Spiraling (Complimentary)

Written & Curated by Editor-in-Chief Jada Fulcher

Fall weather feels like a blessing this morning. I'm writing this on Thursday, two days after midterm elections and currently in the throes of my 27th birthday. I think this may be the first time in my adult life that I've had an election year birthday that wasn't soured by the results. There is a concept that has been circling me since summer, first prompted by the great Black radical surrealist Boots Riley, affirmed by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, and defined for me by this moment. This summer, I saw Boots Riley's latest film I Love Boosters in a theater just outside of Kalamazoo. I was entranced by the amazing colors and outfits and star-studded cast, but its the message that really stuck with me. The film is all about ordinary people with a passion for life, but because of capitalism they are stuck in dead end jobs for companies that don't care if they live or die, or they are forced into crime to pay the bills. The movie becomes a surrealist playbook on unionizing your workplace and encourages the viewer to connect their struggle to the struggle of workers globally who are also held down by these capitalist systems.

Already that is amazing and this movie deserves a copy in the criterion collection, (honestly I'm ready for whenever they decide to give Boots Riley a proper box set!) but then there was the post credits scene. I didn't really get it at the time. (Here it is if you wanna watch it. It doesn't spoil anything in the movie, but also please see the movie!). At the time of watching, I didn't think it made much sense, and I was mostly just bummed that it wasn't something as wild and bombastic as the rest of the film, but it opened me up to a new idea of how to look at time. It asserted that time wasn't cyclical, but a spiral. It said that we're pushed along through time by conflict, and that while oftentimes we will see similarities between the present and the past, the difference is that we now have all the knowledge from the first time around. We can then apply that knowledge to change the outcome this time.

This idea was solidified for me in my reading of Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's new book End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World. There the pair elaborated on the concept and gave it a historical context. They introduced me to the German philosopher Walter Benjamin and his concept of Jetztzeit, oftened referred to in English as "now time". Just like Riley first introduced, now time relies on the idea that time isn't cyclical, but instead a spiral. Benjamin recognized the kinetic energy a people can build over time that has the ability to ignite revolutionary movement well into the future. It's the idea that the energy we build, even in the battles we lose, is not lost. It's stored, waiting for the next moment when working people are ready to make a change together.

As I watched states turn blue that I've never seen turn blue before, I thought about all that stored energy, waiting to be unleashed. Keisha Lance Bottoms winning governor of Georgia doesn't happen without Stacey Abram's run in 2018. Gina Hinjosa doesn't win Texas without the runs and work of Beto O'Rourke. Changing the world takes us fighting battles we may lose, and learning from them. This blue wave is game-changing, but it is not an end, and victory is certainly not assured. A lot of those blues, even the ones I just mentioned, are still corporate democrats that we need to move left. The thing that's really of note is the mobilizing that brought us to this place. Kwame Ture once said "the vote, for me, has never been the road to liberation. It's only the means for organizing my people." This election season has been a great example of that nationally. These midterms were a referendum on data centers, on voting rights, on genocide, and on Trump. Americans rallied in a way I've never seen to start putting people over power. We honor our revolutionary ancestors by continuing the fight and not settling for scraps. Electoralism will never be what saves this country, it is only one step of many.

News to Know

Champaign County 2026 Midterm Election results (IPM News): The full download on our local election results. Exciting stuff coming from the referendums and our own flip from red to blue in the Schweizer/Roberson race!
U.S. Rep. LaHood beats Democratic challenger Paul Nolley in Illinois’ 16th District (IPM News): Unfortunate news for our friends in the 16th district, was really hoping they could boosted LaHood out of office!
Department of Justice staff monitoring some polling places in Champaign County (IPM News): I'm sharing this just because it is so bonkers to me that Trump's DOJ was doing this and they were in our town!! We live in such a strange world.
Strange Slice pizza coming soon (Smile Politely): For those who are already missing Manolo's, this is huge news! Workers from the now closed pizza joint are opening their own spot, and their first creative flavor combo sounds really gooooooood.
IL hemp businesses file lawsuit to block new regulations from taking effect (WAND): I'm interested to see how this goes, cuz honestly I am a little sad about these hemp restrictions that are coming about :/
America Finally Has the Votes to End the Electoral College (Mother Jones): Hugeeeeee news, should the states actually use it come 2028!
Gavin Newsom Has Commuted the Largest Death Row in the Western Hemisphere (Mother Jones): Objectively a good thing from Newsom! Though I'm not gonna lie, the first thought I had when I saw this was "presidential election season has officially begun". Teehee, it's hard not to be cynical sometimes!