An Affirmative Alternative...

Folk #1: It was an incredibly hot & muggy Sunday. The air thick, the heat oppressive. A day of rest for us. A long lazy morning, then on our bikes, off to the big art & music fest a mile or so South of our neighborhood. Trekked over to another little Chicago neighborhood famous for being shaggy, baggy, arty, edgy, wildly-diverse, distinctly-bohemian, a bit raw & uncooked. The pavement vibrated with heat. Lots of pageantry on the street, the human tribe exuberantly displayed in every conceivable color and flavor. Young, old, and everything in between. Lots of tattoos, hair in every stage of growth; long, short, coiffed, rolled, cascading, and shambling, hair painted in exotic vibrant, vibrating colors. Folks dressed up and dressed down in flowers & finery, leather & denim, silks and feathers. My partner and I definitely felt right at home, in some ways these are truly our people, our tribe; artists, poets, musicians, street folk, trans-folks, boys & girls, boys with boys, girl with girls, strange birds, odd characters; everyone seemingly very comfortable in their skins, out to see & to be seen, and to hang on the street, check out the music, sample the food, peruse the merch displayed in the vendor booths. A classic Chicago street fair. We pinballed back forth from the East stage to the West stage and back again. We bumped into a few folks we knew, chatted for a bit, then went back to wandering. The music was quite good. We saw two bands fronted by compelling, engaging women. One band was fiery, powerful, the other was dreamy & hazy. Both sounded great. There was a woman walking around with a clipboard reminding folks to register to vote. Otherwise, the fascist dystopia was not mentioned at all. Really, it was the fest itself, the gathering, that put the lie to the fascist agenda that the retro motherfuckers are trying to shove down our throats. Sure. It was a celebration, and an affirmative alternative to the soul-killing shit emanating from Washington D.C. It was good to see that this other America, dare I say, the real America (?),  still really exists, and despite all the manufactured stupidity, prejudice & mayhem, seemingly, amazingly, exuberantly defiantly, thrives! One burly, bearded, joyfully-militant-looking dude, wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with words in bold, white lettering:"They Can't Kill Us All!"