Little Village magazine issue 288: Nov. 4 - Dec. 1, 2020

Y S A L W A

F R E E

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Local Nonprofit and Retail Spotlight Friendship Community Project creates a ‘family’ of English language learners. pg. 12

Nonprofit dance, counseling and social groups helped one Iowa City teen beat the odds. pg. 22

CSPS, NCSML and AAMI join forces to bring new public art to Cedar Rapids. pg. 36

THE ENGLERT THEATRE inspiring art in uncertain times

While our doors may be closed, we’re still working hard to create quality programming that highlights the talent of our community. In the past three months we’ve uploaded over 30 videos to our Youtube channel, including a youth acting camp, a virtual concert series, and more.

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Youtube.com/TheEnglertTheatre Acting Out Prep School | Mission Creek Underground | Best Show Ever Nuggets of Wisdom with Sharon & Jonny | Best of the Englert

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VOL. 29 ISSUE 288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 ALWAYS FREE LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM PUBLISHER MATTHEW STEELE Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

DIGITAL DIRECTOR DREW BULMAN ART DIRECTOR JORDAN SELLERGREN MANAGING EDITOR EMMA MCCLATCHEY ARTS EDITOR GENEVIEVE TRAINOR NEWS DIRECTOR PAUL BRENNAN VISUAL REPORTER­ JASON SMITH STAFF WRITER/EDITOR IZABELA ZALUSKA ENGAGEMENT EDITOR CELINE ROBINS STAFF WRITER ANJALI HUYNH MARKETING AUTOMATIONS SPECIALIST MALCOLM MACDOUGALL FULL STACK WEB DEVELOPER ADITH RAI MARKETING COORDINATOR, GRAPHIC DESIGNER CHOSIE TITUS DISTRIBUTION BRIAN JOHANNESEN, DAI GWILLIAM, NORBERT SARSFIELD, NICOLE ELDRIDGE

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The Library is Open

The Edge of Eighteen

Meditations on Injustice

The nonprofit, woman-run IC Bike Library sees cycling as a “great equalizer.”

A year in the life of an Iowa City teenager overcoming homelessness.

CR museums and artist Jordan Weber delve into climate and racial violence.

BRIAN JOHANNESEN

EMMA MCCLATCHEY

GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

6 - Interactions 10 - Brock About Town 12 - Cortado 16 - Bike Library 18 - UR Here 22 - Community

34 - Bread & Butter 36 - A-List 38 - Events Calendar 51 - Ad Index 53 - Your Village 55 - Dear Kiki

57 - Astrology 59 - Local Albums 61 - Local Books 62 - Reader Survey 63 - Crossword

ADVERTISING ADS@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM LISTINGS CALENDAR@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM CONTRIBUTORS AUDREY BROCK, ALEX CHOQUEMAMANI, THOMAS DEAN, RICH HERMANN, JOHN MARTINEK, BENJAMIN MINNIEAR, ZAK NEUMANN, ANGELA PICO, MICHAEL ROEDER, CLAIRE THOELE, TOM TOMORROW, SAM LOCKE WARD, KENT WILLIAMS SUBMISSIONS EDITOR@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM DISTRIBUTION REQUESTS DISTRO@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM CREATIVE SERVICES CREATIVE@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM CONTACT (319) 855-1474, 623 S DUBUQUE ST, IOWA CITY, IA 52240

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Little Village is an independent, community-supported news and culture publication based in Iowa City. Through journalism, essays and events, we work to improve our community in the Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids area according to a few core values: environmental sustainability, affordability and access, economic and labor justice, racial justice, gender equity, quality healthcare, quality education and critical culture.

Letters to the editor(s) are always welcome. We reserve the right to fact check and edit for length and clarity. Please send letters, comments or corrections to editor@littlevillagemag.com. Little Village is always free; all contents are the licensed work of the contributor and of the publication.

If you would like to reprint or collaborate on new content, reach us at lv@littlevillagemag.com. To browse back issues, visit us at 623 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, or online at issuu.com/littlevillage.

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INTERACTIONS LV encourages community members, including candidates for office, to submit letters to Editor@LittleVillageMag.com. To be considered for print publication, letters should be under 500 words. Preference is given to letters that have not been published elsewhere.

Iowa City student information may have been exposed in billing company hack (Oct. 20) Seems the district has great difficulty protecting special education students. Just a few years ago files of SE students were found at the recycling center that had private information. —Jennifer A. The district’s press release says word for word, “Timberline also established a dedicated call center to answer any questions parents or students may have about this incident. The call center can be reached at (844) 439-7669, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Central Time.” Typical ESC

misinformation in my opinion. That number isn’t a dedicated call center “about this incident”, it’s the 800# directly to Experian to request a credit freeze. The people I spoke with were exemplary, but they had been given even less information than the district press release included.

—Julie V. Reynolds’ use of CARES Act funds to pay for software contract came after the Iowa House rejected her request for the money (Oct. 22) Ashton Kutcher probably recommended Workday so it’s cool. He’s really smart. I saw him on TV once. —Shari W.

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Its lobbyist is actually her former Chief of Staff. Nothing suspicious about a no-bid contract here. Move along, move along. —Gale K. What is the financial picture like for our front line health care facilities as a result of the pandemic? Are they getting ALL the financial support they need or are we taking care of Covid Kim’s friends and donors with no-bid contracts and trying to pay for them with money intended for Covid relief and support efforts? My guess is the front line health care providers are NOT getting what they need in financial support. —Bob B. they’re hiring temporary nurses at a huge premium now on crisis pay, $90/hr while full time employees have to take a mandatory week leave to “save money”. Some hospitals executives are getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to make these horrible decisions. —Greg B.

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INTERACTIONS Cedar Rapids Public Library continues to provide crucial services from a distance (Oct. 22) I disagree with the comment that “public libraries may not have felt like essential services before.” They have always been essential services to me and I know to millions of others (and not just for “escapism”). —Thomas D. Public libraries are definitely essential. (& should have been providing as many services as possible as soon as possible — especially to those without access to internet — during the pandemic.) —Karen E.

Hy-Vee CEO tells employees he’s concerned about the tax policies of ‘some of the candidates’ this election cycle (Oct. 26) Rich CEO threatens underpaid employees to vote for Trump or their benefits are at risk because his taxes and corporation’s taxes will be raised. —Ryan S. Many corporate leaders use their opportunity to hint that corporate health (aka the jobs of the employees) would be better under ”certain policies” (aka a specific candidate or party). I think it is unethical and an abuse of power. Nobody wants to

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INTERACTIONS

/LittleVillage READER POLL:

aren’t there. You can’t prepare resources that don’t exist.

—Nicole K.

How often do you clean your oven?

2.2% As 22.2%

directed, every 3 mo.

Once a year or so

to party over life. Her actions embody the concept that the few must sacrifice their lives for the livelihood of the many. Her willingness for all Iowans to get sick and die for the sake of the economy is deplorable.

She thinks we’re worth more dead than alive. I assume that by that logic, she is perfectly willing to die rather than risk the state losing revenue.

So her death would actually advance her political agenda. —Mathilde B.

Gov. Reynolds skips another COVID-19 news conference as hospitalizations hit record highs once again (Oct. 27) Maybe she’s in the hospital, too?!

—Sue D.

26.7% Only

when my lease is up

48.9%

wat.

We’re not that lucky. … The current administration has officially abandoned any attempt to fight the death toll, thereby stating an official federal policy of death acceptance. Reynolds embraced this by refusing to use her authority to save any lives in Iowa, thus overtly stating her commitment

Ernst left in the cold (metaphorically) at Trump’s Omaha rally, other attendees literally left in the cold (Oct. 28) “I want to speak to the manager.”

––Josh L.

BROCK ABOUT TOWN lose their job and should be able to vote free and separate from the subtle threat to their employment. —Hank W. Luckily, the CEO can’t follow them into the voting booth. What a jerk.

—Maureen M. They are such hypocrites. I loved the sign in black and white lettering stating how much they do for minorities in the community. This of course was strung up by their Hy-Vee trucks plastered with white people in executive positions. They boarded up windows in North Liberty, Iowa because they were afraid of looters. Give me a f’n break. —Paul G. Went grocery shopping today - my business will be split between Aldi’s and Fareway. So long Hy-Vee, we had a good run (almost 40 years). —Stacie S.J.

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No. They are maxed out. Wear the mask. —Stephanie W. Pretty sure the hospital thought of that already. The cases are just too high and the resources 10 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

AU D R E Y B R O C K

As I floated, adrift in the sea of time, I received a message in a bottle of sorts—a DM from my editor, informing me that it was almost November, and thus time for me to submit a column.

I contemplated this, then shuddered as I remembered that November meant Thanksgiving, and in this, the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty, it could bring only misery.

I don’t think I can even joke about this. If Thanksgiving with your family is anything like Thanksgiving with mine, the prospect of rounding out one of the most stressful years on record with a good old-fashioned family dinner is filling you with a cold, insidious dread. The drama, the skullcrushing boredom, the vegetable trays; you’re considering legally disowning them just so you don’t have to go. Unfortunately, you do. The best I can do is give you a few tips on getting through it:

Record COVID-19 hospitalizations threaten to ‘overwhelm’ Iowa health care system, hospital executives say (Oct. 26) Can the hospital get ready so as not to be so overwhelmed? —Linda D.

Don’t forget your mask! Or your box of latex gloves, your econo-sized bottle of Lysol and an actual and literal six-foot pole. You’re going to need them. Your great-aunt Donna (or Karen, as her grandkids have started calling her) has been barred from every Target in the tri-county area for refusing to wear a mask. See if you can finagle a spot at the kids’ table, which might be a very hot commodity this year.

Help out in the kitchen. It’ll take a load off your mom’s shoulders and give you a plausible excuse not to interact with the rest of the family. When your cousin starts giving you her MLM pitch, pretend you smell something burning. When your grandma reaches down the back of your pants to see what size they are, distract her with a cocktail. See? This is easy.

You already know not to bring up politics. What are you, 14? But this year, you need to go the extra mile to avoid them. Scratch off all your bumper stickers the night before. Use the parental controls on your grandparents’ TV to block all the news channels. When your uncle inevitably brings up the election, fake a grand mal seizure. You may make yourself look a little silly, but it’s better than watching your dad fistfight his sister over the cheese course.

Ah, family time. There’s really nothing like it.

CORTADO

FCP: Aprender a hablar inglés en “familia” POR ALEX CHOQUEMAMANI

H

ace cinco años, en la zona sur de Iowa City, en el sótano de la Iglesia Good News Bible, nació un proyecto educativo que muchos inmigrantes y refugiados estaban buscando: Friendship Community Project. FCP es una organización sin fines de lucro dedicada a la enseñanza del inglés para aquellas personas que llegan por primera vez a los Estados Unidos o que están deseosas de mejorar el idioma para así poder desenvolverse con autonomía en actividades tan básicas como el ir al supermercado, usar el transporte público o visitar al médico.

Si bien Iowa no tiene elevadas cifras de población migrante como sí las tienen otros estados como California, Texas y, Florida, son cada vez más los inmigrantes y refugiados que eligen Iowa como su nuevo hogar. Y la gran mayoría llega predispuesta a “echar raíces”, es decir, a comenzar una nueva vida aquí, en Iowa. Según un informe del American Immigration Council de este año, el 6% de la población de Iowa es inmigrante, y al menos uno de los padres del 5% de los residentes nacidos en Iowa es inmigrante.

12 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Courtesy of the author

Esta realidad explica los orígenes de FCP. En una entrevista por Zoom con Susan Prepejchal, directora y una de las fundadoras de esta organización, me cuenta cómo nació este proyecto. «Por aquel entonces [2015], Kirkwood Community College, sede Iowa City, no daba abasto con la alta demanda de personas inmigrantes y refugiados que querían aprender inglés. Había pocas vacantes disponibles, las cuales se llenaban rápido, y eran muchas las personas que se quedaban fuera o, en el mejor de los casos, quedaban registradas en una lista de espera».

programa de estudios de FCP consta de cuatro niveles: pre-elemental, básico, intermedio y avanzado, por lo que no importa el nivel que uno pueda poseer. En otras palabras: «todos son bienvenidos».

Prepejchal también me comenta que no importa la edad del estudiante. Esta organización ha trabajado con adultos mayores e individuos que no saben leer o escribir. Estos casos específicos pudieron ser atendidos gracias al valioso equipo de voluntarios de FCP, muchos de ellos, profesionales con experiencia en la enseñanza del inglés, y estudiantes uni-

SI BIEN IOWA NO TIENE ELEVADAS CIFRAS DE POBLACIÓN MIGRANTE COMO SÍ LAS TIENEN OTROS ESTADOS COMO CALIFORNIA, TEXAS Y, FLORIDA, SON CADA VEZ MÁS LOS INMIGRANTES Y REFUGIADOS QUE ELIGEN IOWA COMO SU NUEVO HOGAR. Ante este desolador panorama es que cinco ex-profesoras de inglés del Kirkwood Community College fundaron FCP con la finalidad de ofrecer clases gratuitas de inglés a personas inmigrantes y refugiadas que por algún motivo―laboral, familiar, educativo― no podían acceder a este tipo de cursos en una institución educativa de Iowa City.

«Nuestro programa de estudios es flexible, a diferencia de otros centros de enseñanza», destaca Prepejchal. Lo cual significa dos cosas: primero, prescinden de algunas formalidades como la asistencia obligatoria o el uso de escala de notas, esto con la finalidad de evitar la deserción de sus estudiantes. Segundo, el

versitarios del Departamento de retórica de la Universidad de Iowa. Otro componente de este programa incluye el trabajo de voluntarios que participan coordinando o apoyando otras actividades de FCP: Club de conversación en inglés, Friendship Pal (reuniones informales entre un estudiante y un voluntario), Mesa de registro, entre otras más.

Hablé con Patrick Mawela, 34 años de edad, comunicador social de profesión, quien en el año 2017 llegó a Iowa proveniente de Kinshasa (República Democrática del Congo), su ciudad natal. En ese entonces él solo tenía conocimientos básicos de inglés británico, que poco o nada le sirvieron al llegar aquí.

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«Cuando fui a comer a una cadena de comida rápida, la cajera no entendía lo que le hablaba. Intenté explicarle una vez más, pero ella comenzó a impacientarse, y luego me ignoró y se fue», me cuenta Mawela en una conversación realizada por Zoom. Esta experiencia desagradable ocurrió a los pocos meses de que Patrick llegara a Iowa, y a pesar del tiempo transcurrido él aún lo recuerda.

Allí fue que él se dio cuenta de que el idioma inglés era vital. Entonces se trazó una meta: aprender a hablar inglés americano, incluidas frases y expresiones que no son enseñadas por centros de educación formal pero que se utilizan en la vida diaria (how’s it going?, what’s up? y peace out, por ejemplo).

