Opinion writing: We all do it. Because whether or not we commit it to paper, we all harbor, formulate, and rework opinions on just about every matter, from the morning commute to the Democratic primaries to the war in Iraq. The opinion piece is our most democratic form of writing. Not only is it accessible and provocative and engaging, but it can also give us a new in to an old story or a much-needed pause on a steady stream of digital information. And in a time of increasing polarization and global activism, political and social commentary gives context to experiences that otherwise would just get buried in paragraph twenty-three of a news story.

On that note, we’d like to introduce you to a new channel of editorial writing and cartoons at InTheFray. We hope you’ll find commentary here that makes you want to IM your friends, chuckle, or take action in your own community.

In her first column, veteran journalist Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs tackles how the flux of immigrants to the United States has complicated, interrogated, and perhaps even changed the identity of fellow African Americans. With an astute eye for details, Scruggs takes us food shopping (really) and into another way of seeing racial and ethnic definitions.

Scruggs, who now makes her home in Cleveland, Ohio, has previously penned her observations while working as a metro columnist in Dayton, Ohio. She’s reported for newspapers in Mississippi, published three books, and teaches in addition to writing.  In future columns, you’ll see Scruggs offer up commentary on the way we wrestle with the past and our tangled heritages, and how we form what often turns out to be an ever-changing identity.

We’re also delighted to offer you the comic strip, “Secret Asian Man” (SAM). The creation of Tak Toyoshima, it has become the first widely printed comic strip with a leading Asian American character. It’s downright funny, endearing, and irreverent in taking jabs at stereotypes that are created and perpetuated from inside and outside the Asian American community. Once a metal head and now a dad, SAM in this issue fields questions about his run for the presidency. If you want a man who can take out Bush, SAM is the one.

In upcoming issues, we will also bring you a column by Benoit Denizet-Lewis, a 2004 Alicia Patterson Fellow and award-winning reporter and magazine writer who focuses on youth culture, gay culture, politics, and sports. He’s authored cover stories for The New York Times Magazine and written for Spin, Out, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Stay tuned for his commentaries.

We hope you’ll read, comment, and consider submitting your own opinions (and photos!) as follows:

For the April issue, two ITF channels — Interact and Image — are looking for Commentary Features and Photo Features that have to do with the subject of love crossing boundaries. We’re looking for your own thoughtful and humorous first-person stories exploring what happens when two people from different categories start looking at each other “in that way.” Be they Catholic/Jew, vegetarian/carnivore, Republican/Democrat, buff/unbuff, we want to know how possible or impossible it is to be with someone from the other side, what issues come up, what conflicts arise, what accommodations are made, how friends and family feel about it, and how it improves or makes life a little tougher (though it’s worth it, of course). Pitches for April should be sent by February 21, to love@inthefray.com. Did we that mention prizes, in the form of a $50 gift certificate to an establishment of your choice, will be given for the top three stories?

For the May issue, Interact is looking for undergraduate students at colleges and universities to weigh in on segregation in American higher education and throughout contemporary youth culture. Many school districts in the South and the North are more segregated than they were two or three decades ago as white flight and separation are still quite real. Similarly, many colleges and universities continue to have segregated dorms, segregated student clubs, segregated fraternities and sororities, segregated lunch spots, segregated graduation ceremonies, and segregated academic departments. In light of the segregation persisting in educational settings, there is more of a consciousness of a multiracial America. People — Tiger Woods among them — are celebrating their mixed racial heritages. Hip-Hop is bringing a new cultural identity to teens and young adults that seems to trump race. So is it still as necessary to celebrate your own ethnic or racial identity as it was in the aftermath of the 50s and 60s? Is identity less important in the new consciousness of a multiracial America? Or is the talk of multiracial consciousness nothing more than talk — just a passing fad and the hope of idealistic young people? Using these questions as a starting point, contributors should submit short well-argued statements regarding how integrated we are as a society fifty years after the Brown decision. Pitches for May should be sent by March 10,
to: divide@inthefray.com.

So, please remember to get vocal, get passionate, take sides, and let us know what you think.

Daisy Hernández
Assistant Managing Editor
San Francisco

Daisy Hernandez