October 29 – November 3
By the time this newspaper hits the streets we will know if we are on the fast track to full-blown fascism or if we were able to begin the process of putting the brakes on the Trump regime. As I write this I cannot help but feel a profound pessimism for the direction this mighty country has taken. You know that your democracy is in bad shape when Donald Trump is the head of it. Instead of behaving like a decent human being, Trump has polarized this country like never before and has made radical white nationalism mainstream. In a matter of days, we saw a wave of pipe bomb mailings to prominent democrats and the media, not to mention the ghastly mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh as well as the killing of two black grandparents in Kentucky at the hands of a crazed racist. We have gone off the rails and only the soft power of people’s participation in their democracy can save us.
Local novelist, A J Sidransky, penned a must-read piece on how the recent violence across the country could be an ominous sign of what is to come. Not only has Sidransky spent a considerable amount time studying the holocaust, three of his four grandparents lost nearly their entire families in the Holocaust. His missive provides a historical take on the grotesque violence that the Trump regime and the right are engendering.
Mark your calendars, folks. All roads lead to Coogan’s (4015 Broadway @ 169th Street) on Sunday, November 11 at 3 pm for a book forum and public discussion led by the erudite and engaging Robert W. Snyder. Snyder is the author of the official history book of Washington Heights, Crossing Broadway: Washington Heights and the Promise of New York City. So this is what you have to do. If you have not read the book, hit up Word Up Books (2113 Amsterdam Ave @ 165th Street) and purchase this indispensable addition to your Uptown library and make sure you are there for the book forum at Coogan’s. This is an event you don’t want to miss. See you there!
Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com.
Led Black
Editor-in-Chief
The Uptown Collective
The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
