Little Village magazine issue 290: Jan. 6 - Feb. 2, 2021 by Little Village Magazine

TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001

HOMESPUN RACISM A L W A Y S

In a sea of Midwest whiteness, people of color face century-old systems of discrimination. PG. 22

F R E E

ISSUE 290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021

Featuring s two full pageth, of Futile Wraion The Associative of Alternat ’s Newsmedia for r 2020 winne n Best Cartoo

PLUS!

Five local artists explore new utopian visions of the future in the

JANUARY ARTS ISSUE

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PG. 26

TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001 • TWENTY FREAKIN’ YEARS • SINCE 2001

INSIDE:

2 Jan. 6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

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.

Watch and subscribe at

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

Pictured: Jessica Egli - Acting Out Instructor LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 3

4 Jan. 6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

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VOL. 29 ISSUE 290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 ALWAYS FREE LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM Josh Booth / Soul Cry / Little Village

PUBLISHER MATTHEW STEELE 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

Midwest Whiteness

What’s Utopia to You?

Curry Flavor

Life in Iowa is different when you’re the only person of color in town.

Local comic artists imagine a better world in 2021 and beyond.

A Thai restaurant in a Cedar Rapids strip mall packs a spicy, delicious punch.

BY DONNA CLEVELAND

BY VARIOUS ARTISTS

BY JESSICA CARNEY

6 - Letters & Interactions 10 - Brock About Town 14 - Community 26 - Arts Issue 36 - Bread & Butter

38 - Events Calendar 45 - Ad Index 49 - Your Village 51 - Dear Kiki 53 - Astrology

55 - Local Album Reviews 57 - Local Book Reviews 59 - Crossword

ADVERTISING ADS@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM LISTINGS CALENDAR@LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM CONTRIBUTORS JOSH BOOTH/SOUL CRY, DANIEL BOSCALJON, AUDREY BROCK, JESSICA CARNEY, JOSH CARROLL, ALEX CHOQUEMAMANI, DONNA CLEVELAND, MARK FULLENKAMP, LAUREN HALDEMAN, CHRISTOPHER HUNTER, JOHN MARTINEK, CAROLINE MASCARDO, ANGELA PICO, LOREN THACHER, TOM TOMORROW, SAM LOCKE WARD, DEBORAH ELIZABETH WHALEY 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. Sam Locke Ward

LETTERS 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.

This letter has been edited for length. I RECEIVED MY FIRST DOSE of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 17. As an ICU nurse who has worked frequently with COVID-positive patients at UIHC, I was among the first several hundred employees vaccinated in the state of Iowa. The process was streamlined already and went quickly. The vaccination itself was the least painful I’ve ever received; it only hurt slightly from the needle. When the vaccinator said she was done, I couldn’t believe her. As I was walking back to my car, I felt slightly warm and tingly in my face (similar to a niacin reaction, if anyone has had one of those). The next day, I felt only a bit of injection site pain. The pain was completely gone

Improve Diversity in STEM

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HAVE AN OPINION? Better write about it! Send letters to:

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LETTERS & INTERACTIONS

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concerned about unknown long-term effects, while others are feeding into conspiracy theories about microchips, 5G networks, mind control, etc. But on Dec. 17, 2020, at 7:30 in the morning, I said for the first time all year that it was a good day to be a healthcare worker. It felt

Which is more grown-up?

14%

86%

A diary A journal

like we finally had the first tool in our arsenal to defeat this insidious enemy. And if I need to get a booster shot every year (like the flu shot), then I will, to protect my patients, my family and myself. I encourage everyone to do the same thing I did: research the possible side effects (not including your Facebook friends’ conspiracy

S T R E S S F R A C T U R E S

JOHN

MARTINEK

around 36 hours post-vaccination. No matter how quickly it appeared and then disappeared, this pain did not impact my daily life. I would be remiss to not mention the mental impact of receiving this vaccine. Healthcare workers have spent 2020 in the shadow of the pandemic, uncertain of so many aspects in our lives, just as the public has. The sense of hope that we had in that room, even on day four of vaccinations, was undeniable. People were full of nervous excitement, their voices hushed, almost like we were on the verge of getting caught elbow-deep in the cookie jar. It feels finally like there is a light at the end of a very dark tunnel, one that even just a month ago felt like it was unending. To be clear, it’s not currently a bright light. While the vaccine is highly effective, we do not know for how long the protection against COVID-19 lasts. We will still need to wear masks and practice social distancing, even when vaccinated. In addition to this, there’s a large segment of the public that do not trust a vaccine developed so quickly. Some are

Martin Luther King Jr. Day JAN. onday,

2021 events

Lectures • Discussions • Presentations Day of Service project & food drive Youth activities and more!

8 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

In partnership with community organizations, the City of Iowa City invites all to participate in this year's celebration of Dr. King's life and legacy. Free events are scheduled Jan. 18-30 and are open to the public. For details, visit

icgov.org/MLK2021

How to find us these days ... TO ENCOURAGE CONTINUED SOCIAL DISTANCING Print editions of Little Village will only be available online and in the following locations until further notice:

OUTDOOR RACKS IN IOWA CITY: • Little Village HQ 623 S Dubuque St • Dubuque & Washington NW & SE corners • Clinton & Washington NW corner and inside at the north and east entrances of the Old Capitol Mall • Ped Mall playground • Van Buren & Washington NE Corner • 110 S Linn St • Market & Linn NW Corner

OUTDOOR RACKS IN CEDAR RAPIDS: • 1100 3rd St SE By the entrance to NewBo City Market

• 3rd St SE & 11th Ave SE By Raygun • 120 3rd Ave SW By Dash

ORDER CURBSIDE OR DELIVERY from one of these local restaurants and get a copy delivered free. (While supplies last) • Brewhemia Cedar Rapids • Marco’s Grilled Cheese Iowa City • Pop’s Iowa City • Trumpet Blossom Iowa City • The Wedge Iowa City • Iowa City Farmer’s Market • with your Chomp order • with your ICDD delivery

Little Village was one of four Iowa news outlets recognized for its COVID-19 coverage in the Local Media Association/Facebook Journalism Project’s first round of grants. Help us continue to expand our coverage by making a voluntary cash contribution: LittleVillageMag.com/support. LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 9

LETTERS & INTERACTIONS theories), research the possible long-term effects of experiencing a COVID-19 infection, and determine which is the right option for you and your family. But please do read, and make an educated decision when the time is right and the vaccine is made available to you, and if you choose to receive the vaccine, make sure to get your second dose 21 days after your first. I anticipate I will feel more effects after the second dose, and I will follow the asked protocol to report them online. For me, choosing the vaccine felt like the first step back to the life we used to know. I cannot say if there will come a time in the future that we will not need to wear masks and eye protection with each patient encounter we have, but maybe we will see fewer critically ill COVID-19 patients, or even just fewer hospitalized COVID patients overall if the vaccine becomes the

popular choice. All I am offering is that this holiday season has a touch more hope and sense of renewal this year than I’ve noticed before, but it is a fragile hope, much like a small flame from kindling. It will need to be fanned and protected carefully so that it can be shared by everyone, not just healthcare workers. —Katelyn Meyer

Will Trump attend the inauguration?

3.9% Yes

Submitted Dec. 18 MY MOTHER LIVES AT ONE of Iowa’s 430 nursing facilities. While some people choose to gloat about supposed American ingenuity and prosperity, I continue to worry about nearly a third of Iowa’s long-term care facilities having outbreaks of COVID-19. A number healthcare workers have tested

BROCK ABOUT TOWN

96.1% No

AU D R E Y B R O C K

I’ve never understood why people make such a big deal out of the new year. Jan. 1 is a featureless, arbitrary day like any other that exists in the yawning chasm between Christmas and the first day it’s safe to go outside without your parka, and it’s always struck me as a bit naïve to think that the calendar rolling over is going to change anything about your life. However, this year, I completely understand, because this is the year we leave the pungent Dumpster fire that was 2020 behind. Yes, the date is still arbitrary and we’re still in as deep a pile of crap as we were last week, and I’m an irritating millennial who complains about how terrible every year is with no attempt to improve my life whatsoever—all that is true. However, I don’t think the optimism a lot of people are feeling is misplaced. Millions of Americans have received the new coronavirus vaccine, freeing them up to return to making out with strangers in the frozen foods aisle at Target. (Thank God, right?) In less than three weeks, this country will no longer be led by a man who has committed countless offenses against the American people, his reprehensible spray tan displayed on every single news channel for the last five years. Plus, we haven’t heard anything about those murder hornets in a while, so that whole situation must be fine, right? Yeah. That said, some people are getting a little bit ahead of themselves. The other day, I overheard someone talking about the pandemic in the past tense, as in, “Gee, remember that toilet paper shortage during the pandemic? That sure was crazy.” (I backed up an extra six feet, just in case.) It makes me wonder how long it’ll be before the sort of people who write Medium articles about the ethics of making your own sourdough will start releasing pandemic memoirs. I bet you my last box of emergency fallout spaghetti that in two years, we’ll be able to go into any bookstore and find books with titles like Tie-Dye Dreams: How TikTok Trends Saved My Marriage or Mommy Doesn’t Understand Algebra: How to Incorporate Your Day-Drinking into Your Parenting Strategy. The mind practically boggles. 2021 is nigh. I wish you all an overabundance of happiness, to compensate for last year, and good luck in fighting off those gangs of radioactive cannibals. 10 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