Mawela comenzó viendo videos en YouTube durante seis meses, lo cual le sirvió para poder desenvolverse en Iowa City. Pero luego se dio cuenta de que esto no era suficiente.

Necesitaba pensar y sentir el idioma inglés para poderlo hablar, y es así como llega a FCP. Estuvo nueve meses en FCP entre los años 2018-19, y al momento de dejar este lugar su nivel de inglés era avanzado. «Para mí FCP

no es solo un lugar para aprender Inglés», Mawela dijo, «es también una familia.»

FCP, también hace un trabajo conjunto con otras instituciones y organizaciones locales con la finalidad de atender algunas necesidades de los estudiantes. Estas pueden ir desde lo más básico: redactar un currículum para poder postular a un trabajo, aprender a usar un computador y poder navegar por internet, conocer el funcionamiento del transporte público de Iowa City, obtener un carnet de biblioteca, o estudiar para el examen de la ciudadanía americana. FCP además ayuda con aspectos más complejos: conseguir ayuda legal para hacer trámites de regularización migratoria, encontrar atención médica gratuita, etcétera.

Los primeros por lo general son ofrecidos por FCP; en cambio, los segundos, dada la complejidad, por otras instituciones, entre otras: Iowa Legal Aid, UI Mobile Clinic, Iowa City School District.

Al igual que muchas organizaciones sin fines de lucro de Iowa, FCP también se ha visto afectada por la pandemia del Covid-19.

Por ejemplo: no recibió este año el apoyo

económico de una institución que usualmente la apoyaba porque esta decidió destinar más fondos a organizaciones que están haciendo un trabajo relacionado con la pandemia. Sin embargo, el impacto más negativo de la pandemia para FCP ha sido el cambio de formato de clases presenciales a clases online, la cual se ha manifestado en la baja inscripción de estudiantes para la temporada otoño, 2020.

Algunos motivos de esta situación son el hecho de que muchos estudiantes no cuentan con un computador, servicio de internet, o la habilidad mínima para usar plataformas como Zoom o Google Meet. Algunos de estos problemas también afectaron a los instructores, para quienes el formato online resultó poco amigable.

A pesar de esto, Susan Prepejchal y su equipo de voluntarios siguen trabajando denodadamente, sin descanso. Esto no es “amor al arte”; es más bien amor a la inclusión social, a la diversidad cultural, a la integración social, en suma, amor a nuestra comunidad, de la cual inmigrantes y refugiados forman parte.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 13

CORTADO

FCP: When Learning English Feels Like You’re with Family TRANSLATED BY ANGELA PICO

F

ive years ago, in the south of Iowa City, in the basement of the Good News Bible Church, an educational project many immigrants and refugees had looked for was born: Friendship Community Project. FCP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching English to those who arrive for the first time in the United States or to those who wish to improve their language skills to then be able to navigate even the most basic activities with autonomy, like going to the grocery store, using public transportation or going to the doctor.

Despite Iowa not having large migrant

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populations compared to other states like California, Texas and Florida, there are more and more immigrants and refugees who chose Iowa as their new home. And most of them arrive ready to “settle down,” in other words, to start a new life here, in Iowa. According to a report from this year from the American Immigration Council, 6 percent of Iowa’s population is made up of immigrants, and 5 percent of Iowa-born residents have at least one immigrant parent.

“In [2015], Kirkwood Community College, the Iowa City location, was not able to keep up with the high demand of immigrants and refugees who wanted to learn English,” Susan Prepejchal, the director and one of the founders of FCP, said in a Zoom interview.

“There were few available spots, which filled up quickly, and there were many who didn’t get in, or in the best-case scenario, were put on a waiting list.”

In view of this bleak picture, five former Kirkwood Community College teachers established FCP with the goal of offering free English classes for immigrants and refugees,

who for whatever reason—work, family, education—could not access this type of class in an educational institution in Iowa City.

“Our program of study is flexible, unlike other learning centers,” Prepejchal noted.

This means two things: first, they forgo some formalities such as attendance requirements or the use of a grading scale in order to avoid students dropping out. Second, the FCP syllabus consists of four levels: pre-elementary, basic, intermediate and advanced, so it does not matter what level one may have. In other words: “everyone is welcome.”

Prepejchal also tells me that the age of the student does not matter. The organization works with older adults and individuals who do not know how to read or write. These specific cases were addressed thanks to FCP volunteers, many of them professionals with experience in teaching English, and university students from the Department of Rhetoric at the University of Iowa. Volunteers coordinate and support other FCP activities as well, including English Conversation Club, Friendship Pal (informal meetings between a

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student and a volunteer) and the registration desk, among others.

I spoke with Patrick Mawela, 34, a social communicator by profession, who in 2017 came to Iowa from his hometown of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). At that time, he only had a basic knowledge of British English, which was of little or no use to him when he arrived here.

“When I went to eat at a fast food chain, the cashier didn’t understand what I was saying. I tried to explain to her one more time, but she started to get impatient, and then she ignored me and left,” Mawela tells me in a Zoom conversation. This unpleasant experience occurred within the first few months Patrick was in Iowa and stuck in his mind.

It was then that he realized that the English language was vital. Mawela set a goal for himself: to learn to speak American English, including phrases and expressions that are not taught in formal education centers but are used in everyday life (“how’s it going?”, “what’s up?” and “peace out,” for example).

Mawela started by watching YouTube videos

for six months, which helped him to get by in Iowa City. However, he realized that this was not enough. He needed to feel and think in English in order to speak it.

He studied at FCP for nine months between 2018 and ’19, and when he left his English was advanced. “For me FCP is not just a place to learn English,” Mawela said, “it’s also a family.”

FCP also works together with other local institutions and organizations in order to meet students’ needs. These can range from the most basic—writing a resume to apply for a job, learning to use a computer and surfing the internet, knowing how public transportation works in Iowa City, obtaining a library card, preparing to take the exam for American citizenship—and more complex—getting legal help for immigration regularization procedures, finding free medical attention, and so on. The former are usually offered by FCP, and the latter by other institutions such as Iowa Legal Aid, UI Mobile Clinic and Iowa City School District, among others.

Like many Iowa nonprofits, FCP has also

been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, this year it did not receive financial support from an institution that usually supported it because the institution decided to allocate more funds to organizations that are doing work related to the pandemic.

However, the most negative impact of the pandemic for FCP has been the change of format from face-to-face classes to online classes, which is evident by the low enrollment of students for the fall 2020 season.

Some reasons for the low enrollment are the lack of computer access or internet service, and minimal ability to use platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet. These problems also affected the instructors, some of whom found the online format to be unfriendly.

Despite this, Susan Prepejchal and her team of volunteers continue to work strenuously and tirelessly. This is not for the “love of art” but for the love of social inclusion, cultural diversity, social integration; in short, it’s love of our community, one where immigrants and refugees belong.

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COMMUNITY

Ride On The Iowa CIty Bike Library finds a way to safely service growing demand. BY BRIAN JOHANNESEN

T

he coronavirus has left us all desperate for safe activities. As our collective calendar was systematically wiped clear this spring, people turned to the outdoors as a refuge and an escape from their homes. For many Iowans, that meant greasing up their gears and hitting the bike trails.

The Iowa City Bike Library has been an incredible resource for folks looking to get into cycling, whether for sport or as a clean and efficient mode of transportation, for almost 17 years. Their friendly staff of mostly volunteers teach basic maintenance and repairs, refurbish used bikes to be rented out or sold and get engaged with the community, offering safety training courses.

As the enthusiasm for biking rose, the Bike Library was faced with a conundrum: How could they efficiently serve this rising demand while staying safe? Little Village caught up with Sara McGuirk, the Bike Library’s Volunteer Coordinator, to discuss how things are going at the Bike Library and how they were able to adapt.

What do you consider to be the role of the Bike Library in the community? We

want to provide this community with the support to get where they need to go with affordable, sustainable, quality bike transportation.

Beyond bikes, we also provide structured learning resources, socially conscious programming and advocacy for bike infrastructure and the cyclists who make use of that infrastructure.

With transportation equity and mobility justice in mind, the Bike Library aims to grant those who haven’t previously had access to professional, social, economic and even recreational opportunities the means to take advantage of everything a bike can bring to their lives. When we can provide a working bike to someone who would have otherwise been denied access, we’ve accomplished our mission. When someone learns something that helps them become a more confident rider or when someone feels more at home in this community as a Bike Librarian or fan of the Bike Library, I’ve accomplished my mission.

16 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Sara McGuirk (volunteer coordinator), Drew Boss (lead mechanic) and Audrey Wiedemeier (executive director), dressed as Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park with their dogs, Oct. 31, 2020. Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

In what ways has the pandemic impacted operations at the Bike Library and that relationship with the community?

At first, the pandemic hit us hard. We’re a volunteer-run organization with (at the time) only two staff members. So, our team of 30-40 shrank to just Audrey [Wiedemeier, executive director] and me. We made the decision right away: No customers in the shop, no volunteers, no board members, just staff and staff dogs.

With such a high demand for bikes during the pandemic, for-profit bike shops with adequate staffing and new items to sell had their own struggles, of course. But, in our case, we felt this major downshift in man/woman/person-power amidst a major uptick in demand for bikes, parts, repair, etc. With only two of

us to wrench on bikes, salvage parts, process donations, refurbish checkout bikes, work with customers, the uphill climb kept getting steeper.

We found solutions for most of our operations, and we can say we’re really thriving now. We made changes that we’ve been meaning to make for a long time. However, one really crucial aspect of our mission is providing hands-on education for riders and mechanics of all skill levels. At the Bike Library, we don’t service bikes; instead, we utilize our hands-off wrenching approach to allow patrons to self-pilot and actually fix their own bikes themselves. You pop your chain, you blow a tire, your pedal falls off and maybe you’ve never cranked a wrench on your bike before—maybe you don’t own a chainbreaker or pedal wrench, right? You used to be able to come to the Bike Library, rent out a bench, use the full set of tools and fix everything yourself

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with hands-off volunteer or staff guidance.

The loss of any safe alternative to Rent-ABench (and to new mechanic class offerings) has posed, I think, the biggest hurdle. For patrons who need access to low-cost, do-ityourself bike repair, our solution has been something like: We’ll diagnose the problem, find the parts for you if we have them and then maybe show you how to fix a flat or do something simple. For a lot of the high-level or more time-consuming fixes, we’d either have to send you to the other regular retail bike shops or offer you the option to just buy a refurbished bike—often one you could get at a lower cost than the cost of having you bike overhauled.

What interesting or creative changes have you made to the Bike Library business model since the pandemic hit? As a

community bike shop built on the backbone concept of reduce, reuse, recycle, this organization was designed with resiliency in mind.

We keep a low overhead; almost 100 percent of what we’re working with in terms of bikes and components has been donated.

We weren’t too worried about breaking even. The real problem became: How do we fulfill our mission? How do we get butts on bikes without letting customers into the shop?

How do we refurbish bikes at the rate we’d need to in order to meet demand with only two mechanics? How do we teach kids how to ride if there aren’t any youth programs running with which we can partner?

We developed a Curbside Checkout appointment-based system for customers. And, for the first month or so, Audrey and I were working day in and day out on refurbishing checkout bikes. Sales were up, but the solution wasn’t sustainable. We pivoted, and tried

instead to create airtight COVID-safe policies for small teams of volunteers to begin coming in. We began to focus on internal operations: How is our inventory organized; how are volunteers recruited, onboarded and retained; how are donations processed?

The quarantine period became like our off-season, with the chaotic in-season knocking at our door all the while. We overhauled operations from the inside-out. We hired a new lead mechanic, the wonderful Drew Boss.

And with only small groups allowed in the shop at once, I decided it was time to go about volunteer recruiting and onboarding in a more meaningful, individually tailored way.

For our summer youth programming, we worked with the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, the South District Neighborhood Association and the Multicultural Development Center of Eastern Iowa to hold individualized bike safety training classes and a Build Your Own Bike Light class for kids in the Broadway neighborhood.

We were one of the only summer programs available to kids.

So far this year, we’ve onboarded 15 new volunteers, checked out between 40-50 bikes each month and served 40 children through our youth programming.

What is the plan for the future of the Bike Library for the duration of the pandemic and beyond? In the shop, we’re go-

ing to keep the momentum way up, and we’re going to expand upon the smoother operations we’ve built.

With so much upheaval in the political climate, we’ll be working to keep bicycles at the forefront of movements for positive change.

The bicycle has always been a vehicle for revolution; in terms of mobility justice and

Improve Diversity in STEM

transportation equity, it can be a great equalizer. How can it be a tool for protesting, for advocacy, for education?

Over the course of this summer, we’ve pivoted from planning our typical annual ride, Farm Cycle, to working on a forthcoming Black Lives Bike Ride Series. The mission is to bring riders to historically significant sites within the Black community as well as Blackowned businesses, while providing an audio-guided component that will educate riders on each checkpoint (e.g., how to support each local business, what the checkpoint means to this community, what we can do even in small ways to counteract injustice).

We’ll have route guides, a digital storymap, a companion playlist featuring Black musicians and poets, fundraising opportunities for our new Black Mechanic Scholarship, and we’ll be offering plenty of volunteer-led small group rides for each route. Get ready to raise it up! Going live in 2021!

How can people help and support the Bike Library? Our end-of-year giving cam-

paign is right around the corner, and each year local artist Lexi Janezic creates a oneof-a-kind limited edition letterpress poster you should get your hands on! We’re always accepting donations through our website.

If you’re interested in getting more butts on bikes, teaching bike safety, running rides, learning how to repair and maintain bikes, etc., we could always use more volunteers.

Shoot me an email at mcguirk@bikelibrary. org or make an appointment to stop in and meet us!

Brian Johannesen is a musician, talent buyer, and Little Village delivery man. He enjoys nature, mostly.

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COMMUNITY UR Here

Hallowed Ground A spiritual relationship with nature is nonsectarian. BY THOMAS DEAN

Thomas Dean

I

we can nurture nature and spirit, the “mother of us all,” so to speak, is Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha, a self-described “ecospirituality retreat

Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center (sweat lodge pictured above), 120 Boyson Rd, Hiawatha, prairiewoods.org, 319-395-6700

“THE DEFINITION I HAVE FOUND MOST HELPFUL IS SIMPLY THIS: SPIRITUALITY IS THE ETERNAL HUMAN YEARNING TO BE CONNECTED WITH SOMETHING LARGER THAN OUR OWN EGOS.” —PARKER PALMER

Courtesy of Harvest Preserve

n our pandemic lives, many of us have deepened, discovered or rediscovered our relationship with nature as a way to cope with the new restrictions on our lives. The benefits likely have been multiple: enhancing our own health, learning more about the land we live on, perhaps even sparking a stronger environmental ethic.

