mother jones kicks your ass

mother jones magazine has quietly continued to be one of the nation’s most influential magazines. for instance, portions of eric schlosser’s best-selling “fast food nation” first appeared in the pages of mother jones.

i’ve loved it for years, and i’m glad i finally bought a subscription to it after paying the cover price each month for so long.

straight to it: this month, jennifer gonnerman and sara catania report on domestic abuse in the united states. this subject tends to fall off the radar for many americans who assume updates in federal and state legislation are protecting victims of spousal abuse. unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

the headline on the cover is a bit misleading – the first part of the story documents attempts by a group of progressive lawyers to get clemency granted for women in missouri who have killed their abusive husbands.

the piece leads with the story of shelley hendrickson who shot her husband in the back of the head with a 12-gauge after over 20 years of abuse.

the night she finally pulled the trigger, he had tied her to the bed, pounded her face into the backboard, and raped her. he passed out drunk, she pulled the gun she had recently purchased from wal-mart out from under the bed, and shot his ass. she’s serving 15 years, a small sentence compared to the nine other women the group tapped for release who were given 50-year to life sentences.

the story contains photos of shelley’s face the night she was arrested, deeply battered and bruised. from the story:

"when police officers walked into the hendrickson home at 2:45 a.m. on oct. 31, 1994, they found shelley in her nightgown, curled up in the fetal position on the floor. she had a swollen eye, a bruise on her forehead, and tears running down her cheeks. tied to one of her wrists was a piece of rope. ashley was on the couch next to her; the three other children were in their rooms. in the master bedroom, the officers found rodney facedown on the bed. blood spattered the wall next to him. one of his eyeballs was on the floor. there was a gunshot wound in the back of his head."

brutal.

last year, a stranger beat and attempted to rape my ex-girlfriend in a lawrence alley not 200 feet from her front door. to this day, he has not been captured. she continues to be traumatized by the incident.

the second piece of the story is written by a woman who is clearly activist oriented judging by the terminology she uses. however, she is an extremely effective writer, understanding, for instance, the impact of an active over a passive sentence. this is a damn-well written piece on a seemingly neglected subject.

this month’s mother jones also contains a piece on the modern-day minutemen, or “tailgate vigilantes,” who hang out at the border between the u.s. and mexico attempting to catch mexican immigrants entering the country. hilarious.

i haven’t read it yet, but ralph steadman provided an illustration, and the story overall looks good.

there’s so much more i want to write about – an interview with joe sacco, son of the famous anarchist who was executed by the united states, etc.

consider giving mother jones a read, fine friends.