Cheryl Clark Vermeulen

Here’s the poem

When teaching Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” I contextualize his brother’s fear for Sonny, hanging out with other jazz musicians and crowds because my college students primarily don’t know this history. This would be a useful image to show. With content warnings.

mary ruefle was right when she said that people would rather read an essay about poetry than read a poem. it reminds me of when people in a museum read the explanatory caption before having their own experience of the art. you fear not "getting it" when you should fear not living

Great idea… simple and brilliant.

If you're not dousing your every meal with Trader Joe's caramelized onion dip, Melinda's black truffle hot sauce, or--of course--Vienna's hot giardinera, and washing it all down with a chilled goblet of Rombauer chardonnay, what are you doing with your one wild and precious life?

@Toscano200 I missed you this year at the barbaric yAWP

Fresh out of high school, I went to work for a computer manufacturing plant. I made motherboards. I wore astronaut-like suits. It was grueling. Anyway, that's where I learned the word, "NAND", a digital logic concept. Alas, here's a sonnet by that name. summersetreview.org/26spring/tosca…

Here is a photo of random late-1970s students at Phillips Academy (Andover) now being offered on eBay. Anyone look familiar?

Bad Bunny put a beautiful spotlight on Puerto Rico last night, its culture, its music and some of its challenges, like the power crisis and displacement. This video I produced for @MorePerfectUS delves into some of those challenges more deeply.

This Weds! Come for in-person or online reading

In response to the unfolding terror in Minnesota I wanted to create a space to come together. I’m hosting a book club on Hannah Arendt’s essay Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship next Tuesday to raise money for the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. samantharosehill.substack.com/p/a-special-bo…

A statement from the family of Alex Pretti, obtained by CNN: "We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you."

SEEING IS BELIEVING DHS claims the car being chased rammed the ICE vehicle. The video shows the opposite. ICE rammed their car four times. 📌 A father and his teen, a U.S. citizen, are chased. The teen is beaten and seriously injured. The father is deported. DHS lied. The video tells the truth. Excellent reporting by @ahylton26

HAPPENING NOW: Massive crowd in Minneapolis for statewide 'ICE OUT' general strike

Pastor: I saw ICE agents circling a young woman who appeared to be Hispanic. I said to this ICE agent, 'Take me, stop harassing her.' The agent got in my face, pointed a gun at me, and said, 'Are you afraid now?' To which I said, 'I am not afraid.' The next thing I knew, they were putting handcuffs on me, and they put me in the back of an SUV. I asked them if I was under arrest. They said to me, 'Well, you're white, you won't be any fun anyway.'

Renee was one of my students years ago. I held her baby. She was kind and talented, a working class mom who put herself through school despite circumstances that would’ve crumpled the pathetic rich boy politicians who sadistically abetted her murder God damn them all

It’s unfortunately long reading list one could assemble…. To get started…

U.S. Imperialism in Latin America and Beyond: A Reading List - mailchi.mp/sevenstories/t…

This is Renee Nicole Good, a dedicated wife and mother who was killed by Donald Trump’s ICE thugs today. RETWEET to honor Good’s memory 💔

Parents, Check out Nursery Groove! Just saw them in a great program ! @nurserygroove?si=Cx6xGTMT-BztTisD" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@nurserygroove… via @YouTube

I also loved how a few students pointed out the “moments” they loved in a metal sculpture experiment shared by another student. #moments #visualarts

One of my favorite things this week: students sticking around after last class to say how much they loved the course. It was Artist’s Writing. I love to teach it because we need artists to speak with us in multiple ways and to share what only they can convey. #teaching #artists