MacLean Gander
A national dislocation from reality
In his poem “To Elsie,” William Carlos Williams wrote, “The pure products of America/go crazy.”
I have thought of that poem a lot lately.
White terrorism from inside our borders
On antifa, the far-right, and last week’s deadly insurrection in Washington, D.C.
When an email signed by Northeast Antifa arrived at The Commons a couple of weeks ago, I agreed to look into it. I knew everyone else would be going on break for a week, and it was not clear in any case if there was a real story there...
Terrorism on the domestic front
Government agencies and experts warn that the major threat of violence comes not from foreign extremists or antifa, but from armed and violent white supremacists and white nationalists from the U.S.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the main focus on terrorism in the United States has been on radical Islamic groups like Al-Qaida and ISIS. For national security experts concerned with terrorism within the U.S., that focus has changed in the past few years: the most significant terror threat now comes...
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‘It’s not really about you, it’s about serving your community’
When Kate O'Connor steps away from her role as executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 31, it will mark the first time since 1969 that a member of her family will not be involved in public service in this area. “I have been here for seven years, and I think for a person to grow and for a business to grow, you need new blood,” said O'Connor. “Sometimes if you're the same person being there...
Windham County women take power roles in Montpelier
When the new state Legislature starts work in January, it will do so with an unprecedented number of women in key leadership positions, including two from Windham County: Becca Balint of Brattleboro and Emily Long of Newfane. Balint will serve as president pro tempore of the Senate, where she represents Windham County, and Long, who represents the Windham-5 district (Marlboro, Newfane, and Townshend), will be the House majority leader. Both Balint and Long were voted into their respective posts by...
An election of racial reckoning
Issues like climate change, the economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic unite us. They are not about politics. Fires in the west and floods in the south do not have political parties. The pandemic is an equal opportunity employer. People are dying who should not have to die. That is real. These problems are essential and even existential, but for me they do not run as deep as the way in which racism shapes and warps our politics. In the past...
Echoes of lost time
Autumn is a brilliant and melancholy season in New England - what the poet Delmore Schwartz called “the annihilation of the blaze of fall.” For folks who travel up here to see the foliage, pick apples by hand, visit the country farmstands, or buy some crafts from the artists in the area, it is a wonderful sojourn, the fulfillment of summer and the harvest. For those of us accustomed to the turn of the seasons, memory may be interwoven into...
For Putney Selectboard, a journey through racial discomfort is far from over
It is common now to say that progress toward racial equity and facing the wounds of the history of slavery in the United States and white violence against Black people will require difficult conversations. That was certainly the case in Putney in the past two weeks. At a Sept. 2 special meeting to address policy related to an earlier decision by the board to create a large Black Lives Matter mural on the road outside the Putney Central School, a...