This qualifies it as one of the very earliest American phrases. According to an article and podcast on NPR by Theodore R. Johnson, II, published in 2014, "Browne simply used the well-known melody of the early 19th-century song "Turkey in the Straw," which dates to the even older and traditional British song "The (Old) Rose Tree." It's safe to say that as classic as "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" is, the centuries-old nursery rhyme no doubt has a haunted past and not so kid-friendly origins. Shaftel explains that we usually attach a disclaimer to Bach and explain how his art was a product of his time. Notes *The actual word is pinge, stressed on the first syllable, it means big, fat. Ha!" If he hollers let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. There's an idea that it comes from slave selection or a description of whatwhite slave owners would do if they caught a runaway slave. Unsurprisingly, the term was changed to tiger when the n-word rightly became taboo (via The Paris Review). Women. Until the late 1980s, it was used more . Posted on October 29, 2014 - By Meg Butler. Historically, the notion was birthed after a brief period of relatively open voting, with the goal of enfranchising poor White people, while simultaneously stripping Black people of their rights. The original lyrics were "Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, Catch a (n-word) by the toe, if he hollers let him go Eenie Meenie Miney Moe." Please reach out to info@realitysandwich.com with any additions or corrections. Well so did lots of other parents, with one mother telling The Herald Sun, What ignorance. Put that on the set, tat' it on my neck, like. I shut my eyes to hold my brefSusanna, dont you cry. Vis, vos, vay. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo and the ambiguous history of counting-out rhymes. In 1952, the Oxford dictionary listed the term uppity (N-word) with this definition: Above oneself, self-important, jumped up, haughty, pert, putting on airs. While there is race-neutral usage spanning the dictionarys history, this seems like a word we can live without. This image of Blackness began to change after the American Civil War. These songs are part of a racist history our nation's history. These depictions of Blackness reflected white Americas desire to control the Black body and mind, creating a notion that enslavement was the only possible condition in society for Black people. Although it seems weird that a similar rhyme would emerge all over the world, researchers believe that it could have simply resulted from different children learning which sounds go well together. Another possible origin is from a Swahili poem brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans: Iino ya mmiini maiini mo. Of all of the phrases and idioms in the English language 'eeny, meenie, miny, mo' must be the one with the widest variety of spellings. Improve your knowledge with fun and interesting facts, trivia, history, viral content and brain teasers at DidYouKnowFacts.com. Doo-dah day!". Ting, tay, tong, These classic kids' books are actually a bit disturbing. If he hollers, let him go. The character of this song is an African American slave who is depicted as dumb and nave. Peasants knew the system for centuries as Yan tan tethera. Rhythmically, the score divides into fives (think number of fingers per hand), with a pronounced lilt and an emphasis on rhyming pairs. This, though the early 2000s, even, says Dr. Nel. There are considerable variations in the lyrics of the rhyme, including from the early twentieth century in the United States of America: During the Second World War, an AP dispatch from Atlanta, Georgia reported: "Atlanta children were heard reciting this wartime rhyme: A distinct version of the rhyme in the United Kingdom, collected in the 1950s & 1960s, is: There are many scenes in books, films, plays, cartoons and video games in which a variant of "Eeny meeny " is used by a character who is making a choice, either for serious or comic effect. Years later, in 1982, linguist Derek Bickerton proposed a theory that Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe was actually a distorted version of an African phrase. It was actually a part of a 2004 lawsuit against Southwest. Menjadi singel pertama dari album studio ketiga Sean bertajuk Back 2 Life yang dirilis pada 23 Maret 2010.. Baca juga: Lirik dan Chord Lagu The Way I Am - Charlie Puth Berikut lirik dan chord lagu "Eenie Meenie" dari Sean Kingston feat Justin Bieber: Black people in the United States were enslaved prior to the 1860s. . Some versions use a racial epithet, which has made the rhyme controversial at times. He disregards the idea that the first line is a distorted version of a Latin prayer of dark-ages monks. Premiere: Debuting The Differences, Quite Or Quiet? Some believe Georgie Porgy was actually George Villiers, the 1st Duke of Buckingham. The 15th Amendment, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting, was ratified by the states in 1870. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. To pick the very best one. Ene mene miste Eeny meeny miney mo. Israeli/British. Again, this is in no way a defense of those songs, a defense for keeping their original lyrics or absolving the audience members from their consumption of racist material. , wipe his bum: Eeny meeny miny mo." Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.28.150.22 (talk) 11:20, 23 February 2013 (UTC . Catch a Tiger by the Toe." Once the viewers at home guessed the puzzle, they were disturbed by what they discovered. With me you're winning, girl, you don't have to roll the dice. However, the song is much older than its release date. Advertisement. Many poor southern White people were not able to meet such expectations, so seven states passed laws that made men eligible to vote if they had been granted the right to vote before 1867 or were lineal descendants of voters back then. The diverse origins of the first line Eenie, meenie, miney, moeare plausible but contested. Premier Vs. It was sung when kids played tag and other similar games and chose a participant's position in the game, or even when parents were putting babies to bed while playing with their toes. Please enter a valid email and try again. Chinese counting bears no relationship to actual Chinese counting. Good Luck! F. B. Haviland Publishing Co (1906). These were, Bolton adds, the most favorite versions with American children and found in almost every state. It was accompanied by images of big-lipped, black-faced African Americans. Wheel of Fortune viewers stormed Twitter to mention the puzzle has a racist past. It is one of a large group of similar rhymes in which the child who is pointed to by the chanter on the last syllable is chosen. However, whenever I think about where the song comes from, it makes me upset and uncomfortable. Doo-dah!/ I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- Oh! or "Daniel Boone was a man, he was a big man, but the bear was bigger so he ran like a nigger up a tree". But these songs, can teach us about our past. The Dark Origins Of The Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo Nursery Rhyme. My story begins a few days ago while playing tag with my kids. shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova : ", The black plaintiffs in that case sued the airline for discrimination because a flight attendant had used the rhyme while urging them to take their seats. Check it out: England: And once we start listening, we can hear yan, tan, tethera on beyond counting-out rhymes. Prior to the popular variation used today that involves catching tigers, a common American variant of the rhyme used a racist slur against Black people instead of the word tiger. . Give over for God's sake stop this nonsense. This, however, is a recent revision. Children often utilize this rhyme to determine whos it, especially during a game of Hiden Seek. These statutes, implemented in the 1890s and early 1900s, were called grandfather clauses.. A new intersectional publication, geared towards voices, values, and identities! "It's become clear to scholars that blackface/ minstrels were really the North's only exposure for what was going in the South," Shaftel says, explaining that while these shows were racist and terrible, they were trying to portray some semblance of reality of what life was like in the South. The origin of this nursery rhyme. It was written by Stephen Foster (Camptown Races, Swanee River,) in the 19th century, and was originally sung in a slave dialect. Words vary from region to region, but the score goes something like this: Yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp,Sethera, lethera, hothera, dovera, dick,Yan-dick, tan-dick, tether-dick, mether-dick, bumfit,Yan-a-bumfit, tan-a-bumfit, tethera bumfit, pethera bumfit, gigert. And several folklorists have proposed various etymologies based on the content of some versions of Eeny Meeny, trying to derive significance from some variation of the gibberish. Eena, meena, ming, mong, And I didn't know the proper name for a Brazil Nut until I was in my 20s (that was embarrassing). Terribly, -itis originally was used as a suffix to the N-word, alluding to a stereotype of laziness. The Major Facts About The Month of Ramadan. This one, which includes the 'toe' and 'olla' from Kipling's version, is one of many variants of "counting out rhymes" collected by Bolton in 1888:[7]. What is known is that countless variations of the nursery rhyme exist. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" (sometimes written as "moe") has been chanted and beloved by children on playgrounds for centuries. Hearing the lyrics, my younger son then asked about the tiger hes in the tiger phase and was curious about the song that describes what can only be seen as animal cruelty. This can be due to what The Paris Review refers to as Hobson-Jobson, when words that have the same sound are translated to fit the linguistics of the native speaker's language. Doo-dah day!". When it comes to these songs, Shaftel explains that children should be taught the modified versions because they can't grasp the nuances of race just yet and don't have multiple levels of understanding. "Ol' massa's gone and I'll let him rest/They say all things are for the best/ But I'll never forget 'til the day I die". Eeny, meeny, miny, moCatch a tiger by the toeIf he hollers, let him goEeny meeny miny mo. "Mammy" was later replace by mama and "nigger"and "darkie" were