Heading Home for Thanksgiving

As I write this, My Own True Love and I are packing for the drive from Chicago to my hometown in the Missouri Ozarks to spend the holiday with my family. As usual, the list of things I wanted to accomplish before we hit the road is longer than the time available to do them.…

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The Thrill of the Vote

This post first ran on election day in 2008.  My feelings on the subject haven’t changed: It’s election day in Chicago.  I just walked home from voting for a new mayor and a new alderman–and I miss my old neighborhood. For ten years I lived in South Shore:  a white graduate student/small business owner/writer in…

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From the Archives: You Can’t Vote Because….

If you’ve been hanging around the Margins for a while, you’ve read this one before. I think it’s worth repeating. From sixth century Athens on, who has the vote and why has been a touchy and evolving subject in democracies. People who already have the vote have hesitated to extend it to others for two…

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