Disability Access
Re “Abolish Guardianship and Preserve the Rights of Disabled People,” by Sara Luterman [March 22/29]: I can speak to being in a school for the blind and visually impaired, having attended one for many years in Baton Rouge. Disability service systems are never designed to support persons with disabilities, but are about managing access to scarce resources. David Faucheux lafayette, la.
Where Is the Joy?
Re “The Lavish Pleasures of Natalie Wynn,” by Liza Featherstone [March 8/15]: Ms. Wynn is one of the few public figures who talk about cancel culture in a way that matters to me. I don’t care about Celebrity X or Pundit Y not getting a movie or book deal. I care about leftists going after other leftists, about activist circles getting ripped apart because we confuse our own painful dramas for attacks.
Vice President Kamala Harris gave a big tell that she wasn’t super far left in her acceptance speech when she said of the democratic struggle, “But there is joy in it.” I haven’t felt real joy from politics in a long time. I just want the left to work together for a better world and maybe for it to be fun in some parts.
James Jones
Calexit vs. the Filibuster
Nathan Newman makes a compelling argument in “The Case for Blue-State Secession,” but then he dismisses it as a “second-best solution” [Feb. 22/March 1]. Actually, his preferred solution of abolishing the Electoral College hardly has any chance for success, not to mention the adoption of a parliamentary system, whose superiority is demonstrated in Alexis Grenell’s column [“46 and Done,” Feb. 22/March 1].
The most realistic means for peaceful separation and avoiding another civil war is by a constitutional amendment. Convincing state legislatures or conventions to support this amendment is the best solution.
Walter L. Williams, PhD California Independence Movement palm springs, calif.
My own solution would be to abolish the Senate. Our system was poorly designed even for its times, but we are not going to become a parliamentary democracy, either. Filibuster reform is probably the most doable path. Vince Slupski
We now confront a second Trump presidency.
There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.
Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.
Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.
The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.
Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation
Black Sci-Fi Worldmaking
Stephen Kearse does an exceptional job of placing N.K. Jemisin within the history of African American writers of science fiction and fantasy, even acknowledging both pioneers and current luminaries [“The Empire Is the World,” Feb. 8/15]. I was also pleased to see Christopher Priest included as part of that pantheon. Black creators who work almost exclusively on comic books or animated TV series, such as Priest and Dwayne McDuffie, are often left off lists of influential sci-fi and fantasy writers. Given that Jemisin herself now writes regularly for DC Comics, it makes sense for those names to be added to that conversation. Dennis Doyle st. louis
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