Table of Contents: Spring 2016
Black in America
The Battle of and for the Black Face Boy
by Nikky Finney, from Oxford American
Will Racism Ever End, Will I Ever Stop Being a Nigger?
A commentary on being Black in post-Obama America
by Kevin Powell, special to Utne Reader
Knowing How to Take a Stand
Defusing the Politics of Anger
Productive activism starts with learning how to listen
by Nick Licata, excerpted from Becoming a Citizen Activist
Remembering How to Break the Rules
Being ready for the time when a rule is laid down that you cannot abide
by Raj Patel, from Justice Rising
Finding Peace
My Intentional Community and the Law
A guide to coexisting with authority in order to live on your own terms
by Peter Moore, from Communities
A Quiet Subversion
With the right frame of mind you can find peace anywhere, anytime
by Leath Tonino, from Tricycle
Small Happiness
Finding happiness couldn’t be more simple
by Sparrow, from The Sun
Emerging Ideas
Bee-Ware of Neonics
While the EPA drags its feet on regulating pesticides, local communities take action
by Nicole Rivard, from Action Line
Building with Culture in Mind
Adaptable floor plans aim to please the growing number of multicultural homebuyers
by Fernando Pagés Ruiz, from Shleterforce
The Second Racial Wealth Gap
White millennials can often rely on their parents for financial assistance. For many black and Hispanic millennials, it’s the other way around
by Mel Jones, fromWashington Monthly
American Primitive
Why our Stone Age brain struggles with the complexities of modern politics
by Chris Moody, fromBookForum
Gleanings
Yours, Not Sitting on a Pumpkin
What can you offer the man who has it all? Trump finds out when he tries to buy Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond
by Louis Phillips, from Smithsonian
A Gain
The schoolmarm gets schooled
by Charlie Geer, from The Threepenny Review
Entering and Breaking
How missing children can be simultaneously everywhere and nowhere
by Patrick Madden, from Sublime Physick
Mindful Living
Spring Fever and Black Earth
Accepting an invitation to feel the living spirit of nature
by David Fideler, from Restoring the Soul of the World
Unbound: Religion Runs Free on the Internet
For those on the margins of faith, the internet is exploding notions of what religion can be
by Mary Valle, from CrossCurrents
Great Expectations
A look at the fascinating research into the power of the expectancy effect
by Jessica Cohen, special to Utne Reader
Mixed Media
Why Live?
A Question for 21st-Century Theater
by Jordan Tannahill, from World Literature Today
Salons and Beyond
It’s high time we start having civil, intelligent, face-to-face conversations again
by Stephanie Mills, from the Utne Reader archive
Editor’s Note
by Christian Williams
Forward
by Eric Utne