/LittleVillage READER POLL:

positive at my mom’s nursing home. I am not pleased that our governor relaxed COVID-19 restrictions while the Trump administration cut Iowa’s allotment of vaccine by 30 percent. Why do some Americans fixate on a governor’s not overstepping her authority or infringing on personal rights? People are dying in record numbers, a 9/11 every day! The fact that some place personal ideology over human life saddens me. Succumbing to the deceit and flattery of demagogue permits pride and ideology to trump cold hard reality. I suggest anyone overly concerned with power-drunk leaders volunteer at a nursing home. Maybe then the shade of narcissism and selfishness might lift from your eyes. —Mike Fallon Letter to the editor: It’s time to retire Native mascots in Iowa and beyond (Dec. 9) I agree that we should retire Native tribal mascots. Just the idea of being a mascot is diminishing and using such names and mascots is a reminder to Native Tribes people that they were subjugated by the dominant culture. Imagine, if you will, the outrage that would/should ensue if Afro-American stereotypes were displayed at football games. —Barry B.

CORTADO

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La vida de los inmigrantes indocumentados importan POR W. ALEX CHOQUEMAMANI

a pandemia del Covid-19 está afectando de manera diferente a las familias y personas de bajos recursos económicos. Ocurre también lo mismo con la población inmigrante que vive en los Estados Unidos, especialmente con los inmigrantes indocumentados. Los inmigrantes indocumentados contribuyen a la riqueza de los Estados Unidos y, al estado de Iowa en particular. Y en estos tiempos difíciles la gran mayoría está realizando trabajos esenciales (muchos son agricultores, otros cocineros, algunos encargados de limpieza, etc.), al igual que muchas otras personas, pero con la única diferencia de que no cuentan con documentación migratoria. Sin embargo, los inmigrantes indocumentados están excluidos de la entrega de estímulos económicos federales. ¿Se puede dejar morir o empobrecer (una forma lenta también de morir) a un grupo de personas en razón de su estatus migratorio? California dispuso en el mes de abril de este año un fondo de ayuda económica para la población inmigrante (independiente de su estatus migratorio) que haya sido excluida del seguro de desempleo y de la entrega de cheques de estímulo económico. La entrega de dicha ayuda fue a través de organizaciones sin fines de lucro y de caridad ubicadas en diferentes partes de California. Una medida similar no ha ocurrido en Iowa. Sin embargo, muchas organizaciones sin fines de lucro y personas individuales expresaron su solidaridad hacia la comunidad inmigrante de Iowa. Por ejemplo, una de esas organizaciones que ayudó a los inmigrantes (independiente de su estatus migratorio) fue el Centro de Justicia Laboral de Eastern Iowa de Iowa City (Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa). Ellos hicieron una campaña denominada “De mi casa a tu casa” (From My Home to Yours). Esta campaña consistió en motivar a aquellas personas que recibieron el cheque de estímulo económico, y que no lo necesitaban, a donarlo a las familias inmigrantes que sí lo necesitaran. Así muchas personas se sumaron a esta campaña y donaron el total o una parte de su cheque. También aportaron económicamente para esta campaña otras organizaciones e instituciones, tales como la Red Nacional de Jornaleros y la Ciudad de Iowa City. Según Mayra Hernández, organizadora comunitaria del Centro de Justicia Laboral de Eastern Iowa, lograron distribuir alrededor de $270,000 a más de 600 familias inmigrantes de Iowa―especialmente del condado de Johnson.

IF YOU DON’T NEED THE NEW $600 STIMULUS, CONSIDER DONATING TO THE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY. Si no necesita el nuevo estímulo de $600, considere donar a la comunidad de inmigrantes indocumentados. Así también podremos decir que aquí, en Iowa, “el pueblo ayuda al pueblo.” LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 11

INTERACTIONS The Takeaway: IC newbie Bollywood Grill earns its place in the local scene (Dec. 14) Bollywood Grill is incredible. We’ve ordered take out about once a week for several months. I can’t get enough! —Noel V. They are sooooo yummy! —Eileen L. Gov. Reynolds returns $21 million in misspent federal aid to state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (Dec. 14) Face, meet palm. —Emma N. Remember this, and all her other failed leadership, in ‘22 when she’s up for re-election. Don’t let her slide by to another win. She needs to be fired. —Erin S. Get this money to the facilities that need to be reimbursed for millions to hire extra traveling nurses, pay outrageous upcharges for PPE. Establish a support program for the frontline staff who have had to hold the hands of our people who have had to suffer in the hospital alone. No excuses to not get this done THIS WEEK! —Stephanie S. When the governance succumbs to corruption, no amount of money gets completely to the intended. —Dave M. Marvin Bell, UI professor and first Iowa Poet Laureate, has died (Dec. 15) He was an amazing professor and masterful poet. —Mark A.

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I had the privilege of engaging in a few lively debates with this man. —William G.M. Iowa is spending $10m in federal pandemic aid on state police salaries (Dec. 15) Gee, why not help out some small businesses? Or helping stock food pantries? Or provide rental relief? —Jeff K. Defund the police, fund an investigation into Kim Reynolds for the negligent homicide of 3,340 Iowans. —@t_virus96 Letter: City Manager Fruin’s plan gives police more power, rebuffs Iowa Freedom Riders (Dec. 28) Less. Police. Influence. Not more. —Michelle A. It would seem that Mr. Fruin needs to either comply with the direction the IC City Council wishes to go or be replaced with someone who will. —Ron P. The Cedar Rapids City Council will vote on a citizen review board for CRPD in early 2021 (Dec. 30) The proposed CR review board suffers from the same basic problems as the IC one, in particular, the inability to conduct independent investigations or to meaningfully discipline individual officers. I’d rather not be so cynically about these things, but I see no reason not to. —@city_of_iowa

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The Limits of Iowa Nice

An “elaborate architecture of segregation” built in the 20th century has left the Midwest with its own potent brand of racism. Black academics and artists at the University of Iowa are fighting to dismantle it. BY DONNA CLEVELAND

eneath a veneer of “niceness,” the Midwest is among the very worst places to live in the United States if you’re a person of color. That’s what historian and University of Iowa history professor Colin Gordon

discovered while completing a report for the Iowa Policy Project titled “Race in the Heartland: Equity, Opportunity, and Public Policy in the Midwest.” According to his findings, flyover country harbors a history of racist policies and practices, the legacy of which

we’re still living with today. The result is that racial inequality in the Midwest is greater than anywhere else in the country, even the South. These patterns don’t only exist in cities like Chicago or Detroit, Gordon said. In fact, he and his students have studied the history of racial inequality right here in Johnson County, Iowa and have found documentation of an effort to keep African Americans from moving into predominantly white neighborhoods in Iowa City and the surrounding area. Rural Midwestern states like Iowa also suffer from a form of segregation called hypervisibility, which arises when a racial group is outnumbered by a white majority and leads to greater scrutiny and prejudice. Understanding the facts about racial inequality in the Midwest and the history that’s led us here can help us wake up to the state of affairs where we live and take the appropriate steps—on both a policy and personal level—to improve them.

The Demure White Supremacy of the Midwest

Christopher Hunter

I met literary artist Dr. Tameka Cage Conley, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, at the Witching Hour festival in downtown Iowa City a few years ago. It was a chilly November night, scarved students hopping between musical performances, poetry readings and lectures. In a dimly lit room, Cage Conley read poems moving from topics of race to desire to motherhood. While taking questions after the reading, a young Black woman asked Cage Conley if she was worried about having her work being co-opted by a white audience. The artist said that she refused to concern herself with what white people would think of or do with her work. She chooses to live above the racism and sexism she saw around her, and above what she called the “demure white supremacy of the Midwest.” Growing up in Louisiana, Cage Conley was familiar with overt racism. But, she pointed out to me in an interview, the homogenous culture of the Midwest was just as problematic. “If I think about the Midwestern white person as a character,” she said, “I would say that the character is neighborly. The character is

“WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I’M LIVING RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO YOU? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WHATEVER PRIVILEGES YOU BELIEVE THAT YOUR WHITENESS AFFORDS YOU ARE ALSO AVAILABLE TO ME? WHEN PEOPLE START MOVING INTO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, THAT’S WHEN YOU REALLY HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.” TAMEKA CAGE CONLEY, WRITER 14 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

