*this work is a piece of fiction by the author Aaron Goggans (who is alive), an attempt to process the pain of recent events.* Earlier today DC police fatally shot a mentally ill man in Petworth after a brief stand-off in front of the man’s home. Police are reporting that Aaron Goggans, 26, was shot … Continue reading Mentally Ill Man Fatally Shot In Petworth
Author: aarongoggans
A Complex Argument For Love
Below is a copy of a speech I gave at a Jews United For Justice Event on Black Lives Matter. It was a great night and I'm really proud to have been a part of it. It was hard to come up with the words to use to express my feelings in the right … Continue reading A Complex Argument For Love
#BlackLivesMatter Podcast
There is a movement happening in America... All across America young Black people are articulating the damage, the pain, the fear, the lynchings that come with being one of the backs upon which this white supremacist nation was built. It is important that we all bear witness to this pain. If you are Black, … Continue reading #BlackLivesMatter Podcast
An Argument for Operating with Love
*If you are looking for the speech I gave at Sixth and I please click here* I was reminded today that there is no cosmic scale weighing the oppression of Blacks in America. There is no ledger listing the wrongs that have been done to us. There is no mystic reckoning that will bring wholeness. … Continue reading An Argument for Operating with Love
Dear White People: Ferguson Protests are a Wake Not a Pep Rally
I get it. You’re frustrated. You’re angry. You’re sad. You’re confused. You know that the killing of Mike Brown and the lack of indictment of Darren Wilson are a travesty. You are probably aware that the system you live in, the nation that raised you, the institutions that educate and protect you, commit or support … Continue reading Dear White People: Ferguson Protests are a Wake Not a Pep Rally
I Die a Little Bit Each Day
https://twitter.com/Fox5Wagner/status/535544544193150976 I can barely express the depth of the pain and the anger I feel right now. I feel so helpless and powerless and hated. I feel so constantly plagued by doubt. I am constantly being messaged that I am a problem that society has yet to find a solution for. This world seems … Continue reading I Die a Little Bit Each Day
Black boy, White Spaces: An Unfinished Poem
We did not create our Blackness. It was imposed upon us . But we accepted it, and made it beautiful and now we love it. Why is it so hard for them to do the same? There is a part of me, underneath the indignation and the pride, beneath the bluster and … Continue reading Black boy, White Spaces: An Unfinished Poem
Translating Gov. Nixon’s “State of Emergency”
I know that some of you are confused by the comments on social media about a “State of Emergency” being declared in the State of Missouri. Many of you expressed disarray and confusion as to why there was a state of emergency being declared and so I thought I would spend some time to … Continue reading Translating Gov. Nixon’s “State of Emergency”
Clare: The Stories We Tell Ourselves In Order To Live
I’ve debated with myself about what the purpose of these interviews is. I’ve been constantly questioning why I do them and, more importantly, what I want my audience to get out of them. I have yet to come up with a coherent answer to the second question but talking to my dear … Continue reading Clare: The Stories We Tell Ourselves In Order To Live
The City As An Imaginative Space
*This poem was a part of my This Place Has A Voice project* Images. Beats. Words. These are the building blocks of my human experience These are the strings that weave into my worldview Every feeling has the perfect image to express it Every moment has a chord And every thought I have constructs itself … Continue reading The City As An Imaginative Space