despite mounting criticism of the technology, the Detroit Board of Police C ommissioners approved the use of the software. Activists are calling on Detroit C ity C ouncil to reject the use of the technology. The contract with the software company is set to expire soon. Opponents of the technology have mobiliz ed two protests in which a caravan of cars drove past the homes of council members to encourage them to oppose the contract extension. Detroit’s facial-recognition software is especially pervasive because it’s used on a quickly expanding surveillance networ o high definition cameras under Mayor Mike Duggan’s Project Green ight a crime fighting initiati e that began in 2 0 16 at gas stations and fast-food restaurants. Since then, the city has installed hundreds of surveillance cameras at parks, schools, low-income housing complexes, immigration centers, gas stations, churches, abortion clinics, hotels, health centers, apartments, and addiction treatment centers. The city is also
installing high definition cameras at roughly 5 0 0 intersections at a time when other cities are scaling back because of privacy concerns. i en the technology’s flaws and how widely it is being used by law enforcement today, Robert likely isn’t the first person to be wrong ully arrested because of this technology,” Burtonarris said. e’s ust the first person we’re learning about.” Last week, Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would ban facial recognition technology on the federal level and withhold money from state and local police departments that continue to use it. Supporters of the bill, including Tlaib, arrest as one of the reasons they support a ban. This man was handcuffed in ront of his family for something he did not do because police depended on this technology,” Tlaib said in a news release. “One person is too many and I have long called for a ban on the use of facial recognition technology. I am proud to join my colleagues today in introducing a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology.” Last week, Boston became the latest city to bar police from using facial recognition technology, joining San Francisco, Oakland, C ambridge, Mass., and Somerville, Mass. Activists are calling on Detroit C ity C ouncil to bar the technology as the city debates whether to extend a contract with the software company. “Facial recognition is a uniquely dangerous form of surveillance,” Evan Greer, deputy director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said in a news release. “This is not just some Orwellian technology o the uture it’s being used by law enforcement agencies across the country right now, and doing harm to communities right now. Facial recognition is the perfect technology for tyranny. It automates discriminatory policing and exacerbates existing injustices in our deeply racist criminal justice system.” Duggan and C raig continued to defend facial recognition technology, saying it’s an important tool in fighting crime. C raig said the department is in estigating the three officers in ol ed in the arrest of the wrong man. “It had nothing to do with technology, but certainly had everything to do with poor investigative work,” C hief said Thursday, Th e Detroit New s reported. “But there is a bright light in it, the third investigator assigned to this, he discovered problems. The video wasn’t clear as he felt it should be. He felt more should ha e been done. e notified the prosecutor’s office and they uic ly responded.”
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS
Amid impassioned cries of “Amandla!” and “Viva Mandela!” Nelson and Winnie Mandela wave to a crowd of more than 49,000 people at Tiger Stadium June 28, 1990.
D. WEISS/WALTER REUTHER LIBRARY
From Cape Town to Motortown
Flying in to Metro Airport aboard Donald Trump’s Boeing 727, a newly freed Nelson Mandela touched down in Detroit 30 years ago this week to celebrate his release from a South African prison with a rally at Tiger Stadium By Dave Mesrey
It is just past 10
o’clock on a Thursday night. The afternoon driz z le has fi led but a icious hailstorm is closing in on C orktown. Like the clouds in the C lara Ward song the approaching storm is ominous so dar and sable. ut Re erend esse ac son is praying the rain away. urely he is able. ere in the city’s oldest neighborhood not e en the threat o hail can dampen the spirits o the people oyously crammed inside Tiger tadium as they await the guest o honor. hausted rom his arduous ourney he is hours behind schedule. ut time matters not tonight. The Motor C ity is yearning. The old ballpar ’s hul ing light towers li e the city itsel are abu . eated under the lights on a stage in deep center field are Rosa ar s te ie onder and retha ran lin. They are not here to see ecil ielder and the Detroit Tigers. They are not here to see em
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arney and the Detroit ions. They are here to see adiba. The crowd the largest lac crowd e er to attend an e ent at Tiger tadium is ready. any ha e been here since the gates opened at o’cloc . Down the street on a ayette enue huc aidica is closely monitoring the approaching storm on hannel ’s Doppler radar. omewhere out near illsdale the clouds begin to dissipate. urrounded by a stone aced security detail more than a do en strong a long blac adillac rolls onto the warning trac . man in a blue suit and bow tie grabs the microphone and implores his audience. “Let us get ready!” s the limo inches its way toward the stage the crowd is nearing e er pitch. The person choir in its white shirts and sashes rises to its eet. ubilant lac men in ufis and dashi is wail away on their d embes. nside the limousine is the city’s first
rican merican mayor the ormer Tus egee irman oleman . oung. eated ne t to him is the beleaguered but ebullient president Owen ieber. nd in the bac o the limousine in the midst o a grueling orth merican reedom tour onboard one o Donald Trump’s short li ed shuttles sit an e hausted but e hilarated elson and Winnie Mandela. The outfield once patrolled by the li es o Ty obb and l aline is filled with rican merican dignitaries. arry ela onte endell nthony Damon eith. omewhere Ron e lore is watching. This is no mere baseball par . t is the place where ar in aye first saw em arney ta e to the gridiron where illie orton cut down ou roc where oe ouis de ended the hea yweight title. The limousine comes to a stop and its doors begin to open. Out into the night steps the 7 1-year-old deputy
president o the rican ational ongress. is aging eyes damaged rom years o hard labor in the limestone uarry o Robben sland s uint under the glare o the lights. e is beaming. The man in the blue suit Re . endell nthony roars into his microphone once again. He is electric. mandla he cries his impassioned oice echoing in the night. gwethu the crowd roars in response. mandla gwethu ower to the people. ter years in a outh rican prison elson andela has come home. e is among comrades here. That this rally for Mandela is taking place at Tiger tadium is not lost on this crowd. Once nown as riggs tadium a ter ormer Tigers owner alter riggs it is a place whose in amous motto in the s was o igs with riggs. nd it is the place where riggs’ most celebrated offseason employee at his eastside Detroit manu acturing plant Detroit tars centerfielder orman Tur ey tearnes was not allowed to play because o the color o his s in. Engulfed in a sea of stoic Secret Security agents the andelas wend their way through the throng. Tiger tadium is woke. The ballpar ’s o ersi ed scoreboard with its blaring billboards or udweiser arlboro and oca ola towers o er the stage. Out on the ancient centerfield flagpole an merican flag flaps gently in the wind. The stadium’s hul ing light towers illuminate the echoing green. i e apartheid itsel Tiger tadium’s days are numbered. opping his brow with a hand erchie li e he’s ouis rmstrong elson andela steps to the podium. e has arri ed at his destination otortown. rother brother he says channeling ar in aye there’s ar too many o you dying.” The crowd instantly recogniz es the lyrics. other mother there’s ar too many of you crying.” is words reflect not only the outh rican condition but the merican condition. n the ace o your own problems and difficulties he says you ha e not orgotten us. our solidarity has gi en us enormous strength and courage. or how long must our brothers and sisters go on dying?” he asks. “We declare not or long The hour is getting late and adiba has grown weary. e must be on his way. ut be ore he lea es the ueen o oul serenades him rom the stage with a spine-tingling rendition of “Surely od s ble.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS
Michigan residents are required to wear masks in stores. Many don’t.
