If last week had you overheated both physically and mentally, you are not alone! Here’s a little taste of the news (good and bad) that we’re still processing.
Our friends at Power & Magic Press are only four days away from the end of the Kickstarter for MAÑANA: Latinx Comics From the 25th Century! The campaign has been a huge success so far, but you can still help by boosting and backing the campaign to hit one of the most exciting and unique stretch goals yet: a print edition of the radical MAÑANA anthology in Spanish! ¡Dale, amigues!
By now, our conscientious POMEs have surely heard about the latest pillar of American society to be pummeled by our corrupt oligarchy: the United States Postal Service. This article details the 2006 bill that deliberately de-funded the USPS by requiring to fund retiree pensions 75 years in advance, i.e., before future postal workers are even born. In addition to cutting overtime hours (which causes mail delays due to carriers not being able to finish their daily routes), the Postmaster General has successfully ordered the removal of mailboxes and even MAIL SORTING MACHINES. Tell your friends to badger their representatives constantly and directly — especially any friends who may be complaining to small business about not getting their mail.
Austin had a recent victory in the fight for Black lives, convincing City Council to “cut” $150 million from the police department budget. Though a close read reveals that a large portion of those funds are simply re-directing funds from on aspect of police operations to another, it’s an encouraging preliminary step to divest from one of the most regressive police forces in the country.
On the subject of cops, we highly recommend reading this Harvard epidemiologist’s opinion on why policing social gatherings during the COVID-19 crisis does more harm than good, and may even extend the length of the crisis.
Comics Beat reports that Ben Passmore has signed a deal with Pantheon for a graphic novel focused on militant Black activist history: we’re extremely excited to read this one!
And in the most heartwarming news of the week, eternal POME icon Dolly Parton told Billboard magazine that Black Lives Matter.
Parton hasn’t attended any recent marches, but she is unequivocal in her support of protestors and the Black Lives Matter movement. “I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” she says. “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”