Many of us who love the land seek connections to nature that run even more deeply, on a spiritual level. We are fortunate that there are three remarkable places in our home region whose mission is to do just that—spark, nurture and cultivate what one might call our spiritual connection with nature. They all are worthy of your support through volunteerism, financial donations and participation.

Spirituality, of course, can take many forms, and I speak of it here in the broadest sense. Perhaps writer, educator and activist Parker Palmer puts it best: In his article “Teaching with Heart and Soul: Reflections on Spirituality in Teacher Education” on the website for the Center for Courage and Renewal (which he founded), Palmer says, “The definition I have found most helpful is simply this: Spirituality is the eternal human yearning to be connected with something larger than our own egos.”

Harvest Preserve, 1645 N Scott Blvd, Iowa

So when I’m talking about our interrelationships with nature from a spiritual perspective, I mean from realms that transcend our physical experience and understanding, as well as our own egos or sense of self. That could be through art (our own or that of others), it might be through myth and storytelling, it might be through religion—wherever you find your own rising of the spirit.

Among the special places in our area where 18 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

and conference center.” I have been entranced and inspired by Prairiewoods since I attended my first retreat there in 2014.

Prairiewoods was founded and is led by the Catholic Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, but as their mission statement says the center “is a sacred space where people of all faiths and cultures are invited to explore and nurture their relationships with the Source of all Being, Earth, Self and

Rich Hermann

City, harvestpreserve.org, 319-331-3675

Terramuse, 510 185th St, Mechanicsville terramuseiowa.org, 319-721-5761

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Others, with an increasing awareness of the story of the Universe.”

The land Prairiewoods sits on is just as crucial as its lovely retreat and conference center, guest house and hermitages: 70 acres of beautifully restored prairie and woodlands (sadly, the woods suffered major damage from the August derecho), including a labyrinth, an edible landscape garden and a sweat lodge for its monthly Inipi ceremonies. Much of the food served at the center is grown in its own organic garden.

I have enjoyed and learned much from individual programs and retreats at Prairiewoods across a range of topics: regenerative leadership, “forest bathing” (shinrin-yoku), contemplative nature writing, nature photography and “the soul’s ripening,” The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul (with writer Belden Lane) and Courting the World Soul, a retreat (which ended up being online this past spring) with mythologist Sharon Blackie and musician Sara Thomsen. I’ve even been privileged to do a reading of my own book Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit, co-authored with Cindy Crosby, at Prairiewoods (many of my photographs in the book were from there), lead a workshop on Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and organize an upcoming series of creative workshops focused on “nature conversations.”

No matter if you’re exploring the grounds on your own, conducting your own private retreat or attending a program, conference or group retreat, you’re sure to find the relationship between your spirit and the natural world enriched at Prairiewoods. I have.

A bit closer to home for me in Iowa City— literally within a mile of my house—is the unique Harvest Preserve, 100 acres of rolling Iowa landscape (woods and prairie, as well as a pond) along North Scott Boulevard, north of Rochester Avenue. Spirit and nature are central to their mission: “to restore, protect and preserve its land holdings as a spiritual sanctuary.” The preserve is “holy ground where invited guests may quietly commune with whatever aspect or manifestation of the Divine they find personally appealing. The Preserve is a place to feel welcome, embraced and open-hearted, and to indulge in the awe and wonder of nature.”

Harvest Preserve is not a retreat center, though it sponsors programs throughout the year, such as solstice celebrations, nature walks and musical events. Art plays a central role in Harvest Preserve’s character and mission, with several sculptures integrating with

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COMMUNITY the landscape throughout its acreage. (Be sure to take a woodland rest in Whitman’s Glade, joining the three women of They Are Waiting, a sculpture by Nigerian-born artist Nnamdi Okonkwo.) The most familiar sculpture to Iowa Citians would be the 20-foot-tall Indiana limestone Sitting Man (previously called Man on a Bench) overlooking Scott Boulevard.

Most locals call it “the Buddha,” though that was not the intention of the piece. This past summer, Sitting Man moved across the street from its original location (due to a land swap between Harvest Preserve and ACT) and now sits facing east, inviting us to sit and be contemplative as well.

Perhaps the artistic and spiritual (and in many ways natural) centerpiece of Harvest Preserve that most defines this special ground is the Sacred Stone Circle, 12 4,000-plusyear-old basalt stones from 16 to 30 feet high, brought to Iowa from Indonesia by preserve founder Doug Paul (a fascinating story in and of itself). Meditators (individual and organized

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groups alike) and those seeking the alignment of nature and spirit inevitably find their way to the hilltop where the Sacred Stone Circle rests.

The new kid on the ecospiritualism block is Terramuse, a retreat center on 47 acres of rolling hills and woodlands near Mechanicsville, opened in 2019. Founded by Iowa returnee, psychologist and experienced community adult education program designer David O’Donaghue, Terramuse describes itself as “a combination of an educational center, a retreat away from the noise and tensions of the city and a place of ecological experimentation and appreciation.”

Like Prairiewoods and Harvest Preserve, Terramuse can be enjoyed and experienced individually for a time of contemplation and solitude, or as part of a group day event or retreat. Guest accommodations, including food, are available, as well as an airy, restful main retreat center building. The grounds feature a Zen garden, fire ring and sweat lodge, and I’ve been enjoying the Facebook updates

on construction of the pyramid, the temple of Demeter and the Shinto shrine. Of course, the coronavirus has put a crimp in Terramuse’s first-year programming, but this fall did see a women’s renewal retreat, a three-day Cosmic Rebirth Retreat with Light Language and a special Halloween event to experience the thinning of the “veil between this lifetime and beyond” on the evening of Oct. 30. I look forward to engaging with Terramuse much more when COVID-19 is more behind us!

Mythologist Sharon Blackie says in If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging, “We are not separate from this Earth; we are a part of it, whether we fully feel it in our bodies yet or not.”

We are fortunate to have in our local region three remarkable places that can help us heal this separation, feel the earth in our bodies and nurture our souls.

Thomas Dean does not go far away to tap into the spirit of the natural world.

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My Own Everything In two interviews done more than a year apart, Iowa City teen Kasey Dawson describes how homelessness shaped her life and ambitions. BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY

I

n January 2019, Little Village received an email submission from a City High senior named Kasey Dawson titled “My Life Story.”

“I never understood what it meant to be depressed,” it began.

Over a nearly 2,000-word essay, the 17-year-old reflected on her life, including the events that helped shape her depression: Her father robbing and abandoning their family in Iowa City when she was a baby. A Chicago police officer informing her, at the age of 7, that her dad had died. Her uncle, a man who gave generously to the homeless and cared for Kasey like a father, arrested and imprisoned for selling drugs. She and her mother becoming homeless, sleeping in their car or on basement floors. Finding a sense of home and normalcy living with friends while her mother stayed at Shelter House. Learning to speak up for herself, take charge of her happiness. Reconciling with her mother and renting an apartment together.

“It is now almost 2019 and all I want is to be happy,” she wrote. “I learned that everything happens for a reason. I believe my reason was so I can be strong and live up to my name Kasey, which means brave.”

“I turn 18 on March 23. I graduate from high school on May 25. My adult years are beginning, and now I’m ready to live my life the right way. The next day is never promised.”

Little Village videographer Jason Smith and I organized an on-camera interview with Kasey shortly after receiving her submission.

We caught up with her again this summer, 17 months and a pandemic later; she was just as eager to tell her story at age 19 as 17, and just as uncertain about what the next chapter would hold.

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hortly before the first interview, Jason and I watched Kasey perform during the Martin Luther 22 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Jason Smith / Little Village

“I WAS FEELING IT. I WASN’T FEELING HAPPY AT THAT MOMENT. I WAS JUST LIKE, OK, WELL, I’M LIVING MY LIFE FOR OTHER PEOPLE, BUT NOT FOR MYSELF. I WASN’T DOING THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY.” King Jr. Day festival on Jan. 21 in the Mercer Park Scanlon Gym. She wore a full-length white and gold dress as did her fellow Dream Divas, a dance group formed by Acacia Jones, a personal hero of Kasey’s, at the nonprofit Dream Center (now known as Dream City) in Iowa City. The young women danced to a gospel ballad, emotion visible on their faces as they performed. Near the end, Kasey crumbled to the gym floor, sobbing. Other dancers knelt to wrap their arms around her, wiping her tears.

“I was feeling it,” Kasey said. “I wasn’t feeling happy at that moment. I was just like, OK, well, I’m living my life for other people, but not for myself. I wasn’t doing things that made me happy.”

Kasey started dancing when she was 4, first with the Salvation Army, then Dream City—gospel, hip-hop, African, Brazilian, jazz and more. Dance became an artistic and emotional outlet as she struggled with her mental and physical health, drama at school, fights with her mother and pressure to provide

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for their household and not fall back into homelessness.

More often she coped with these feelings by being alone when she could—shutting herself in a closet and sitting in full silence or taking a solitary stroll.

“I like to walk mostly in the dark, which I know is very unsafe but, I don’t know, it’s just what I’ve always done,” she said. “I always put on all black before I go outside. I put my headphones in, but I have my music very low, and I just think and I talk to myself.

Like, ‘I wish I wouldn’t have did this’ or ‘I’d go back and change that,’ or I think about the future.”

Kasey said her biggest regret was losing her virginity the summer before her sophomore year. She contracted a sexually transmitted infection from the experience, which drastically affected her health and caused her to miss school and fall behind on her classes.

“It changed everything. It changed my body functions and changed how I act. It changed how I looked. It changed how I thought about people, thought about boys and girls.”

Her biggest ally during that time, she said, was Scott Jespersen, assistant principal at City High. He supported her during the darkest days of her health crisis without judgment or pity, working with Kasey and her teachers to keep her on top of assignments. Mr. Jespersen’s office became a regular retreat for Kasey to finish homework, nap, have a chat or simply escape the bustle of the school. He would treat her to lunch if she reached her goal GPA of 3.0 or higher each trimester; Kasey recalled one particular lunch with Jespersen and a few of her friends at the former PepperJax Grill in Iowa City as “the best day ever.”

“To me that was one of the best days, too,” Jespersen said. “Kasey has overcome odds that other kids—I would find it hard to do the same. As far as her resilience and showing up here on a daily basis when some kids would say ‘Oh, the world’s against me,’ I admire that in her a great deal.”

Another resource was G! World, a mentoring program for girls of color run by Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County.

Prior to COVID-19, G! World groups would meet at every junior high and high school in the Iowa City Community School District once a week after school. Students would be invited to share the highs and lows of their week, eat snacks, socialize, participate in workshops and, most importantly, express

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24 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

I would make it this far. But now that I did I want to continue to live and see what’s out there for me.”

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K

asey Dawson did go to prom a couple months later, clad in a purple satin dress with rhinestones on the bodice. And she

Jason Smith / Little Village

themselves.

“I always, always got excited when it was Thursday because I knew I didn’t have to go home right away,” Kasey said of G! World, which she had attended since eighth grade. The program’s coordinator at the time, Chastity Dillard, was the one who encouraged Kasey to share her writing with Little Village.

It was refreshing to be in a room with mostly Black girls like herself, Kasey said, some of whom had similar experiences to her own. She didn’t want any sympathy from her peers, but also wasn’t afraid of people knowing her story.

“I’m sure there are a lot of kids that go to my school that have had a disease, that have been homeless, that have had to have their family, like, literally ripped out of their arms,” she acknowledged. “Everybody goes through something worse than the next person does. But it was the fact that I talked about mine, because I wasn’t ashamed of it … I feel like I grew up quicker.”

Kasey would often spend the school day stressing about her home life, and spend her free time worrying about school. Her mother, who Kasey said she’d seen on her deathbed six times, suffered colon problems from diverticulosis and grappled with substance abuse, making it hard to hold down a job.

When Kasey bonded with a friend’s mother while living at their house, her own mother got jealous and called her “brainwashed.”

Kasey’s brother lived in town, but had his own family to care for. Kasey’s uncle, who instilled in her a love of writing, was still in prison.

“I’m in my senior year. And I’m very scared. Because now everything is going back downhill. And I haven’t been thinking about college that much. I haven’t been thinking about graduation, I haven’t been thinking about prom. I haven’t been thinking about my 18th birthday. It’s just like I’m living every day at a time. And that’s as much as I can take right now.”

Kasey received counseling from the nonprofit United Action for Youth in Iowa City, helping her stay focused on school and jobs, talk through her anxieties and work toward planning for the future. Therapy also helped her better understand and accept her mental health. She considered studying to become a therapist or social worker herself, “but books and being an author has also come to mind.”

“I’m proud of myself for actually making it to my senior year,” she said. “I didn’t think

“WHEN I’M WRITING, I HAVE THE BAD FEELING IN ME AND I’M TRYING TO FLESH IT OUT

BY WRITING IT DOWN. I’LL STAB THE PEN IN THE PAPER FROM WRITING REALLY HARD OR USE EXCLAMATION MARKS AND PUNCTUATION OR CAPITALIZATION, JUST LETTING MY FEELINGS COME OUT ON PAPER.” graduated from high school on May 25, 2019 (two days after turning 18), crossing the stage at Carver Hawkeye Arena in a red cap and gown.

“I didn’t want to go,” Kasey said of the ceremony. “It just seemed like another day to me a little bit. Once I got there, I was happy because I knew I had made it, going through my entire high school career pretty much homeless and stressing ... I did it, and I was glad to have my brother and his kids there with me, my mom there with me and my

other immediate family there.”

Diploma in hand, she set about pursuing a higher education. But when Little Village caught up with Kasey again in July 2020, many of the issues that had plagued her as a high schooler followed her into adulthood.

Kasey, at 19 years old, spoke with the worldliness and weariness of someone much older. Her hair was in braids that hung past shoulder blades, blue streaks and a few metallic decorations throughout. She wore a navy sweatshirt despite the summer heat.

“I want to dress up like you, try different things,” she told me. “In high school, me and my best friend, we bought matching dresses and that entire day everyone’s like, ‘you need to pull your dress down,’ ‘where’s the rest of your clothes?’ Now when I do try and open up and show more skin, I don’t want to because I don’t feel comfortable. I got that opportunity kind of taken away from me.”

Black girls’ bodies are looked at with more scrutiny than white girls, she said, and are more likely to be sexualized. In a state that’s 90 percent white, Black young adults in Iowa City form a small community that’s sometimes prone to gossip. Kasey said she’s regularly on the wrong side of the rumor mill; the name “Dawson” is associated with crime thanks to her uncle and other members of her family.

Kasey had hoped to start college classes in fall, but she and her mother became homeless again shortly after her graduation.

“I just couldn’t leave my mom like that,” she said. “Am I gonna be able to eat tonight and stuff like that, that kind of slowed me down. I stopped dancing.”