STEVE NEAVLING
Guess who’s back
Coronavirus makes an unwelcome comeback in Michigan after two months of significant progress By Steve Neavling
The number of new coronavi-
rus cases rose for the sixth straight day in Michigan, reaching a one-day high for the month. The state reported 38 9 new confirmed cases on riday the highest mark since May 30 . The new cases are spread across the state, prompting fears that the highly contagious virus is making a comeback a ter ichigan made significant progress in reducing infections over the past two months. On Wednesday, the number of new cases rose abo e or the first time since June 3. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lifted the state’s stay-at-home order on June 8 , far later than most states, permitting bars and restaurants to reopen at 5 0 % capacity. Beginning on June 15 , hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, and
tattoo parlors were allowed to reopen. yms and fitness centers are still barred from reopening. The upward trend follows a twomonth decline in C OV ID-19 cases, which allowed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to lift many of the state’s social-distancing restrictions. or the first time since pril the number of C OV ID-19 patients in hospitals rose or two straight days to . That’s still ar below the nearly C OV ID-19 hospitaliz ations in midpril when the pandemic pea ed in Michigan and overwhelmed hospitals. n early pril the state was a eraging nearly 1,5 0 0 new cases a day. The uptick comes as more people return to work and gather at bars, restaurants, parks, and homes, often without mas s in defiance o the go ernor’s
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order, though there is no penalty for not wearing a mask. It’s not unusual to walk into a grocery store or pharmacy and see people without masks. On ednesday night the th ircuit ourt o ppeals made a last minute ruling to pre ent gyms and fitness centers from reopening Thursday morning. three udge panel o the th ircuit ourt o ppeals unanimously delayed a lower court’s ruling that allowed indoor fitness centers to reopen against Whitmer’s order. Despite the ruling, some gyms opened. “We empathiz e with business owners and understand that many people are anxious to return to their normal e ercise routines but the th ircuit ourt o ppeals’ decision accurately takes into consideration the risk involved in reopening gymnasiums
and fitness centers too soon Ryan ar i spo esman or ichigan ttorney General Dana Nessel tells Metro Times. “Michigan has come a long way in flattening the cur e o O D cases, and the rising infection rates seen right now in other states is an alarming reminder of what could happen here if we act on impulse instead of science and the advice provided by medical experts. U nder the C ourt’s decision, gymnasiums should remain closed. acilities that remain open may be sub ect to misdemeanor penalties. We trust our partners in law enforcement throughout the state to make those gym owners in violation aware of the required closure and to use their discretion and authority in dealing with any violations that are reported. Mayor Mike Duggan on Thursday threatened to shut down bars and restaurants in Detroit that fail to enforce capacity limits or requirements for employees to wear masks. “We saw a few incidences last weekend that were ar too concerning Duggan said at a news conference. Duggan said he’s worried that a few non-compliant businesses could “spark a burst of C OV ID in this community, and we can’t ha e that happen. The state’s death toll reached on Thursday, with fatalities rising in the single digits each day. C oronavirus cases are surging in at least 2 9 states, prompting some officials to pause re openings. On Thursday, Whitmer signed an executive order allowing professional sports to resume without a live audience. a or eague aseball recently announced a shortened game season that will begin on uly . “We are now ready to gradually and safely allow professional sports to resume in ichigan hitmer said in a news release. “While this is an encouraging step in the reopening of our economy, it is critical for athletes to continue social distancing and taking precautions to stay safe. We want to keep our momentum going and keep moving forward, so it’s incumbent on everyone doing their part to slow the spread o O D . C oronavirus cases are surging in at least 2 9 states, prompting some to begin closing down again. In Texas, lorida and ri ona which reopened their economies far earlier than most states the Republican go ernors are ordering some businesses to close again. ri ona is reporting more than new cases a day. n lorida the number of new cases rose to an all-time high of nearly 9 ,0 0 0 in a single day. Texas recorded more than 5 ,0 0 0 new cases a day last week.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS
Howie Hawkins.
