2 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GROUNDCOVER welcome to this issue on STREET MYTHOLOGY ALEX TARBET Groundcover volunteer People bring themselves to mythology in different ways. Imagine you and I pass one another on the street and — just this once — a strange force compels us two strangers to stop, sit together just for a moment and tell a myth. What’s the first one that comes to mind? We might share a famous one from thousands of years ago, but get locked in debate afterward about who’s the real ‘hero’ or the ‘monster.’ Say, why was Medusa’s hair turned into snakes? Did she deserve it for what she did? Would you have chopped her head off like Perseus? (For more on that, see Teresa B.’s article on page 7). We can rewrite an old story, or even throw it out entirely, discard old patterns and reimagine our existence the way we choose. But one thing mythology does for sure is provoke us to talk to one other. In that spirit, this edition of Groundcover is a collection of conversations around the streets of Ann Arbor on what myth is and why it matters. As you read, ask yourself whether you agree or disagree. Juliano argues on page 4 that myth has been an opiate for the masses, keeping lower classes down all the way back to ancient Rome. For Cindy on page 6, myths are forms of cultural survival that preserve communities enduring down the generations. For Teresa, they are indigenous traditions of storytelling stolen and corrupted by shallow American consumerism. For James on page 4, imagination and science fiction evolved as therapy for hard times along with other forms of contemplation. To one person, myths are make-believe for children or propaganda for governments; for another, they are timeless symbols that get at real truths and teach moral lessons. Which writers do you find persuasive? Everyone has something to say about myth. In 2023, each of us responds in our own way with shock and disgust, curiosity or wonder, resentment or anxiety, skepticism or laughter. One way or another, how you think about old stories (even rejecting them entirely in favor of new ones) reveals something about you. It shows your concept of heroes and monsters in the real world, where you think this universe came from, where we are going, and how we ought to treat one another along the way. Into mythology each of us brings a self, a reality and a past full of love and suffering, joy and loss, following all the history we have inherited down the generations. But we also bring contemporary concerns for the world now and where it’s headed. Each Groundcover writer has a thoughtful perspective drawn from lived experience on the streets. Their theories about how myth works are similar to what you might pick up as a student in any university from scholars who have written about myth in relation to class consciousness, dream interpretation, feminism and social inequality. Groundcover writers offer their own street theories as they challenge and debate different ideas by drawing on their own instincts and reflections from unique lived experiences. Mythology has much to do with poverty and homelessness. Myth has always been about outsiders, the wanderers, exiles, outcasts, monsters, or exotic and supposedly uncivilized strangers. Writers who have endured transience or poverty tend to have more empathy for the monsters and less tolerance for some of the heroes. One common trend is a healthy mistrust for the idea of “mythology” altogether as a sort of scam, since the American economy we live in is itself a fairy-tale controlled and dominated by rich people on top. see WELCOME page 9 AUGUST 25, 2023 CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND A VOICE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE WHILE TAKING ACTION TO END HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY. Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in April 2010 as a means to empower lowincome persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed. Vendors purchase each copy of our regular editions of Groundcover News at our office for 50 cents. This money goes towards production costs. Vendors work selling the paper on the street for $2, keeping all income and tips from each sale. Street papers like Groundcover News exist in cities all over the United States, as well as in more than 40 other countries, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people and combat the increase in poverty. Our paper is a proud member of the International Network of Street Papers. STAFF Lindsay Calka — publisher Cynthia Price — editor ISSUE CONTRIBUTORS Mohammed Almustapha D.A. Teresa Basham Cindy Gere Mike Jones Elizabeth "Lit" Kurtz James Manning Ken Parks Earl Pullen Juliano Sanchez Scoop Stevens Alex Tarbet Kaden Watts GROUNDCOVER NEWS ADVERTISING RATES Size 1/8 1/6 1/4 1/2 full page Black/White $110.00 $145.00 $200.00 $375.00 $650.00 Color $150.00 $200.00 $265.00 $500.00 $900.00 Dimensions (W x H in inches) 5 X 3 or 2.5 X 6.5 5 X 4 5 X 6.25 5 X 13 or 10.25 X 6.5 10.25 X 13 CONTACT US PROOFREADERS Susan Beckett Elliot Cubit Zachary Dortzbach Anabel Sicko VOLUNTEERS Jessi Averill Luiza Duarte Caetano Glenn Gates Alexandra Granberg Robert Klingler Ruben Mauricio Holden Pizzolato Alex Tarbet Mary Wisgerhof Max Wisgerhof Emily Yao Story and photo submissions: submissions@groundcovernews.com Advertising and partnerships: contact@groundcovernews.com Office: 423 S. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Phone: 734-263-2098 @groundcover @groundcovernews DONATE, LISTEN TO OLD ISSUES + LEARN MORE www.groundcovernews.org linktr.ee/groundcovernews PACKAGE PRICING Three Months/Six Issues: 15% off Six Months/Twelve Issues: 25% off Full Year/Twenty-four Issues: 35% off Only run for two weeks/one issue: 40% off Additional 20% discount for money saving coupons
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