Newsletter from Jay Wilcox - August 2022: On Fire

Good morning/afternoon/evening,

Does makeup hide or reveal who we are? How much bravery does it take to put ourselves on display?

I remember people making fun of Juggalos. That word refers to fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse (ICP), a subculture known for face paint and pageantry, circusy paraphernalia--a culture that often attracts ridicule and even hatred from the otherwise "open-minded." Adherents to Juggalo-ism opt in to varying degrees with thematic jewelry and flashy clothing, some tattooing themselves with ICP insignia and imagery and annually attending an event referred to as The Gathering. I am not a Juggalo. Still, in this essay, I will be arguing why such groups are necessary for pluralistic democracy.

We need weird people. They are the canaries in the coal mine of civil rights. If they're losing freedoms, soon you will, too--so while coexistence can sometimes feel unsettling, there can only be true freedom in this friction between values, in the constant fight for those whom we may never understand.

My moral here is not simply "Be nice to people."

Pragmatically, we must protect the marginalized. Does a fire stop at the forest's edges? Are any roots too secure to eventually burn? In Juggalos we see a group volunteering to stand along the far treeline, but what about the people who were planted there? I see oppressive laws leveled at transgender people--a group closer and more deeply rooted to the center of the forest than many lawmakers might admit--and wonder how long until the fire reaches me.

If transgender and nonbinary citizens are under fire, the flame's already a lot closer than you think. Two-spirit people have existed across cultural traditions since prehistory, and acolytes of the full gender-identity spectrum are decidedly not weird. How benignly normal is it to embrace all elements of personhood? Look, even if it's not me, someone in your life belongs to such a marginalized group, and I'd wager you already feel some of the heat from their burn.

I invoked Juggalos earlier--a group that chose their identity, rather than being born into it--to show that there are people farther out along the fringe than what you might consider the fringe. Heck, the fringe goes way further than Juggalos, even. Human rights are either coming or going, and it's only "political" when your tree isn't the one on fire. Any human right not constantly, vocally, legally affirmed is being singed away. Full stop.

Again, this is not political. As long as fire is insatiable, it will never be political.

I sincerely hope you've been well, and as always, you're welcome to write back.

Infinite Regards,

Jay