Josh Booth / Soul Cry / Little Village

“PEOPLE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET GO TO THE BP GAS STATION AND BUY A $6 BURGER, BUT WON’T BUY MY FRESH $3 BURGER. THE MAYOR OF THE TOWN HAS NOT BEEN IN MY RESTAURANT AND I’VE BEEN HERE ALMOST TWO YEARS.” ZONE CASHUS, OWNER AND CHEF, CASHUS ITALIAN CUISINE

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 15

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out the whiteness in me to be able to be part of the group.” Her little sister was in kindergarten when they immigrated. “There were kids that would pull her hair and tell her, ‘Go back to your country; you’re dirty,’” Giron recalled. “That really broke my sister. She was just really quiet afterwards, because she didn’t want to be told that she wasn’t good enough to be here.” Alejandra Giron is 25 years old now, and she’s proud of her Guatemalan roots. But she said it’s still a struggle to embrace her background in a place like Iowa. “Sometimes I feel like I can’t be fully myself,” she said. “Latin people are really enthusiastic, and really colorful, and really out there, and really open. In the Midwest it’s more conservative, so I don’t want to stand out, and I don’t want to give people a reason to make a stereotype out of me or push me out of the social group.” Colin Gordon, University of Iowa history professor and author of the Iowa Policy Project’s Race in the Heartland: Equity, Opportunity, and Public Policy in the Midwest. Mark Fullenkamp

a good samaritan. The character is oblivious. The character is safe, right? None of those things, quote, unquote, look like a racist.” But Cage Conley struck upon a core truth— Midwesterners have a history of keeping a comfortable distance from people they see as different from them. That would explain the response as more Black and Brown residents have moved from Chicago to Iowa City over the past decade.

White Supremacy, White Preference

Part of what’s so harmful about the homogenous culture of the Midwest is that whiteness is seen as “normal.” That’s the message Alejandra Giron received when she immigrated to Iowa from Guatemala at 8 years old. “I was the only person of color in my class at the time,” Giron said. “My friends would make jokes like, ‘Oh, you’re a coconut.’ At first I was like, ‘What is a coconut? I’ve never heard of that.’ And they were like, ‘Well, basically you’re Brown on the outside, but white on the inside.’” Giron said she felt this was her friends’ way of trying to relate to her. But it had another effect, too. “I never talked about my culture or where I came from,” she said. “I knew I had to bring 16 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

The History of Housing Segregation Beginning in the early 1900s and into the 1970s, nearly 7 million Black Americans living in the South made the journey North seeking a better life. Known as the Great Migration, Colin Gordon said this movement was motivated by the promise of better job

81%

of the Midwestern population is white, compared to % a national average of

10%

Around of Midwesterners are Black, compared % of all Americans to

13.4

Midwestern states without small urban populations have much lower Black populations, down to as low as % in states like South and North Dakota and in Iowa

1-2

7.2%

of Midwesterners are foreign-born; the national average is almost double that 2019 U.S. census

opportunities and a desire to escape the horrors of the Jim Crow South. “There were particularly strong opportunities during the mobilization for World War I and World War II,” said Gordon. “Not only was the economy booming, but so much of the regular workforce was overseas that this opened up much better jobs for African Americans and for women in those wartime economies.” As Gordon dug deeper, though, he found no effort from Midwesterners to welcome Black people into their communities. Instead, he found quite the opposite. The heart of Gordon’s findings: Segregation policies established before Black communities even began settling in Northern cities are the root cause of racial inequality in the Midwest. While discrimination was severe in the South, at least white and non-white communities were comparable in size and lived side by side. Gordon found documentation from the early 1900s in cities including Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Milwaukee of racial zoning laws that enforced white-only neighborhoods. “The white homeowners and developers and city leaders respond to what they view as the threat posed by the Great Migration and erect a sort of elaborate architecture of segregation,” Gordon explained. Over the years, the courts began prohibiting such blatant discrimination. Based on the ruling in Buchanan v. Warley in 1917, the Supreme Court would no longer enforce racial zoning. But instead of ending residential segregation, cities began partnering with private companies to create race-restrictive deed agreements. “The developer would make a series of rules: Your house has to be this far back from the street and you can never sell to an African American,” he said. Recently, Gordon and his students combed through old county records in Johnson County looking for such agreements. “We found a whole lot of them, even though there were no African Americans living in Iowa City at the time,” he said. “And not necessarily the most exclusive or expensive neighborhoods, but little pockets of white working-class housing.” By the time the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 and was expanded in ’68 to include protection against housing discrimination, the legacy of white-only deeds had cemented the racist idea that selling or renting to Black or Brown families hurt property value. “You repeat something like that often enough, you make it an article of professional Josh Booth / Soul Cry / Little Village

“I DON’T WANT TO GIVE PEOPLE A REASON TO MAKE A STEREOTYPE OUT OF ME OR PUSH ME OUT OF THE SOCIAL GROUP.” ALEJANDRA GIRON

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COMMUNITY wisdom, and people start to believe it,” he said.

Goodbye, Good Jobs

Employment opportunities—including union jobs, which allowed Black workers to use collective bargaining to protect themselves against discrimination—were initially what drew African Americans to the Midwest. But in the second half of the 20th century, just as the Black population began to see gains with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, good factory jobs began to dry up due to globalization and lower-wage competitors in the South. From 1974 to 2016, Gordon found that the Midwest lost more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs, a drop of more than 40 percent. Since the ’80s, the Midwest has lost over 70 percent of its membership in manufacturing unions. Taken together, residential segregation and the loss of economic opportunity have hit the Midwest’s Black population the hardest. “Across almost any sort of educational or economic or social measure, the disparity

18 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

are imprisoned at five times the rate of white Americans. All Midwestern states have higher rates of incarceration for Black adults to white adults than on the national level. In Iowa and Minnesota, Black men are 10 times more likely to be imprisoned than white men.

between Black and white Americans is starker in the upper Midwest than it is anywhere else in the country,” according to Gordon. •

•

Ten Midwestern states have the worst disparities between Black and white unemployment rates in the U.S. All but three of the 12 Midwestern states fall into the bottom third for rates of college graduation. In the U.S., the gap between Black and white home ownership is wider than it was in 1900, at about 72 percent for whites and 42 percent for Black Americans. In the Midwest the gap is even worse, with half of the states in the Midwest having the largest gaps between Black and white home ownership.

•

Wages are lower for Black workers than in any other census region.

•

In the U.S., African American adults

•

Nationally, the Black median household income is just over $38,000; in every Midwestern state it is below $36,000.

Residential segregation has a well-documented history of harmful effects on the communities it excludes, leading to segregated schools and low-quality education. Poor neighborhoods also suffer from lack of private services, from grocery stores to hospitals. Without private businesses in the neighborhood, there are also fewer job opportunities. “Everything begins to fit together in this interlocking system of concentrated disadvantage,” Gordon said.

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The Only Black Man in Town

Zone Cashus in his restaurant, Cashus Italian Cuisine, now located in Burlington, IA. Josh Booth / Soul Cry / Little Village

Zone Cashus was the only Black man in Batavia, a tiny Iowa town of 500 hemmed in by rows of corn and with a City Hall building located in a converted garage. Two years ago, Zone opened the only restaurant in town, Cashus Italian Cuisine. “The town doesn’t support me,” he said. “People right across the street go to the BP gas station and buy a $6 burger, but won’t buy my fresh $3 burger. The mayor of the town has not been in my restaurant and I’ve been here almost two years. They want to see me fail.” Vuda Lynn Herman, a longtime Batavian, said she wasn’t surprised by the lack of support from the town. “I didn’t think he was going to have a snowball’s chance in hell,” she said. “It’s a prejudiced area.” Vuda said in the 25 years she’s lived in Batavia, she’d only ever met one other Black family. She’d also seen restaurants come and go from the space Zone’s business occupied. “When white people opened it up, the town came out,” she said. “They didn’t do that with

him. And I felt like it was partially because he was Black.” The first summer Zone was open, he had to ask a woman to leave his restaurant after she asked a waitress why she was working for a Black man.

IF YOU’RE BLACK AND FIND YOURSELF LIVING IN A SMALLER CITY IN THE MIDWEST, THAT MEANS YOU’RE LIKELY SURROUNDED SOLELY BY WHITE PEOPLE. “She basically went in my restrooms and just peed all over my walls and on the floor,” Zone said. “It was a bad experience.” In November, Zone closed down his restaurant in Batavia for good. He’s reopened in Burlington, a bigger city a couple of hours away, where he’s hoping for better luck.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 19

COMMUNITY Zone grew up in Chicago, but had never felt so singled out for being Black as he did in small-town Iowa. What Zone experienced was hypervisibility, a common problem in Iowa. Around 90 percent of the Midwest’s Black population is clustered in big cities. Gordon reports that of the 1,055 counties in the Midwest, nearly two-thirds are over 95 percent white. If you’re Black and find yourself living in a smaller city in the Midwest, that means you’re likely surrounded solely by white people. “That leads to a different pattern of discrimination,” he said, playing out in school discipline, incarceration, police stops and unemployment.

