I Live in Providence. But I Was In – of All Places – Bondi Beach When the Brown Shooting Happened.

by Rebecca Atwood

“She knows, now, absolutely… that Damien’s theory of jet lag is correct… Souls can’t move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage.” -William Gibson I’ve always liked the idea that when you travel, it takes some time [...]

In The Wake of Our Tragedy, Hateful Conspiracies Flourished. This, Too, Was Terrifying.

by Daniel Morris

In recent days, while Providence residents reeled from the horrors that unfolded at Brown on December 13, a different horror was playing out on social media. A wave of racist and bigoted conspiratorial tweets emerged blaming Islam, “leftism”, and “wokeness,” for the shooting. Large conspiratorial [...]

“Anxious at Every Turn”: Notes from Fox Point, Four Days After the Mass Shooting

by Maria Jones

Life feels incredibly confusing. I’m unable to escape footage of the shooter walking around in a neighborhood I consider to be my home and safe space. On the day of the shooting, I walked to East Side Provisions on Wayland Square from 2:00 to 2:20 [...]

“Community” is Easier to Activate After Tragedy. We Should Aspire to That Kind of Solidarity All the Time.

by Christopher Samih-Rotondo

I wonder about the nature of “community” in our fractured society and our segregated city, still so dominated by the geographies, assumptions, and expectations of racialized capitalism. Lines of demarcation are carved across Providence by interstate 95, Brown University, slave tunnels, urban renewal, gentrification, and [...]

We Can’t Succumb to Numbness After the Brown Shooting. We Must Act.

by Bob McMahon

The Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 – which claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 children – shocked us all. In its wake, I remember my wife telling me that “this tragedy will finally result in sensible gun control laws.” But mass shootings over [...]

I Was Locked Down at the Avon During the Brown Shooting.

by Lisa A. Watts

After spending our morning in frigid wind on a Providence street corner protesting our country’s leadership, my friend and I were treating ourselves to a Saturday afternoon showing of Chloe Zhao’s film, Hamnet, at the Avon Cinema.  We parked my car on Brook Street, directly [...]

Grappling With A Mass Shooting on College Hill: “These are Dark Days for Providence.”

by Philip Eil

One of my goals as The Eye’s opinion editor is to help readers make sense of the city. But, this week, after a mass shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine injured, that feels impossible. What sense is there in a late-semester [...]

Remembering Jimmy Cliff – and a Magical Moment at Waterfire

by Bob Bell

The news of reggae legend Jimmy Cliff’s death on November 24th buried me in a veritable blizzard of emotions, memories, and long-forgotten scenarios, in all of which his music had been the soundtrack. My first job at Island Records in 1965, looking through the racks [...]

An Ode to the Providence Riverwalk – and a Pitch to Take Part in its Redesign.

by Tim Shea

Like many Providence residents, I’ve gone through phases of appreciation for downtown’s Riverwalk and Waterfire. As a child, it was magical. As a teen, it was crowded. As a young adult, it wasn’t counter culture enough. (“Sure, Waterfire is alright, but have you seen the [...]

From Brown U. Undergrads: A Primer on the December 2 Ward 2 Election

by Lillian Gale, Nihil Suthy, Alissa Kraus, Alexander Schramm, Lily Luby

Election day for Providence’s Ward 2 city council seat is fast approaching.  On Tuesday, December 2nd, Jill Davidson, winner of November 4’s Democratic Primary, will face Brown University student Axel Brito, who ran uncontested as the Republican nominee. With just a few days until voters [...]