Robert Atwood- I read your "Too offensive to publish" and I can totally sympathize.

Last year, my junior year in high school, I worked on the school newspaper as editor of the news section. I worked the entire year to establish a name and some integrity for the damned paper, and even won an award and much recognition for my newswriting. But as in all small publications, the editor-in-chief was a self-important, egocentric bitch. (If yr reading this, Disease, I DON'T LIKE YOU!) (Sorry, I had to vent! :-))

Much of who I am is controversial. I am a walking opinion! But unlinke most small-time jouranlists, I don't walk around spouting unwarranted and unsubstantiated claims. I am studying to become a real journalist and therefore hold to my philosophy of truth and integrity.

I was allowed the entire year to publish one editorial. It was the second issue of the paper. I wrote about the ignorance and complacency of American high school kids. Needless to say, one teacher thought I was the greatest thing since soy cheese, and the students wanted to burn me at the stake. Since then, I was kept quiet.

What I wrote was not in any way controversial. It was merely the truth, but some people couldn't deal with it... After all, when yr brain is steeped in MTV and THC, you can't handle the truth! Not once did I stoop to the popular children's tools of ad hominem or ad populum, but some how, my words pissed off the school.

The reason I'm telling you this is two-fold.

1) Weak minds only want to hear the things they agree with. When a small-minded person is confronted with something foreign or intelligent, the first act of the brain is to shut down and revert to Neaderthal state. Hence the "Your too controversial" bullshit.

2) When we're under attack, the flock seems to divide. We can't let this happen. There are many quality independent magazines and newspapers (here in the Dayton area, we have Impact Weekly) Nationally and internationally, there's Z and Mother Jones, both intelligent independent, people-friendly zines. Through these smaller publications, we can get our voices heard and then move on as we gain strength and people gain understanding in the mainstream. No movement gets started easily, nor does it move along easily. As I've said before, stability is dangerous. We have to rock the boat, or we're gonna drown!

In solidarity, Sarah Ann "Red" Lewis (misskittypunk@hotmail.com )