Righting Past Wrongs

The racial inequality we see today is deeply entrenched, and it’s not going to go away without a serious and concerted effort on a policy level, Gordon said. His policy recommendations are two-fold. The first is to “raise the floor for everyone,” he said. Examples include raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 and Medicare for all. “That would make a big difference for everyone, but it would make a bigger difference for those at the bottom of the labor market,” Gordon said. PORTING EVENTS MOVIES AWARD CEREMONIES CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS MOVIES Gordon also recommends targeted policies, EVENTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CHURCH CONVENTIONS ONVENTIONS LECTURES MOVIES FESTIVALS PLAYDATES FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS including strengthening enforcement of civil ARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CONCERTS SPORTING EVENTS MOVIES AWARD CEREMONIES SCHOOL EVENTS rights laws to protect workers from employer S FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS AWARD CEREMONIES PARKS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS discrimination. We need to spend money in the WARD CEREMONIES CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS EVENTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS neighborhoods GATHERINGS “that have been so much left in TIONS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS EVENTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS PARKS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY dust by a century of policy.” SHOPPING DINING OUT STIVALS PLAYDATES FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT LECTURES MOVIES FESTIVALS PLAYDATES FRIENDSthe EVENTS RMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CONCERTS SPORTING EVENTS MOVIES AWARD CEREMONIES SCHOOL It’s going to take a lot more than people beCONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CHURCH CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS ing nicer to solve these problems. But making EVENTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS SHOPPING DINING OUT changes on a personal level is a good place to FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT PARKS CHURCH CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS start, Dr. Tameka Cage Conley pointed out. S PLAYDATES FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS MOVIES After living in the Midwest for years, Cage CHURCH CONVENTIONS LECTURES MOVIES FESTIVALS PLAYDATES FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT ConleyMOVIES said she’sAWARD close friends with white peo- EVENTS CEREMONIES SCHOOL EVENTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CONCERTS SPORTING EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS AWARD CEREMONIES PARKS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY pleEVENTS who she knows want to be her ally. S CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS RELIGIOUS EVENTS CONCERTS FARMERS MARKET “Sometimes HOLIDAY GATHERINGS people who really are our white SHOPPING DINING OUT LECTURES MOVIES FESTIVALS PLAYDATES FRIENDS SHOPPING DINING OUT FRIENDS allies, they really want to help. They want to FARMERS MARKET HOLIDAY GATHERINGS CHURCH CONVENTIONS SPORTING EVENTS MILITARY EVENTS figure out, ‘How do I show you that I’m not like this? How do I show you that you mean something to me?” she reflected. “And so my statement then becomes, ‘If you love me, give your hands over to the struggle of dismantling the beast of white supremacy limb by limb.”

WISHING YOU A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR! HERE’S TO THE THINGS WE HOPE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2021!

typo! NotNot a a typo!

Kim will help you find your way HOME! Not a typo!

Donna Cleveland is a graduate of the University of Iowa’s journalism masters program and is the host and producer of Thread the Needle, an indie feminist podcast. This article was adapted from a recent episode titled “The Only Black Man in Town.”

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Feb. 2, 2021 21

MEMBERS GET FREE MOVIES! It’s easy as 1, 2, 3!

Watch The Bookmakers now in our Virtual Screening Room and a new free member ﬁlm each month!

Free movies and other great beneﬁts at ICFILMSCENE.ORG/MEMBERSHIP 24 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

THE IOWA CITY POLICE LOG A coffee table book

ON SALE NOW ALL PROFITS DONATED TO:

Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, Shelter House, United Action for Youth

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/POLICE-LOG

LET’S STOP HIV TOGETHER

2021 ARTS ISSUE

BUILD YOUR OWN UTOPIA

FEATURED ARTISTS Caroline Mascardo is a junior at Iowa City West High School. When they aren’t making political cartoons for the school newspaper, you can probably find them practicing violin, reading something by Kurt Vonnegut or consuming copious amounts of caffeine.

Picture a world without HIV stigma. We can all stop HIV stigma by speaking up against stigmatizing words or actions. WHEN WE SPEAK UP AGAINST HIV STIGMA, WE CAN STOP HIV TOGETHER. StopHIVIowa.org

Deborah Elizabeth Whaley is an artist, curator, writer, poet and Professor of American and African American Studies at the University of Iowa. Her recent book, Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime (2015), explores graphic novel production and comic book fandom, looking in particular at African, African-American and multiethnic women as deployed in various representations of comic characters. Lauren Haldeman is the author of Instead of Dying (winner of the 2017 Colorado Prize for Poetry), Calenday and The Eccentricity is Zero. A graphic novelist and poet, she has received an Iowa Arts Fellowship, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Josh Carroll draws comics, writes fiction and plays drums. A longtime resident of Iowa City, he now resides in southeast Cedar Rapids. Sam Locke Ward is a cartoonist and musician from Iowa City. He selfpublishes the comic zines Voyage Into Misery and ‘93 Grind Out and has put out over 50 music albums. In 2020 his Futile Wrath strip for Little Village won the Association Of Alternative Newsmedia’s award for cartoon of the year.

CAROLINE MASCARDO

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DEBORAH WHALEY

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LAUREN HALDEMAN

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JOSH CARROLL

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JOSH CARROLL

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F U T I L E W R A T H

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BREAD & BUTTER

LittleVillageMag.com/Dining

LV Recommends

NaRa Thai Cuisine 1725 Blairs Ferry Rd Ste 102, Marion, 319-200-4004, narathai.net

hen I moved back home to Iowa after living in Minneapolis for a few years, one of the few things I missed was the cuisine. I’m no food snob—I like cheeseburgers and pizza as much as the next person—but I also appreciate things like a great falafel and other foods that are a little less Midwestern-y once in a while. And I learned while living in the Twin Cities that I really, really love Thai food. It’s got everything you could possibly want from Asian cuisine on one menu: curries, noodle dishes, spring rolls, fried rice (even basil fried rice, who knew?) and more. Enter NaRa Thai Cuisine, which opened in Marion in 2018. Yes, Marion, not some big, fancy city. In a strip mall, no less (shoutout to nearby Thai restaurant Siamville—also tasty, also in a strip mall). When NaRa first opened, I approached with caution, fearful that my oh-so refined palate would be disappointed. It was not. Since that fateful first order, I’ve ordered from the restaurant no less than 25 times. Last summer, during that awkward phase when restaurants were figuring out if they were going to open back up for indoor dining, it was the only place I ordered from for a few weeks because I appreciated their commitment to continue offering curbside pickup. I am guilty, though, of finding one dish I love and ordering it over and over again. That dish is Lion City. It’s not their star dish—it’s a deep cut, appearing practically last on their extensive menu. But for noodle-dish lovers,

MARION C AVE NE

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36 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

Jessica Carney / Little Village

vegetarian options are offered at NaRa. Mock I cannot recommend it enough. It has those duck, a sort of meatier tofu made with gluten, impossibly tiny rice noodles, tons of veggies, soaks up all of the curry flavors perfectly. whatever protein you want and whatever spice My husband and I are in a permanent standlevel you want. off over which appetizer is better: the crab This is where I need to pause to warn you rangoons or the spring rolls. I’m obsessed about NaRa’s spice level, particularly if you with the spring rolls because they’re crunchy are a native Iowan raised on meat and potatoes and fresh and yet another strong vegetarian like myself. According to the menu, it goes all offering. (And do we the way from zero to really need meat at 10. Do not even look SINCE THAT FATEFUL FIRST every meal?) He likes past number eight; the rangoons because, these numbers do not ORDER, I’VE ORDERED well, they’re enorexist for the vast maFROM THE RESTAURANT mous. Decadent, realjority of us. Madeline, NO LESS THAN 25 TIMES. ly. The only reason I my adventurous friend, protest ordering them likes to order a seven is because they’re so and proudly send me filling I don’t have enough room to finish my photos of her flushed face after eating. Hayley curry. and Sam, who are enthusiastic spicy food fans, Their curbside game is still strong, and truly hang out in the four-to-five range. I’m firmly nothing is lost by ordering the food for takeat level two, which is just enough spice to out. In fact, the menu includes several “street make me pause and say “Uff-da” every once food” dishes just asking to be ordered for carin a while. ryout, like “Racy Pad Thai,” which appears to I’ve also ventured into the curries, and I’ve be regular pad thai but with more chili sauce. ordered green curry over my go-to noodle When you need a break from your stews and dish on a couple of occasions because it’s so your pot roasts this winter, I highly recomdelicious. It comes with peppers, basil and mend pulling up and popping your trunk for generous pieces of eggplant. I’m a firm believsomething that will truly spice things up. er that the best thing to pair Thai food with is tofu or mock duck rather than meat, and both —Jessica Carney

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EDITORS’ PICKS

CALENDAR JAN. 6–FEB. 2, 2021 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., Jan. 6 Life Design Course with David Gould & Andy Stoll, University of Iowa Center for Advancement (foriowa.org), 4:30 p.m., Free (registration required) Eco Film Discussion: ‘Climate Refugees,’ Iowa City Public Library and Green Iowa AmeriCorps (icpl.org), 7 p.m., Free Critical Conversations, The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@ theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free Internet Watch Party: ‘I Drink Your Blood,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

