Barbara Stoner

X Barbara Stoner

The death of George Floyd during the pandemic during the Trumpocalypse altered the course of Robert Peate's art. "When Mister Floyd was murdered, I knew I had to change my collection title and cover and write about racism, so I did." The story "Juneteenth" shows what can happen when a son, fed up with his racist father, takes that father to meet some new friends. "Antifa and the Fuzz" is about a girl named Antifa who just can't get the fuzz out of her hair. The poem "The Storming of the Station" is about systemic racism and police brutality, which resulted in a Minneapolis police station being destroyed by citizens revoking their consent to be governed. Other stories and poems in this collection comment on Donald Trump, the pandemic, the dignity of workers, technology addiction in children, and the morality of hunting animals. The collection begins with "Good Help", the story of Rhea Pearlshell, a woman who cleans houses. One day she meets a client who loves Rhea's work a little too much.