My Story in 10 Words | Iowa's Exclusive Caucus
Featuring my writing published here and there
This week, I would like to share two places where my writing was featured.
This competition called for a story in exactly 10 words on the theme of ‘discovery.’ It was hosted by Briefly Write, a literary journal for micro fiction and short poems. My submission, inspired by the recent visit to my parent’s home, was shortlisted. I tried to capture the essence of my mother’s love as I shared with you in my last letter.
Read all the brief yet excellent 10-words stories on the full shortlist. It will literally take a minute.
The Real Mainstream is advocacy journalism for Iowa and Illinois, and they featured my column from last year in its newsletter honoring Martin Luther King Jr. this week. I wrote about the experience of attending my first Iowa caucus and my criticism of the exclusivity of the electoral system in Iowa, which is also relevant in other parts of the nation. Read the full column here.
Thank you for reading and sharing my writing. It means a lot to me.
Love,
Linda
Your ten word story says it all! Congratulations on being among the finalists!
Your points about the caucus process are valid. I hope you follow this up with an article about some proposed solutions. Please consider doing so. I'm interested in your ideas.
Throughout my life I have been on both sides: able to attend the Iowa caucus at times and unable to attend at others (due to work schedule, childcare, etc). I have also had "permanent" residence status abroad, when I lived in Mexico for 8 years. (At that time the U.S. did not recognize dual citizenship.) The resident status allowed me to work, pay taxes, and remain in the country (as something other than a tourist), but not vote. I thought (and still think) that is reasonable. If I'm not willing to become a citizen, why should I be able to participate in the election process?
I, too, want a representative government that works for us all. And I agree, we do not have that. Identifying issues in only a part of the work to be done. Without proposing solutions, the issues will persist or get worse. I appreciate the posts on The Real Mainstream, but it remains an echo chamber. Echo chambers are not inclusive either. If we aren't part of the solution, we're part of the problem. So I'm interested in your views about breaking outside our echo chambers and fixing some of these important issues.