Thu., Jan. 7 Steve Inskeep in conversation with Charity Nebbe, Prairie Lights Bookstore (prairielights.com/live), 7 p.m., Free

38 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM

Fri., Jan. 8 ‘An Evening of Oddity,’ Iowa City Community Theatre (iowacitycommunitytheatre.org), 7:30 p.m., Free Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: ‘The Care and Feeding of Small Animals’ by Brooke-Erin Smith, Mirrorbox Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Free (registration required)

Sat., Jan. 9 Walking with Walt (three-week class), Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 12:30 p.m., $75/series (tuition assistance available) ‘An Evening of Oddity,’ Iowa City Community Theatre (iowacitycommunitytheatre.org), 7:30 p.m., Free

Sun., Jan. 10 ‘An Evening of Oddity,’ Iowa City Community Theatre (iowacitycommunitytheatre.org), 2 p.m., Free

Wed., Jan. 13 Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City: Journey Above Poverty, 1 Million Cups Iowa City (@1MillionCupsIC), 9 a.m., Free Life Design Course with David Gould & Kathy Eldon, University of Iowa Center for Advancement (foriowa.org), 4:30 p.m., Free (registration required) Critical Conversations, The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success (@ theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free Internet Watch Party: ‘The Love Witch,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

Thu., Jan. 14 Iowa History 101: Iowa’s Native Nations, State Historical Society of Iowa (@IowaHistory), 12 p.m., Free (registration required)

STAFF PICKS: JAN. 6–FEB. 2, 2021

WHAT ARE WE DOING? WEDNESDAYS, JAN. 6-27 Life Design

SUNDAY, JAN. 17 ‘We

the Interwoven: Course with David Immigration Gould Stories from Over the American the course of four Wednesdays in January, University of Iowa’s David Gould brings a Heartland’ University of Iowa Center for Advancement (foriowa.org), 4:30 p.m., Free (registration required)

series of guest speakers toward the goal of helping students from all walks of life reach their goals. Classes can be attended standalone or as a series. The course kicks off on Jan. 6 with Andy Stoll, senior program officer of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He’s followed by author, filmmaker and Creative Visions Foundation co-founder Kathy Eldon, former Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable and NYU’s Dan Lerner.

FRIDAY, JAN. 8 Out

the Box Weekly Reading Series: ‘The Care and Feeding of Small Animals’ by Brooke-Erin Smith Mirrorbox Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Free (registration required)

Mirrorbox Theatre gets back into the swing of their renowned weekly reading series with this 2020 play about a pair of genetically engineered children tasked with ensuring the survival of the human race. Directed by Mirrorbox founder Cavan Hallman. The theater has promised to deliver fans 40 readings over the course of 2021, once again with a mix of Iowa’s top artists and selected guest performers from across the country. via Steven Willis’ website

Prairie Lights Bookstore (prairielights.com/live), 2 p.m., Free The third volume from the

Bicultural Writers’ Fellowship was released in December; this event includes a panel moderated by series editors Andrea Wilson and Alisha Jeddeloh. The program was designed to raise the voices of Iowans who are immigrants or from immigrant families (first, second or third generation)—to tell “the new story of Iowa.” Featured writers include Eyad Said, Dhuha Tawil, Shalini Jasti, Vanessa “Cueponi Cihuatl” Espinoza, George Khal, Hibbah Jarmakani and Salma Salama.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20

In Two Voices: Willis and Rainey

Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 7 p.m., Free Iowa City Poetry offers the

inaugural event of its new interview series, In Two Voices. Poet and filmmaker KayLee Chie Kuehl is the series host. Episode one will feature Iowa City-based poet (and Best of the CRANDIC 2020 winner for Best Poet) Caleb Rainey interviewing three-time Individual World Poetry Slam finalist and current University of Iowa MFA Acting candidate Steven Willis.

Jason Smith

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 39

EDITORS’ PICKS

We the People: Protest and Peace—Dr.

Presentation, Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration,

org), available 24 hours daily through Jan. 20,

Iowa City Public Library (icpl.org) with St. Paul’s

$25 suggested

United Methodist Church, NAACP, Mount Mercy College, Coe College and Cedar Rapids Public

2nd Thursday Series: Richard Strauss’

Library, 7 p.m., Free (registration required)

‘Salome,’ Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre (youtube.com/cedarrapidsopera), 7 p.m., Free

Tue., Jan. 19

Spring 2021 Obermann Conversations:

‘When Time Stopped’ Virtual Author Talk

Food Insecurity in Johnson County,

and Book Signing, National Czech and Slovak

Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa.edu) w/ Iowa

Museum and Library (ncsml.org), 12 p.m., Free-

City Public Library, 7 p.m., Free

$28 (registration required)

The Healer’s Burden Book Launch

Entrepreneurship Workshop (two-

Celebration, Prairie Lights Bookstore

week class), Inside Out Reentry Community

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

(@ioreentry) w/ UI Labb, 5:30 p.m., Free (registration required)

Fri., Jan. 15

Dive In with the Stanley: Simone Leigh,

Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: TBD,

Stanley Museum of Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.

Mirrorbox Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m.,

edu), 7 p.m., Free

Free (registration required) Stanley Studio Visit with Elena

Sat., Jan. 16

Smyrniotis, Stanley Museum of Art (stanleymusem.uiowa.edu), 8 p.m., Free

Walking with Walt (three-week class), Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 12:30 p.m., $75/series (tuition assistance available)

Wed., Jan. 20 Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City:

Sun., Jan. 17

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

‘We the Interwoven: Immigration Stories from the American Heartland,’ Prairie

Life Design Course with David Gould

Lights Bookstore (prairielights.com/live), 2 p.m.,

& Dan Gable, University of Iowa Center for

Free

Advancement (foriowa.org), 4:30 p.m., Free (registration required)

January Art in the Afternoon: Monica Correia, Artifactory (artifactory.artsiowacity.org),

Kevin Barry in conversation with Susan

1 p.m., Free (registration required)

Orlean, Prairie Lights Bookstore (prairielights. com/live), 6 p.m., Free

Free Generative Writing Workshop for January, Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com,

In Two Voices: Willis and Rainey, Iowa City

iowacitypoetry@gmail.com), 5:30 p.m., Free

Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 7 p.m., Free

Mon., Jan. 18

Critical Conversations, The Academy

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.—What

theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free

for Scholastic and Personal Success (@

does protest look like to me?, Cedar Rapids Public Library (crlibrary.org) w/ St. Paul’s United

Internet Watch Party: ‘The Monster

Methodist Church and Iowa City Public Library,

Squad,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@

1 p.m., Free

ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

THANK

you "Best Home Improvement Company in the CRANDIC"

www.andrewmartinconstruction.com

319.248.0561

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 1824 G Street, Iowa City2, 2021 41

EDITORS’ PICKS

Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: TBD,

Tue., Jan. 26

Mirrorbox Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m.,

Entrepreneurship Workshop (two-

Free (registration required)

week class), Inside Out Reentry Community (@ioreentry) w/ UI Labb, 5:30 p.m., Free

Sat., Jan. 23

(registration required)

Walking with Walt (three-week class),

Wed., Jan. 27

Iowa City Poetry (iowacitypoetry.com), 12:30

Virtual 1 Million Cups Iowa City: Shrpa,

p.m., $75/series (tuition assistance available)

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

‘Divas 2021: An Evening with Janelle and Lynne,’ Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.org),

Cultural Postmortem 2020, Obermann

Thu., Jan. 21

2:30 & 7:30 p.m., $25 suggested

Center (obermann.uiowa.edu), 4:30 p.m., Free

Virtual Screening and Q&A with filmmaker Philip Rabalais, Public Space One

Mon., Jan. 25

Life Design Course with David Gould

(publicspaceone.com), 7:30 p.m.

