The recent crisis of immigrant children flooding across the US might have ebbed a bit… but there are many more border crises available to fill in the void.

Just last week, a mass grave was discovered in Iguala, Mexico. A total of 28 bodies were found in the hills outside the city. Everyone suspects the “Guerreros Unidos,” the area’s most powerful gang. Many also suspect the police are involved. 

After 22 police were detained in connection with the incident, the gang demanded their release.

The bodies cannot be identified, but the recent disappearance of 43 college students from a poor farming town outside the city seems sadly related.

One Iguala resident remarked,

“I saw police trucks go up and down the hill to up there, where the bodies are found…Then came the news they found the grave and it may be the students. But you would be a fool around here to accuse the police and expect to live.”

Now who would want to live in a place like that?

Believe it or not, there’s a national election coming up in a few weeks.

Don’t worry, if you haven’t been tuned in to the race so far, you’re not the only one.

Though the results of the election are unlikely to shake-up the political stalemate in Washington, the possibility of a GOP takeover of the Senate could have important consequences for the last two years of the Obama presidency.

But Americans tend to care a bit less about midterms than presidential races. And extreme dissatisfaction with both Congress and the White House, as well as negative campaigning, certainly aren’t helping things.

The question for us at USDemocrazy is whether this election of advanced ambivalence represents a unique set of circumstances or a growing trend of frustration and disengagement with politics.

Many Americans were disappointed that Barack Obama’s presidency failed to fundamentally change American politics.

The legacy of President Obama will be debated over for many years to come. But it seems clear the Obama administration opted to change policy (for good or for ill or for neither) rather than change the system.

How will American politics look post-Obama?

Will our increasing cultural and political polarization deliver to us the politics that we deserve?

Will contempt for the two-party system give rise to third-party politicians? 

Will the obscene influence of special interests on our government ever be defeated?

Most importantly, do you plan to vote this year? Let us know in the comments section below.

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In celebrating LGBTQ History Month, it’s important to remember those who don’t fit into the mainstream representation of the LGBTQ community. As the LGBTQ community has made gains in society, it is important to recognize that the face of the movement is increasingly white, cis, male, gay, upper class, able-bodied, and heteronormative. When arguments for marriage equality are made, our leaders look back to Stonewall as a way to validate their arguments. Stonewall, after all, sparked the beginning of the LGBTQ rights movement in America. So it’s only right for us to assume that because the face of the LGBTQ movement today is one that is predominantly white, cis, male, gay, upper class, able-bodied, and heteronormative, it has historically been the face of the movement. We know that this is not true.

When we think of LGBTQ rights and Stonewall, we don’t think of all of the trans women of color who have both presently and historically risked their safety and continuously had their lives threatened in order to try to claim a right to navigate in our society. What we think of is people like Harvey Milk whose politics are catered towards those of a privileged LGBTQ identity. We think of Neil Patrick Harris, who is a living representation of the effects and benefits of those privileges. We don’t think of people like Sylvia Rivera, who was present on the actual night of the Stonewall riots. We don’t think of Reina Gossett, either, a trans woman of color who is representative of the same kinds of intersectional oppression faced by Sylvia and all of the others present at Stonewall. It is important to remember that what is the face of the community is not representative of the community itself, that there is marginalization within the community that leaves certain narratives untold.

As a trans woman of color, Reina Gossett’s narrative is one that is largely untold. Mainstream trans women of color such as Laverne Cox and Janet Mock do an excellent job at bringing widespread attention to unheard narratives, but Gossett delivers this narrative from an activist perspective. Gossett’s emphasis on social change and social action are things that I strongly identify with. With Gossett coming to UMBC, I find myself able to see how social justice can be practiced through social programming. I see how people like Reina Gossett, people like me with marginalized identities and generally untold stories, can find platforms through which we can have our voices heard and inspire change.

I commend Critical Social Justice, the Women’s Center, and Student Life’s Mosaic: Cultural & Diversity Center for choosing Reina Gossett as the keynote speaker for LGBTQ History Month. I am appreciative that untold narratives are being given a space to exist and thrive when they are not given such opportunities by mainstream media. It is important to remember that the while the L and G are the most prominently seen part of the LGBTQ community, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are representative of the community. Trans people of color exist now, and have existed since even before the Stonewall riots. Our stories will not be erased or eradicated.