Will Shetterly's Blog, page 106

Tips for men who want to try Zumba

I just sawTalking with Zumba-loving Joe Minoso of ‘Chicago Fire’ fame | Radio and TV Talk: Joe Minoso five years ago was a 300-pound depressed, out-of-work actor. But then the Chicago resident found, of all things, Zumba. He fell in love with that joyous style of workout and lost 70 pounds. In 2012, a more svelte, battle ready Minoso nabbed a major role on NBC’s drama “Chicago Fire” as a

An essential bit from Martin Luther King's "The Other America: How the bootless may raise themselves by their bootstraps

Note: The "Great Society" was President Johnson's term for a series of programs to make the US great for all its citizens. It failed for the reason King mentions here. FromThe Other America: A man was on the plane with me some weeks ago and he came up to me and said, "The problem, Dr. King, that I see with what you all are doing is that every time I see you and other Negroes, you're protesting

An indication that US police killings have more to do with class than race

FromTalk show host: Police kill more whites than blacks | PunditFact: Over the span of more than a decade, 2,151 whites died by being shot by police compared to 1,130 blacks. If that's accurate (see the article for more on the data), what's striking is that twice as many white people are killed, just as there are twice as many white people in poverty. But correlation doesn't necessarily mean a

On neoliberalism, "hate speech" suppression, Charlie Hebdo, Garry Trudeau

I love/hate Twitter; it's a fine place for me to draft my thoughts, which really annoys people sometimes, and I'm sorry for that. Today, Steve Brust tweeted a link toDoonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau attacked for criticizing Charlie Hebdo. My first reactions were ones I've discussed before: 1. Free speech is a socialist issue because the traditional goal of socialism, the socialism of Marx

Shetterly's Guide to Zumba classes in Minneapolis's Standish, Ericsson, and Powderhorn Neighborhoods—One free!

If you've never done Zumba or have only done a little, there are a lot of reasons to try a class by Bernice Arias-Sather: 1. She does free classes at Powderhorn Park on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 which are especially fun once the weather warms up, because then they're outdoors. They're sponsored by OUT in the Backyard, an LGBTQ community outreach group. 2. Her style seems like the best of

Zumba? WTF?

After I sharedHow strange is it that I am now a certified Zumba instructor?on Facebook, a friend said, "I might think it was strange if I had any idea what it meant." Another responded, "So, you teach them how to navigate around the furniture while they vacuum?" Which made me realize the world is divided between people who have heard of Zumba—15 million are currently taking Zumba classes,

How strange is it that I am now a certified Zumba instructor?

Perhaps the most unlikely thing I’ve done in my life was getting certified last Saturdayto teach Zumba. This doesn’t mean I'll teach it soon, or ever, but I’ve started down that path. It began two years ago when Emma and I joined the YWCA. We knew we needed exercise. I hate exercise. I like activities like bicycling and hiking, but I hate anything that seems like work for its own sake, I hate

In writing, dancing, and everything you learn, seek mastery skills, not performance skills

FromWhat are the best tricks to keep yourself motivated? - Quora: What surprised Halvorson was how the two groups dealt with the challenges. The ones in the “get-better” group remained unfazed and solved as many as problems in the challenging conditions as the easy ones. They stayed motivated and kept trying to learn. The ones in the “be-good” group, however, were so demoralized when they faced

An interesting take on privilege theory among US Maoists in the 1960s

Privilege and the working class | SocialistWorker.orgmakes a fascinating claim to an old-timer like me: At the height of the American civil rights movement, when theories of oppression might be expected to have some resonance, privilege politics were virtually unknown. The privilege model was unable to find a foothold among the hundreds of thousands of anti-racists involved in the country's

Essential writing advice in song: Tripod's "King Kong"