Kasey focused on working service jobs and saving money. She soon found an appealing compromise between work and education in Job Corps, a free program offered by the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare young people for the workforce. Students live on the Job Corps campus in Denison, Iowa.

“It was good. I liked Job Corps ... It’s a great experience for people who don’t know what they want to do or if they don’t have anywhere to go,” she said. “The majority of the people that I met there were homeless just as I was ... And a lot of them turn their lives around very quick and that was something I was trying to get into.”

“But everything just went down the drain.”

Kasey failed a mandatory drug test administered by the program just weeks into her enrollment. She claims she wasn’t provided with the opportunities to get clean via access

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to gyms and counseling that students were promised, but her appeal was denied. She was suspended from Job Corps, and returned to eastern Iowa in November of last year.

Her mother had secured an apartment in Coralville near Coral Ridge Mall, and was glad to have Kasey back. “Me and my mom are getting somewhere now,” she said.

Kasey has a better grasp on her emotions, she said, and is more comfortable than ever telling people how she feels. She said she’s only had one incident of anger in the last year: On Kasey’s birthday, her mom arrived late to a party at her brother’s house. Kasey followed her into the bathroom and found her mother with drugs.

“I didn’t curse at her. But I flipped my lid on her and told her to go home,” Kasey recalled.

She’s become a protector to her niece and nephew, something that’s brought her joy and purpose. She’d like to channel her artistic and nurturing instincts into a career as a cosmetologist and esthetician. And she still loves writing, “I want to see myself doing something more than what I’m doing now,” said Kasey, working at Papa John’s in downtown Iowa City at the time. “If I’m still living at home in five years, that’s OK. But I bet you we better be in a house by then ... I just want to have that glory of living in a house for once.”

Kasey danced for the first time in about a year on June 20, joining Dream City for Iowa City’s Juneteenth celebrations on the Pentacrest.

“That felt great to dance again, that felt lovely.”

“With dancing, you feel the beat. When it’s loud in your ear, pumping, you get the groove and you’re having fun, you’re laughing, smiling, the bad feeling is flushed away because you got all this joy flooding inside of you,” she said. “And when I’m writing, I have the bad feeling in me and I’m trying to flesh it out by writing it down. I’ll stab the pen in the paper from writing really hard or use exclamation marks and punctuation or capitalization, just letting [my] feelings come out on paper.”

Growing up for Kasey Dawson has meant owning her feelings, being grateful for the good days and taking charge of what she wants.

“I just want my own everything,” she said.

“Can’t nobody say nothing to me. Can’t nobody tell me I can’t do nothing. I just want me.”

Emma McClatchey is Little Village’s managing editor.

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SUPPORTING OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY is a shared effort and one that’s accomplished in a variety of ways. Perhaps you volunteer your time to an organization in need. Maybe you’re an advocate for shopping locally. Or maybe you make a yearly donation to a nonprofit you believe in.

In these pages, you’ll find a sampling of the hardworking nonprofits in the CRANDIC that fight day in and day out to make this a more livable place. These groups rely on donations from individuals like you and businesses that support their mission.

You’ll also learn about some of the independent retailers that line our streets and bring a thoughtful and unique product mix to local shoppers. These retailers depend on shoppers’ dollars to continue to thrive in the future.

Year-round support of our nonprofits and retailers is essential to the longevity of our community, but end-of-year giving and holiday sales can provide a much-needed boost and leg up for the new year. This holiday season, find a cause you can rally behind in our donation drive (www.littlevillagemag.com/give) or knock out some gift shopping at a small business you can champion, and see that what goes around truly does come back around.

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IOWACIVIC.ORG, 319-569-1115 BIG IDEA: CIVIC,

a community-based, member-driven nonprofit organization, creates, supports and sustains citizen diplomacy initiatives in eastern Iowa’s Creative Corridor. We organize programming for visitors from all over the world via the U.S. Department of State’s International

26 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Visitor Leadership Program, as well as other exchanges, including the Mandela Washington Fellows. We promote international cooperation, foster mutual understanding across national borders, facilitate the creation of global professional networks, broaden horizons and contribute to the global cultural education of area students and community residents.

Our goal is to strengthen our community’s commitment to and participation in cross-cultural exchanges on professional and individual levels. We believe in the inherent value of cross-cultural interactions and that people-to-people exchanges—whether in person or virtual—contribute to the creation of a more interconnected and peaceful world.

In short, CIVIC brings the world to Iowa City and the Creative Corridor, and the Corridor to the world.

CIVIC was founded in the early 1980s to promote international exchanges, and in 1986 it became a member of Global Ties US, an organization that collaborates with the U.S.

University Vice Chancellors from Kenya and South Africa on a professional exchange program to the U.S. Courtesy of CIVIC

Department of State to organize professional international exchanges. In 2019, CIVIC programmed 26 visits for 230 international delegates from 74 different countries, assisted by 75 local CIVIC volunteers. As a result of the pandemic, the State Department has shifted to a fully virtual exchange model, and CIVIC

Benjamin Minniear / Little Village

Director, 2 Program Coordinators, 1 Communications Coordinator, 2 unpaid student interns; active board

CORALVILLE FOOD PANTRY 1002 5TH ST, CORALVILLE

CORALVILLEFOODPANTRY.ORG 319-337-3663 Courtesy of Coralville Food Pantry

is now hosting virtual exchanges from around the globe on topics such as journalism, LGBTQI rights and virtual education.

YEAR FOUNDED: Early

1980s ANNUAL BUDGET: $65,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 6 part time—Executive

BIG IDEA: Our primary work is our food

assistance program which provides weekly groceries and personal care items for 3,300 Coralville and Tiffin residents. In response to the pandemic, we adapted our food assistance services to ensure that our neighbors can continue to safely access the food they need every week. Since March 2020, we have been providing contactless drive-thru,

walk up and home delivery food assistance services. Our new home delivery option, which provides 60+ deliveries a week, has been a critical lifeline for those in our community who cannot afford to leave their homes for reasons related to health, mobility, emotional stress or documentation status.

2020 has been ruthless. The aftershock of this health and economic crisis will be felt for years to come and will continue to disproportionately impact our most vulnerable and marginalized neighbors. We continue to see an influx of first-time visitors—families who have no other place to turn.

Your support is critical in ensuring no one falls through the cracks in 2020 and beyond. Consider making a gift today at www. coralvillefoodpantry.org/give.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2009

ANNUAL BUDGET: $250,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 3

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 27

DONATE NOW AT LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/GIVE Advertisement

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM 1105 S GILBERT CT #300, IOWA CITY HOTLINE: 800-373-1043 DONATIONS: 319-359-9353

to be added to our newsletter list and visit dvipiowa.org for more details on how you can get involved today.

During the holidays, you can also help by providing gifts for individuals to give their children at any of our drop-off locations around the Corridor, or by mailing/dropping off Walmart, Target or Visa gift cards to 1105 S Gilbert Ct #300, Iowa City, Iowa 52240.

YEAR FOUNDED: 1979

ANNUAL BUDGET: $2.3 NUMBER OF STAFF: 37

million

DVIPIOWA.ORG

FRIENDS OF THE CENTER 28 S LINN ST, IOWA CITY

programming available both online and via phone.

Being a Friend of The Center makes a significant difference in the lives of your neighbors and community. Your one-time contribution, a monthly pledge, gift or corporate sponsorship all play a crucial role to help fill the gap in The Center’s annual budget and allow us to continue meeting the needs of older adults by providing innovative programs, important services and timely updates to our facilities. Together we can continue social involvement and end social isolation for all adults over age 50.

Give online at icseniorcenterfriends.org or for more information contact Jessi Simon, Senior Center Development Specialist, at jessi-simon@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5216.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2006

ANNUAL BUDGET: $90,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 0

ICSENIORCENTERFRIENDS.ORG 319-356-5220

IOWA ARTISANS GALLERY

Courtesy of DVIP

BIG IDEA: For

over 40 years the Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) has been a positive and healing resource for victims/survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and human trafficking. Safety, dignity and respect are at the heart of all that we do as we provide resources and support to our clients.

Ultimately, our goal is to end intimate partner violence and violence against women; this goal can only be accomplished with the engagement of our communities and the key support of our volunteers and funders.

All services provided to the community are free and confidential, which include a 24-hour hotline (800-373-1043), resource gathering, emergency shelter, housing assistance, youth programming, pet sheltering, support groups and advocacy. DVIP has provided support to women, men and children throughout eastern Iowa. The community is invited to support the vital services that DVIP provides to victims/survivors of intimate partner violence through sustainable giving or in-kind donations of gift cards, household and hygiene items, and by inviting DVIP to share our work with your friends, family and coworkers. Email dvip@dvipiowa.org

28 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

207 E WASHINGTON ST, IOWA CITY IOWAARTISANSGALLERY.COM 319-351-8686

Courtesy of Friends of the Center

BIG IDEA: Stay Active.

Connected.

Stay Curious. Stay

In this time of physical distancing, the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center remains committed to its mission to enhance quality of life by creating opportunities to support wellness, social connections, community engagement and lifelong learning for a diverse and growing older adult population. With older adults at higher risk for more severe complications from COVID-19, the Senior Center has pivoted its programming to ensure everyone can stay active, curious and connected even while our building is closed. The Center currently offers a wide variety of popular

IOWA ARTISANS GALLERY’S MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: A mug subscription Courtesy of Iowa Artisans Gallery

Iowa Artisans Gallery has always been a community of artists, makers and the public, providing both livelihood and support as well as opportunities for customers

LITTLE VILLAGE GIVE GUIDE 2020

Benjamin Minniear / Little Village

to purchase handmade, artist-designed and American-made items. With its 35year history, the gallery is a must-see destination in Iowa City’s robust cultural community. The gallery is committed to supporting the local community with gift certificates and donations to local fundraisers for nonprofits and other events.

During the challenges of this year, the gallery, like most businesses, is focused on being able to continue its operations and long history by adopting safe practice protocols and smart strategies for operation during a pandemic. Part of this includes its new free virtual programming “Meet the Artist” series, available for participation on Zoom plus later viewing online. The gallery believes in working together for a stronger community and invites everyone to participate, both in making handmade purchases for cozier, artful homes, and for gifting strategies that help artists and provide delight during these unusual times.

YEAR OPENED:

IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION 123 S LINN ST, IOWA CITY

ICPL.ORG/ABOUT/DONATE 319-356-5200

1985

SHOP HERE FOR: Wall

art! Customers wanting to make their home and home offices spaces more inviting can find options at various price points and styles to make that happen.

MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: A mug subscription.

Who doesn’t need a handmade mug for their spa moment during this crazy time?!

Courtesy of Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation

BIG IDEA: Create library experiences for everyone with your generosity.

The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation’s big idea is that everyone has a great experience with the Iowa City Public Library. What does that mean?

• Delivering library service to you with creativity; • Daily children’s storytime programs online and in person; • Helpful advice from library staff when you can’t figure out what to borrow; • Short waits for popular books because there are enough no matter how you read them; • Technology access and showing you how to use the tech, too.

The Iowa City Public Library is a center of community life that connects people of all ages with information, engages them with the world of ideas and with each other and enriches the community by supporting learning, promoting literacy and encouraging creativity. The Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation welcomes your generous financial contributions to help achieve those goals.

Give great ICPL experiences and show your library love with a financial contribution to the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation. Or designate your Iowa Shares payroll contribution to the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation. Or send a LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 29

DONATE NOW AT LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/GIVE Advertisement

donation to the Development Office at the library. Thank you for making an amazing difference.

YEAR FOUNDED: 1983

ANNUAL BUDGET: $309,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 0

GROW: JOHNSON COUNTY 4811 MELROSE AVE, IOWA CITY GROWJOHNSONCOUNTY.ORG

welcomes input each year in deciding what crops to plant. The annual Voice Your Choice survey seeks feedback directly from those receiving food assistance to make sure that everyone has access to their favorite vegetables.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2015

(Iowa Valley RC&D founded 1998) ANNUAL BUDGET: $114,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 4 full-time, 2 seasonal

patients, caregivers and families throughout this region. Thanks to community support, we turn no one away due to inability to pay. We offer bereavement services, assistance with advance care planning and extensive online resources to our entire community, whether or not a patient has been affiliated with Iowa City Hospice.

YEAR FOUNDED:

in 1983

Started serving patients

ANNUAL BUDGET: Between

$5 and $6

NUMBER OF STAFF: Ranges

from 65-70

million

IOWA CITY HOSPICE 1025 WADE ST, IOWA CITY IOWACITYHOSPICE.ORG 319-351-5665

MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER OF IOWA 136 S DUBUQUE ST, IOWA CITY MDCIOWA.ORG 319-333-0600

Courtesy of Grow: Johnson County

BIG IDEA: A program

of Iowa Valley Resource Conservation & Development

Grow: Johnson County produces organic vegetables for hunger relief agencies and trains growers in sustainable farming practices. Now moving into its sixth season, Grow farms 30 types of crops on five acres. Produce is distributed to 15 agencies in Johnson County. The program offers hands-on training in sustainable practices like cover cropping, beneficial insect habitat, organic pest and weed management and crop diversification.

The pandemic has worsened food insecurity in our community. The need for access to fresh, healthy food is more significant than ever. Your donation will help us grow to meet this need in 2021.

Every week from June to November, Grow distributes the freshest produce at the peak of its flavor. Since the program began, Grow has planted, harvested and freely distributed over 100,000 pounds of vegetables. The team understands that not everyone likes kale and 30 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Courtesy of Iowa City Hospice

BIG IDEA: Iowa

City Hospice is dedicated to providing compassionate care for anyone in our community affected by serious advanced illness and end-of-life conditions. We believe in a future where final wishes are known and honored. In this future, the end of life comes without pain or fear, but instead fosters insight, inspiration and gratitude. Iowa City Hospice works toward this future by providing the right care (that meets the patient’s needs and follows their wishes) at the right time (whether or not a condition is terminal) in the right place (wherever the patient calls home).

Though our name says Iowa City, our service area is much larger, covering Johnson, Cedar, Iowa, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine and Washington counties. We offer a spectrum of life-affirming services and supports for

A weekly Friday STEM class held outdoors at the Neighborhood Center Courtesy of Multicultural Development Center of Iowa

BIG IDEA: Dream

it. Learn it. Make it.

The world needs diversity in science and engineering. Diversity leads to better problem-solving, expands the talent pool and is important for long-term economic growth.

Technology is the fastest growing industry

LITTLE VILLAGE GIVE GUIDE 2020

Benjamin Minniear / Little Village

with the highest amount of open jobs which could add hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy. Science, technology and engineering are solving the world’s problems and our communities benefit when the teams working on those problems have a diverse cultural and socioeconomic background.

