Articles by: Mickey Z

Remembering Edward Van Halen

Remembering Edward Van Halen

Edward Van Halen (EVH) was my favorite guitarist of all-time. As a disciple of what is now called “classic rock,” it’s disconcerting for me to be living through this current time period when the guitar is not a major factor in popular music. After all, I can still play note-for-note air guitar to all of EVH’s solos. The following collection[Read More…]

by 08/10/2020 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
"17th Special" Seabees with the 7th Marines on Peleliu (public domain)

The Greatest (sic) Generation also didn’t believe #BlackLivesMatter

Reminder: The U.S. military that fought against fascist white supremacy (“Antifa,” if you will) during the Second World War was segregated.  *** Army Chief of Staff General George S. Marshall bellowed during the “good” war: “Quit catering to the negroes’ desire for a proportionate share of combat units. Put them where they will best serve the war effort.”  This usually meant[Read More…]

by 20/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: Mickey Z.

Amidst the racial strife, we’re ignoring a pandemic (no, not THAT pandemic)

What if I were to tell you about a virtually ignored state of emergency, a lethal pandemic of which the exact numbers will never be fully known? I’m pretty sure you’d have a few guesses as to what I mean… but I’m also pretty sure those guesses would be inaccurate. *** There are some very predictable reactions whenever a person of color is[Read More…]

by 09/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Patriarchy
Photo credit: Mickey Z.

Welcome to a Pandemic of Collective Grief

  “I could not count the times during the average day when something would come up that I needed to tell him. This impulse did not end with his death. What ended was the possibility of response.” (Joan Didion) From their initial pairing in 1927, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made up one of the 20th century’s most beloved comedy duos. Upon[Read More…]

by 08/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Coronavirus structure. Credit: https://www.scientificanimations.com / CC BY-SA

Interview with a COVID-19 survivor

“At my lowest points, the unsettling realization came to me that given the ferocity and rapidity of change with this virus, a further plunge could mean that I might not survive. Indeed, I felt so close to total suffocation that there seemed little room for further decline. I was determined to fight my way through this, but at the same[Read More…]

by 06/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
By DonkeyHotey (Stormy Daniels - Caricature) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The public perception of Stormy Daniels, “porn stars” and “hookers.”

“The reasons a woman only has to make one porn film to be a ‘porn star’ are similar to the reasons a man has only to sign on the dotted government line to be a ‘war hero’. The ‘war hero’ and ‘porn star’ are calculated lies told by exploiters to keep expendable flesh walking through their doors.” (Samantha Berg) I’ve[Read More…]

by 20/04/2018 2 comments Patriarchy
Credit: Mickey Z.

How to (really) Help Homeless Women

For my entire adult life, I’ve tried to help homeless people. For years, I wrote for Street News — a once-popular advocacy newspaper mostly produced and sold by homeless people in New York City. I’ve spoken at rallies in support of homeless people from coast to coast. Mostly, I never left my house without a pocket full of change to give out[Read More…]

by 02/02/2018 1 comment Patriarchy
Facebook Makes Everything Worse

Facebook Makes Everything Worse

Here’s how “awareness” works in 2017:  Something happens.  We post about. Until something else happens. We revel in the likes, shares, or comments. Or we wallow in self-doubt about the lack of likes, shares, or comments. Meanwhile, “stuff” keeps happening. For example:  The rich get richer.  The eco-system moves one hour closer to complete collapse.  Patriarchy and white supremacy grow[Read More…]

by 19/06/2017 1 comment Life/Philosophy
The low-key passing of Manuel Noriega

The low-key passing of Manuel Noriega

By the time Manuel Noriega died on May 29, 2017, the “ousted dictator” or “Panamanian strongman” had long since taken up residency in the proverbial dustbin of history. He hadn’t been useful or “trending” for decades and was thus relegated to virtual invisibility. Even those who vaguely remembered him may have already presumed him dead — a pre-Internet relic without a[Read More…]

by 11/06/2017 1 comment World
Photo courtesy of PIX11 News

Who Cares About Helping Homeless Women?

I hadn’t seen J. in more than a week and that was concerning. It always worries me when one of my “regulars” vanishes. Often, this situation has resulted in me eventually encountering them and getting updates about illnesses, hospital visits, and/or surgeries. Whenyour mission is offering food, clothes, supplies, and more to New York City’s homeless women, you quickly learn[Read More…]

by 26/04/2017 1 comment Life/Philosophy
Credit: Ben Thomson

What if I told you 2,000 women per year are murdered by men they know? (Interview with Dawn Wilcox)

On May 28, 2016, a gorilla named Harambe was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo. A small child had fallen into the primate’s enclosure and… well, you know the rest. “As I watched the sort of public outrage and mourning rarely afforded murdered women, it was the final straw,” explains Dawn Wilcox, a registered nurse for 22 years. Wilcox is no “expert,”[Read More…]

by 09/04/2017 3 comments Patriarchy
Edited photo by Mickey Z. (Original photo by Mark Sandten/Bongarts/Getty Images)

That Time When Male Violence Altered The History Of Women’s Tennis

Not too long ago, while leaving the gym, I overheard a conversation about the best female tennis players of all-time. As I walked home, I pondered my own list and came up with five women with whom we’re on a first name basis: Serena, Steffi, Martina, Chrissie, and Venus. When considering who might be next, I suddenly remembered Monica Seles.[Read More…]

by 04/04/2017 1 comment Patriarchy
By Charles Steinhacker [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Dworkin-MacKinnon Anti-Pornography Civil Rights Ordinance

The Dworkin-MacKinnon Ordinance — originally written in 1983 by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon — was an amendment to a civil rights law. It stands as a mostly ignored template for creating law-based change within the system. Rather than taking the traditional “obscenity” angle, the Dworkin-MacKinnon Ordinance proposed that: Pornography is a violation of women’s civil rights Woman harmed by[Read More…]

by 13/02/2017 1 comment Patriarchy
Photo by Ryan McGuire

Rebuilding Activism From The Ground Up

I. I recognized a familiar sound I’d just finished working with a personal training client near Central Park before hopping on a downtown R train. Over my shoulder was a canvas bag holding five “FOR packs.” Each of these packs contained food and supplies for homeless women on the streets of Manhattan. FOR is the moniker I bestowed upon this[Read More…]

by 23/01/2017 1 comment Life/Philosophy
It’s Not A Level Playing Field. It’s A Jigsaw Puzzle With A Lot Of Missing Pieces

It’s Not A Level Playing Field. It’s A Jigsaw Puzzle With A Lot Of Missing Pieces

“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” – Stephen Jay Gould Re-read that Gould quote. Read it aloud, in fact.  Breaking news: It’s not a level playing field.  More accurate analogy: An enormous jigsaw puzzle with[Read More…]

by 16/01/2017 1 comment Life/Philosophy
The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men | Mickey Z. interviews Robert Jensen

The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men | Mickey Z. interviews Robert Jensen

“It seemed that there was a need for a book that laid out the problem of patriarchy in plain language.” (Robert Jensen) While we’ve never met in person, Robert Jensen and I have known each other (in that internet kind of way) for decades. We have friends in common, often wrote on similar topics for the same websites, and even[Read More…]

by 11/01/2017 2 comments Book Review, Patriarchy
By Willy Stöwer, died on 31st May 1931 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

3 Ways To Recognize An Emergency In 2017

Let’s say you were strolling down the street when you spied a small child who had drifted away from his family. As motor vehicles streamed by at illegal speeds, the lad was getting perilously close to the curb. What would you do? Conjure up a potentially viral tweet Fastidiously apply for a permit to stage a rescue Become the change[Read More…]

by 05/01/2017 1 comment Counter Solutions
From Pixabay. CC0 Public Domain

What The Gym Taught Me About Fighting Trumpism

I’ve spent more time in gyms than I can even begin to calculate. I can now recognize how this choice instilled in me a skewed and unhealthy body perception and heavily reinforced my masculine conditioning. However, there were also powerful positive life lessons to be learned within those mirrored walls. Here are a few: Lesson #1: Let the results (or[Read More…]

by 20/12/2016 1 comment World
In 2017, What Will YOU Do To Resist Trumpism?

In 2017, What Will YOU Do To Resist Trumpism?