COURTESY PHOTO
Going Green
Looks like the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins is now the marijuana candidate in 2020 By Lee DeVito
OK, we were wrong. U
.S. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan won’t be the pro-marijuana candidate of the 2 0 2 0 presidential race after all, since he ended his Libertarian Party campaign after just a few weeks earlier this spring. And it seems like the Libertarian Party isn’t pushing the cannabis issue too hard this year. Dr. Jo Jorgensen wound up clinching the Libertarian Party nomination. Marijuana, however, is not highlighted specifically on her website. hen asked of her position on cannabis by Metro Times, a spokesperson said, “Dr. Jorgensen favors the repeal of all victimless crime laws, including
those restricting the sale and use of cannabis. She supports full legaliz ation of cannabis. She would pardon all non iolent offenders on her first day in office. Of course, that seems to be better than the two major-party candidates. C annabis reform is not mentioned on Republican President Donald Trump’s website, though he has reportedly discussed possibly supporting a bill called the STATES Act, which would allow states to set their own marijuana laws without federal intervention. However, the bill would not federally de-schedule, or legaliz e, cannabis — and even then, that’s far from a
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campaign promise from Trump at this point. Meanwhile, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has been criticiz ed by Trump for being an architect o the ar on Drugs due to his role in the 19 9 4 C rime Bill. Biden’s stance on marijuana has changed since then, but he has also stopped short of calling for legaliz ing marijuana, though he said he would decriminali e it. e recently caught fla or an interview with Th e Break f ast Club ’s C harlamagne Tha God, who asked him about the difference between legaliz ing marijuana and decriminaliz ing. Biden responded that scientists
still ha e to first find out whether or not there is any impact on the use of marijuana, not in leading you to other drugs but what it affects. Does it affect long term de elopment o the brain, and we should wait until the studies are done. Our first choice en. ernie Sanders, would have truly been the marijuana candidate, saying he would legali e weed on his first day in office but he suspended his campaign to support Biden.) So that brings us to the Green Party candidate and presumptive nominee Howie Hawkins. Or rather, that brings Hawkins to us. Shortly after we pub-
lished a blog post about Amash and cannabis, a Hawkins aide emailed us to tout aw ins’ mari uana bona fides directing us to a lengthy statement on his website titled “Legaliz e Marijuana and End the War on Drugs,” and offered an interview. OK , with everything going on right now — a once-in-a-generation plague, an economic depression, the frightening possibility of a second term of Trump — why is any of this important? Well, for one, we like weed. And we’re not alone. The American people are much further ahead than the major-party candidates on pot. A Pew Research poll found two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legaliz ation. Thirty-three states have legaliz ed medical cannabis, and 11 states have legaliz ed recreational use, including Michigan in 2 0 18 . Born in San Francisco and now based in Syracuse, New York, Hawkins joined the Green Party when it formed in the 19 8 0 s. Since then, he has run or arious offices as the reen arty candidate, though unsuccessfully, including U .S. Senate in 2 0 0 6 , governor of New York in 2 0 10 , 2 0 14 , and 2 0 18 , and mayor of Syracuse in 2 0 17 . This is his first time running or president. This week, he and running mate Angela Walker won enough delegates to secure the Green Party nomination. The Party originally planned to hold its nominating convention in Detroit at Wayne State U niversity on July 9 -12 , but it was shifted to a virtual format due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hawkins says that cannabis legaliz ation has been on the Green Party agenda as long as he can remember. “But the use of marijuana is a big problem at the federal level right now,” he says. “New York, where I live, is the world’s capital for marijuana arrests,” he says. They’re filling the prison system, the law enforcement system, and the criminal justice system with cases that they shouldn’t even be bothering with.” The problem is exacerbated, he says, by civil asset forfeiture, which incentiviz es police departments to use marijuana crimes as a way to seiz e peoples’ property to sell to raise revenue. “Jails are expanding because of the War on Drugs and mass incarceration,” he says. “We have 2 5 % of the world’s prison population but only 4 % of the world’s population. So we want to reverse that.” Though Biden has called for decriminaliz ation and expungement of convictions for marijuana-related crimes, Hawkins thinks that doesn’t go far enough. “[ It’s] a positive step forward,” he says. “But I think the poli-
ticians are behind the public on this. They’re afraid of the public. They’re afraid to stick their neck out. I mean, you know, the Democrats are usually seen as the socially liberal party, but if you follow issues like marijuana legaliz ation or gay marriage, they don’t move until public opinion is really clear. So I think Biden kind of epitomiz es this being super cautious rather than deciding what’s a real solution and fighting or it. e’s putting his finger to the wind and seeing how far he can go, but meanwhile, it’s a huge problem for all the people whose families are disrupted because of marijuana busts,” Hawkins says. “Instead of addressing the problem, he’s polling ... he’s not being a leader, deciding what’s a good policy and then advocating for that. He’s sort of just seeing what the public will accept and pretty much avoiding it. He hasn’t put this issue front and center in any, in any regard, you know, even when he’s asked about it.” As far as Trump’s aversion to marijuana goes, “I think he’s trying to appeal to the law-and-order mentality and the culture wars,” Hawkins says. On the long-shot chance he is elected president, Hawkins says he “would have the Justice Department stop telling the States that have legaliz ed [ marijuana that] we’re coming after you. And then I would try to get that federal law changed so we could have marijuana be legal. To me, it’s less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, which are legal. So, you know, let’s just use common sense here.” Plus, the sale of legal cannabis would generate tax revenue. Going even further, Hawkins says he calls for the decriminaliz ation of harder drugs, too, like Portugal did in 2 0 0 1. “[ There] it’s a violation, it’s not a criminal charge,” he says. “In Portugal, they meet with a lawyer, a social worker, and a doctor, and they look at your situation and see how they might help. Do you need a job? Do you need drug treatment? Do you need counseling because you’re using the drugs to cope with some other issue? And even if you don’t want any help and you just want to go back out and get high, you pay a fine and go about your business. They still en orce drug traffic ing but the personal use is not a criminal violation. And as a result, they have less people in prison, and O.D.s have [ dropped] . There’s not the kind of crime and violence around the drug trade at the street level. They greatly reduce the harm, and in fact, there are less people using the hard drugs now than when they started their policy.” Hawkins thinks a similar approach could help in the U .S., which was hit
“I think the politicians are behind the public on this. They’re afraid of the public. They’re afraid to stick their neck out.” hard by the opioid crisis. “People are afraid to get help,” he says. “They get addicted sometimes just because they were given a prescription by a doctor. I had an inguinal hernia operation, and they handed me a bottle of Percocet without any warning. They just said, ‘ Here, take this.’ Then I talked to a guy who had got it, and he said it made him constipated. And, you know, having that observation, I didn’t want to be constipated after that operation. So I just didn’t use them. I didn’t even know the danger [ of addiction] . And that’s a huge problem, and then that becomes expensive for people. So they go to the street and get heroin, and they don’t know what they’re getting. A lot of people have died. So it’d be much better to make this an addiction problem. You can go get help instead of just trying to maintain your addiction with the illegal traffic ing on the street that just creates all kinds of problems.” Despite their popularity with voters, Hawkins is doubtful these issues will resonate in 2 0 2 0 due to the dual coronavirus and economic crises. “Now consumers are going to be reluctant to spend on anything, essentially to the extent they have the money to do that, and investors are going to be leery of risky new investments in that climate,” he says. “So that’s a recipe for longterm depression.” Hawkins calls for an “Ecosocialist Green New Deal” that would help fight the climate crisis which could include an economic bill of rights to deal with poverty and economic despair. He thinks the Green Party should resonate with voters who supported Bernie Sanders, but also with non-voters. “We’re also trying to appeal to the people that don’t vote, working-class people, people of color, and young people,” he says. “We’re trying to give them a message that they can get behind and get engaged because right now, people say they’re apathetic. I’ve done a lot of door-knocking. People are alienated. They just don’t trust the two parties. They feel like the parties and the politicians don’t know them, don’t know what their problems are, and don’t care about them. So, you know, we’re trying to reach those folks — and if we could reach all of them, we’d be a major party.”