Beat the Bitter: Kid Activity Kits, North

& Dan Lerner, University of Iowa Center for

Liberty Library, 8 a.m. (available for pickup

Advancement (foriowa.org), 4:30 p.m., Free

through Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.), Free (registration

(registration required)

Fri., Jan. 22

(registration required)

required)

‘Divas 2021: An Evening with Janelle and

Magical Writers Night ft. Laura Johnson,

Lynne,’ Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.org),

Kae Apothecary (@kaeapothecary), 7 p.m., Free

7:30 p.m., $25 suggested

(registration required)

42 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM

Fri., Jan. 29

Artisanal Showcase: Glass Fusing w/ the

for Scholastic and Personal Success (@ theacademysps), 7 p.m., Free

‘Divas 2021: An Evening with Janelle and

Cedar Rapids Public Library (crlibrary.org), 12

Lynne,’ Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.org),

p.m., Free

Critical Conversations, The Academy

Edward Carey, ‘The Swallowed Man,’

7:30 p.m., $25 suggested Online RPGs, Corridor Games on Demand

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

Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio,

Out the Box Weekly Reading Series: TBD,

(@CorridorGoD), 1 p.m., Free

Mirrorbox Theatre (@MirrorboxTheatre), 8 p.m., Internet Watch Party: ‘The Eyes of My

Free (registration required)

‘Divas 2021: An Evening with Janelle and Lynne,’ Theatre Cedar Rapids (theatrecr.org),

Mother,’ Late Shift at the Grindhouse (@ ICgrindhouse), 10 p.m., Free

Sat., Jan. 30

2:30 & 7:30 p.m., $25 suggested

Thu., Jan. 28

Beat the Bitter: Ice Sculpture Walk, Penn

Beat the Bitter: Fireworks, Penn Meadows

Meadows Park, North Liberty, 8 a.m. (available

Park, North Liberty, 7 p.m., Free

Iowa History 101: Tales of the Territory,

to view through Jan. 31 at 9 p.m.), Free

State Historical Society of Iowa (@IowaHistory), 12 p.m., Free (registration required)

Beat the Bitter: Winter Storywalk, Penn Meadows Park, North Liberty, 8 a.m. (available

Podcasting with Purpose: Annie Galvin,

to view through Jan. 31 at 9 p.m.), Free

Obermann Center (obermann.uiowa.edu), 4 p.m. Beat the Bitter: 5K-ish Obstacle? Run, Rebekah Kowal, ‘Dancing the World

Penn Meadows Park, North Liberty, 10 a.m. (run

Smaller,’ Prairie Lights Bookstore (prairielights.

anytime through Feb. 6 at 6 p.m.), Free

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

CEDAR RAPIDS NEW BOHEMIA / CZECH VILLAGE

Come work with us

JOHN@NEWBO.CO • (319) 382-5128

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 43

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What are the chances the state of Iowa will be first in the nation ever again after 2020’s incredibly inconvenient, undemocratic, overcrowded and likely virus-filled caucuses that still haven’t even been called by the AP? —Humiliated and Proud via the Your Village feature on LV’s homepage

he chances of Iowa being first in the nation are excellent, despite the 2020 Democratic caucus turning into a national embarrassment. Why? Because state law mandates it. Chapter 43 of the Iowa State Code allows the political parties to set the date of the caucus but specifies, “The date shall be at least eight days earlier than the scheduled date for any meeting, caucus, or primary which constitutes the first determining stage of the presidential nominating process in any other state, territory, or any other group which has the authority to select delegates in the presidential nomination.” Iowa, however, isn’t the only state with such a mandate. New Hampshire prides itself on having held the earliest primary in every presidential election since 1920, so it has a law requiring the presidential primary “be held on the second Tuesday in March or on a Tuesday selected by the secretary of state which is 7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election, whichever is earlier.” Iowa, and only Iowa, gets a free pass from New Hampshire, because both states have agreed the caucus is different enough from a primary that it’s not “a similar election.” Any change that makes it more primary-like, New Hampshire warns, will force it leap-frog over Iowa to reassert its firstness, which in turn would trigger Iowa’s law to leap-frog over New Hampshire, and then New Hampshire would—and so on. It’s like a really stupid version of mutually assured destruction. What both states seem to deliberately forget is they stumbled into their respective first places by accident. New Hampshire was looking for the cheapest way to hold a primary and the second Tuesday of March was already Town Meeting Day, so the primary could be grafted onto that at minimal expense. Almost nobody outside New Hampshire paid any attention to its firstness until the 1950s. In 1972, Democrats in Iowa—Republicans didn’t launch their caucus until 1976—just wanted to find enough hotel rooms in Des Moines for their state convention in the summer. To get the rooms needed, the party had

to move the convention to an earlier date, which pushed the first step in the delegate selection process, the caucus, into late January. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status didn’t attract much national attention until the ’80s. Democrats who don’t live in Iowa or New Hampshire have become increasingly uncomfortable in recent years with two small states with populations that are overwhelmingly white, as well as largely rural and definite-

WHAT THE DNC DECIDES TO DO WITH IOWA IN 2024 IS PRETTY MUCH UP TO THE NEW HEAD OF THE PARTY, JOE BIDEN, ALSO KNOWN AS THE CANDIDATE WHO FINISHED FOURTH IN THE 2020 CAUCUS.

ly older than the national average, playing an outsized part in choosing their party’s presidential nominee. And Iowa has another problem. The Democratic parties in only four states—Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming—still use a caucus, but that’s still too many according to the Democratic National Committee, which is concerned the caucus format limits the ability of people to participate. In 2018, the DNC adopted new rules to pressure the four states to make it easier to participate. Comply, the states were told, or the DNC might disqualify some, possibly all, of your delegates to the national convention. North Dakota and Wyoming added a voteby-mail option. Iowa and Nevada decided to go with “virtual caucuses” that people could participate in by phone. Iowa planned to have three of them. The DNC seemed to be onboard with the plan, until late August 2019, when it suddenly rejected caucusing by phone, citing security concerns. Nevada substituted five days of early primary-style voting for the virtual caucus. Primary-style anything, including voting by mail, wasn’t really an option for Iowa. Why? New Hampshire.

Instead, Iowa added 87 “satellite” caucus sites, which didn’t really address the fundamental accessibility problems with the caucus, but was good enough to get a pass from the DNC. What the DNC decides to do with Iowa in 2024 is pretty much up to the new head of the party, Joe Biden, also known as the candidate who finished fourth in the 2020 caucus. And that was the best showing Biden ever had in Iowa running for the Democratic nomination. In the 2008 caucus, Biden finished fifth, and dropped out of the race the next day. In 1988, he didn’t even make it to caucus night, dropping out after a video circulated showing remarks he made at the Iowa State Fair in 1987 were plagiarized from a speech given by a British politician. Biden acknowledged that Iowa was old, rural and very white while campaigning in the state before the 2020 caucus, but said that was OK, because Iowa takes its role in the presidential selection process very seriously and is worthy of its firstness. Other candidates made similar noises. But the embarrassing implosion that happened when the Iowa Democratic Party tried to figure out who won the caucus badly damaged Iowa’s national reputation for seriousness. So what happens in 2024? Will Iowa be penalized by the DNC because the caucus is still too inaccessible for too many? Will Democratic candidates cut back on campaigning here, or skip the state, because of its unrepresentative nature, and because it and New Hampshire were both rendered irrelevant the moment South Carolina voted overwhelmingly for Biden? Hard to say, but one thing seems certain: Iowa Republicans have no incentive to change things. Old, rural and overwhelming white is the GOP’s demographic sweet spot. And without a Republican incumbent in 2024, the state should be crawling with ambitious Republicans looking for an early win as caucus night approaches. So that pretty much guarantees the law isn’t going to change, and the Iowa Caucus will still be “at least eight days earlier than the scheduled date for any meeting, caucus, or primary” in any other state. 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/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 49

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DEAR KIKI

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ear Kiki, I miss having night sex. The kids are always home and are old enough that they stay up past my bedtime (10 p.m.). The other night I stayed up until the coast was clear and even texted my husband to come upstairs. Then we heard one get up to go to the bathroom! It’s unfair! They never leave and they never sleep! I’m not like those people who can compartmentalize erotic feelings from fully conscious, walking-around, going-to-the-bathroom kids. I get skeezed by the thought of them hearing sounds from the bedroom. No thank you! Any suggestions? —Under Observation

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Then of course there are the old stand-by techniques: Play loud music to drown out the sounds. Give your kids hard labor (shoveling; cleaning the garage) to accomplish in the late evening so they pass out early. Buy them each a new video game they’ve been wanting so they don’t leave their rooms for a while. Or you could just try to be as quiet as possible—it’s not a long-term solution, but as a one-off you might find the switch-up is erotic. Get something to bite down on so you don’t scream; slow things way down so the bed doesn’t creak. Worst-case scenario, if you can afford it, book a night or two at a hotel. That might sound frightening if you’ve been strictly Dear U.O., isolating during the pandemic, but charts of Ah, privacy issues during a pandemic! risk factors tend to rank staying at a hotel Who knew that the greatest test of the modern as low-to-moderate, in the same category as era would be whether we can actually stand sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room and being around the people we love? Being having an outdoor meal at a restaurant. And trapped inside a home of any size with the the CDC has a list of suggestions to make same people for months on end is bound to hotel stays safer. Bottom line: Where there’s a PLAY LOUD MUSIC TO DROWN OUT THE SOUNDS. will, there’s a way. GIVE YOUR KIDS HARD LABOR (SHOVELING; Make sure you enlist your husband’s CLEANING THE GARAGE) TO ACCOMPLISH IN help in trying to THE LATE EVENING SO THEY PASS OUT EARLY. solve this conundrum; working on BUY THEM EACH A NEW VIDEO GAME THEY’VE a problem together BEEN WANTING SO THEY DON’T LEAVE THEIR can provide some ROOMS FOR A WHILE. OR YOU COULD JUST TRY lovely moments of intimacy, even if TO BE AS QUIET AS POSSIBLE. it’s not the specific release you desire—and talking openly about both of your break even the least discreet of us. needs and what you’re currently missing is You say you miss having “night sex,” both sexy and invaluable to your relationship. which implies that you are, in fact, able to xoxo, Kiki find time to be intimate at other points during the day. Congrats! Maybe your kids are attending in-person school; maybe you’re able to wake before they do in the morning. Either way, at least some of your needs are being met. That’s awesome! I know it’s not “enough,” but it’s worth relishing. Are there ways you can make your current escapades more like the ones you desire? Blackout curtains on the windows, perhaps? Questions about love and sex in the Iowa Beyond that, consider setting an alarm. City-Cedar Rapids area can be submitted Go to bed at your regular time, wake up for to dearkiki@littlevillagemag.com, or a little midnight tumble, then conk back out. anonymously at littlevillagemag.com/ Disturbing your sleep schedule isn’t ideal, dearkiki. Questions may be edited for but if it’s a night when neither you nor your clarity and length, and may appear either husband has to work the next day (so you can in print or online at littlevillagemag.com. sleep in a bit), you might give it a try.

