Interlude... Summer 2020

Hi all,

It has been my pleasure to bring you these thoughts on the history of Uncanny X-Men all year long, through this crazy Spring. It's been really enjoyable to have this to bring you, and obviously the pandemic conditions afforded me some extra time to work on it so I hadn't really anticipated taking a break for a while.

With the situations being what they are in the United States and Canada, as we head toward an extended period of civil unrest that deservedly dominated most peoples' social media feeds, I will be stepping back from this blog for a bit. I do have more posts already written, but have reverted them to drafts until such time that I feel comfortable putting them before people again.

I have never made much effort to hide my personal beliefs in this blog when I deem it appropriate to do so. The X-Men are a fictional analogue for real-world persecution and resistance, and all the complex forms it takes. It would be disingenuous and a betrayal of that for me not to get involved, and elevate the efforts I see.

In the past week, I have given to a number of diverse charities and campaigns, from bail funds and food services for Black and minority communities, to other legal campaigns and personal ones such as one for the care and healing of Darnella Frazier, who was responsible for the footage of the killing of George Floyd.

At this time I am trying to put my energies toward matters productive to the current issues, and will resume this hobby at a later time, when I can better balance it between that and the everyday causes I try to champion. At this time I am working at learning antiracism and to apply it at all times, not just during the peak of a crisis.

I call on you to give what you can, contact your elected officials and join protests to make yourself heard, if you believe as I do in the need for progress, for an end to racism in law enforcement institutions (up to and including the defunding and abolition of the police force) and an acknowledgement of the unequal opportunities and experiences between majority and minority communities.

If you do not share these beliefs, you now know that I do, and I will continue to run my blog as I see fit.

All the very best,

Scotto