Of course, that has yet to happen. The best the Green Party ever did in a presidential election was Ralph Nader’s 2 0 0 0 campaign, which earned just 2 .7 % of the vote — enough for critics to blame him for tipping the close election to George W. Bush. In 2 0 16 , Green Party candidate Jill Stein earned just 1.7 % percent of the vote, again earning accusations that she helped tip the election to Trump. Hawkins disputes that Stein cost Hillary C linton the election, saying exit polls found 6 1% of Stein’s voters wouldn’t have voted for president if she wasn’t in the race. “I always say it wasn’t the Greens, it wasn’t the Russians, it was the electoral college,” he says. They put Trump in office e en though he lost the popular vote by 3 million votes.” “Of course, the most common question [ I get] is ‘ Why are you going to spoil the election for Biden?’” Hawkins says. “And of course my answer is we’ve been given the nonpartisan answer to that, and that is to replace the electoral college with a ranked choice, national popular vote for president.” Hawkins says that by running, the Green Party forces the Democratic Party to bend to the left, pointing to the time in 2 0 14 that he ran against Andrew C uomo for governor of New York and earned 5 % of the vote. “He looked at our 5 % , and he couldn’t take us for granted anymore,” Hawkins says. “And he ended up adopting three of our demands that he had never supported before — a ban on fracking, a $ 15 minimum wage, and paid family leave.” “The way I look at it, Biden should crush Trump, because Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis is so plainly incompetent,” Hawkins says. “And then he’s got this economic depression that he doesn’t have any answers for. But Biden’s sort of been invisible.” Hawkins says at the very least, he hopes he can get some of the issues he advocates for into the larger narrative, working to get on all 5 1 ballots. So far, he’s about halfway there. e’ e got a significant campaign and hopefully we can translate that into getting some of these issues debated that we’re trying to raise,” he says. Your move, Biden.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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NEWS & VIEWS Informed Dissent
The second most dangerous man in America By Jeffrey C. Billman
Maggie Haberman tweeted something the other day that I
found remarkable. Promoting a story on President Trump’s attacks about voting by mail, The New York Times White House correspondent wrote that Trump was “accelerating his attacks on the integrity of the elections” because he was “unable to stop [ Joe] Biden’s rise or modulate his own behavior.” Even facing humiliation in November, the president can’t control himself or stop tilting at conspiratorial windmills. He’s a cokehead on a bender, in other words, or a toddler who needs a nap, only he has the federal government at his disposal and no compunction about using it to his own ends. So we can agree, then, that Donald Trump is the most dangerous man in America (and if you believe his niece, the world.) But barring a dramatic re ersal he’ll lea e office in si months with few meaningful victories beyond the ideologues he’s appointed to the bench. In the long run, the second most dangerous man in America might leave a more damaging legacy. Since his appointment last year, Attorney General William Barr has enabled and encouraged Trump’s autocratic fetishes, laying the groundwor or a ast e pansion o e ecuti e power that answers to neither court nor C ongress, aided by a Department of Justice that has forsaken any shred of independence to braz enly function as a White House consigliere. From the outset, Barr made clear that he believed the president could do as he pleased — and that he viewed himself foremost as Trump’s legal advocate. Barr’s wildly misleading four-page summary of the Mueller report allowed the president to claim vindication — until the full report later showed that Trump had almost certainly obstructed justice and would have been indicted were he not the president. Barr has still not released the internal memo on which he based his conclusion that Trump did not break the law, though, according to an unsolicited memo he sent the DOJ and Trump’s lawyers in
2 0 18 — which might have played a role in his nomination a few months later — he didn’t believe interfering in the investigation was a crime in any event. After that, he set out to undermine the Mueller investigation piece by piece. He assigned a U .S. attorney to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation and another to reevaluate the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The DOJ dropped charges against Flynn. It also reduced its sentencing recommendation for Trump pal Roger Stone, who lied to C ongress; four career prosecutors withdrew from the case in protest. Over the last few weeks, the full range of Barr’s subservience has come into focus. Amid the George Floyd demonstrations, for instance, Barr personally ordered law enforcement to attack peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square to make way for Trump’s photoop in front of a church. Then, following Trump’s lead, Barr baselessly fearmongered about voting by mail — though, also like Trump, he has voted by mail. On June 2 4 , a federal prosecutor testified that arr ordered prosecutors to reduce the government’s sentencing recommendation in Stone’s case after Trump tweeted his disapproval. nother DO prosecutor testified that Barr forced the antitrust division to investigate mergers in the cannabis industry because he hates weed and to investigate C alifornia automobile makers that committed to Obama-era emissions standards following — wait for it — a Trump tweet. And we’ve not yet touched on the Friday Night/ Saturday Afternoon assacre arr’s hac neyed effort to remo e eoffrey erman the . . attorney for the Southern District of New or the office that prosecuted ormer Trump attorney Michael C ohen and is now investigating cases involving the president, the Trump Organiz ation, and current Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. On June 19 , Barr announced that Berman had resigned and would be re-