Our mission is to bring consistent STEM learning opportunities to underrepresented and underserved people. The communities that we serve have restricted access to STEM due to economic, educational, linguistic or generational issues.

Exposure to STEM ignites curiosity, challenges the mind to problem solve and helps develop troubleshooting skills, and it can help identify a path towards a career in science, technology or engineering that may not have been previously considered. It boosts confidence and encourages a desire to create what they want to see in the world. We are helping to change the face of STEM so that it more accurately reflects the communities it serves.

A $50 gift will help provide everything an underserved student needs to complete 13 hands-on STEM projects, including unlimited access to our online learning curriculum.

YEAR FOUNDED: 2017

ANNUAL BUDGET: $42,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 3

time volunteers

full-time, 5-7 part-

PUBLIC SPACE ONE

PS1 is: Exhibitions + Performances + Artist Resources + Center for Afrofuturist Studies + Iowa City Press Co-op + Media Arts Co-op + Possibilities Supporting PS1 supports artists in Eastern Iowa directly. Make it happen!

229 N GILBERT ST, IOWA CITY PUBLICSPACEONE.COM 319-855-1985

YEAR FOUNDED: 2002

ANNUAL BUDGET: $162,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: 3,

part-time

RAYGUN RAYGUNSITE.COM

132 E WASHINGTON ST, IOWA CITY 319-248-1258 1028 3RD ST SE, CEDAR RAPIDS 319-200-4083

Courtesy of Public Space One

BIG IDEA: “BE

KIND, MASK UP AND MAKE ART.” —Love, Public Space One (PS1)

Since RAYGUN started in 2005, we’ve made equity in politics one of our top priorities. We owe so much to leaders and voices in the communities we are a part of, so we use RAYGUN to give back in a number of ways. This year, we have been raising money to encourage women in general and women of color specifically to run for office by contributing to orgs like She Should Run, Higher Heights for America LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 31

DONATE NOW AT LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/GIVE Advertisement

Strengthen • Grow • Evolve is a collaborative campaign between the Englert Theatre and FilmScene that seeks a major reinvestment in modern and historic venues, innovative programming and new models of collaboration. Working together, we are Building the Greatest Small City for the Arts. Now, as we enter the closing act of the campaign, the campaign takes on new importance.

RAYGUN’S MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: “America Needs Female Leaders” T-shirt. Courtesy of RAYGUN

and African American Policy Forum.

2005 SHOP HERE FOR: Culturally relevant T-shirts, socks and giftables MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: “America Needs Female Leaders” shirt YEAR OPENED:

STRENGTHEN • GROW • EVOLVE

Strengthen: Our excellence is built on diverse and distinguished art and rewarding audience experience. This campaign is reinvesting in the Englert Theatre and FilmScene on the ped mall, century-old buildings that require renovation and modernization to keep our artists and patrons happy.

Grow: FilmScene at the Chauncey is a world-class facility that elevates the presentation of film to a new level. We will continue to nurture the inspired work of Mission Creek Festival, Witching Hour and the newly formed Refocus Film Festival.

Evolve: We have an opportunity to improve access and engagement with the arts as we launch a community-wide arts access study. With this information, we’ll be able to bring art to underserved populations in our community.

221 E WASHINGTON ST, IOWA CITY STRENGTHENGROWEVOLVE.ORG

YEAR FOUNDED: 2018 ANNUAL BUDGET: $6

million devoted to the campaign, though many others are working on it NUMBER OF STAFF: 1.5

Courtesy of Table to Table

times each week from Table to Table (T2T) food rescue deliveries.

In an emergency, nutritional value can be overshadowed by the need to provide the basic necessity of food. Through food recovery, T2T is in a distinctive position not only to provide access to free food, but also to focus on providing nutrient-dense fresh foods.

Through T2T deliveries, local pantries, meal sites and youth programs can offer healthy options to combat the long-term health effects of eating processed and less nutritious food.

Since we began in April of 1996, T2T volunteers have rescued and distributed over 22 million pounds of food to area agencies.

Rescue food with us! Get involved by emailing volunteer@table2table.org or calling (319) 337-3400.

Each pound of good food costs us just 16 cents to rescue and deliver to families!

Donate to the cause at table2table.org/donation.

YEAR FOUNDED: 1996

ANNUAL BUDGET: $390,000

TABLE TO TABLE 840 S CAPITOL ST, IOWA CITY TABLE2TABLE.ORG 319-337-3400 BIG IDEA: We Courtesy of Strengthen • Grow • Evolve

BIG IDEA: Iowa

City is a great city for the arts. Our rich culture is why people live here, what people remember when they visit and the charm that attracts new people to call this place home.

32 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

are Iowa’s original food rescue organization! Our mission is to keep wholesome, edible food from going to waste. We collect it from grocery stores, farms, food warehouses and restaurants and distribute it to our neighbors in need through local social service nonprofits.

The agencies we serve receive fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and protein multiple

NUMBER OF STAFF: 6

+ TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES 105 S DUBUQUE ST, IOWA CITY

TENTHOUSANDVILLAGES.COM/IOWACITY 319-519-2104 BIG IDEA: Ten Thousand Villages is not just an awesome place to shop—we are a global maker‑to‑market movement that breaks the cycle of generational poverty

LITTLE VILLAGE GIVE GUIDE 2020

YEAR OPENED/FOUNDED: Iowa

TEN THOUSAND VILLAGE’S MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: Conscious Step socks.

Courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages

and ignites social change.

Our Iowa City Ten Thousand Villages store is its own nonprofit, and we belong to the national level nonprofit organization that has been doing business a different way for over 70 years. As a pioneer of fair trade, Ten Thousand Villages puts people and planet first. That means you can trust that every handmade purchase and donation you make directly impacts the life and community of its maker in a developing country.

Every handcrafted object we bring into the marketplace has a life of meaning behind it. We provide a way for you to shop with intention for ethically-sourced wares—and to share in the joy of empowering makers in ten thousand villages. We: • Ensure artisans earn a fair, living wage in safe working conditions • Care for the earth • Invest in partnerships that empower communities • Celebrate craft and culture We believe that together we thrive.

City Ped Mall store opened in 2016. The national organization has been a Fair Trade retailer since 1946.

SHOP HERE FOR: Fair Trade gifts, accessories and home goods MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: Conscious Step Socks; These socks are a favorite gift item year round, and especially at the holidays!

And why not?! Their playful designs are fun to wear and each creates a tangible impact in making the world a better place!

Check out Socks that Save Dogs, Socks that Give Water, Socks that Prevent Breast Cancer Socks that Fight for Equality and much more!. They come in adult sizes (large and small), making them the perfect stocking stuffer for everyone on your list.

Designed in Brooklyn by a small fair trade start-up and made in India, these socks retail for $14.95 and are the perfect way to add some cozy to your holiday season.

ANNUAL BUDGET: $123,000 NUMBER OF STAFF: Two part-time staff, a committed board of directors and really cool volunteers

One of the hottest new bikes styles to hit cycling has been electric assist bikes! With the assistance of an electric motor propelling you up to 28 mph, no hill, headwind or aliment stands a chance! We proudly sell e-assist bikes from Trek Bicycles that feature Bosch Electronics motors. They offer a full line of styles from comfort to mountain to road—literally something for everyone!

World of Bikes believes in community.

We love giving back to the community that supports us. Thank you for your continued support during these crazy times!

YEAR OPENED:

WORLD OF BIKES

1974

SHOP HERE FOR: All

things bike-related Kids’ bikes

MOST GIFTABLE ITEM:

723 S GILBERT ST, IOWA CITY WORLDOFBIKES.NET 319-351-8337

We realize that this year was difficult to find that bike you wanted. We are starting to have our stock replenished before the holidays. Stop back by and visit our friendly, low-pressure environment. Our service department is the best around, with a staff that has been getting their hands greasy for many years! We can get your bike back to running like new!

WORLD OF BIKES’ MOST GIFTABLE ITEM: Kids’ bikes. Zak Neumann / Little Village

Make a contribution to your

favorite nonprofit at littlevillagemag.com/give For more information about our Give Guide program, contact ads@littlevillagemag.com LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 33

BREAD & BUTTER

LittleVillageMag.com/Dining

LV Recommends

Crab Attack Cajun Seafood 1117 1st Ave, Cedar Rapids 319-363-1175, crabattack.com

O

pening a seafood restaurant in a landlocked Midwestern state in the midst of an unpredictable pandemic sounds like a near mythical feat. But that’s exactly what the owners of Crab Attack Cajun Seafood did, and with delicious results.

Owners Stephanie Johnson, Nichole Davis and Gerald Seals wanted to bring something different to Cedar Rapids. Johnson and Davis are sisters and Chicago natives who have lived in CR for seven years, but found themselves missing food options that had been available to them back home. Davis is a trained chef with a love for French and Cajun food, Johnson was already an entrepreneur running a cleaning business and Seals, who is also a partner in the cleaning business, had previous experience in the restaurant world. They all shared a love of seafood and saw a niche they could fill, and so an idea was born.

The restaurant was originally slated to open in March 2020, then COVID-19 came to Cedar Rapids and with it delays in inspections and hiring, and a vastly different landscape in which to do business. Nevertheless, they were able to open in early May on a takeout only basis, a model which they have continued.

Crab Attack is located on First Avenue in Cedar Rapids, the former location of Daisy’s Garage and, if you’re an old school Cedar Rapidian, once the site of the Sip N Stir. The

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34 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

Tiffani Green / Little Village

menu features Cajun style seafood, including a build-your-own seafood boil option.

The star of the menu is the seafood boil.

You can try one of the combos listed or you can build your own boil by choosing your type and quantity of seafood—three different types of crab, lobster tails, crawfish and shrimp are all offered at the current market price per pound—and then adding on your sides. Both the boil combos and the build-your-own options offer your choice of sauce and heat level. The menu also features a variety of entrées including some well-known Cajun classics like étouffée and jambalaya.

My boyfriend and I placed an order on a Wednesday night. We ordered a pound of snow crab, part of a “hot deal” they were offering that evening which included the pound of crab and two potatoes for $19.99. We also added on the crawfish étouffée and the Cajun shrimp and grits at $15 each.

Due to COVID concerns, Crab Attack is only offering curbside takeout at this time.

You can place your order by calling the restaurant at 319-363-1175. Crab Attack’s parking lot is located behind the building, and that is where you’ll want to pull in to pick up your order, rather than on the street in front of the building. The parking lot can be accessed by a drive right next to the restaurant or by turning right on 12th Street and then entering the alley.

Additionally, they are currently only able to

accept cash tips, so come prepared!

I made a 30-minute drive to Johnson County after picking up our order, so the crab required a little reheating on arrival, but the two entrees were still hot. Make sure you have a tool to deconstruct your crab legs! (We used kitchen shears.) The crab was tender and sweet, mildly spicy and drenched in garlic butter. I’m something of a grits enthusiast; I order it whenever it’s available, and Crab Attack’s version did not disappoint. The grits were buttery and had actual corn kernels mixed in which I really liked; the shrimp was flavorful and well-cooked and the tails were removed, which was a touch I appreciated. The dish also featured Andouille sausage, cubed instead of cut into thick slices, which made it a subtle addition instead of overpowering other flavors.

The standout and fan favorite was the crawfish étouffée. We had tried the dish at other restaurants in the past and been unimpressed, but this version was delicious, featuring a hearty but not heavy sauce with a mild flavor reminiscent of red beans and rice and generous amounts of crawfish.

Overall, Crab Attack’s food exceeded our expectations. The dishes were rich without being heavy, the portions are very generous and the price point is affordable—the holy trinity.

This local and Black-owned restaurant is a fun and delicious addition to Cedar Rapids’ culinary landscape. —Tiffani Green

IOWA CITY & CEDAR RAPIDS' LOCAL FOOD DELIVERY SERVICE

WWW.CHOMP.DELIVERY

CULTURE A-List

Inhale, Exhale A new installation at CSPS Hall will explore both racial and environmental justice through the examination of breath.

BY GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

J

ordan Weber first began meditating when he was a junior in high school, with visions of professional basketball in his future. He read the book Sacred Hoops by long-time NBA player and coach Phil Jackson, which in turn led him to seminal Western practice text Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

“I was extremely lucky to find it when I did,” Weber said.

Although he first used it to improve his game, as Jackson did for the players he coached, including the likes of Scottie Pippin and Michael Jordan, its value remained clear even after he switched gears to painting after a couple seasons playing on the Kirkwood men’s basketball team after high school didn’t pan out into a career. Weber’s mother was a painter, and had instilled a love of art in him as a child, teaching him to paint and draw from a young age.

His zazen practice has deeply influenced his art over the years, and his upcoming installation outside CSPS Hall is a prime example.

Regenerations, which will be unveiled at a limited-attendance event on Nov. 5, sits at the intersection of environmental justice and the Black Lives Matter movement by activating and engaging the concept of breathing.

“The idea behind that work is to allow a space … to take a breath in,” Weber told me.

“It’s so central to my practice with zazen meditation to take a breath in. … It’s really key to a healthy psyche.”

The installation was commissioned in a three-way partnership between the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (NCSML), the African American Museum of Iowa (AAMI) and CSPS. It’s intended, Weber said, as the just the beginning of a “larger and more sustainable environmental justice project” for Cedar Rapids that will expand in 2021.

Sarah Henderson, associate director of lifelong learning at the NCSML, first encountered Weber’s work as an undergrad at Grinnell College. Lesley Wright, director of the college’s museum of art, took a group of students

36 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

to visit his studio, and Henderson was among them.

“His work had a huge impact on me, and as soon as I was in a role at a museum I extended an invite to Jordan to work with us,” she said in an email.

That project, also in collaboration with the AAMI, was an installation related to the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“After the success of that collaboration, we knew we wanted to work with Jordan again in 2020,” Henderson said. “Jordan is very passionate about community building and healing.

In his work he endeavors to find solutions to problems not just commentary.”

When they heard that CSPS was looking for new art for their building, “it was a natural collaboration,” Henderson said.

“We were so excited to have CSPS as another partner on this project. All three of our institutions have worked very hard to impact our community through uplifting the voices of creatives.”

CSPS, the NCSML and the AAMI have served the Cedar Rapids community for more than 100 years combined. They are cornerstones of the Czech Village/New Bohemia

Main Street District, which spans the Cedar River and is home to a wide array of retail and arts opportunities. It was formed in 2009, in response to the historic 2008 flooding, as a way to help with the revitalization of the two communities it encompasses.

The gallery/venue and the two museums are exemplary of the district’s passion for weaving together history, art, music and identity—goals that Weber shares. Community activations, or “art as social practice,” like Regeneration, are core to his current output.

