In the winter of 1987-88 I was back in Puerto Rico visiting and read that a flotilla of canoes was leaving South America, tracing the Taino migration up the Antilles to Puerto […]
That time we sank the Santa Maria
Black Lives at the Mall of America: the long shadow of history
In the dock are eleven Black Lives Matter activists fingered by police as the “ringleaders” of a peaceful rally at the Mall of America last December. An additional 25 have been charged […]
History Moves in a Spiral
It is not enough to revere those who came before. We must engage them in conversation.
Ferguson and the long wave
At the local Ferguson protest the other night two students from Minneapolis’ South High School talked about the sit-in and walk-out they’d organized, coordinated with other high schools. I realized that forty […]
Community Soil and Exchange Capacity
When I think about the East Side Freedom Library I think about dirt. More specifically, about dirt and community and the similar ways they are structured and how those structures determine the […]
Things That Being an Artist has Taught Me About the World: random installment 2
6) Arrogance and humility. Practicing art in the context of community is an exercise in balancing arrogance with humility. Humility, because you are called upon to listen patiently, to identify the injuries […]
Some Things that Being an Artist has Taught Me About Living in and Changing the World: random installment 1
These notes are not about what art teaches; only what I have learned from my practice of it. This is an ongoing list that I will continue to post in installments at […]
Maria’s Talisman
I was thinking about you the other day, Maria. Not sure how that happened. People briefly flit across each other’s life paths all the time and leave no residue. Especially at “the […]
The Invisible Power of Being
Recent pieces by Chaun Webster and Guante, in this editorial space (refers to Opine season where some of these posts originally appeared – rlm), eloquently raised the issue of male responsibility in […]
What Interstate 80 Taught Me About Fighting for Justice
What I learned on the highways of North America made me a good organizer. It would set the tone for how I would grow into a being a movement strategist and community […]
Ricardo Levins Morales
Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio 