BELT
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The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth's Gaseous Diffusion Plant
The plant was erected in Pike County, Ohio during the cold war to enrich uranium. Then people started getting sick. Now, they're stuck cleaning up the mess. By Kevin Williams Vina Colley, a slight woman with a bob of thick blond hair, climbs into...
On the Van Galder from Wisconsin to O'Hare
By Catherine Jagoe For 70 years, Van Galder Bus Company
has been the number one transportation choice for southern Wisconsin
and northern Illinois to O’Hare and Downtown Chicago.
Here you are, again, on the Van Galder bus, listening to music and...
In Michigan, Long Mail Delays are Hurting Vulnerable People
Policy changes at the USPS, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, have serious consequences for health, business, and politics. By Katie Prout One morning this past April, my mom, Kathy Prout, got up from the bed where she’d spent the night...
When the Dams Broke in Midland, Michigan
In May, the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams near Midland—resulting from negligence and ineffective regulation—threatened to wash away more than just buildings.
Story by Anna Clark
Photos by Ben Tierney On the afternoon of May 19, Miriam...
Remembering David Cornelius Smith
Nearly ten years before the killing of George Floyd, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department were responsible for suffocating another Black man to death. This is his story.
By Terrion L. Williamson I'll never forget the burn of hot tears...
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BELT
Nearly ten years before the killing of George Floyd, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department were responsible for suffocating another Black man to death. This is his story.
Remembering David Cornelius Smith by Terrion L. Williamson: buff.ly/2AVWnYf pic.twitter.com/uwbtAsVlkP
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Protest and Power
Scenes from a moment of reckoning
It has been nearly two weeks since George Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department, and the story is far from over. The people of Minneapolis, along with allies in the Rust...
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"The following photos, selected from dozens of similar images submitted by readers across the region, illustrate the scope & character of these protests. They are a monument to this moment of reckoning, in all its formidable solidarity & righteous rage."
buff.ly/3dD63VQ pic.twitter.com/xvkuYXOV5D
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Not Another Working-Class Youngstown Story
By Henry J. Gomez
Excerpted from Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology 2nd Edition, now available for pre-order from Belt Publishing.
What I remember most about my mother’s graduation from nursing school is how hard I tried...
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"My parents didn’t wait for a savior. They didn’t wait for the mills to reopen. They weren’t nostalgic.
They couldn’t afford to be."
Not Another Working-Class Youngstown Story
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Racism, Rebellion, and Police Violence in the Midwest
Stories on the long history of racism and police violence in the Midwest—and what to do about it
On Monday, Derek Chauvin, a police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, restrained a man named George Floyd, pressed his knee into Floyd's...
Call for Submissions: A Sioux Falls Anthology
Editor’s note: the following is a call for submissions for a new anthology from our partners at Belt Publishing.
Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays about Sioux Falls in 2021/22 as part of its City Anthology series. South...
When the World is Remade, Make It Like Appalachia
Commentary: But this time, let’s also invest in critical infrastructure—including healthcare
By Alison Stine
Recently, the warning I give my son changed. Usually, I tell my adventurous nine-year-old, who is high-energy and prone to stunts: I...
Listening to Dr. Amy Acton
Commentary: The measured, rational, compassionate response of Ohio’s Public Health director is a gift in chaotic times
By Anne Trubek
To the surprise of almost everybody, the state of Ohio has led most of the nation in its response to the new...
In Jails, "A Catastrophe Waiting to Happen"
Facilities across the region have begun releasing incarcerated people due to dangerous conditions. It's not the first time.
By Charlotte Rosen
In February, 1976, Kenneth Owens-El, imprisoned in solitary confinement at State Correctional...
Loiterers
By Jake Maynard
Here’s a small-town Pennsylvania summer, circa 1999:
Early, before we woke, our parents took off for the sawmills and paper plants and oil fields, leaving us under the watch of older siblings or neighbors or the television. We...
Rust Belt Independents
How one Indiana community rejected Trumpism
By Ryan Schnurr
Last month, Huntington, Indiana, like many places in the country, held local elections. Huntington is on the Wabash River in northern Indiana, thirty miles southwest of Fort Wayne....
The Best of Belt Magazine 2019
Announcing a new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
The political context of the past few years has brought the Rust Belt and its communities into the spotlight, often with broad, simplified narratives of “Trump...
Call for Submissions: Gary Anthology
Editor’s note: the following is a call for submissions for a new anthology from our partners at Belt Publishing.
THE GARY ANTHOLOGY is seeking non-fiction stories, poems, interviews, and reported essays that can give a nuanced view of life in...
Call for Submissions: Indianapolis Anthology
Editor’s note: the following is a call for submissions for a new anthology from our partners at Belt Publishing.
Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays about Indianapolis in 2020 as part of our City Anthology...
Introduction: "This City is Killing Me"
By Jonathan Foiles
From the introduction to "This City is Killing Me: Community Trauma and Toxic Stress in Urban America," available for pre-order from Belt Publishing.
"Do you think you can keep yourself safe?”
Jacqueline has been in my...
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"We diagnose people, not cultures or neighborhoods, with depression."
–– Jonathan Foiles, from the introduction of "“This City is Killing Me”
Read the full intro here
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Remembering WOXY and the Modern Rock 500
A Memorial Day tradition that chronicled the music of an era.
By Robin James
Every year from 1989-2009 (except 2004), radio station WOXY, in Oxford, Ohio, spent Memorial Day weekend counting down the Modern Rock 500—the best and most...
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BELT
A Memorial Day tradition that chronicled the music of an era.
"Remembering WOXY and the Modern Rock 500"
Find it here
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Call for Submissions: Kansas City Anthology
Editor's note: the following is a call for submissions for a new anthology from our partners at Belt Publishing.
KC! We want your stories!
Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays, stories, and poems about Kansas City in 2020 as...
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BELT
Call for Submissions: Kansas City Anthology
KC! We want your stories!
@belt_publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays, stories, and poems about Kansas City in 2020 as part of the City Anthology Series.
More info here
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