14 July 1-7, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Bill Barr will torch the Constitution on the way out.
placed by an administration buddy. But Berman said he had not resigned. And because he’d been appointed by judges, only Trump could fire him. o the ne t day, Barr announced that Trump had fired erman though Trump seemed to deny it. But Berman stepped down anyway ha ing been fired his deputy not Trump’s lackey, would take over the office and its pending in estigations until the Senate approved a replacement. Barr gave himself a headache for nothing. The question, yet unanswered, is why he so urgently wanted Berman out of the way — whether, perhaps, he might want to stall an investigation through November. Barr says Trump merely wanted to install his own man ecurities and change ommittee chairman Jay C layton, who has no prosecutorial e perience in that post, and he dismisses concerns about his motives as “conspiracy theories.” Feel free to roll your eyes. As Donald Ayer, a deputy attorney general during the George H.W. Bush administration, told the House Judiciary C ommittee last Wednesday, “I was privileged to serve in the Department of Justice under two Republican and one Democratic president, and I
PUBLIC DOMAIN
am here because I believe that William Barr poses the greatest threat in my lifetime to our rule of law and to public trust in it. That’s because he does not believe in its core principle: that no person is above the law.” House Democrats have shown little appetite for impeaching Barr, which is their only recourse. Senate Republicans, of course, would acquit him, and besides, with Joe Biden up by landslide margins, they’re not eager to do anything that might alter the course of the election. On a pragmatic level, that’s understandable. But the more Barr’s vision of an unaccountable, quasi-monarchial unitary e ecuti e becomes entrenched the longer it e ists without a sustained pushback — the harder it’s going to be to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Scream into the void if you must. ut don’t let his flagrant corruption and abuses of power go unchallenged. Demand his resignation. Dare Republicans to defend the indefensible. The rule of law may depend on it. After all, history tells us that once an e ecuti e obtains power it’s seldom given back.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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FEATURE
New Red Order bills itself as part art collective, part secret society, and part anthropological study. And they want you to join them. | NEW RED ORDER
16 July 1-7, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Informant technology New Red Order wants you to rethink colonialism — from the inside out Art collective New Red Order’s planned April opening event for its first solo museum e hibition at Detroit’s MOCAD was canceled, like pretty much e erything else these days, due to the corona irus. The e hibition now will now open this weekend, but much has happened in the meantime that gi es the work an e en more fascinating and urgent conte t. In May, the killing of eorge loyd by Minneapolis police ignited a new, powerful wa e of lack i es Matter protests across the country, growing into an Arab pring like reckoning with the ery soul of the nation. As protesters ha e toppled Confederate statues and other racist monuments in recent weeks, the City of Detroit preempti ely and uietly remo ed the year old Christopher Columbus statue located at efferson A enue and andolph on une , anticipating it might be ne t. I wasn’t e en aware that Detroit had a Columbus statue until a stunt on Columbus Day, where someone andalized it by making it look like he recei ed a bloody hatchet blow to the head. That’s when I learned it was a gift from the Italian newspaper La Tribuna Italiana d’America to commemorate the th anni ersary of Columbus’ death. I’m an Italian American metro Detroiter, and I didn’t e en know this that’s how in isible and per asi e the power structure of white European colonialism is here. According to istoricDetroit.org, apparently, some local Italians were offended that the statue was merely a bust, and demanded an e en
bigger statue. “Christopher Columbus, a great son of Italy,” the pla ue reads. “Disco ered America.” Of course, this monument ignored the fact that people had been li ing in the Americas for thousands of years before Columbus wound up here while trying to find Asia. It also whitewashes his legacy of brutality toward Indigenous people. ew ed Order has been e ploring these topics formally as a collecti e since . The group was founded by Adam and ack halil, two Ojibwe brothers from ault te. Marie now based in ew ork, and ackson Polys, a member of the Tlingit community of Alaska now also based in ew ork. The three make up the group’s core, but they work with a re ol ing door of other artistic collaborators. And they want you to join their ranks. “ e try to pitch it as a public secret society,’ as opposed to an art collecti e,” Adam says during a recent ideo conference inter iew. “And that’s for many different reasons, but one of the main reasons is so ew ed Order isn’t just contained as an art collecti e. It could be a think tank, a religious group, a cult, a political party.” “More than members or contributors’ to it, we consider oursel es informants’ in the traditional anthropological ethnographic sense, where an anthropologist relies upon informants to get information about specific ethnic groups,” ack says. efore they arri ed at the name ew
By Lee DeVito
ed Order, the halil brothers collaborated on “I AATE E ” translation “It shines a certain way. To a certain place. It ies. alls. ” , which premiered in . The gonzo, stylistically e perimental documentary e amined the past, present, and future of the Ojibwe people of ault te. Marie through the lens of the “ e en ires Prophecy,” an ancient tale that predicted the tribe’s first contact with Europeans. Drug and alcohol use in the community was one of the topics e plored, and rocker ret Michaels, who was performing at a casino while the crew was shooting, also makes an appearance. E en though the brothers are Ojibwe and deliberately attempted to make an inherently Ojibwe form of cinema, the process of creating the film ga e them pause. “ e realized that we were sort of ha ing to act as informants’ in our own community and culture, and how that relationship was often not a reciprocal one,” says ack. “It was a ery e tracti e relationship. E en though we approached the documentary ery aware of the history of isual ethnography and anthropology and how it often has that e tracti e impulse we still tried to make it co authored with our community as much as possible, but we’re ine itably acting as informants. And so with the ew ed Order we wanted to formalize that relationship and to acknowledge that informant dynamic, and then also to call for new informants, Indigenous and non Indigenous informants, to try to make that
relationship more reciprocal.” In Alaska, Polys began to arri e at a similar line of thinking, ha ing gotten into art by making traditional wood car ing statues with his father, “understanding that I was ha ing to perform my own indigeneity for a non Indigenous public,” he says. The thinking intensified as he studied art at Columbia ni ersity in ew ork City. “That put me in a position to be in a lot of institutional situations where I was recognizing my own complicity as an informant, in a long line of anthropological informants,” he says. The group got the idea to create ew ed Order as sort of a sub ersi e reappropriation of “the Impro ed Order of Red Men,” a fraternal secret society whose roots trace back to the oston Tea Party protest, where white colonists disguised themsel es as their idea of ati e Americans. In the ensuing years, white colonists continued “playing Indian,” holding secret meetings in wigwams and adopting other bastardized Indigenous symbols. oth oose elts were members. The Tammany all political machine has similar roots. The ew ed Order sees itself as emerging from, and criti uing, that tradition. The way they see it, the wealthy, land owning white men who formed those secret societies had good, though warped, intentions. “They really do idolize nati e culture in some way a ery per erted, weird ersion of it,” ack says. “They traced the roots of American culture as distinct from ritish culture, so there
