Opinion

95 results
Page 8
A headshot of Ijames, a Black man in his late 30s. He looks with gentle dignity at the camera & wears a white collared shirt.

A Pulitzer for Philly playwright James Ijames spotlights our arts funding crisis

Mayor Kenney’s plan for the arts

Another year, another attempt to gut city support for the arts in Philly. As one of our own artists wins a Pulitzer, a major budget cut seems like an especially bad plan. Alaina Johns considers.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 5 minute read
A green sign on a glass door says “Philly Bagels.” A handwritten blue sign above says “mask required! Thank you!”

If the end of mask mandates means a win for freedom, who is that freedom for?

The real argument

As new rulings and lawsuits about mask mandates in Philly and throughout the country roll in this week, Alaina Johns notes what mask mandate arguments are really about: debating accessibility.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 5 minute read
A photo from inside a scenic mountain cave in Puerto Rico, showing two people in silhouette in front of a grand tropical view

What happens when you’re living a story that someone else handed you?

Who’s really telling your story?

The painful end of a long friendship helped teach Michelle Chikaonda about the power of owning her own story—thanks also to a return to another favorite Hamilton song.
Michelle Chikaonda

Michelle Chikaonda

Essays 5 minute read
A smiling outdoor selfie of the three walkers. They are white and have short gray hair. Bare winter trees are behind them

What Walk Around Philadelphia taught me about our city’s borders—and my own

Here, there, home

Anndee Hochman’s Walk Around Philadelphia began as a refuge from the first year of the pandemic, but as her route continued into 2022, she remembered that living in Philly is a lifetime of crossings.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Essays 5 minute read
Hiller’s eyes are framed over a black background with the text I Am Not Your BIPOC.

Why terms like “people of color” are a dangerous de-evolution of language

I am not your BIPOC

“People of color,” “BIPOC,” “Latinx,” and others have become household terms in the last five years in America. But with their origins largely ignored, these terms are becoming dangerous to the people they represent. Kyle V. Hiller considers.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Essays 5 minute read
On a yellow background, a stack of 12 poetry books, including Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, Lucille Clifton & Emily Dickinson

Poetry at Payne Tech: Finding the words that show where you’re from

The people who write poems

Writer Anndee Hochman makes space for poetry at a New Jersey school of technology, where students prepare for a national contest, and appreciate the masks they’re tired of wearing.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Essays 5 minute read
A snapshot of a snowy, small town with a couple of house complexes in the distance under a partly cloudy, blue sky

How working in journalism in rural Pennsylvania opened a new perspective

Learning to serve communities better

Isabel Soisson, a Philly-bred journalist with experience working in New York City, contemplates the differences in rural America that go unspoken and why it's important to capture the whole picture.
Isabel Soisson

Isabel Soisson

Essays 6 minute read
A beach just before sunrise. The sand is dark and the water is pearly. The long horizon glows orange, fading to blue above.

I won’t recover in the dark: People with bipolar deserve to be seen

Mental illness isn’t a punchline

Editor Alaina Johns is taking a few weeks off to focus on treating her bipolar disorder, with the support of the BSR team. Here’s why it’s important to talk about this.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 7 minute read
Festive fireworks frame around text that reads: The Weekly Roundup: A 2021 Retrospective...A year of contemplation at BSR.

The Weekly Roundup: A 2021 retrospective

Contemplating some of this year’s favorite BSR stories

Kyle V. Hiller writes about some of his favorite stories published by BSR this year in the final weekly roundup of the year while contemplating 2022 and beyond.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Articles 11 minute read
Two male cast members, in splendid blue 18th-century coats, face each other onstage. One has a quill in his outstretched hand

Surviving New Year’s 2022 means finding the story that’s true for you

What Washington knew

This year, Michelle Chikaonda marked the anniversary of her father’s passing with a trip to see Hamilton in Philly, which reminded her that we can’t control life’s chaos—but we can find the right story.
Michelle Chikaonda

Michelle Chikaonda

Essays 6 minute read