I’m Living in a Time Warp
The Woke Generation isn’t going to return to America’s old ways
I sometimes feel I’m living in a time warp.
For the past two years I’ve been writing, editing, and seeking representation for a novel about Kay Boyle’s early years as an ex-pat writer in France. To catch everyone up, Kay was one of the celebrated geniuses of the now near-mythical “Lost Generation.”
I’ve been steeped in historical texts, biographies and early 20th Century literature. So it’s a bit of shock to step into the streets of 2020. Step into the streets virtually, that is. Chancing exposure to the deadly virus permeating our population is still too risky for my generation.
And here’s the surprise: Those streets are being transformed. Activists and children and families, people of every age, ethnicity, gender and background are marching for justice. Artists in Oakland and San Francisco, Providence, the Twin Cities, Atlanta, New York and around the country — are painting vibrant murals on the walls of unsightly boarded-up buildings. Murals that tell the story of repression and, more importantly, hope.