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ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn novelist Anne Brontë (1820–1849) said, “Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.” I suspect you could have experiences like hers in the coming weeks. I bet you’ll feel a welter of unique and unfamiliar emotions. Some of them may seem paradoxical or mysterious, although I think they’ll all be interesting and catalytic. I suggest you welcome them and allow them to teach you new secrets about your deep self and the mysterious nature of your life. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian philosopher Simone Weil formulated resolutions so as to avoid undermining herself. First, she vowed she would only deal with difficulties that actually confronted her, not far-off or hypothetical problems. Second, she would allow herself to feel only those feelings that were needed to inspire her and make her take effective action. All other feelings were to be shed, including imaginary feelings—that is, those not rooted in any real, objective situation. Third, she vowed, she would “never react to evil in such a way as to augment it.” Dear Aquarius, I think all of these resolutions would be very useful for you to adopt in the coming weeks. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In June 2019, the young Piscean singer Justin Bieber addressed a tweet to 56-year-old actor Tom Cruise, challenging him to a mixed martial arts cage fight. “If you don’t take this fight,” said Bieber, “you will never live it down.” A few days later, Bieber retracted his dare, confessing that Cruise “would probably whoop my ass in a fight.” If Bieber had waited until December 2020 to make his proposal, he might have had more confidence to follow through—and he might also have been better able to whoop Cruise’s ass. You Pisceans are currently at the peak of your power and prowess. ARIES (March 21-April 19): An anonymous blogger on Tumblr writes the following: “What I’d really like is for someone to objectively watch me for a week and then sit down with me for a few hours and explain to me what I am like and how I look to others and what my personality is in detail and how I need to improve. Where do I sign up for that?” I can assure you that the person who composed this message is not an Aries. More than any other sign of the zodiac, you Rams want to *be* yourself, to inhabit your experience purely and completely—not see yourself from the perspective of outside observers. Now is a good time to emphasize this specialty. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Humans like to be scared,” declares author Cathy Bell. “We love the wicked witch’s cackle, the wolf’s hot breath, and the old lady who eats children, because sometimes, when the scary is over, all we remember is the magic.” I suppose that what she says is a tiny bit true. But there are also many ways to access the magic that don’t require encounters with dread. And that’s exactly what I predict for you in the coming weeks, Taurus: marvelous experiences— including catharses, epiphanies and breakthroughs—that are neither spurred by fear nor infused with it. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1994, the animated movie *The Lion King* told the story of the difficult journey made by a young lion as he struggled to claim his destiny as rightful king. A remake of the film appeared in 2019. During the intervening 25 years, the number of real lions living in nature declined dramatically. There are now just 20,000. Why am I telling you such bad news? I hope to inspire you to make 2021 a year when you will resist trends like this. Your assignment is to nurture and foster wildness in every way that’s meaningful for you—whether that means helping to preserve habitats of animals in danger of extinction or feeding and championing the wildness inside you and those you care about. Get started! CANCER (June 21-July 22): Is there anyone whose forgiveness you would like to have? Is there anyone to whom you should

make atonement? Now is a favorable phase to initiate such actions. In a related subject, would you benefit from forgiving a certain person whom you feel wronged you? Might there be healing for you in asking that person to make amends? The coming weeks will provide the best opportunity you have had in a long time to seek these changes. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Scientists know that the Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down—but at the very slow rate of two milliseconds every 100 years. What that means is that 200 million years from now, one day will last 25 hours. Think of how much more we humans will be able to get done with an extra hour every day! I suspect you may get a preview of this effect in the coming weeks, Leo. You’ll be extra efficient. You’ll be focused and intense in a relaxing way. Not only that: You will also be extra appreciative of the monumental privilege of being alive. As a result, you will seem to have more of the precious luxury of time. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Adventurer Tim Peck says there are three kinds of fun. The first is pure pleasure, enjoyed in full as it’s happening. The second kind of fun feels challenging when it’s underway, but interesting and meaningful in retrospect. Examples are giving birth to a baby or taking an arduous hike uphill through deep snow. The third variety is no fun at all. It’s irksome while you’re doing it, and equally disagreeable as you think about it later. Now I’ll propose a fourth type of fun, which I suspect you’ll specialize in during the coming weeks. It’s rather boring or tedious or nondescript while it’s going on, but in retrospect you are very glad you did it. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I made the wrong mistakes,” said Libran composer and jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. He had just completed an improvisatory performance he wasn’t satisfied with. On countless other occasions, however, he made the right mistakes. The unexpected notes and tempo shifts he tried often resulted in music that pleased him. I hope that in the coming weeks you make a clear demarcation between wrong mistakes and right mistakes, dear Libra. The latter could help bring about just the transformations you need. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Home is not where you were born,” writes Naguib Mahfouz. “Home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” I propose we make that one of your mottoes for the next 12 months, Scorpio. According to my astrological analysis, you will receive all the inspiration and support you need as you strive to be at peace with exactly who you are. You’ll feel an ever-diminishing urge to wish you were doing something else besides what you’re actually doing. You’ll be less and less tempted to believe your destiny lies elsewhere, with different companions and different adventures. To your growing satisfaction, you will refrain from trying to flee from the gifts that have been given you, and you will instead accept the gifts just as they are. And it all starts now. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked,” observed Sagittarian author Jane Austen. She wrote this confession in a letter to her niece, Fanny, whose boyfriend thought that the women characters in Jane’s novels were too naughty. In the coming weeks, I encourage you Sagittarians to regard pictures of perfection with a similar disdain. To accomplish all the brisk innovations you have a mandate to generate, you must cultivate a deep respect for the messiness of creativity; you must understand that your dynamic imagination needs room to experiment with possibilities that may at first appear disorderly. For inspiration, keep in mind this quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 53

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LOCAL ALBUMS

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

The thematic power of The Great Unraveling stands up and answers to the ugliness and horror that we have witnessed in 2020. And the themes gain power as they intertwine lyrically throughout. A whole is woven even as different Purdies are credited for different songs. “Morning Glory” is a sweet and gentle opener that makes a simple statement against misogynist entitlement. “Why Awful Purdies would I be small?” uses a child’s The Great Unraveling question to discuss the imporAWFULPURDIES.COM tance of growth and prizing your uniqueness, taking up space withhe Awful Purdies’ new release, The Great Unraveling out taking it from others. “In the Dust” is a stark, beautiis a defining statement for these accomplished musicians who com- ful meditation on reconciling loss, bine their strengths, with wearied when memory becomes a venom that leaves you breathless. The tijoy, to perform miracles. tle track, “The Great Unraveling,” The songs are timely and timeallows Marcy Rosenbaum’s warm less. The album is proud but not boastful, strong but not brutal, both voice to create a holding space, wise and playful. The sheer quality inviting you to join her in confronting the changing world with of the material and the musicians’ “arms wide open and with fists deep understanding of the great held tight.” American songbook allow the The songs are art before they songs to feel familiar even on iniare politics, so never stray into tial listen. The Purdies have taken another step forward both sonically didacticism; however, because they’re real, they also stay far and lyrically to become leaders in from any fantasy. The result is a the Americana music scene. The album is a different kind of catchy album that happens to be about climate change, oppression, new, resisting discardable novelty friendship, solitude, anger, food to mine the earth of tradition and and joy. The final track, “Dragging voice songs that reflect 2020’s tuHope,” provides a perfect conclumult of social upheaval. sion for the year: When you canThe genius of the Purdies, exnot see what good things might be pressed throughout their career, is ahead, drag hope behind you. their unflinching commitment to The album is resolutely upliftbeauty through collaboration. They achieve greatness by inviting others ing. There are songs of empowto share in it. Their folk roots make ered celebration, and the joy of being alive erupts and sparkles the tendency to gesture toward injustice a natural fit, and their un- consistently throughout the whole. flinching feminism is a foundation To hear this album and to really listen gives a lesson in how to be a for their unwavering generosity. better human in each facet of life. They’re capable of potent magic. Although nothing will beat watchThe instrumentation on The ing the Purdies perform live, this Great Unraveling is tight and insoundtrack provides emotional novative, and the harmonies have and spiritual guidance through the never sounded better. The instruremainder of the great unraveling ments shine in different moments; whether solo or as a flourish in the yet to occur, until they come tobackground, instruments and vocals gether again. —Daniel Boscaljon contribute to the wholeness of each song.

