Website Updates and Modern America at Home
Hello friends! Just opening this post with some admin business for this February Friday the 13th. Progress has been good on Backwood Folk Issue 3! It’s still a ways out, as it has a lot of moving pieces, but it’s gunna be a doozy. It’s an issue all about Po’Dunk’s resident cryptid, the PINK EYE. If you wanna get a sense of where Backwood Folk #3: BARK OF THE WOOD APE is going, I’ve updated the Pink Eye Research Center of the website! There should be some more updates on the way to Issue 3, and hopefully even some interactive elements for y’all! But for now there’s some extra art and something a little special if you click those VHS tapes.
In other admin news, I’ve also carved out a new webstore for digital editions of Backwood Folk on itch.io. This will be replacing the digital downloads off my bigcartel gift shop. I’d been trying to keep everything under one storefront, but rather unfortunately the system for direct downloads on bigcartel a bit pricey and unwieldy. Always a shame when it has to get convoluted, but that’s everything these days! You can find the new itch.io store at BACKWOODFOLK.ITCH.IO!
Alright, that’s the admin. Now on to more serious stuff. I live in the town of Springdale, Arkansas. I’ve lived in a few corners of this state, but never one that felt at inviting as this one. From museums, to local businesses, to fellow artists, you name it. It feels like one of the first real communities I’ve ever lived in. One of the first places where I feel like I’m being asked to collaborate with my community not compete. It’s also one of the towns with largest immigrant populations in the state. I don’t think this is a coincidence.
It’s handily the most diverse place I’ve ever lived. 41% of its population is Hispanic. Springdale is also home to the largest Marshallese community outside of the Marshall Islands. Which is a little different from my former 71% white Fayetteville or my home county’s 94% white population.
It is also modern America. Where the country wants to kill the community. Springdale has been no exception to this. Yesterday a community led organization called AIRE Arkansas (Alliance for Immigrant Respect and Education) asked that Springdale’s undocumented residents avoid driving through the streets of Springdale. It’s a world of heartbreak these days, which makes it easy to not notice the heartbreak creep all the way into your town. But it’s here, and has been here.
It often gets masked in “the political” and we don’t talk about “politics”, but frankly that’s a crock of shit. I don’t think it’s political to want to be a good neighbor. Or to be a part of a community. Don’t think it’s terribly political to see the freak show of a current administration black bagging and murdering for the horror that it is.
If you are around these parts and have some disposal income I heartily encourage sending a donation to AIRE. They post a lot of vital resources and news on the area. Or to your local equivalent, these words all rather unfortunately might apply to your community too, or will eventually. It’s a grim world, but we aren’t alone, community is a hard thing to extinguish.