in·e·qual·i·ty inəˈkwälədē/ noun
1. difference in size, degree, circumstances, etc.; lack of equality.
“The only way to move forward,” says Alex Ocasio-Cortez, “[is] to change for the better or for the worse because status quo is not an option anymore.”
Ocasio-Cortez is right about the status quo. Complacency is dead. Putin’s puppet made sure of that when he signed the order to open ICE’s child zoo. If we, as a nation and as individuals, want equality, we have to demand it—louder than the fossil fuel shareholders, louder than the climate deniers, louder than the xenophobes. The sham of a Senate Junicial hearing for the Supreme Court made the issue of inequality glaringly clear.
How does individualism intersect with community? What does freedom mean in an unequal world? What is economic justice? Does climate change disproportionately affect the poor? How does wage inequality—gender, educational, racial—affect society? What about access to medical care? How does residential segregation affect class and opportunity? What is white privilege? How does de-regulation of the labor market affect your life? Immigration, incarceration, homelessness?
For this issue, we seek poetry, stories, and essays that recognize and respond to how issues of inequality affect our perceptions and worldview—ideological, environmental, political, scientific, societal, global. We seek writing that starts the conversation about this new world order as we are coming to know it. As Canary editor Gail Entrekin shares so eloquently in an article about the impact of art: “I believe that there are other occasional readers who are just now receiving this news in a visceral way that argument and scientific information have not been able to impart.” Share a piece that exemplifies a cause you are passionate about. Remind readers of the simple things that freedom ensures. Pay attention to the details of a thriving society. A solid civilization and vibrant community look to art for their inspiration.
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