7 Things US History Class Should Have Taught Every American About Indigenous History November 16, 2019 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment The history of people indigenous to the North American continent is often glossed over in education. We are badgered with the legend of Native benevolence to the pilgrims who landed on the East Coast on Thanksgiving. If Indigenous history is covered, students are likely to hear a tragic but vague narrative of massacre, disease, and death, a narrative devoid of the specific … [Read more...]
How I Learned My Abusive Father Is Not a Monster — Just a Rather Sad and Complicated Person August 11, 2018 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment I've always been comically atrocious at mini-golf, and at other sports that require finesse in hand-eye coordination and the action of aiming a ball into a hole, hoop, or goal. Captain J's Mini-Golf Course is a particularly malicious 18-hole booby trap perched on the tip of Lake Superior, and is where I have some of the best memories of my father. Us laughing as I sink my fifth … [Read more...]
3 Myths That Trivialize OCD August 8, 2018 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment We’ve all heard it. “I’m feeling so OCD today!” “They’re a neat freak; they’re so OCD.” These sort of phrases and figures of speech are so prevalent that when I came out to a friend as a person living with OCD, he refused to accept the reality of my disorder, stating matter-of-fact that “everyone says they have OCD nowadays”. Because of the popularity of … [Read more...]
8 Ways Non-Binary People Rock! June 28, 2018 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment Those of us who have genders that leap ecstatically out of the gender binary are stellar beings that disrupt, re-define, and challenge traditional conceptions of gender identity and expression, and there are just about as many ways to express and live a non-binary gender identity as there are stars in the sky. Let's explore some of the ways that non-binary people push … [Read more...]
6 Radical Indigenous Artists Doing Decolonial Work July 27, 2017 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment Too often, Native American and Indigenous people are depicted as a thing of the past, even in art, literature, and music. I remember in elementary school learning how the Ojibwe nation I descended from used to live, the games they used to play, and the music they used to create, as though there were no more Native Americans worth discussing in class. While tribal history is … [Read more...]
5 Ways You Can Support the Standing Rock Resistance February 23, 2017 by Halee Kirkwood Leave a Comment Ours is a time of environmental turmoil, much of which is perpetuated by industries which prioritize the maximization of profit over the health of the people. A timely example of this is the access to safe and clean drinking water, one of the most basic human rights there is. From lead in Flint's Taps to the corporate privatization of water, it is becoming more and more clear … [Read more...]