replaced with children. Harry stole the melody from a song called "Turkey in the straw." Your email address will not be published. My family goes to the store to get ice cream now. (one version of several; they also chant the US variation above), France: The category was "Rhyme Time," and the answer was later revealed as "EENIE MEENIE MINY MOE CATCH A TIGER BY THE TOE," which didn't sit well with viewers. . But, some folklorists propose it goes back much further, suggesting that counting-out rhymes like Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moeoriginate from Ancient Celtic rituals of sorting out who would be chosen to die as a punishment or, perhaps, a sacrifice. I was raised during the peak of the War on Drugs, and the message that controlled substances were wrong and harmful was effectively drilled into my head. The tune was brought to America's colonies by Scots-Irish immigrants who settled along the Appalachian Trail and added lyrics that mirrored their new lifestyle.". [31] The uncensored word was restored for the Criterion Collection edition of the film. It has French and Italian origins, meaning clown or jester. I'm not tryin' to rewind, wind, wind, wind, wind, wind (oh yeah) I wish our hearts could come together as one. Taken from wikipedia: Some older versions of this rhyme had the word nigger instead of tiger: Eeny, meena, mina, mo, Catch a nigger by the toe; If he hollers let him go, Eena, meena, mina, mo. B. Fitzgibbon, Words and music, "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In 1982, similarly, Derek Bickerton postulated that the rhyme derives from Sa Tomenese, a Creole language spoken by African slaves. This is how to make your kid fall in love with reading. The song can be seen as glorifying and poking fun at slave conditions. Later, they can learn where the songs came from, and that lesson will be an important one. Eenie, meenie mine mo.". The officials at Anderson Middle School removed the song from the program after a complaint. Was? Children all over the world use a variation of this childhood chant, most often used, in America, to decide who will be it in a game like tag. Its not a coincidencetheres actually a pretty interesting explanation! Atlanta Black Star is a narrative company. Susanna", the slave is depicted as too dumb to realize his situation and or grasp the concept of geography that's more of the "slaves as property" portrayal. An unavoidable question arises: what do you do with these songs? Let me show you what you're missin', paradise. Southwest, on the other hand, said the flight attendant had no . Why do so many fairy tales contain a hero named Jack? You probably still have some familiar ones rattling around in your head from when you were a child yourself. If he hollers, let him go Eenie Meenie Miney Moe." The shepherds score is pervasive. Biar aku tunjukkan apa yang kau rindukan, surga. Powwows have long been culturally significant social gatherings for ceremonial and celebratory purposes, conducted under strict protocols. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. This offensive variation was widely used until around the 1950s when kid-friendly variations that instead use words like tiger, tinker, and piggy became commonplace. Please verify that you are over 18 years of age below. If it doesnt seem to make sense, even in the gibberish Eeny Meeny world, that youd grab a carnivorous cats toe and expect the tiger to do the hollering, remember that in both England and America, children until recently said Catch a nigger by the toe. The nigger-to-tiger shift is one of the rare instances where changes in the rhyme happen in such an explicit and pointed fashion. de do ping = de dos pinges = of two big ones) or just used a meaningless phrase made up to give a similar effect as the original Spanish (i.e. Critical race theory (CRT) is one such phrase that has become a calling card for misinformation, led largely by far-right conservatives on social media and other platforms. The racial term that seems to be present predated slavery and originally meant the "black one" or the Devil. When choosing a slave to buy (hence eenie meenie) they would pinch their toes. Pastor, lone, bone, strei, Gyp or Gip is a term commonly used to refer to being cheated or ripped off. This is likely a shortened version of gypsymore accurately known as the Romani, an ethnic group now mostly living in Europe and the Americas. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. But they don't seem to be racist at first glance. In this part of the song the slave mourns for him. . Ha! There is some offensive language below. Eeny meeny miney mo - the meaning and origin of this phrase. For centuries, this has been a popular method to make a hard choice for both children and adults all over the world. Some etymological research suggests the word Eskimo comes from Algonquin, ashkimeq, which literally means eaters of raw meat, while other research suggests it could mean snowshoe-netter. Regardless of its origins, it trivializes the existence and culture of entire groups of people by referring to their perceived behaviors. "Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. In 2004, two African-American sisters sued Southwest Airlines for discrimination on the basis of the nursery rhyme. This nursery rhyme has been taught to many children to help them learn how to count. "Eenie meenie miny mo" es una cancin popular cantada por nios, generalmente utilizada para un conteo o cuando se quiere elegir algo al azar. Google Pay. Eeny meeny miny mo. Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lover, ooh. It is very hard to establish the exact origin of the song as it has so many accepted forms, in different languages and countries. The original "Catch a nigger by the toe . The current earliest citation comes from W.F. Is it my responsibility to foul the sweet taste of ice cream with their first taste of racism?". The words make it sound kid-friendly song evolved many times. Wer? The meaning: The meaning of this rhyme is rooted in the slave trade. If they squeal make them squeal some more. Adrienne Raphel is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and is currently a Ph.D. student at Harvard, where she writes about poetics and plays word games. ", When it comes to these songs, Shaftel explains that children should be taught the modified versions because they can't grasp the nuances of race just yet and don't have multiple levels of understanding. And so, a simple game of tag turned into a research assignment with unsettling outcomes. The song's melody, it turns out, was popularized in antebellum minstrel shows where the lyrics "parodied a free black man attempting to conform to white high society by dressing in fine clothes and using big words." And you are [not] it. [10] . While the song has been modified regionally over time, the common modernized version goes: Eenie, meenie, miney, moe.Catch a tiger by its toe.If it hollers let it go.Eenie, meenie, miney, moe . But where did eeny meeny come from? Players: 3 Girls Age: 9-11. When I moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1969 and subsequently heard the "eenie meenie miney mo" rhyme chanted by other people, that rhyme was always given as "Catch a tiger by a toe". Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe. Out goes the lady. ine mina mana mu meaning my sisters children in Sa Tomenese sounds very similar to the first line in the childrens rhyme. Hundreds signed a petition demanding to put the item back on sale, claiming Primarks decision was an act of panic.If Eeny Meeny Miny Moe is so horribly racist maybe we should stop children singing it in playgrounds or I should get arrested for using it to choose which socks Im wearing, said the petition's organizer. When the reach of racism robs me of fond memories from my childhood, it feels intensely personal again. Related Chasing Games. But What Will People Say?: Mom & trauma survivor says taking psychedelics was the right choice, In Pursuit of Safer Highs: Harm Reduction with DanceSafes Rachel Clark. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Catch a tiger by the toe If he hollers let him go! The rhyme morphs constantly, but usually ad hoc, and each kickball court has its own particular flavor based more on random chance; one childs popular improvisation might catch on and change the rhyme in a certain region for decades. Eeny meeny miny mo is one of those rhymes thats ingrained in our cultural limbic systemonce we hear the first two syllables, the rest unspools whether we want it to or not. Sayangku suka memilih-milih kekasih. Its up to us all to break the cycle. [10] Would you sing any of these nursery rhymes to your children? What's the origin of the phrase 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo'? During a recent episode of ABC's hit game show, a puzzle with a racist history in the United States was presented as one for contestants to solve. The lyrics of the song include one about the ole massa gone away, and have been terrorizing Black children for centuries. The poem has many versions used in different regions, but the roots consistently make clear references to slavery and discrimination of Black people. In 2017, fashion giant Primark removed a shirt that captured a famous scene from the hit TV show The Walking dead. Did we miss any tunes that need to be nixed? Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lover. The one word in the classic nursery rhyme that has child care centres concerned. Catch a tiger by the toe. Eeny Meeny Miny Moe by the Dutch group Luv in 1979 "Eenie Meenie" by Jeffrey Osborne on self-titled 1982 album. A more sensible site suggests the orginial was "niger" and therefore not racist. Many variations of Eeny Meeny have cropped up through mishearing, the way a game of Telephone or Chinese Whispers retains the sound of the original but mangles the sense. Kling klang, During the Vaudeville era (1880s1930s), the peanut gallery was the section cheapest to sit in and furthest from the stage; the only option for Black and poor attendees. We sang the lyrics" Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, Catch a Tiger by the toe. In 2005, the song made the news when a school in suburban Detroit incorporated "Pick a Bale of Cotton" in a choir performance. While we are in a globally active state of unlearning and relearning, retiring these oppressive phrases is a step towards a brighter, more inclusive future. The alternate version is "Catch a negro by his toe/ If he