After five years working construction, he said, “It was an organic transition into building things … once I felt I had reached a limit with my painting.” The turning point, Weber told me, was participating in the protests that followed the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In response to “not being able to control my immediate environment,” he said, he began creating environments.

“I think that public art is extremely beneficial if it’s activated and made in collaboration with the communities that it exists in,” Weber said. He sees art installations as “one of the most exciting and innovative ways to build up and enact positive change” in “communities

LittleVillageMag.com/Support

in Black and brown communities [that] is much more toxic,” he said, as they end up in the same locations as factories and other community pollutants: “that same mechanism of pushing unwanted elements aside.” That’s what makes creation so crucial, “to shift ourselves away from the very structures that have been oppressing us.” And the work needs to happen from both sides.

“There needs to be a shift that happens in landscape architecture,” Weber said, “in terms of making it more appealing visually.” But at the same time, it’s important “to push art in a way that will enable people to pursue a healthy lifestyle on their own.”

A community garden that incorporates art themed around a repurposed basketball court, for example, is more likely to draw the attention of teens than a garden alone, he said.

Public art should be accessible, engaging and easily attainable for non-artists.

This dovetails perfectly with Henderson’s view of public art, and the goals of the NCSML and their partner organizations.

“In working with students, I have noticed that public art can be a source of pride in community,” she wrote. “Public art also serves in

Panel Discussion with Jordan Weber, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2 p.m., Free Exhibit Unveiling, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, Thursday, Nov. 5, 5:30 p.m., Free

“PUBLIC ART IS EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL IF IT’S ACTIVATED AND MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH THE COMMUNITIES THAT IT EXISTS IN. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING AND INNOVATIVE WAYS TO BUILD UP AND ENACT POSITIVE CHANGE IN COMMUNITIES THAT ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND.”

Piece II, from “Body Snatchers,” 2016, by Jordan Weber. Courtesy of the Des Moines Art Center, photographed by Rick Lozier

that are being left behind.”

And such work emphatically engages both environmental and racial justice.

“Violence on the land is synonymous with violence on Black, brown and Indigenous bodies,” Weber said. “I see them as one and the same.”

Redlining, for example, results in “land

place-making, informing a communal identity that we can bond over and find unity in. Public art also inherently invites conversation and conversation can be very healing.”

Ultimately, that’s Weber’s hope for Regeneration as well.

“I really want it to be a point of decompression,” he said, “even if it is outside and we’re separated by these masks.”

Genevieve Trainor is Little Village’s arts editor.

call for submissions documenting this year in Black life and culture LET ‘EM KNOW WE WATCHIN’

images, text, video, and sound will be archived and published in a series of chapbooks and a digital album

Public Space One 229 N. Gilbert publicspaceone.com

EDITORS’ PICKS

CALENDAR PRESENTED BY THE ENGLERT THEATRE

NOV. 4–DEC. 1, 2020 Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/ calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

NOTE! We are listing only ONLINE and OUTDOOR events in this calendar at the moment.

“Locations” listed for online events reference the presenting institution. Please visit our online calendar for links, or check the organizations’ websites and Facebook pages.

Wed., Nov. 4 Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City: 3D Media Now, 1 Million Cups Iowa City (@1MillionCupsIC), 9 a.m., Free Imagine Other Worlds with Authors (I.O.W.A.), Writers’ Rooms (thewritersrooms.org), 12 p.m., Free Immigrant Foodways: Czech Christmas Cookies I: Linz Tarts and Ischel’s Cookies, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 6 p.m., $20-115 (registration required) Fall Faculty Series: Women in the World— Addressing Gender Equality, Mount Mercy University (mtmercy.edu), 6 p.m., Free Critical Conversations, The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free

38 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM

STAFF PICKS: NOV. 4–DEC. 1, 2020

WHAT ARE WE DOING? Academy. Signed copies of Allman’s books are available for purchase at Sidekick.

THU., NOV. 12: ASPS

via CSPS

14th Annual Tribute Honoring Capria Davis, Nancy Humbles, Anne Harris Carter and Laurie Hamen

Cey Adams: Live from the Studio, CSPS Hall (@cspshall), 7 p.m., $10 Internet Watch Party: ‘Alice in Acidland,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@ theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free-$100

Thu., Nov. 5 Imagine Other Worlds with Authors (I.O.W.A.), Writers’ Rooms (thewritersrooms. org), 12 p.m., Free Jordan Weber Panel Discussion, CSPS Hall, via the artist’s website

Cedar Rapids, 2 p.m., Free Jordan Weber Exhibit Unveiling, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, 5:30 p.m., Free Visiting Writer Series: Carol Tyx— ‘Remaking Achilles: Slicing into Angola’s History,’ Mount Mercy University (mtmercy.edu), 7 p.m., Free No Touching Sessions 22 // Lucky Man, Threshold Apprehension Sound (@Threshold.

Apprehension.Sound, thresholdappsound.com), 8 p.m., Free

Fri., Nov. 6 Imagine Other Worlds with Authors (I.O.W.A.), Writers’ Rooms (thewritersrooms. org), 12 p.m., Free Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: ‘In the Southern Breeze’ by Mansa Ra, Mirrorbox Theatre w/ Riverside Theatre (@ MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Free (registration required)

SAT NOV. 7: John

Robert Allman Author Meet & Greet w/ Nolte Academy

Sidekick Coffee & Books (@sidekickcoffeeandbooks), 10:30 a.m., Free Allman has been popping

up a lot on my Facebook feed lately, as the many elementary educators I know clamor to get his Boys Dance into their classrooms.

Released Sept. 22, the picture book includes an afterword that includes photos and interviews with male dancers from the American Ballet Theatre. Boys Dance is being hailed as a wonderful encouragement for a group that gets little visibility. This virtual event will include a performance by dancers from Nolte

Although this fundraiser has shifted to the virtual realm, the chance to support the program, which has served culturally specific instruction to Black students in Cedar Rapids for over 30 years, will be as engaging as ever.

Viewing the festivities is free on Zoom and Facebook Live, but for a donation of $100 or more, an Academy board member will deliver a bottle of wine to your home from Bodkin Wines, a Sonoma winery founded by CR native Chris Christensen. The event features a silent auction with items exclusively from Black-owned businesses.

SAT., NOV. 28:

Limited Space Art & Music Showcase: DriveIn Edition

Hancher Parking Lot (Iowa City), 6 p.m., Free Limited

Space, an art and dance music “concept party,” first came to life in Des Moines in 2018. But, like everything else, it has had to transform to remain accessible in the COVID era. This year features three drive-in events in Des Moines, Ames and Iowa City. Artwork from over 60 artists from all over the world will be projected on large screens for viewers to enjoy from the safety and warmth of their vehicles. ––Genevieve Trainor LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 39

EDITORS’ PICKS

Sat., Nov. 7 Imagine Other Worlds with

Sun., Nov. 8

Authors (I.O.W.A.), Writers’ Rooms

Imagine Other Worlds with

(thewritersrooms.org), 10 a.m., Free

Authors (I.O.W.A.), Writers’ Rooms (thewritersrooms.org), 10 a.m., Free

John Robert Allman Author Meet & Greet w/ Nolte Academy, Sidekick Coffee & Books (@

Mon., Nov. 9

sidekickcoffeeandbooks), 10:30 a.m.,

Thomas Jefferson’s Paradoxical

Free

Relationship with Enslaved and Free Blacks, and the Colonization

The Power of “I”: Writing from

Movement, University of Iowa Center

Experience (three-week class),

for Human Rights (@UIHumanRights),

Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com),

12:30 p.m., Free

12:30 p.m., $75/series 10,000 Poems—A Generative Saturdays at the Stanley:

Poetry Workshop Series (six-week

Frenemies—Jackson Pollock

class), Midwest Writing Center (@

& Willem de Kooning, Stanley

MidwestWritingCenter), 6 p.m., $220-

Museum of Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.

250/series (scholarships available)

edu), 2 p.m., Free Addressing Racial Health Immigrant Foodways: Czech

Disparities In America: Patrice

Open-faced Sandwiches, National

Harris, UI Lecture Series (lectures.

Czech and Slovak Museum and Library

uiowa.edu/live), 7 p.m., Free

(ncsml.org), 2:30 p.m., $20-115 (registration required)

SUSHI?

LET’S ROLL!

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...plus bubble tea, smoothies, and sake!

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EDITORS’ PICKS

Tue., Nov. 10

Critical Conversations, The

Ada Limón and Jennifer L Knox:

Academy for Scholastic and Personal

Writers @ Grinnell, Prairie Lights

Success (@theacademysps), 7 p.m.,

Bookstore (prairielights.com/live), 7

Free

p.m., Free Iowa Bibliophiles: “Around the

Locally owned since 1993

Stanley Studio Visit with

Library Table,” University of Iowa

Margarita Blush, Stanley Museum

Special Collections & University

of Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.edu), 8

Archives (@uispeccoll), 7 p.m., Free

p.m., Free Internet Watch Party: ‘The Last

Voted BEST PIZZA in the CRANDIC

Wed., Nov. 11

House on the Left,’ Late Shift at

Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City:

p.m., Free

the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse), 10

Proceed App, 1 Million Cups Iowa City (@1MillionCupsIC), 9 a.m., Free

Thu., Nov. 12

Chat from the Old Cap: Joy Harjo,

Iowa History 101: Iowa and the

University of Iowa Center for

Great War, State Historical Society

Advancement (foriowa.org), 3

of Iowa (@IowaHistory), 12 p.m., Free

p.m., Free (registration required)

(registration required)

Immigrant Foodways: Mushroom

Meet the Artists online: Marcia

Sauce and Dumplings, National

Wegman & Hal Ide, Iowa Artisans

Czech and Slovak Museum and

Gallery (@iowaartisansgallery), 5 p.m.,

Library (ncsml.org), 6 p.m., $20-115

Free (registration required)

(registration required)

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LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 43

EDITORS’ PICKS PRESENTED BY THE ENGLERT THEATRE

Fri., Nov. 13

Decolonize the Classroom: Presentation by

Davis, Nancy Humbles, Anne Harris Carter and Laurie Hamen, The Academy for Scholastic and

smART talks: Terry Conrad, Stanley Museum of

(becomingbelovedcommunity.org), 4 p.m., Free

Personal Success (@theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free-

Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.edu), 11 a.m., Free

ASPS 14th Annual Tribute Honoring Capria

Cinnamon Kills First, Beloved Community Initiative

‘Essential Workers: A Portrait—Part 1,’

$100 ‘Midnight Your Time,’ Riverside Theatre

University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts (theatre.

Abortion Care in America: A Conversation with

(riversidetheatre.org), 7:30 p.m., $10-15 (Free for

uiowa.edu), 8 p.m., Free

Carole Joffe & Francine Thompson, Obermann

members), available through Nov. 22

Center (obermann.uiowa.edu), 7 p.m., Free Dance Gala 2020: IN MOTION, University of Iowa

Sun., Nov. 15

2nd Thursday Series: Opera Trivia, Cedar Rapids

Department of Dance (virtualdance.studio.uiowa.edu),

November Art in the Afternoon: Cheryl

Opera Theatre (youtube.com/cedarrapidsopera), 7

8 p.m., Free

Jacobsen, Artifactory (artifactory.artsiowacity.org), 1

p.m., Free

p.m., Free (registration required) Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: ‘Ashana

Pappyland: Wright Thompson in conversation

(A Native Play)’ by June Thiele, Mirrorbox

Free Generative Writing Workshop, Iowa City

with Julian Van Winkle III, Prairie Lights Bookstore

Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Free (registration

Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 5:30 p.m., Free

(prairielights.com/live), 7 p.m., Free

required)

Tallest Man On Earth, Englert Theatre (noonchorus.

Sat., Nov. 14

com/englert-the-tallest-man-on-earth), 8 p.m., $5-35

10,000 Poems—A Generative Poetry

The Power of “I”: Writing from Experience

Workshop Series (six-week class), Midwest

No Touching Sessions 23 // (TBD), Threshold

(three-week class), Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.

Writing Center (@MidwestWritingCenter), 6 p.m.,

Apprehension Sound (@Threshold.Apprehension.

com), 12:30 p.m., $75/series

$220-250/series (scholarships available)

Sound, thresholdappsound.com), 8 p.m., Free

CEDAR RAPIDS NEW BOHEMIA /CZECH VILLAGE

Mon., Nov. 16

Black Earth Gallery Art Consulting

for businesses and personal homes, pop-up shows and public art events

Come work with us

JOHN@NEWBO.CO • (319) 382-5128

44 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

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LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 45

EDITORS’ PICKS Out in the Field: Finding Wonder under the Water, in the Ground, and on the Waves— An Obermann Conversation, Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa.edu), 7 p.m., Free

Tue., Nov. 17 ‘Unbreakable: The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World’s Most Dangerous Horse Race’ Author Talk and Book Signing, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 12 p.m., Free (registration required) Fall Faculty Series: Voter Turnout, Mount Mercy University (mtmercy.edu), 6 p.m., Free Magical Writers Night ft. Laura Johnson, Kae Apothecary (@kaeapothecary), 7 p.m., Free (registration required) Stanley Studio Visit with Elena Smyrniotis, Stanley Museum of Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.edu), 8 p.m., Free

Wed., Nov. 18 Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City: Armchair Telethon, 1 Million Cups Iowa City (@1MillionCupsIC), 9 a.m., Free Immigrant Foodways: Czech Christmas Cookies II: Mini Walnut Rolls and Mini Nest with Almonds, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 6 p.m., $20-115 (registration required) Critical Conversations, The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@ theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free Internet Watch Party: ‘CarousHELL,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

Thu., Nov. 19 Virtual Concert with Little Miss Ann, Iowa City Public Library (icpl.org), 10:30 a.m., Free Iowa Stories: Meskwaki Food Sovereignty

C E DA R THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 7 PM CST Go to cropera.org to register!

PRODUCTION SPONSOR Thies & Kelly Kolln

RAPIDS

THEATRE

SEASON SPONSORS CRST International | UFG Insurance | Little Village | City of Cedar Rapids

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM Iowa Public Radio

Initiative, State Historical Society of Iowa (@ IowaHistory), 12 p.m., Free (registration required) No Touching Sessions 24 // (TBD), Threshold Apprehension Sound (@Threshold.Apprehension.