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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is at the same time a real reverence for at least this imaginary idea of native peoples, though not often real native people. So much of the New Red Order comes out of recognizing that desire to be Indigenous, or be for the Indigenous. It’s something that is at the very root of this country, both culturally and historically ... it gets sublimated and comes out in strange ways, but then ultimately it seems that desire isn’t something that can be avoided over time. And since it can’t be avoided, perhaps it needs to be channeled into something more productive than a right-wing fraternal society.” “And before it can be rechanneled, it has to be confronted,” Polys says. The group also riffs on the idea of the “public secret,” a concept from the anthropologist and writer Michael Taussig. “It’s like these things that we all know to be true but never really discuss, and kind of shape our world,” Adam says. “So settler colonialism is like the ultimate public secret in our eyes, because everyone knows that’s the case that this is stolen land, but no one ever talks about it.” “There is a desire to acknowledge it, but often the acknowledgment ends up becoming a form of replacement and erasure,” Polys says. The group says even well-meaning progressive liberals can express their sympathy in inappropriate ways. One of the first projects the group worked on together was a short film called The Violence of a Civilization Without Secrets, which screened at Sundance in 2018. Also in 2018, the group debuted “The New Red Order Presents: The Savage Philosophy of Endless Acknowledgement” at the Whitney Museum of American Art, which they describe as a “featurelength live performance delivered by other collaborators.” “We kind of pitched it as a TED Talk on acid about land acknowledgment,” Adam says. “Land acknowledgment” is a concept that’s become increasingly popular in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in recent years, with school days, meetings, and even hockey games beginning with a formal statement recognizing the Indigenous people who originally inhabited the land. The practice is catching on in the United States. Around that time, “there was sort of like an arms race in New York City to be the first institution to adopt a territory or land-management practice or protocol,” Adam explains. “That was something that we were interested in as informants, but also really skeptical of … we were being approached by all these institutions to help them as informants: like, ‘What should we do? How should we write this acknowledgment? We don’t want to upset anyone.’ It’s like
Traditionally, art museums treat Indigenous art as a thing of the past. New Red Order aims to disrupt that. | NEW RED ORDER
asking us as individuals to represent an entire people to say what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s allowed, and what’s not allowed, which is kind of an absurd premise to begin with.” In the end, the New Red Order oversaw a land acknowledgment for the Whitney, but the core members of the group largely hung back to let other members lead. “We were thinking people might listen to us more if it’s coming from two middle-aged white people, or it might register in a different way,” Adam says. The group says that while land acknowledgments are welcome, it’s important for institutions to make sure they’re not just “playing Indian” and using them as a way to absolve them from real change. “Having known a lot of people in Canada and their frustrations with that practice, it can kind of just slide into this symbolic realm where you say it at the beginning of a meal, like saying ‘grace’ before a meal — like, now that we got that out of the way we can get off of the rest of our lives,” Adam says. “It’s also not just acknowledging, but also adding a commitment to change, so that way it doesn’t just slip into this kind of like magical incantation at the beginning of something to relieve that guilt, but then actually could become a moment to really think through what it would mean to acknowledge the settler-colonial system and what are the responsibilities of people complicit in that. MOCAD announced its official reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic just last week. Pat Elifritz, the museum’s Curator of New Media and Technology, says the show has been rescheduled at least four times. Naturally, the exhibition will include a land acknowledgment. MOCAD’s executive director and chief curator, Elysia
18 July 1-7, 2020 | metrotimes.com
You can sign up to join New Red Order at its MOCAD exhibition. | NEW RED ORDER
“So much of the New Red Order comes out of recognizing that desire to be Indigenous or be for the Indigenous. It’s something that is at the very root of this country, both culturally and historically.” Borowy-Reeder, says that the museum consulted with Dylan Miner, who leads the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program at Michigan State University, and that the museum is considering making the land ackowledgment a part of the museum, perhaps as a permanent sign or something that is said at the begining of future events. “That’s really why I feel that it’s critical for this kind of work to be presented in a contemporary art museum,” Elifritz says. “With a non-collection museum, I
think often you assume that they get a free pass with its kind of engagement with history, but contemporary venues are really important for offering a kind of speculative potential for the future. And within museum culture to see Indigenous ideas only represented in a historical context is something that’s really, um, built within the DNA of museum practices. So from the museum’s side, being able to prioritize future projection and thinking, and the role of digital media and technology within
An informercial-like video invites recruits to become an “accomplice.” NEW RED ORDER
that is really the motivation to present this at MOCAD.” Last year, New Red Order launched “a large recruitment campaign” that began at the Toronto Biennial of Art. The campaign has a website, newredorder.org, a phone hotline, and even an infomercial-like video calling for new recruits for the group to eventually ascend to the level of “accomplice.” To become an accomplice, new recruits have to follow the “three C’s”: “contract,” “concealment,” and “capture.” The contract is self-explanatory. “Like any stable relationship, you start off with a contract or a treaty that kind of lays out your terms of engagement with New Red Order,” Adam says. “And then ‘concealment’ is the opportunity to be able to conceal yourself in order to perform your desire for indigeneity, without fear of reprimand. Which means you could potentially ... well, let’s not go there,” he says, coyly. “One of the aims of the New Red Order is to repatriate all Indigenous land and life,” he explains later. “To do anything anti-colonial would inherently have to be against the law under a settler-colonial regime.” “‘Capture’ is where it gets really juicy,” Zack explains. The concept riffs on the “additi e” approach officials took to a Teddy Roosevelt monument in New York City. The statue depicts Roosevelt riding on a horse, anked by a ati e American and an African-American on foot, which has drawn criticisms for being a monument to racism. After it was defaced in recent years, the city launched a commission that concluded they would not take the statue down, but add a plaque that acknowledged the controversy. In recent weeks, officials, including those at the nearby American Museum of Natural History, NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, and even Roosevelt’s descendants have called for the statue to be removed. “I forget who said it, but the only thing more invisible than a monument is the plaque next to it,” Zack says.
“It’s like the John Carpenter movie They Live, where the main character puts on the sunglasses and sees that all the advertisements say ‘obey,’” he says. “You put the glasses on, and you see the world in a totally different way, and you recognize all these monuments have these invisible symbols sort of built into them. So what ‘capture’ kind of really started was a way for people to look up familiar symbols for these monuments in different ways and see them with fresh eyes.” The “capture” step of the program asks recruits to photograph monuments, to then be translated into a 3-D computer model, which can then be digitally altered. “Essentially, we’re defacing the monuments in an ‘additive’ sense,” Zack says. When it comes from this reckoning with offensi e ati e American iconography, it’s a fine line. “This is kind of like a dumb anecdote, but it’s like with the Land of Lakes butter, where they got rid of the Indian on the box,” Zack says. “It’s like a funny form of removal again.” “Or like the Cleveland Indians, where now the logo is just a ‘C,’” Polys says. “It’s just funny, because it mirrors the removal of actual Indigenous people,” Adam says. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate the removal of stereotypes that do harm, but we also recognize that it’s in the long line of removal of Indigenous people and representations from history or reality,” Polys says. The New Red Order comes to Detroit just as our culture is heading into uncharted territory. Navigating this reckoning is bound to get messy at times, as well as uncomfortable. New Red Order wouldn’t have it any other way. “It’s like, OK, we all know things and we all don’t know things,” Adam says. “ e’re going to figure this out together.” New Red Order: Crimes Against Reality opens on Thursday, July 2 at MOCAD, 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; mocadetroit.org. Exhibition runs through Jan. 10.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! OPEN EVERY DAY @ NOON! Seems like there is so much tension out there in the world right now. How about a lesson in tolerance and understanding? Unless you want to go live off the grid in the wilderness (which we don’t recommend as you’ll leave your garbage everywhere), we truly are in this together; there is no other way. If you are out there making a spectacle of yourself...STOP! Recognize yourself! Look at yourself. Look into yourself. How often do you judge others? Remember, EVERYONE has room to improve, even you. Cheers to celebrating our differences! And please wear a mask.
Saturday, July 4th WE ARE OPEN! Sunday, July 5th Happy Birthday, Rubino! Monday, July 6th Happy Birthday, Twomey!
