Shut Up or Else: The Machinery of Control
Like a lightning bolt, it struck me again—how extremists cannot tolerate peaceful protest or resistance. To them, nonconformity is hostility. Resistance is war. “You are either with me or against…
Gaslighting, Stonewalling, and the Machinery of Control
Stonewalling and gaslighting feel like techniques intended to erase a person. To obliterate their spirit. Stonewalling is a tactic used to control, isolate, humiliate, and frustrate someone for attempting to…
When Victims Are Put on Trial
In their young efforts to comfort my despair over George Floyd, my boys offered this: “Mom, he did have meth in his system and had been previously arrested for armed assault…
The Difference Between Abuse and Torture
Torture—unlike abuse, which is often spontaneous and unintentional, though still scarring—is premeditated. It is designed to methodically dismantle a person’s identity and humanity. To destroy safety. To diminish hope for…