The Agony Continues

St. Peter grants Michelangelo a vacation request, allowing him to travel to the twentieth century to view art. Not only does Michelangelo want to see what artists have been creating after his death but he also desires confirmation that his own work is remembered. As Michelangelo roams about New York City he meets a variety of people who attempt to help him make sense of modern sculpture, painting and architecture. Michelangelo compares everything he sees to specific works he created throughout his life. He finally meets Vinnie, a tough city boy, who agrees to help with his journey. Trying to convince contemporary society what 'real art' is becomes infuriating as Michelangelo holds amusing discussions about enlarged, abstract geometric shapes, gigantic statues rising out of the river, graffiti, tattoos, and more which he vehemently contends cannot be art. His conversations reflect his historical interactions with political figures who commissioned art, his family and other noteworthy artists. Time is running out as St. Peter has allowed Michelangelo to spend only three weeks in the twentieth century. Michelangelo's frustration mounts as he struggles to comprehend the modern world and educate people on the art of the past.

This book is called ‘An Agony Continued’ because it was simply that: an agony. It was an agony which commenced at the end of the 1960s and as the new decade of the 80s arrived, so the pain, the grief, the loss and the economic destruction of Northern Ireland continued. Little did any of us know at the time, but it was to do so for almost a further two decades. Between January 1980 and December 1989, around 1,000 people died; many were soldiers and policemen; some were Prison Officers; some were paramilitaries; and some were innocent civilians. The Provisional IRA (PIRA) and their slightly more psychopathic cousins in the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) would continue to kill innocent civilians by the score during this decade. Across the sectarian divide the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) and the equally vicious Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) would continue to slaughter Catholics in streets, in pubs and in restaurants. This book will look at the period which encompassed the 48 months of 1980 and 1983. It was a near half-decade which saw the Hyde Park and Regent’s Park massacre of soldiers and horses from the Blues and Royals and the cowardly bombing of the Royal Green Jackets’ band. It further witnessed the murder of 18 people by the INLA at a disco held in the Droppin’ Well in Ballykelly and also the death of the leader of the Shankill Butchers: Lenny Murphy. The years under study include the 1981 deaths of ten Republican paramilitaries who starved themselves to death in protest against the loss of their status as ‘political prisoners'. As ever, this book pulls no punches in its absolute detestation of both Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries. This book continues Ken Wharton's epic journey through the Troubles in Northern Ireland, viewed primarily through the eyes of the British Army squaddies on the ground.

Drawing on critical race theory and empirical data from case studies involving fifty men of African descent, this book presents a new perspective on black masculinity, maleness, sexism, and institutional racism. The book situates black masculinity in a racial, socio-historical, and postcolonial context to provide innovative ways of understanding the profound effects of institutional racism. Although its focus is primarily on people of African descent, the book addresses issues concerning all races and ethnicities, explores the harmful effects of sexism and homophobia on women and queer people, and proposes practical steps that can be taken to fight against socio-economic inequality and injustice that is racially-, gender-, and sexually-based. Given the practical nature and interdisciplinary dimension of this book, readers and educators studying race, racism, sexism, and gender issues will find it germane to their needs and their classes.

In The Agony of Shopping and Other Plays, Vince takes us on a roller coaster ride of the soul where flashes of light, nobility, and hope are intermingled with shadows of decadence, greed, and despair.