City Summer, Country Summer

The Look 2020 A photographer and a writer separately explore black boyhood and the season. Photographs by Andre D. Wagner Text by Kiese Laymon ImageCredit…Andre D. Wagner Black boys from Mississippi know the Black boys from New York. When we were young, their parents sent them down south one summer. We were as afraid of…

How to Start a Neighborhood Association

So you’re thinking about creating a neighborhood association. Shared crises have frequently galvanized community action, in formal and informal ways, and perhaps you’d like to corral that energy into organizing within your own area. These days, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, mutual aid networks have been incubated on Slack and ad hoc associations…

Beyond the Instagram Black Square

For the last week, ever since the killing of George Floyd galvanized the world to confront not just the history of police brutality against black people but our own complicity in allowing it to happen, the social media feeds of fashion brands and influencers have filled up with black squares and statements of solidarity. And…

How to Have Friends Over Safely

Even as states open up and, in some places, restaurants start to serve sit-down meals again, having friends in the house even for a short while remains a bad idea, experts say. Getting together outside — on blankets spaced apart in a park or on the deck or front porch or lawn at your home…

Coronavirus Testing for Summer Camp Kids

Even before Howard Salzberg announced his intention to open the gates of Camp Modin in Belgrade, Maine, for the summer — defying a drumbeat for cancellation during the coronavirus pandemic — he was getting pitched. And pitched and pitched and pitched. By the companies selling masks, face shields, gloves and massive tents like you’d see…