A woman I know (white, middle-aged, let’s call her D) recently told me about a Muslim family that lives on her block in Queens, New York. One of the family’s daughters (about 11 years old) has recently begun wearing a hijab so I sent D a link about the rapid rise in post-election hate crimes. The next time D saw[Read More…]

by 15/12/2016 1 comment World
Photo collage by Mickey Z.

Would You Donate Even $1 To Help Homeless Women?

As you all know, I tried the “activism” thing. I really tried. But now, I’m ready to focus my energies on two things desperately needed in the Trump Era: cultivating serious resistance and providing support for the most vulnerable. I also want to do something specifically for the largest oppressed group on earth: females. With those last two goals in[Read More…]

by 09/12/2016 1 comment Patriarchy
U.S. Leaders Didn’t Stop The Nazi Holocaust. They Won’t Stop The Next One Either

U.S. Leaders Didn’t Stop The Nazi Holocaust. They Won’t Stop The Next One Either

My first book was an alternative history of World War II called Saving Private Power: The Hidden History of the “Good War.” The jam-packed release party took place in July 2000 at the old Brecht Forum. I gave a kick-ass (if I say so myself) one-hour presentation — without notes. Afterwards, during the Q&A, I was asked what I would’ve[Read More…]

by 20/11/2016 2 comments World
Masculinity Goes To The Movies…

Masculinity Goes To The Movies…

Recently, I was tagged on Facebook to participate in something called the “80s Music Challenge.” I excitedly agreed but such social media shenanigans did not come without an ugly lesson. You see, when I contemplated which songs to post, I encountered many that contained horribly insensitive and misogynistic lyrics — by performers like Public Enemy, Van Halen, Beastie Boys, Ice[Read More…]

by 20/08/2016 1 comment Patriarchy
Mickey and his mom share a hug. Photo credit: Mickey Z.

What My Mom Taught Me About LOVE

I wasn’t supposed to be born. After my mother gave birth to my sister, the doctors told her she’d never have another child. They couldn’t say exactly why (she was eventually diagnosed with endometriosis) but they were pretty damn certain… in that unique way doctors tend to be pretty damn certain. Wisely, my mother ignored such white coat condescension and[Read More…]

by 02/08/2016 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
It CAN Happen Here !

It CAN Happen Here !

So, I recently told you all about Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s positive assessment of Mussolini and how FDR was the architect of U.S. prison camps. There’s much more but even with such stellar authoritarian credentials, there’s also strong evidence that home-grown fascists may have openly explored the option of anti-FDR coup in 1934. That year, the DuPonts and the Morgans tried[Read More…]

by 28/07/2016 1 comment World
We’re On The Brink Of Collapse And Donald Trump Is More Than Happy To Exploit It! 

We’re On The Brink Of Collapse And Donald Trump Is More Than Happy To Exploit It! 

Preface: This is not an article. This is a desperate plea to evolve.  During the many, many talks and lectures I gave between 2008 and 2013, I’d often provide a healthy (read: jolting) dose of reality (read: gloom and doom) that would typically bring the proceedings to a palpable pause.  That would be my cue to ask: So, who’s ready[Read More…]

by 23/07/2016 4 comments World
Fight! By Aislinn Ritchie, Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

In The Days Of My Youth, I Was Told What It Means To Be A Man

Over the years, I’ve written a fair amount of autobiographical pieces but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to re-explore some of these episodes from a more critical, radical perspective. With that in mind, to follow is yet another revised memoir-of-sorts.  Even though I grew up in a “tough” neighborhood and trained myself in hand-to-hand combat, I’ve never been eager[Read More…]

by 10/07/2016 1 comment Patriarchy
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 27JAN08 - captured during the session 'Message from Davos: Believing in the Future' at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2008. 

Copyright by World Economic Forum    swiss-image.ch/Photo by Remy Steinegger

+++No resale, no archive+++

Was Elie Wiesel Really “The Conscience Of The World”?

  When news of Elie Wiesel’s death broke on July 2, the predictable paeans and plaudits flowed. President Barack Obama, for example, called his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner “the conscience of the world.” As for me, I instead reflected back to July 4, 2004, when Parade Magazine to hired Wiesel to pen a little something for Independence (sic) Day[Read More…]

by 05/07/2016 1 comment Life/Philosophy