Sound, thresholdappsound.com), 8 p.m., Free

I’m Mike and I’m really proud to be connecting

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EDITORS’ PICKS

Fri., Nov. 20 Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: (TBD), Mirrorbox Theatre w/ Riverside Theatre (@ MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Free (registration required)

Sat., Nov. 21 The Power of “I”: Writing from Experience (three-week class), Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry. com), 12:30 p.m., $75/series Online RPGs, Corridor Games on Demand (@ CorridorGoD), 1 p.m., Free Immigrant Foodways: Czech Honey BBQ Ribs, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 2:30 p.m., $20-115 (registration required) ‘Essential Workers: A Portrait—Part 2,’ University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts (theatre. uiowa.edu), 8 p.m., Free

Sun., Nov. 22 Decolonize the Classroom: Q&A with Cinnamon Kills First, Beloved Community Initiative (becomingbelovedcommunity.org), 4 p.m., Free ‘Little Women,’ One-off Theatrical Productions (@ oneoffqc), 6:30 p.m., Free

Mon., Nov. 23 10,000 Poems—A Generative Poetry Workshop Series (six-week class), Midwest Writing Center (@MidwestWritingCenter), 6 p.m., $220-250/series (scholarships available) Immigrant Foodways: Czech Christmas Cookies III: Maybeetle Cookie, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 6 p.m., $20-115 (registration required)

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM

Wed., Nov. 25 Critical Conversations, The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free

Internet Watch Party: ‘Blood Rage,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

Sat., Nov. 28 Limited Space Art & Music Showcase: Drive-In Edition, Hancher Parking Lot (Iowa City), 6 p.m., Free

Mon., Nov. 30 10,000 Poems—A Generative Poetry Workshop Series (six-week class), Midwest Writing Center (@MidwestWritingCenter), 6 p.m., $220-250/series (scholarships available)

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There’s a Nixon Elementary in Hiawatha?????? Why would they name a school after Nixon?? —GM, Coralville, via the Your Village feature on LV’s homepage.

T

iming, they say, is everything.

Whether or not that’s true, it goes a long way in explaining why an elementary school in Hiawatha is named for Richard M. Nixon.

The school opened its doors in 1970, and the name was fixed the year before. Nixon was elected president in November 1968.

When his name was hung on the building, he still had that new president smell. That, plus Nixon’s personal connection to Iowa (more on this below), would have been irresistible to a school district that likes to name its schools after presidents.

slush fund Nixon had was discovered by the press, but ethically dubious things like that were the work of the old Nixon. (Ike never liked Nixon, but selected him for vice president to appease the McCarthyite wing of the Republican Party.) And that tense, sweaty public persona Nixon had during his unsuccessful run for president in 1960 against JFK? Well, that part of the old Nixon was obviously still around.

There needed to be a new Nixon in 1968, because in 1962 the old one announced he was done with politics after losing the race for governor of California.

WHEN HIS NAME WAS HUNG ON THE BUILDING, HE STILL HAD THAT NEW PRESIDENT SMELL. THAT, PLUS NIXON’S PERSONAL CONNECTION TO IOWA, WOULD HAVE BEEN IRRESISTIBLE TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT LIKES TO NAME ITS SCHOOLS AFTER PRESIDENTS. .

There’s only one other school named for Nixon in the United States, but unlike Richard M. Nixon Elementary School in Hiawatha, it doesn’t use his full name. Nixon Elementary in Roxbury Township, New Jersey, is also a relic of his first term.

At the time, Nixon’s impressively wide-ranging criminal nature wasn’t as obvious as it was after Watergate. Nixon was capable of crimes both great (a lot people think of Watergate as just the June 17, 1972 bungled burglary of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, but it encompassed a whole constellation of serious crimes) and small (during Watergate, investigators turned up evidence Nixon cheated on his taxes). But all of that was still in the future when the schools were named.

When Nixon was running for president in 1968, his campaign marketed him as “the new Nixon.” Sure, his successful campaigns for the House of Representatives in 1946 and the Senate in 1950 had shown Nixon to be a shameless and flagrant liar, but now he was a new Nixon. And yes, once he was in the Senate, Nixon attached himself to red-baiting Sen. Joseph McCarthy the way a remora attaches itself to a shark, but McCarthy was long dead by 1968 and people were willing to believe Nixon was a new Nixon. And of course, Eisenhower had almost dropped him as a running mate in 1952 when a secret

“You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because gentlemen, this is my last press conference,” he said during a bitter 15-minute rant at a news conference following his loss.

Six years later, many of those reporters Nixon claimed kicked him around believed in the new Nixon. So did a little over 43 percent of American voters, and that was enough for Nixon to win the three-way race for president in 1968.

So, both schools are products of the years between the debut of the new Nixon and the revelations of Watergate.

Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, and a month later, President Gerald Ford granted him a full pardon for any crimes he may have committed. Nixon had picked Ford to be vice president almost a year earlier, when his elected vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned. Agnew resigned because he was busy working out a plea deal on charges of tax fraud. No one pardoned Agnew, and he ended up paying a $10,000 fine and serving three years probation.

In retirement and safe from prosecution, Nixon eventually moved to New Jersey.

In 1989, he visited Nixon Elementary in Roxbury Township. He never visited Hiawatha’s Nixon Elementary even though he was in Iowa the year after it opened.

In 1971, President Nixon flew to Iowa

to speak at the dedication ceremony for Rathburn Lake in Appanoose County, which was created by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Although he skipped Hiawatha on that trip, Nixon did stop in Ottumwa, where he had briefly lived in the 1940s.

During World War II, Nixon joined the Navy and his first assignment was at the Naval Air Station in Ottumwa (it closed in 1947, and the site is now the city’s airport).

In August 1942, a 29-year-old Nixon arrived in Ottumwa with his wife of two years, Pat. They lived there until May 1943, when Lt. Nixon shipped out to the South Pacific, where he served as a logistics officer.

Nixon didn’t see much action in the Pacific, but he did make enough money playing poker with fellow officers to open his own law office after the war.

When Nixon died in 1994, the Des Moines Register sent a reporter to Ottumwa to gather local memories of him. For the most part, people said the sort of vague and nice things one says about the recently deceased, but Loree Roach, a retired journalist who knew the Nixons in Ottumwa, gave a more cleareyed account of him.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding unkind, but actually he didn’t leave much of an impression,” she said. “Nixon apparently was withdrawn and moody and not very outgoing. I don’t mean that to sound like there was anything wrong with him. But he was just not friendly.”

If the old Nixon didn’t impress Roach, the new Nixon wowed John Wulu, an educator in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. In 1968, Wulu decided to rename the school he founded in Monrovia the Richard M. Nixon Institute. Wulu wrote Nixon asking for permission to use his name. The president replied, thanking Wulu for the honor. According to Wulu’s autobiography, Nixon also added “he had no financial support to give the institute.”

The renaming took place the same year Richard M. Nixon Elementary opened in Hiawatha. It remains the only school outside of Iowa or New Jersey named for Nixon, old or new.

Have a question about what’s going on in your community? Ask Little Village. Submit your question through the Your Village feature on our homepage, or email us at editor@littlevillagemag.com.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 53

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IOWA CITY NORTHSIDE MARKETPLACE

DEAR KIKI

LittleVillageMag.com/DearKiki

D

ear Kiki, I’m planning a big move, and the guy I’ve recently fallen head over heels with is also planning one. The catch is, it’s not to the same city.

We’ll be 12 hours apart, and it’s COVID. Is long-distance a viable starting point, or are we doomed? —Miles Apart

207 NORTH LINN STREET, IOWA CITY 319.338.1332 • WILLOWANDSTOCK.COM

futures. That’s awesome! One high-risk factor in long-distance scenarios is when one partner is focused on their life and the other is focused only on the relationship.

It’s far better that you’re both charging wide-eyed into life than a situation where one is following their dreams and the other is left behind.

Dear Miles, Plus, all relaHere’s sometionships work best thing you should when both parties know about are able to chase your dear Kiki: and fulfill their I don’t believe dreams. If your in “doomed.” relationship thrives Relationships and survives to the work because we point where you want them to work join each other and we make them physically again, work, not because you’ll be far better of fate or fortune. positioned than It’s pat and pithy, many couples to but no less true for find future success. that: Energy flows You will both alwhere attention ready have taken Claire Thoele / Little Village goes. a shot in life and There are two LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS taken steps toward important things becoming the perDON’T FLOURISH OR FALTER that I want you to son you need to be.

BASED ON HOW OFTEN YOU take away from So take the word CAN VISIT EACH OTHER, BUT ON my response. “doom” out of MAKING TIME FOR EACH OTHER The first is this: your vocabulary, IN YOUR DAY-TO-DAY. Don’t worry about unless you’re desCOVID-19. Will perate for a rhyme it restrict your ability to visit one another? for “gloom” or you’re singing the Doom Of course, especially if there are travel reSong from Invader Zim. The question is strictions in place from one or both of your never, “Are we doomed?” but, “Are we cities. But long-distance relationships don’t willing to put in the work?” flourish or falter based on how often you can Well, Miles? Are you? visit each other, but on making time for each xoxo, Kiki other in your day-to-day.

In fact, the inability to travel lifts a significant weight off the situation—you won’t have to decide (and potentially argue about) who goes where, who makes more (and can afford to travel), who can take time off, etc. You can focus on finding other ways to spend time “together,” with the bonus that online “dates” are easier than ever to find: Watch a play together; do an Questions about love and sex in the Iowa online escape room; order delivery from City-Cedar Rapids area can be submitted the same chain and Zoom a meal—all of to dearkiki@littlevillagemag.com, or these things are more reasonable-sounding anonymously at littlevillagemag.com/ than ever in COVID times. dearkiki. Questions may be edited for The other major takeaway is, if you are clarity and length, and may appear either both actively planning big moves, that in print or online at littlevillagemag.com. means you have dreams and goals for your

KIKI WANTS QUESTIONS!

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 55

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ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNEY

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “At every crossroad, be prepared to bump into wonder,” wrote Scorpio poet James Broughton. I believe that’s stirring advice for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Broughton’s words inspired me to come up with a corollary for you to heed, as well: “At every turning point, be ready to stumble into an opportunity disguised as a problem.”

I’ve got one more clue for you. Last night in my dream, my Scorpio poetry teacher offered a thought that’s well-suited for you right now: “Whenever you want to take a magic twisty leap into the big fresh future, be willing to engage in one last wrestling match with the past.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The horoscopes I write are my love letters to you. As I compose them, my goal is to celebrate your beauty and strength even as I discern what’s lacking in your life and what confusions might be undermining you. In my philosophy of life, that’s how love works at its best: remaining keenly aware of the good qualities in the beloved while helping them deal with their problems and heal their wounds. I suggest that in the coming weeks you adopt my approach for use with your own close relationships. Your allies are in special need of both your praise and your rectifications.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Actor Gary Busey is quirky and kooky, but his peculiar rants sometimes make good sense.

Here’s one that I suspect might be useful for you to consider during the next two weeks: “It’s good for everyone to understand that they are to love their enemies, simply because your enemies show you things about yourself you need to change.

So in actuality enemies are friends in reverse.” I don’t mean to imply that your adversaries and nemeses are totally accurate in their critiques of you. But there may be a thing or two you can learn from them right now that would truly improve your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When Charles de Gaulle was 15 years old, he wrote “General de Gaulle,” a short story in which he envisioned himself, many years in the future, as a general in the French army. Thirty-five years later, his imaginary tale came true, as he became a general of the free French army fighting against Germany in World War II. In the spirit of de Gaulle’s prophecy, and in accordance with current astrological omens, I encourage you to compose a comparable tale about your own destiny. Have fun as you visualize in great detail a successful role you will play months or even years from now.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Musician John Coltrane described one of his life goals as follows: “There are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world,” he said. “But I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.” Even if that’s not an intention at the core of your long-term plans, Capricorn, I recommend you consider adopting it during the next few weeks. Being a vigorous and rigorous force for good will be especially needed by the people with whom you associate—and will also result in you attracting interesting benefits.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 1903, archaeologists digging in a cave in Cheddar Gorge, England found the fossilized remains of “Cheddar Man,” a person who had lived there 9,000 years earlier. In 1997, DNA tests revealed that a teacher named Adrian Targett, who was living a half-mile from the cave, was a direct descendant of Cheddar Man. I propose that we invoke this scenario to serve as a metaphor for you in the coming months. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, your ancestors are likely to play a bigger role in your life than usual. Connections between you and them will be more vivid and influential and worthy of your meditations.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Known as “the bad boy of bridge,” Aquarian-born Geir Helgemo is a champion in the card game of bridge. At times he has been the top-rated player among Open World Grand Masters. But in 2019, he was suspended from the World Bridge Federation for a year because he tested positive for taking testosterone supplements that are banned. Why did he do it? He hasn’t said. There is some scientific research suggesting that testosterone may boost cognitive function, but other evidence says it doesn’t. I’d like to use Helgemo’s foolishness as a teaching story for your use, Aquarius. According to my astrological analysis, you’re approaching the peak of your competence and confidence. There’s no need for you to cheat or sneak or misbehave in a misplaced effort to seek an even greater advantage. In fact, righteous integrity will enhance your intelligence.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I might really have gone round the bend,” confessed Botswana author Bessie Head. “I mean people who get visions and see a gigantic light descend on them from the sky can’t be all there, but if so I feel mighty happy. If one is happy and cracked it’s much better than being unhappy and sane.” Although I don’t expect your state of mind in the coming weeks will be as extreme as Bessie Head’s, Pisces, I do suspect it will have resemblances to her dreamy cheerfulness. If I had to give a title to this upcoming phase, it might be “Wise Folly.” And yes, I do think your “craziness” will generate useful insights and fertile revelations.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Charles Baudelaire championed the privilege and luxury of changing one’s mind.

He thought it was natural and healthy to always keep evolving beyond one’s previous beliefs and attitudes, even if that meant one might seem inconsistent or irrational. “It is lamentable,” he once proclaimed, “that, among the Rights of Human Beings, the right to contradict oneself has been disregarded.”

I bring these thoughts to your attention, dear Aries, so that you will feel at peace with the prospect of outgrowing rules, strategies and approaches that have worked well for you up until now—but that have outlived their usefulness.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to the film Amadeus, composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) were adversaries who disliked and undermined each other. But there’s evidence that this was not entirely true. In fact, they collaborated on creating a cantata that was performed by Nancy Storace, a famous singer they both admired. It’s unlikely they would have cooperated in such a way unless they had a working relationship. I suspect that a comparable correction is due in your world, Leo. It’s time to dissolve a misunderstanding or restore a lost truth or fix an old story that got some of the facts wrong.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to ask for help and seek support. I urge you to be forthright in doing so! Resources that have been inaccessible before may be more available now. I suspect you will be able to capitalize on the luck and skill of allies who have benefited from your favors in the past.

Their successes could bring you blessings and their breakthroughs should inspire you to instigate breakthroughs in your own life. Be straightforward: Ask them to lend their influence on your behalf.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the 1970s, an Englishman named Stephen Pile founded the Not Terribly Good Club. It was designed to be a gathering place for mediocre people whose lives were marked by inadequacy and incompetence.

To organize his thoughts about the club’s themes, Pile eventually published a book entitled The Book of Heroic Failures. Unfortunately, it sold so many copies that he got expelled from his own club. He had become too successful!

