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Collage by Rebecca Kartchner When Mars was a baby, he moved from America to Italy, where he spent his childhood as a military kid. At 8 years old, Mars returned to the motherland carrying a global perspective that many other Americans lack. How does Mars’ childhood abroad shape his views of this country? “In Italy, we got to travel a lot more. I feel like that made our lives even better.

Painting by caarrp She let the damp heat take over her senses. Cicadas hummed and the waters of the gulf weren’t far afield. She’d never been to Biloxi before, but it was high time. What should have been paradise was instead an aging sprawl of casinos and beaches caked in whatever filth the gulf tides brought in. The city had lost its confidence and luster and was well aware of it, languishing in bygone days that weren’t so glorious themselves.

In Star Wars: Episode ІІІ Revenge of the Sith, Padme Amidala utters a chilling line as she watches the Republic fall: “So this is how liberty dies- with thunderous applause." In 2024, this quote has resurfaced with a sense of haunting urgency as Donald Trump returns to the presidency, and many Americans question whether the foundations of democracy are eroding before their eyes. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated, and it calls for immediate and decisive action.

Illustrated by Steg I lay in a vapid parking lot hot, stale, syrupy air thickens in my lungs. My picnic blanket feels scratchy under my knees- lukewarm water bottle, chips, gnats, this is the life. I adjust my bikini top, lean back, look around- scattered cars, shopping carts, quiet friends, loud crows, sweltering, empty– bubbling popping pavement like a cauldron. This is all I’ve got. The rivers and plains ain’t got nothing on this…

I Found Blood On My Battle Dress Combat boots feel loose on my ankles, who’ll feel, but me. “We The People” Are not. my. people. A citizen’s arrest for your love a stabbing for the patch on my shoulder, To have to reap for thread when I was taught by the only maker of me to sew I won’t be hit, bulldozed, clotheslined but if I swing high, people seeing

The transformative medium of art has long been harnessed as a vital tool for personal growth, social change, and liberation. In my zine project, I explore art as a means of overcoming internalized oppression and inspiring individuals to reach their full potential outside the constraints of traditional Western mind frames. This creative work takes the viewer through the life cycle of a flower as a metaphor to describe the journey of self-expression and personal empowerment of an individual.

Illustrated by Antonia Flowers During my time in the Pacific Northwest, I have noticed that there are very few minorities, yet many consume minority culture. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard white kids singing along to Not Like Us, I would have enough money to pay off my student loans. So then why is it that so many minorities feel marginalized, excluded, and discriminated against while here at the UO, despite the fact that our culture is always being put on display?

header by Alex(a) Cruz Abarca The True American Revolution: That of the American Slave Closing his magisterial work Black Reconstruction, W.E.B. DuBois reflects on the story of the American Slave: “The most magnificent drama in the last thousand years of human history is the transportation of ten million human beings out of the dark beauty of their mother continent into the new-found Eldorado of the West. They descended into Hell; and in the third century they arose from the dead, in the finest effort to achieve democracy for the working millions which this world had ever seen” (727).

images by Alex(a) Cruz-Abarca Community Left Behind: Being Queer in Idaho By Marceline Idaho’s state capitol, Boise, hosts Pride every September. At first, Boise’s Queer celebration was held in secret with small picnics in local parks. But now, Boise Pride has been officially established since 1989, coming up on its 36th anniversary next Fall. As is all too common in Idaho, though, the presence—let alone celebration—of a marginalized community brings an appalling amount of controversy.

Art by Eclipse I’ve been an athlete my whole life. Whether it’s been Baseball in elementary school, soccer in middle school, rowing in high school, or running & the stair master (my love <3) on my own in college, I’ve always enjoyed exercising. When I realized I was a transgender woman in my junior year of high school, I debated asking my coaches if I could join the women’s team, as they had both shown their support for protecting transgender athletes.

A burden shared is a burden halved; a joy shared is a joy doubled. It’s a phrase that points towards a defining principle of being human: the desire to be known and loved by others. This instinct is uniquely situated to provide us with motivation and energy, especially when the going gets tough. I’d like to describe this feeling another way, one that’s personal to me and my experience. Whenever I’m going to my family’s home after an especially long time away, like a term at school, I always look forward to my dog’s reaction when I walk in.

Art by Rebecca Kartchner At this point in my life, I’ve heard hundreds, if not thousands, of renditions of the national anthem. Being in marching band since eighth grade, I’ve *played *the national anthem hundreds of times. In rehearsal. At performances. I’ve played it as a solo and with a band of hundreds. I’ve played different arrangements. Over and over and over. It doesn’t sound real anymore. It’s a collection of notes.

Art by Roman Cronus Clothes and fashion are important to flesh because they frame the ways we do and don’t see it. They are the camera angles from which we view our bodies. The cowboy fashion style is one that carries fantasies with it, both sexual fantasies and fantasies of character. The cowboy mythos has always been as much about the clothes as the bodies sweating under the desert sun beneath them.

Art by caarrp Snuggling up to your bedside manner, longing for that triassic cuddle; making myself known in all my endless acts of devotion: each vote of confidence spells out my name in a stunning display of electoral power (fireworks, or a star rising in the east- west coast). What if I laid my head on your shoulder? Is it so much to want common ground — by which, I mean, you on the ground, or me — pinned between knees, chests heaving, red cheeks & roses.

Art by caarrp come with me down foxholes, in hideaway homes. i can tell you stories, can bare to you my throat—or yours against mine. your words will have substance, soft in the hollowed-away substrate. we are swallowed down here.

Art by caarrp Are there people past the mangroves? Red root steeples pointing down below. Swamp beast made from mud & muck, teased by luck. Toes wriggle in the shallow all maggoty-like; heads of past passersby impaled on pikes. I have a few bad habits and more lost gods. Would you hole with rabbits, against all odds ?

From Comfort to Accountability: A Call to Action for White People Before reading this op-ed, I want to make two points clear. First, this text serves as a living document through which my perceptions change and grow across time. Because of this, the writing is by no means complete and should be consumed with this understanding. Secondly, while the writing is directed to white people concerning race, this struggle expands across all systems of oppression and can be applied to different forms of oppression, as one sees fit.

Art by Trenity A Caring Sexual Ethic Skyler Outler University of North Florida Introduction: The goal of this paper is to abandon the traditional approach to sexual ethics that focuses on justifying sexuality, sexual deviances, and perversions by highlighting sameness in their attempt to be ethical. This reduction to sameness neglects the social aspect of ethical reasoning and decision-making, as it ignores the relationality we have with others and rarely tasks us to be good towards them.

Art by Alexa Cruz-Abarca Skyler Outler Intro Feminist Philosophy Dr. Bonnie Mann 17 October 2024 A new threat of terror: U.S Conservatism and the value of “Nature” Introduction: “Sex differences are established in natural law; that is, the content of that law is established by nature and therefore, presumably, has universal validity.” (Butler 29). This quote from Judith Butler is from their 2024 book *Who’s Afraid of Gender? *In this book, Butler talks about the anti-gender movement1 that conservatives around the world are supporting.