Fall 2019
Table of Contents
The Death Issue
In Depth
Explore SectionFrom the Editors
Editor’s Note: The Death Issue
When I learned that my first issue as editorial director of YES! would be on death, I cringed a bit. No one likes to think about death, much less talk about it. In fact, death might be more taboo to discuss than even sex or money. A recent survey found that only about a third of people had discussed making wills with their partners, or their wishes concerning their funerals. It’s almost as though we believe that dying doesn’t actually happen. At least not to us.
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The Story of Death Is the Story of Women
…and they want to bring back “The Good Death.”
Sarah Chavez
Why I Wore Black After He Died: Lessons from Victorian Mourning Culture
I needed others to see me—to acknowledge my grief.
Kari Nixon
How Death Doulas Ease the Final Transition
End-of-life caregiving is an ancient practice that’s now re-emerging in the death positivity movement, which urges a shift in thinking about death as natural and not traumatic.
Cynthia Greenlee
Making Room for Spirits Among the Living
How immigrants have brought diverse traditions to keep their ancestors and dead loved ones close.
Jennifer Luxton
Return to Nature
Green burials go beyond not polluting or wasting. It’s about people needing and caring for land, conducting life-affirming activities there—including death.
Lynn Freehill-Maye & Phillip Pantuso
The City That Dances With Death
In New Orleans, colorful street festivals celebrating death grew out of necessity, incorporating West African rhythms and syncretized dance.
Leanna First-Arai
Black Funerals Are a Radical Testament to Blackness
For African Americans, homegoings are the ultimate form of liberation.
Ida Harris
Dealing With Loss When Death Is Uncertain
For families of missing or disappeared persons, mourning the ambiguous loss of their loved ones is complex.
Janice Cantieri
Where Bill McKibben Finds Hope Amid the Climate Crisis
The environmental activist says surviving an existential threat like climate change requires honesty—and hope.
Shannan Lenke Stoll
Solutions We Love
Explore Section
An Ancient Calendar Helps Me See Seasons Change Every Few Days
Climate change requires closer attention to the changes in our environment.
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
Leveraging White Privilege for Racial Justice
These White people aren’t just checking their privilege. They’re using it to bring about positive racial change.
Carla Bell
Post-Soviet Co-ops: Mongolian Herders Borrow a Tool From the Recent Past
When capitalism supplanted communism in Mongolia, state-run co-ops disappeared and rural communities suffered. Now the herders are bringing back the practice for their own survival.
Sarah Trent
Culture Shift
Explore Section
Books+Film+Music
Can We Work Less and Save the Planet, Too?
Building a new world will require first reexamining—and dismantling—the cultural ethos of productivity that creeps into our lives every day.
Todd Miller
Books+Film+Music
6 Shows for Some Women-Led Belly Laughs
Time and time again women have proven that viewers are interested in the stories they tell.
Deonna Anderson
Small Works