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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CULTURE Q:
I h ave a q uestion. I’ m a g ay man in a relationsh ip and w e’ re b oth really h appy since w e met a year ag o. W e’ re “ open” in th e sense th at h e w ants th e option to b e intimate w ith someone else if a connection h appens and in turn h e said h e w ould b e supportive of me b eing involved in my k ink s. But I h aven’ t d one anyth ing yet out of f ear. I’ m not af raid of my k ink s. I’ m w orried th at if I ask to g o d o someth ing k ink y it w ill ruin our relationshi . don t thin he was bluffing w h en h e said it w as ok ay f or me to ex plore my k ink s w ith oth er g uys, b ut it w orries me. I tend to repress th e k ink part of my sex uality and I’ m w orried th at h im k now ing I w ant to act on it w ill cause issues. My b oyf riend and I are so b alanced b ut in th e k ink aspects of my lif e I’ m a sub missive and need to eng ag e in pow er ex ch ang e w ith someone. I miss b eing ab le to ex press th ese th ing s and it f eels lik e th ere’ s a void in my lif e. Th at mig h t sound silly, b ut it’ s true. I th ink repressing th em is actually tak ing a toll on my mental h ealth . A ny ad vice? — G uy’ s A b and oned Y earning s Sub tly U nd ermining Bond
A:
your boy riend is bluffing you wanna now that sooner rather than later. our still relati ely new ish boy riend ga e you permission to act on your in s at the same time he as ed your permission to uc someone else. ou ga e him your o ay and assume you meant it you meant it when you told him he could i and when a connection happens go ahead and uc the dude. eeing as he too your yes or an answer where his connections are concerned thin you should ta e his yes or an answer where your in s are con cerned. o go find some hot Dom you wanna submit to and let your boy riend now you’re gonna get your in on. it turns out your boy riend was lying to you i he’s one o those people who wants to be ree to play with others which is why he got your o ay but doesn’t want his partner playing with others and the o ay he ga e you was insincere it’s better to find that out twel e short months into this relation ship than to find it out ten years a mortgage one id and two dogs into this relationship. nd what you describe about the oid you eel is understandable to anyone with in s and e en anilla people can understand i they thin about it or e en a moment. That anilla stuff you en oy anilla people magine ne er being able to do any o
it. ee our in s are an intrin sic aspect o your se uality and re pressing them not ha ing any way to e plore or e press them does ta e an emotional toll. t can also breed resentment i your partner is the reason you can’t e plore or e press them. hich means i your boy riend wants you to be happy and wants you to be a good boy riend to him then you need to ha e the reedom to be who you are. or some in y people porn is enough o an outlet but most in y people want actual e periences. O ten a anilla partner is willing and able to meet a in y partner’s needs and that’s great. ut sometimes a anilla partner can’t do it or is incapable o a ing it or does it poorly on purpose so they won’t be as ed to do it again. nd or some in sters the awareness you’re being indulged ma es it impossible to get into the right subby headspace. either is the case you’ll ha e to outsource these desires to fill that oid. your boy riend gi es you the o ay and has a little brea down a ter you get home i it dredges up some une pected eelings and you should e pect that it will dredge up some une pected eelings so e pect those une pected eelings and needs some reassur ance that’s fine. nswer any ues tions he has and let him now you’re not going anywhere indeed the act that you don’t ha e to choose between him and your in s ma es you ar less li ely to end this relationship. ome times people who weren’t e en in the dungeon during the scene need a little a tercare too. ut i you’re care ul not to neglect your boy riend se ually or emotionally and your in y dates are ust an occasional thing and your boy riend eeps ha ing great big dramatic meltdowns then that’s a bad sign. he punishes you with drama e ery time he gi es you his o ay to play with someone else then he’s hoping you’ll decide to stop see ing these e periences out because the emotional price is too great. ou won’t be able to remain in this relationship i that’s what winds up happening so you’re going to wanna act on your in s at least a hal a do en times be ore you get a dog or a mortgage.
Q:
My new b oyf riend j ust opened up to me ab out h is k ink s. Noth ing craz y: j ust b ond ag e and h umiliation. W h ile he usually meets and dates uys off
20 July 1-7, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Savage Love By Dan Savag e
ting b etter at calling h im names w h en w e h ave sex and I actually really enj oying spank ing h im. But I w as talk ing w ith a f riend — our straig h t lad y mutual ( w ith th e b oyf riend ’ s ok ay! ) — and sh e told me sh e’ s never h ad a straig h t g uy open up to h er ab out w anting to b e tied up ab used . A re g ay g uys j ust k ink ier? — Talk ing O ver Perversions ha e a theory hen we’re boys be ore we’re ready to come out we’re sud denly attracted to another boy. nd that’s something we usually eel pretty panic ed about. t would be nice i that first same se crush was something a boy could e perience without eelings o dread or terror TO but that’s not how it wor s or most o us. e’re eenly aware that should JOE NEWTON the ob ect o our desire reali e it i the boy we’re attracted to reali es what we’re eeling i we k ink y d ating sites, w e met “ th e old gi e oursel es away with a stray loo f ash ioned w ay” a f ew month s b ef ore the odds o that boy reacting badly CO VID- 1 9 slammed us h ere in Ch icag o: or e en iolently are high. en i you at a potluck d inner party th row n b y a thin the boy might not react iolently mutual straig h t lad y f riend . Y our name e en i you suspect the boy you’re came up d uring th e conversation ab out crushing on might be gay himsel the h is interests: h e told me h e w as tak ing sta es are too high to ris ma ing any your ad vice and “ laying h is k ink card s sort o mo e. o we stew with eelings on th e tab le” b ef ore I h ad mad e too o lust and ear. much of an emotional commitment. e ual desire can ma e anyone eel W h at’ s interesting to me, Dan, is h ow ear ul and powerless we’re liter of ten th is h appens. My b oyf riend is ally powerless to control these eelings easily th e f ourth g uy I’ ve d ated in th e while we can and must control how we last f ew years w h o laid d ow n th e ex act act on these eelings but desire and same k ink card s: w ants to b e tied up, ear are stirred together or us gay boys w ants to b e called names, w ants to b e to much greater degree than they are h urt. I’ m learning to tie k nots and g etor straight boys. e ear being ound out we ear being called names we ear being outed we ear being physically hurt. nd the person we ear most is the person we ha e a crush on. significant number o gay guys wind up imprinting on that heady and ery con using mi o desire and ear. The erotic imaginations o guys li e your boy riend sei e on those ears and erotici e them. nd then in adulthood your boy riend want to re e perience those eelings that heady mi o desire and ear with a lo ing partner he trusts. The gay boy who eared being hurt by the person he was attracted to becomes the gay man who wants to be hurt in a limited controlled consensual and sa e way by the man he’s with.
