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matt

About Me

dating me is like dating public television. i'm laid back like a la-z-boy. i read and write a lot but i like music too. i was once describred as a ‘flaneur’ with a political commitment and i find that to be pretty fitting. one day i'd like to buy a turtle and walk it on a leash. however, the turtle's shell would have to match all of my coats to make sure that s/he wouldn't throw my style off.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

i'd like to meet james baldwin if he were alive. maybe truman capote too. i'd ask him if he would treat people differently if he could do it agin. but since they're both dead, i think i'd settle for bell hooks. she's dope

My Blog

What Kind of Country do We Want to Live In?

OriginalWhat Kind of Country Do We Want to Live In?By Matthew BirkholdWe are living in hard times. Over the last six months the US has lost more jobs than any other period during my lifetime and bank...
Posted by on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:08:00 GMT

Hope and the Recession

OriginalHope and the RecessionMatthew BirkholdLike many US citizens, I've spent many, many years feeling inadequate. To remedy this, myself and almost everyone I know has, from time to time, engaged ...
Posted by on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:32:00 GMT

My Weekend in Detroit

OriginalMy Weekend in DetroitMatthew BirkholdThis past weekend I was fortunate enough to be in Detroit at the home of 93-year-old Chinese American activist-intellectual and organizer Grace Lee Boggs. ...
Posted by on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Men and Women, Capitalism and Relationships

OriginalMen and Women, Capitalism and RelationshipsMatthew BirkholdHanging out on the internet last night, I came across a piece at Model Minority (www.modelminority.blogspot.com) on women waiting aro...
Posted by on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:51:00 GMT

Capitalism and the Housewife

OriginalCapitalism and the HousewifeBy Matthew BirkholdI often run into both men and women who think that the best type of family is one where men provide and women stay home to raise children and tak...
Posted by on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:38:00 GMT

What we can learn from Sarah Palin

OringinalWhat we can learn from Sarah PalinMatthew BirkholdFrom a very young age, we in the United States are taught that a normal family consists of two married heterosexual parents and a child or a ...
Posted by on Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:53:00 GMT

Why We Work

OriginalWhy We WorkBy Matthew BirkholdWe live in a society where the entire economy of several small towns and cities is centered around weapons production or the prison industry. In these places, if...
Posted by on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:57:00 GMT

On the corner: Intersectionality and transformation

Original (Platypus Review) In 1969, SNCC member and Third World Women's Alliance founder Francis Beal wrote The Black Women's Manifesto; Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female. While Beal was certain...
Posted by on Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:38:00 GMT

Schools and Jobs

OriginalSchools and JobsMatthew BirkholdLast week I wrote that, given the partial repeal of mandatory minimums, some of the money spent on prisons should be transferred to education. Several people t...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:25:00 GMT

Prisons and job Creation

OriginalPrisons and Job CreationMatthew BirkholdThere are more people in prison in the United States than in any other industrialized country. In 1992, the United Sates had 1,492,000 people behind ba...
Posted by on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:21:00 GMT