myrmepropagandistMay 16, 2023

If you were strangled on the subway how long would it be until they arrest your killer? Or would they arrest him at all? give him a medal?

Maybe you have no criminal record, maybe you have been paying rent. Maybe you are a pillar of your community and help at the local community garden. But maybe you aren’t white, aren’t Christian, or have “radical antifa” ties online. Maybe you live in a “bad” neighborhood (or like me in a good neighborhood that outsiders assume to be bad)

Show threadmyrmepropagandistMay 16, 2023

I find it prudent to weigh such thoughts before I get on the subway. Would it matter that I’m a teacher? that I like to study ants? The focus could as easily be how I had depression once.

Deborah Danner was 66 years old when NYPD shot her in her home. She lived in my neighborhood, studied Computer Science, had schizophrenia— but also an awareness of her disease she wrote essays about it. A bright interesting person. Gone forever. Her death excused. Her killer acquitted.

Show threadDear HeartMay 16, 2023
@futurebird You say that you like to study ants…my 7yo grandson just read a book on ants by a Harvard prof and now has set his sites on attending there. He’s a serious child so I’m just curious whether you could suggest a competitive alternative.
Show threadAlex WildMay 16, 2023
@N2Priest @futurebird I don't think that's a question that needs to be approached until the time comes- there are a ton of great universities with ant scientists, but in a decade it's going to be a somewhat different set, and when it becomes important career-wise is graduate school, rather than undergrad.
Show threadDear Heart
@alexwild @futurebird
So true
May 16, 2023 at 6:43pmWeb