I suspect that in the coming months, you may have an experience akin to his. The odds are good that you’ll find interesting success in an area of your life where you have previously been just average.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 57

LORY VAN ALLEN L.M.T. 1570 S 1st Ave, Iowa City 319-310-9312

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LOCAL ALBUMS

Joel Sires Dog Years TWINSTHEBAND.COM

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o paraphrase the famous Corinthians Bible passage, Joel Sires—songwriter and frontman for Cedar Falls band TWINS—set aside his “childish ways” for the songs on their last album, Dream On, out earlier this year.

That new maturity on record is a result of woodshedding new songs at solo acoustic shows starting after their 2016 album, Square America, came out. Those who saw those solo shows were able to watch a songwriter hone his craft.

Sires was approached by Cedar Falls hip-hop MC Sotr Caf to record on Seeder, a boutique label he had started.

“He had really connected to hearing me do those solo acoustic sets,” Sires explains in a chat. “I felt like the songs I had would work better with a small band behind them, so I just called friends that I knew could work fast and I would be excited to work with.”

Sires went to Chandler LTD in Shell Rock along with Seth Luloff (of Holy White Hounds, also producer on Dream On), who played drums, sang backup, arranged and engineered; Gram Howland (from SIRES) on bass; Ben Rendall from TWINS on keys; and Jacob Lampman on lead guitar. They recorded the songs live in the studio during one intense session on Aug. 8.

Four of these songs are collected as the EP Dog Years, Sires’ first solo release. The songs are not a dramatic swing stylistically

Submit albums for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., IC, IA 52240

from Dream On; in fact they seem like they could have been outtakes or demos. Where these songs differ is in the two bands.

Where Dream On carries the full bombast of electric guitars and driving drums on a lot of the songs, Dog Years is a stripped down affair focusing on Sires’ vocals and acoustic guitars. Think of it as the difference between the Springsteen backed by E-Street and the Springsteen on Nebraska.

The step-up-to-the-mic, livetake approach of the songs on Dog Years gives them a serenity and open space that allows the songs to breathe. Sires sounds relaxed, letting the songs unfold naturally. The results are the best vocals I’ve heard from him.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the opener, “Mexican Fireworks,” inspired by a pre-pandemic trip to Mexico with friends.

“I can smell the charcoal smoke / Hear the subwoofers rattling in trunks / Any Sunday at the basketball court / Stale scent of sweat in the air / From way downtown it’s clear / All my shots are hanging there / Sinking everything that leaves my hand” This slightly-out-of-frame selfie shot of a day in the life pulls into focus an appreciation for the smallest moments. “Even a chump like me can get lucky sometimes,” he reflects. It’s a picture snapped seemingly eons ago, made even more bittersweet with current social distancing.

Maybe it’s due to revisiting Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty recently (they just turned 50), but I hear a lot of those albums in Dog Years. The folk and country over- and undertones of the songs are a blueprint that the Grateful Dead certainly helped establish. But more than that, Sires is coming into his own as a songwriter and, like Hunter and Garcia, is able to draw from human experience, crafting songs that are timeless and poignant, both of these times and not.

—Michael Roeder

Ben Driscoll UNSEEN DANGER BENDRISCOLL.BANDCAMP.COM

I

don’t know if it’s a conscious influence, but the music and moody atmosphere of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks come immediately to mind listening to “Muleville,” the lead-off track on Ben Driscoll’s Unseen Danger.

The tremolo guitar is an Angelo Badalamenti favorite, and the cooing backing vocals from Katherine Ruestow remind the listener of Lara Flynn Boyle and Sheryl Lee’s accompaniment on “James’ Song.”

Driscoll’s last record, Earthly Remains, wasn’t a paean to the power of positive thinking, but this album is bleaker and spookier. It’s gothic but not goth, unless you consider Leonard Cohen goth. The track “Business” invokes the myth of Sisyphus, but has a mordant humor: “Bound to be found headless if I don’t address this soon ... both my enemies and allies turns out they were all spies feeding me refined lies, they never look in my eyes,” On “End Time Blues,” Driscoll’s dark voice is set against a darker ensemble sound.

Angela Barr’s violin, Bradford Highnam’s pedal steel guitar and Peter Balestrieri’s baritone saxophone pile up in layers of mournful wailing, anchored in Driscoll’s electric piano and Brooks Strause’s piano. This song, completed before the pandemic, now sounds prophetic.

“After a tumultuous year, and after all the blood and tears, I’m still not ready to submit or live

in fear.”

“Wilting Flowers” is sweeter and more countrified, sounding almost optimistic. The Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers” comes to mind, but as battered and weary as the protagonist of the song sounds, he’s not in the basement “with a needle and a spoon.” If “End Times Blues” is apocalyptic generally, this carries personal feelings of time being short. “Deals never closed, untread streets and roads, love letters lost in the post … I only want more time.”

“Pesky Divers” complements the dread in other songs with a homespun menace: “Where you going with that sharpened screwdriver? Who you gonna meet with a tool like that?” The song is a list of unanswered questions, the most pointed being, “What if all the sinners die? What will the righteous do then?” It’s close to the Texas two step of Bob Wills, but where Wills is good-timey, Driscoll is decidedly bad-timey.

The depth of 2020 despair runs through “The Past”: “They may have been good times, but they’re over; ain’t living in that past no more.” The wavering synth lead adds a nervous tension, and Driscoll’s piano sounds like a parlor gone a bit sour because no one wanted the tuner inside the house. The literal self-isolation of the songs Driscoll recorded in lockdown underlines the loneliness that has always imbued his music.

Unseen Danger is a story of a man beset by slings and arrows of an ordinary, sadly shabby sort. But the sound of the album undercuts the existential dread and desperate loss of the lyrics. Driscoll taught the cast of players, a who’s who of Eastern Iowa’s musicians, the skeleton of these songs, and they ran with it, making the miserable glorious. If Cedar Rapids has a terroir, Driscoll’s music has it.

—Kent Williams

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 59

60 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288

LOCAL BOOKS

Anaïs Duplan Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture BLACK OCEAN

W

hen Center for Afrofuturist Studies founding curator Anaïs Duplan launched the initiative in Iowa City in 2016, he told Little Village, “It’s about making it safe to feel uncomfortable and then trying to make it better.”

That philosophy echoes through the twists and turns of his latest work, Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture. As he explores the language and logic, ethics and esthetics of an Afrofuturist ideal, the idea of sitting with discomfort at the junctures of antithetical ideas keeps coming back into focus.

However, “trying to make it better” may be something that Duplan has left behind. He gestures toward the idea in the introductory essay, which argues art is the attempt to return to a sense of union after exploring chaos. But the following pages seem to reject that need, and Duplan ultimately lands on a definition of freedom that involves accepting, rather than easing, disunity.

The challenge of sitting with contradictory truths is explored partly through the use of polyvocality. There’s the polyvocality of many speaking at once, but also of one speaking as many, twin concepts that inform and are embodied in the text. Duplan speaks in many voices, in essays that run the gamut of tone—more poetic in his interviews with poets; arch and academic when those suit best— but the voices of myriad subjects also run throughout.

Submit books for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., IC, IA 52240

Duplan has no qualms about extensive direct quotations, both from conversations and from source material, opting to bring the voices of his inspirations to the verge of dialogue with one another. The result is a polyrhythmic volume where the chapters, though requiring a pause of digestion between them, still seem to exist almost simultaneously. This sleight of hand is reinforced by the John M Donovan slimness of the physical book, col- Love and Corn and lapsing a vastness of thought into Whatnot almost nothing—its lightness in HILLSBORO PUBLISHING the hand playing almost farcically against its heaviness in the mind. arker Graham is uncertain As the book unfolds, the quesin the ways that only a tion of liberation is recontextualrecent high school graduate ized as a question of becoming. can be.

“In front of my screen,” Duplan In Love and Corn and writes, “I gain the ability, as an Whatnot, John M Donovan alchemist does, to transform one revisits the world of his earlier substance (myself) into another, novel Trombone Answers, but more ostensibly valuable subthe arc of the main character’s stance.” coming of age stands alone and He is talking about the alchemy of online interAS THE BOOK UNFOLDS, THE action and social QUESTION OF LIBERATION media. But the IS RECONTEXTUALIZED AS A invocation of the QUESTION OF BECOMING. screen is a reminder, too, of the writing process itself—of how Duplan has worked cohesive for new readers. As that same transformative magic in Parker Graham navigates colcrafting and compiling this book. lege experiences, summer jobs Fans of Duplan’s poetry should and the intricacies of fleeting know that there’s only a smattering love, he lives within a relatable of it included here. He makes up universal that evokes a nostalgia for the lack by carrying his careful, for a reader’s own late teenage precise use of language throughyears and early 20s. out this exploration of its use.

The book covers five years There are myriad threads woven of the protagonist’s life. On the through Blackspace, and language surface, it’s a funny and enis certainly one you can trace if gaging exploration of growing that’s what brings you to Duplan. up in the late ’70s and early Ultimately, you’ll want to read it ’80s. But there are threads of again and again, following threads philosophy that sneak in. Parker of meaning as they resurfaces in is never content to navigate his each different voice. And it will own maturing, but is constantly demand the insertion of your own questioning and comparing voice, existing less as something the ways that others maneuver to be read than as something to through that same territory. be conversed with, querying your Satisfaction is at the foreown definitions of freedom, founfront of his mind throughout dation and futurity. the book, and he experiences

P

confusion and even anger with friends who search for more.

“I didn’t understand how Finley could hate his roots so vehemently,” he says of a good friend from high school, “but realized too that my own roots ran deeper than friends and family. … Being a good person in your little corner of the world mattered, just as it mattered to every other person in every other corner.”

Parker wants to be someone more, but not if it means losing his connections to land and community.

It’s intriguing, throughout the book, to pay attention to where Parker’s attention lands. He talks a lot about his romantic entanglements, but his relationships with his male friends are paramount. He is constantly defining and redefining himself in terms of those he likes and respects. And his sense of self is tied intimately to his understanding of his male friendships.

Donovan’s humor weighs heavily on the novel, characterizing Parker, an aspiring writer, as often seeming to try a little too hard to be observant and wry. But there are moments when Parker’s narrator voice slips and nuggets of beauty sneak through. Responding in kind to a girlfriend who says “I love you” offers this relatable ice pick to the heart: “And when I said it back the words were like wet cement, falling out of my mouth, hardening on the way down, and disintegrating on the porch.”

Parker never climbs out of uncertainty, and he remains beholden to the influences of those around him. But his efforts to craft the person he wishes to become are entertaining to observe and Donovan’s empathy for his character evokes warmth in the reader as well, making for a pleasantly distracting read.

—Genevieve Trainor

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV288 Nov. 4–Dec. 1, 2020 61

Reader Survey

LittleVillageMag.com/Survey

Thank you for reading Little Village! Our goal is to provide you with relevant and meaningful stories and to make every issue of Little Village a great one. We value your feedback, and we appreciate you taking the time to complete this two-minute survey to help us plan for 2021. *NOTE: All sections optional; all answers confidential.

Fill out your survey today, then cut it out and mail it in: LV HQ, 623 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA 52240.

Rather take it online? Visit LittleVillageMag.com/survey (before Dec. 20, please!)

Where did you get this copy of Little Village?

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Never miss an issue Occasionally This is my first time What other magazines do you read regularly?

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Did you vote in these elections?

2020: Yes / No 2018: Yes / No 2016: Yes / No How often do you vote in local elections?

Sometimes

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Always

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Always

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Please select the 3 issues you are most passionate about from the list below.

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How many times a month on average do you... __ Eat at a full-service restaurant? __ Order take-out or food delivery? __ Visit a bar or nightclub? __ Consume locally made beer or cider? __ Attend a live concert or theater production? __ Go to the movies? __ Visit a fitness establishment (gym, yoga, etc.)?

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How often do you visit downtown Cedar Rapids for pleasure (not work)?

Less than once/week 1-3x/week 3-5x/week 5+ x/week Are you planning to shop at local retailers this holiday season?

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

CROSSWORD

BY KAMERON AUSTIN COLLINS

LittleVillageMag.com

The American Values Club Crossword is edited by Ben Tausig.

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19. Put into categories 20. Many a Twitter poster 22. Devotion 25. Skeptical Dana 26. Pivots 29. Helmed 31. Music hall 32. Aquatic backyard

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habitat, maybe 33. Bardem of No Country for Old Men 35. Absolutely killed, in drag slang 36. “Word,” in France?

37. Crush holder 38. Stuff in hair or pens 39. Reznor’s group, to fans

40. Eye 41. Unsettlingly devoted group 42. Gentileschi’s base 44. ___ Boot (1981 submarine epic) 45. Outback cuties 46. Home to Fort Bliss 48. “We’re he-e-e-ere!”

24. Arizona’s native “people of the sun” 26. It involves some pleasing squeezing 27. Unintelligible 1963 hit by the Kingsmen 28. Phoned-in 30. Least shabby 33. Name before Public or Six-Pack 34. Shucked one 37. “What if?,” slangily 41. Les Miz character 43. Work might cap it 45. Legal expert 47. See 49-Down 49. Where heavenly bodies 47-Down 51. Sammy of the juicedball era 53. Some extractions 54. Fresh 55. They’re found on the floor: Abbr.

58. Rapper featured in the 2003 documentary Beef 59. Rode the pine

50. Sources of hot air 52. People awaiting confirmation?

56. Energy field 57. Sculpted indoor plant 60. Ticket price factor 61. Pioneering violinist who led the effort to save Carnegie Hall 62. Hollywood’s Lamarr 63. Trials for one’s buds

DOWN 1. Red Sox manager Alex fired in January after a sign-stealing scandal 2. Deep dish chain 3. “Mom”s in hearts, say 4. Got marching 5. Name on a 2020 ticket 6. Really, really act 7. Navy fig.

8. Give up, with “out” 9. So long!

10. Offenders, in noirspeak 11. Rabbinate reference 12. Group headquartered LV287 ANSWERS in Cairo 13. In a steadfast fashion 14. Counter offers?

21. One might be squirreled away 23. Obtained things, as on the frontier

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A S A H A L RRO AME EMS A S H V F A EWA R S I R I D I A B R WO OMA P P Y S H

T OA D R R OW I B R E T E R L I A B E I D S T MO CO I L B L O T L O L BOA L A C KO OS G B A I L R O L D I E S T OP

G L I D I N G R U L E

MEGA A DO T I S T S U T E E L I A L L F I RM V I A P A S T I N K S T I ND A F ORM U P U P L EGS

BAND • ORCHESTRA • PERCUSSION • PIANO • GUITAR • MUSIC THERAPY • LESSONS • REPAIR

Make

MUSIC. Make Memories.

Play now. Play for life.

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