When we’re boys … before we’re ready to come out … we’re suddenly attracted to another boy. And that’s something we usually feel pretty panicked about.
Q uestions? mail@savag elove.net. F ollow Dan on Tw itter @F ak eDanSavag e. More inf ormation at savag elovecast.com.
metrotimes.com | July 1-7, 2020
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CULTURE Free Will Astrology
By By Rob Brez sny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19 Aries author Marge Piercy writes, “The people I love the best jump into work headfirst without dallying in the shallows. The Aries people I love best will do just that in the coming days. ow is not the right time to wait around passively, laz ily hoping that something better will come along. or is it prudent to procrastinate or postpone decisions while shopping around for more options or collecting more research. Di e Aries, dive!
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sel in the coming wee s. Don’t o ersimplify yourself or dumb yourself down, either intellectually or emotionally. O uly ugust Travel writer Paul Theroux has journeyed long distances by train: once rom ritain to apan and bac again and then rom assachusetts to rgentina. e also rode trains during part of his expedition rom airo to ape Town. ere’s one o his conclusions: “It is almost axiomatic that the worst trains take you through magical places. ’d li e to offer a milder ersion of that counsel as your metaphor for the coming weeks: The funky, bumpy, rickety influences will bring you the best magic.
TAU RU S: April 2 0 – May 2 0 Calvin and H ob b es is a comic strip by ill atterson. t eatures a boy named al in and his stuffed tiger obbes. n the first panel o one story al in is seated at a school desk looking perplexed as he studies a question on a test, which reads plain saac ewton’s irst aw o otion in your own words. n the second panel, C alvin has a broad smile, suddenly imbued with inspiration. n the third panel he writes his response to the test question: a a oob mog. rug pubbawup in wattoom ga or . humble spu . The fourth panel shows him triumphant and rela ed proclaiming lo e loopholes. propose that you use this scenario as your victorious metaphor in the coming weeks, Taurus. oo or loopholes nd use them to o ercome obstacles and sol e riddles.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22 Philosopher Miguel de U namuno declared, “Everything that exalts and expands consciousness is good, while that which depresses and diminishes it is e il. This idea will be intensely true for and applicable to you in the coming weeks, irgo. t will be your sacred duty both to yourself and to those you care about—to enlarge your understandings of how the world works and to push your awareness to become more inclusi e and empathetic. hat’s your ision o paradise on earth ow is a good time to ha e un imagining it.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20 “It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to oursel es wrote philosopher and acti ist imone eil. ’m hoping that this horoscope of mine can help you avoid that mista e. n the coming wee s and months you will have a stronger-than-usual need to be seen for who you really are — to have your essential nature be appreciated and understood by people you care about. nd the best way to make sure that happens is to work hard right now on seeing, appreciating and understanding yoursel .
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22 What do you want to be when you grow up ibra hat’s that you say ou firmly belie e you’re already all grown up hope not! In my vision of your destiny, you will always keep evolving and transforming; you will ceaselessly transcend your existing successes and push on to accomplish urther brea throughs and ictories. ow would be an excellent time to rededicate yoursel to this noble aspiration. in ite you to dream and scheme about three specific wonders and mar els you would li e to e perience during the ne t fi e years.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22 Some readers wish I would write more like C ormac McC arthy or Albert C amus or Raymond C handler: with spare simplicity. They accuse me o being too lush and e uberant in my prose. They want me to use shorter sentences and fewer ad ecti es. To them say t ain’t gonna happen. ha e eelings similar to those o best-selling C ancerian author Oliver Sacks, who Th e New Y ork Times called “one of the great clinical writers o the th century. Sacks once said, “I never use one adjective if six seem to me better and, in their cumulati e effect more incisi e. am haunted by the density of reality and try to capture this with thic description.’ bring these thoughts to your attention, my fellow C ancerian because thin it’s important or you to be your lavish, sumptuous, complex
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21 . . enator li abeth arren has advice that would serve you well in the coming wee s. he says eep a little space in your heart or the improbable. ou won’t regret it. n accordance with your astrological potentials ’m inclined to amend her statement as ollows eep a si able space in your heart or the improbable. ou’ll be rewarded with catalytic revelations and intriguing opportunities. To attract blessings in abundance, Scorpio, be willing to set aside some of your usual skepticism and urge or control.
22 July 1-7, 2020 | metrotimes.com
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21 Author Malidoma Somé lives in the . . now but was born in the est rican country o ur ina aso. e writes n the culture o my people the Dagara we ha e
no word or the supernatural. The closest we come to this concept is Y ielb ong ura, ‘ the thing that nowledge can’t eat.’ This word suggests that the life and power of certain things depend upon their resistance to the categoriz ing knowledge that human beings apply to e erything. bring om ’s thoughts to your attention, Sagittarius, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will encounter more than the usual number of experiences that knowledge can’t eat. They might at times be a bit spooky or confounding, but will mostly be interesting and un. ’m guessing that i you embrace them, they will liberate you from overly literal and materialistic ideas about how the world wor s. nd that will be good or your soul. CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19 Pioneering C apricorn scientist Isaac ewton is o ten hailed as one o history’s greatest geniuses. agree that his intellectual capacities were sublime. ut his emotional intelligence was sparse and eeble. During the time he taught at ambridge ni ersity his tal s were so affectless and boring that many of his students skipped most o his classes. ’ll encourage you to ma e ewton your anti role model or the ne t eight wee s. This time will be favorable for you to increase your mastery of three kinds of intelligence beyond the intellectual kind: feeling, intuition, and collaboration. AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18 When future writer (and Aquarius) harles Dic ens was years old his parents and siblings got incarcerated in a debtors’ prison. To stay ali e and help his amily he too a ob wor ing hours a day si days a week, pasting labels on pots of boot polish in a rotting rat in ested warehouse. ard times et the e periences he had there later provided him with rich material for the novels that ultimately made him wealthy and belo ed. n predicting that you, too, will have future success at capitali ing on difficulty don’t mean to imply you’ e endured or will endure anything as harsh as Dic ens’ ordeal. ’m ust hoping to help you appreciate the motivating power o your challenging e periences. PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20 Maybe you feel that the ongoing pandemic has inhibited your ability to explore and deepen intimacy to the degree that you would li e. ut e en i that’s the case, the coming weeks will provide openings that could soften and remedy your predicament. o be e tra recepti e and alert to the clues that li e re eals to you. And call on your imagination to look for previously unguessed and unexpected ways to rein ent togetherness and tenderness. et’s call the ne t three wee s your eason o Renewing Rapport.
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