Bob Bucko Jr You Deserve a Name PERSONALARCHIVES.BANDCAMP.COM

ob Bucko Jr is a busy fellow. The Dubuque-based artist has carved out a niche for himself in experimental circles nationwide, largely due to frequent touring and a tireless release schedule through his own Personal Archives imprint. He’s been involved in a number of projects in 2020, including a guest spot on New Standards Men’s masterful drone/space rock epic I Was a Starship, and releases of his own with Sex Funeral, One More Final I Need You, and Arc Numbers (due next year). One of his latest works is You Deserve a Name, a solo album loosed on the world in October. As he describes it: “[Name] was a series of ‘meditations’ recorded live to tape in April. Definitely informed by the uncertainty of everything going on back then (and now) ... All the tracks are undergirded by a drone in G, with different elements (sax, oscillators, samples, etc.) playing off that tone.” Name is a six-part session divided into four 15-minute-plus tracks. Its contents are alternately moody and moodless, shifting between calmness and dread at unexpected intervals. Bare EFX-sax and synth build into walls of noise that take hold without overpowering. The soundscapes switch from hideous to musical, organic to mechanical, evoking everything from synthetic cat sounds to robotic banshee shrieks.

The still moments don’t rest long enough to soothe, and the noise builds towards catharsis but never fully explodes. A bit of odd humor creeps in near the end, with a sample from a bird-watching video. The wooden dialogue and PSA narration is eventually lost to the racket, but not before its own tone shifts with the music from comical to darkly surreal: “The blue jay is so aggressive, it has been known to attack fullgrown cats invading its territory,” intones the narrator, as the clamor rises anew. “... the blue jay serves as an early warning system to other birds when there is a predator in its territory. Its raucous cry sounds the alarm almost instantly”—here the sample is devoured by the sinister burble of the oscillator, echoing the screaming bird. The audible narration is sucked into the instrumental undertow as the track (and album) slowly peters out into a bleak wash of dying electro-tones. Despite the pervading uneasiness, the “meditative” description is not misleading. The channeler explains: “I use the term meditations in sincerity, though I think a lot of people may find the discordant or loud parts and textures off-putting for that kind of thing. But for me, the tension and complications are part of seeing the meditation through. Sort of like an intense mushroom trip that makes you question integral parts of yourself.” In the right setting, this piece of apocalyptic future-jazz could be a tool for psychic navigation. Such works are vital in these times of spiritual warfare. Bob Bucko Jr is like a Zen master who assails his students, and Name is his ugly mandala. Enlightenment is a harsh process. Open your ears and begin. —Loren Thacher

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 55

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LOCAL BOOKS

Debra Jo Immergut You Again ECCO PRESS

he em-dash is by far my favorite punctuation. It’s useful as a break, a pivot point: It comes in handy often at Little Village, as we believe ellipses should only indicate removed material. The casual “pause ellipses” that pepper social media are a no-go in our stories and interviews, so that elapsed time, that silent space, that trailing off has only one true portrayer: the em-dash. With any writing element that I adore, I am hyper-sensitive to its overuse (I learned my lesson breaking my tragic eighth grade comma addiction). So in the beginning of Debra Jo Immergut’s You Again, I bristled. Why use a distinctive em-dash where a simpler comma would do, I thought. And, well, that one’s flat wrong, I’m almost certain! I was wrong. As I sunk deeper into the experience of the novel, it became clear that the Iowa Writers’ Workshop grad’s use was precise, as much thematic as functional. I imagine her fighting with a blindered editor like me to retain each one. You Again is fundamentally concerned with breaks, pivot points and especially elapsed time, in a way that justifies every use. Even— especially—where it feels wrong. Immergut’s taut thriller follows the story of Abby Willard, a 46-year-old wife and mother of two who is squandering her early art school promise doing graphic design for pharmaceuticals. Spotting (and later interacting with) her early 20s self sets her down a

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

year-long spiral of self-doubt that pulls in familiar threads of many mid-40s women’s stories: rekindled friendships, creative parenting choices, marriage hurdles, reexamined life decisions. But woven throughout, bringing a broad smile to my face the first time it appeared, are the reflections and communication of two scientists and a police officer, trying to piece together the details of Abby’s story from the vantage point of the following year. It’s a masterful use of a common trope, allowing past, present and future to converge in a way that echoes Richard Powers while steadfastly holding its place in the world of speculative fiction. The key to Immergut’s success is her descriptive strokes. Every scene is awash in detail; when artist Abby dwells on a coworker’s comment, “Color is your competency,” it’s clear that’s true of Immergut as well. But Immergut is also a master of the principle of Chekov’s gun. Nothing set up is thrown away. And every time you come across one of those moments of realization, you find your mind skipping back, wondering what other hints and clues she left along the way. Time collapses on itself in subtle and overt ways throughout You Again. “THE PAST IS PRESENT,” a sign reads at an antifa rally late in the story. “New York City is full of ghosts,” reads a work log entry from the physicist. “For anyone who’s ever lived here, this place is a haunted battlefield.” At a bar she frequented in her youth, Abby notes the juxtaposition of the young, posh clientele against the place, “so the bar’s crust and gloom had the faux quality of a historical re-creation.” There is an em-dash between Abby’s 46- and 22-year-old selves, a time lapse, a ghost. The way that Immergut unravels that silent space is riveting. There’s not much more that can be told without spoilers, but trust me: Sit with any discomfort any of it may bring you. The payoff is worth it.

Thomas M. Cook and Olayinka O. Adegbehingbe, illustrated by Jo Myers-Walker Lucky’s Feet CLUBFOOT SOLUTIONS, INC.

n the 1950s, the University of Iowa was the setting for groundbreaking work being done on the condition of clubfoot, a congenital deformity which causes an infant’s foot or feet to turn inward. When left untreated, the condition—which affects one in every thousand births, the vast majority of which are in developing countries—can make walking incredibly difficult and painful. Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, a SpanishAmerican physician and faculty member at the UI, developed a method that has become one of the predominant treatments for clubfoot. The Ponseti Method is both nonsurgical and less expensive than other methods, which made it a boon for patients in countries that lacked resources. In the 2019 book Clubfoot, locally published by Ice Cube Press, Thomas M. Cook, PT, Ph.D., a senior advisor to the Ponseti International Association and also a UI professor emeritus, explored Ponseti’s history and work. But the condition of clubfoot is most commonly treated in young children. So it seems inevitable that Cook published a companion to that history last year: Lucky’s Feet, a children’s book that takes a personal look at one boy’s experience with clubfoot and the Ponseti Method. Lucky’s Feet comes out of the Coralville-based nonprofit

Clubfoot Solutions, Inc., and was printed locally, too, at Tru Art Color Graphics in Iowa City (full disclosure: I also work for TACG’s sister company, Bankers Advertising). It’s a slim paperback lush with the beautiful watercolor illustrations of Iowa artist Jo Myers-Walker—a deeply Iowan effort from start to finish. But it also benefits from Cook’s co-author, Olayinka O. Adegbehingbe, MD, a Ponseti mentee who heads the Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology department at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife, Nigeria. It was Adegbehingbe who treated the deformities of the book’s protagonist, a young boy given the nickname As’ad, or “Lucky,” by his sister after undergoing the Ponseti Method to correct his clubfoot at age 8. The book is told first person from Lucky’s perspective (although it is only based on his story, admitting to creative liberties taken). It covers the challenges of being born with a deformity in a developing country, where he was viewed as a burden to his family because of his inability to contribute. He ends up living with his grandmother, who both cares for him and oversees his treatment. It details, accessibly, at a child’s level, the process of the Ponseti Method: the series of casts, changed weekly, that slowly adjust the direction of Lucky’s feet and enable him to walk again. It’s a warm, joyful story with end materials for parents that briefly go deeper into the method and Ponseti, and point to further resources. Myers-Walker’s illustrations are the heavy hitters of Lucky’s Feet. The gorgeous colors bring Lucky’s landscape to life, and the tender treatment of the clubfoot condition reveal a generous and gentle approach. Altogether, it’s a sweet and simple book, perfect for older siblings of infants undergoing clubfoot treatment or for teachers looking to bring diverse personal stories into the classroom. —Genevieve Trainor

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Little Village magazine issue 290: Jan. 6 - Feb. 2, 2021

Articles inside

Local Book Reviews

Dear Kiki

Your Village

Local Album Reviews

Events Calendar

Community

Brock About Town