He came from a Syracuse cell
defending the rights of breath
a black cop
refusing to beat up on his own
fists pounding down
the spirit of our youth
nightsticks flailing
over the musty odor of jail
precincts built atop
the bones of our birth
the sounds of runaway souls
caught in the snare
of snarling hate locked in pens of cellbar mad
wailing down the corridors of hell
& for his refusal was himself
beaten & jailed
fired & fined
don't you be diggin' me no grave
don't you be diggin' me no grave
I'm not dead/did you hear what I said
don't you be diggin' me no grave...
& so it was that
Rich Bartee was chased onto
the streets of Harlem
Thirty years
a singer of slogans
uplifting pride like
a ride on the D Train
a limerick with rhymes of simple praise
his poetry like the potential
that is born in every soul
sold like the spirit of our claim
unlimited & bursting full of hope
inducing smiles as warm as summer nights
his eyes brown like the leaves of fall
reminding you it is love that we seek
it is love we seek, Bartee
the heartbeat of Harlem
spreading joy & affirmation.
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London
Before there was money, there was debt. Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There’s not a shred of evidence to support it. Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors. Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it. Debt: The First 5,000 Yearsis a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—as well as how it has defined human history, and what it means for the credit crisis of the present day and the future of our economy.
