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Sensations Magazine
Issue 18:  Released
1998

 

1998

Returning to the topic of hatred in America,
by examining a 350-year history of American "witchhunting"...

Disturbed by a new stage of witchhunting - where witchhunting of gays and lesbians in the military brought the spirit of the McCarthy era to the late 1990s - Sensations Magazine chose to explore the broad theme of American witchhunts in the second of its three "social awareness" issues.  Starting with the earliest witchhunts in 1648 and covering such topics as slavery, the Hollywood Blacklist, Japanese internment during World War II, the McCarthy era, and the witchhunting of gays and lesbians in the military, Sensations Magazine blended a series of small research articles with provocative, contemporary poetry and fiction to round out the issue.

In October 1998, when we were in final typesetting of the issue, Matthew Shepard was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming - propelling debate over social acceptance of gays and lesbians into a national dialogue.  We delayed final release of the issue until after the 1998 election, to see if the states of Wyoming or Colorado would adopt a Hate Crimes law in Matthew's memory. 

They didn't - and years later, still haven't.

Some highlights of Issue 18:

bulletDivided into three sections, each opening with a corresponding academic research article:  (1) The Accusations Begin, 1622-1699, (2), American Witchhunts in the 18th and 19th Centuries, and (3) Alienating an Alien Nation - Witchhunting in the 20th Century
bulletAlso includes separate mini-research articles on the McCarthy Witchhunts, 1950-1954; The Japanese Internment Camps, 1942-1946; One American Citizen's Story, 1945-1947; The Defense of Marriage Act - and Non-Defense of Gay and Lesbian Bashing; Witchhunting Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Armed Forces, 1980-1998; 1998 and Beyond:  The Witchhunts Continue ...
bulletIncludes the full text of the Congressional censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy, December 2, 1954
bulletPoets published in 1998 (15):  Barbara Aleksandrowicz, Joel Allegretti, Bengal Bandana, Rachel Buchman, Becci Noblit Goodall, Mary Carroll-Hackett, George C. Harvilla, Aaron W. Hillman, Lucinda Hynett, Alex D. Lucas, David Messineo, Treva Myatt, John J. Trause, Jacqueline de Weever, Barbara R. Williams-Hubbard
bulletFiction writers published in 1998 (1):  Michael Pallotta
bulletFirst and only print run sold out

 

(Above) A reconstruction of the Salem Village Meeting House, where the Salem witchcraft trials took place, and 400 years later, a memorial to the victims is finally erected in Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Massachusetts

(Above) The Fireside Lounge in downtown Laramie, Wyoming, photographed in November 2000 when we did a reading in memory of Matthew Shepard one block away from this site.  On hearing my opening words "this poetry reading is in memory of Matthew Shepard," half the people in the cafe walked out in ten minutes.  "The fence" has been removed by the property owner, to date there is no memorial in Laramie to Matthew Shepard - or the other individuals who were murdered in Laramie in recent years - and witchhunting of gays and lesbians in America continues into the 21st century, with the latest being no less than an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution proposed to block marriage rights and benefits for gay and lesbian couples.  All of this raises one interesting question:  whatever happened to "All are created equal"?

... and continuing the process of promoting our writers, leading to more sensational performances.
(Above) Eugenia Macer-Story in her feature at Centennial Hall, Newark Public Library.

(Above) James Baloian blends poetry and music in his feature at Centennial Hall, Newark Public Library, Oct 17, 1998

Sensations Magazine

American Literary Magazine Awards Winner  
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