Editorials

525 results
Page 7
Is this the future of theatergoing in the COVID era? Wilma Globe original seating design by Sara Brown, Misha Kachman, and Matt Saunders. (Image courtesy of the Wilma.)

What does the proposed Wilma Globe say about accessibility in the arts?

Circling the Globe

Last week, the Wilma made a splash with plans for a post-COVID stage, but the local community raised concerns about safety and accessibility. Alaina Johns asks if the pandemic can drive new demands about arts access for all.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 6 minute read
Fireworks spark contemptuously now, and July 4 will hit differently this year—finally. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons.)

Unmasking the Fourth of July: whose independence are we celebrating?

Liberty just for me?

Folks who want to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday without observing COVID safety are joining a long American history of ignoring the facts. Could this year be a new opportunity for all of us? Kyle V. Hiller wonders.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 4 minute read
Not everyone can join this crowd. (Photo by Alaina Johns.)

Chronic illness is not a barrier to standing up for justice

What have you learned from self-care?

Alaina Johns knows what it’s like to live with chronic illness and how it can make you feel like you have nothing left to give when others need you. Can we reframe this experience to promote a world in which more people can take action?
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 5 minute read
A portrait of an Emancipation Day celebration in 1900. (Image via Wikimedia Commons, credited to Grace Murray.)

In the midst of civil unrest, Juneteenth is here. What does emancipation mean today?

Is this my freedom?

What is Juneteenth and what does it mean for the movement happening in our current sociopolitical climate? Kyle V. Hiller considers.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 5 minute read
Wearing gear from Xavier Woods’s ‘UpUpDownDown,’ Kyle shows love for fellow Black nerds. (Photo by Kyle V. Hiller.)

When this movement goes quiet, what will be left for Black people?

Wrestling with silence

Silence is complicity. But what happens when you’re Black and you’ve been silent? What are you being complicit about? Kyle V. Hiller considers a different kind of silence.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 5 minute read
After a weekend in crisis across the city, boarded-up businesses line East Passyunk Avenue. (Photos by Alaina Johns.)

Riots in Philadelphia: At BSR, this is why we said what we said

Here all along

Especially when our city is in crisis, BSR is a team. This is not the beginning of the work for editors Alaina and Kyle. And it’s far from the end.
Kyle V. Hiller Alaina Johns

Kyle V. Hillerand Alaina Johns

Editorials 3 minute read
Before the storm: Alaina, at left, with her fellow campers in 1993. (Photo courtesy of the Johns family.)

Should 2020 be the year I try camping again?

Escape from Periwinkle Park

What was so bad about camping, anyway? After two and a half months of stay-at-home in South Philly, Alaina Johns tries to remember.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 4 minute read
Being watched is unmistakable once you get to know the feeling—even in a Pikachu mask. (Photo courtesy of Kyle V. Hiller.)

Who will be able to return to normalcy once quarantine is over?

When it hurts to feel safe at home

As states reopen before the coronavirus is contained, Kyle V. Hiller considers how a stressful Sunday stroll served as a preview of what life will be like post-quarantine.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 5 minute read
Is it possible to quarantine while on vacation? (Image via Pixabay.)

I thought we were in this together. If others are ending quarantine, why not follow?

You’re going where?

Our #FlattenTheCurve quarantine was hard enough when solidarity abounded and we stayed home together. But how does it feel when others decide to start venturing out? Alaina Johns is anxious.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 5 minute read
The Ralph Brooks Park Project by Steve Powers, a Mural Arts project, feels especially timely. (Photo by Kyle V. Hiller.)

For Philly arts to survive beyond 2020, we need some positive pessimism

This is not a mutiny

In the face of a proposal to kill Philly’s office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Kyle V. Hiller says positive pessimism will help the arts bounce back.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Editorials 5 minute read