hollers make him pay/Twenty dollars every day." The category during that segment was "Rhyme Time." Une, mine, mane, mo,Une, fine, fane, fo,Maticaire et matico,Mets la main derrire ton dos. Here is a cartoon version of the fu. If she holler (if, if, if she holler) let her go. Songs. The version they were singing had origins in the American slave trade and had been sanitized over the years what was the "n-word" or "n*gro" at some point . Wo? intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, "eeny-meeny-miney-mo - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com", "Childhood nursery rhymes and other 'classic' songs you probably never knew were racist", "Missing text can contain the true message", "Jeremy Clarkson: I didn't mean to use N-word video| News | The Week UK", "Jeremy Clarkson 'begs forgiveness' over N-word footage | Media", "Primark pulls "shocking" and "racist" Walking Dead t-shirt from stores after Sheffield man's angry complaint", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe&oldid=1152648169, A jocular use of a form of the rhyme by a, This page was last edited on 1 May 2023, at 13:57. Bach's St. John Passion, for instance, is set to anti-semitic text. And it sounded a little . Ene, tene, mone, mei, The Sa Tomenese phrase ine mina mana mu, meaning "my sister's children," bears a very close phonological resemblance to "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.". The first record of a similar rhyme, called the "Hana, man," is from about 1815, when children in New York City are said to have repeated the rhyme: Henry Carrington Bolton discovered this version to be in the US, Ireland and Scotland in the 1880s but was unknown in England until later in the century. I told him, dont you ever let me catch you in Riverside Ca. 2023 The Paris Review. I jumpd aboard the telegraph and trabbled down de ribber, The lyrics and games I just described seem harmless, right? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Another is that it associates Asians with either poor hygiene or subservience. Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lover. ", "Catch a negro by his toe/ If he hollers make him pay/Twenty dollars every day. By 1880, Mark Twain had entirely disassociated the word from Indigenous Peoples culture in A Tramp Abroad: She was on the war path all the evening., Merriam Webster defines Indian giver, accurately labeled dated & offensive, as a person who gives something to another and then takes it back or expects an equivalent in return. According to Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., There are opposing schools of thought about the origin of this derogatory phrase.. In other online discussions, I found a theory that this line refers to a common way for slave traders to examine a prospect slave. What Do Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, And Lent Mean? Prior to the popular variation used today that involves catching tigers, a common American variant of the rhyme used a racist slur against Black people instead of the word. Long time no see you.. Diss me in a song, niggas getting clapped. Like, there goes Sheff G". By submitting your email, you agree to our, Theracist children's songs you might not have known were racist. In these scores, the rhythm and ritual of the whole are more significant than the meaning of each individual component. Dirty knees could indicate a need to wash, but they also suggest that the person kneels a lot.. MadameNoire Featured Video. Irel pirel to easel diesel is easy to figure out: When you say a set of phrases over and over, the ends and beginnings blend into each other, as when Work it work it work it work it becomes twerk. So Scottish kids in the fifties, used to hearing diesel elsewhere, heard it for pirel here. Eenie meenie meenie, miney moe Miney moe, catch a whippersnapper by the toe And if he, if he hollers hollers, let him go Singing eenie meenie meenie, miney moe. First appearing in Oswald Rabbit cartoons, then in their own series. If he hollers, let him go. And Id be remiss in omitting One potato, two potato, three potato, four / Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more, which flirts with replacing eeny meeny as the counting-out gold standard in the United States. think HARD! The words:"Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. In other words, children are encouraged to pick any coloured sheep they like. Buffoonery is often associated with amusing but undignified behavior. The songs meant something at the time they were created, and they have a different, and important meaning to our lives now: remembering a past that we should never forget. When deciding who to "do" first, Zed uses the classic childhood "eenie, meenie, miney, moe" rhyme, substituting the word "nigger" in for "tiger.". Uppity meaning: arrogant, or haughty, first used in the 1880s via Uncle Remus storiesa series of songs and folk tales written in slave dialect. " Eeny, meeny, miny, moe " tag . "Do I empower them with the history of our country, or encourage the youthful exuberance induced by the ice cream truck? It could be a historical reference to the US government breaking land treaties with Native Americans. Eenie Meenie, Miney, Mo (Early 19th Century) The Rhyme: "Eenie meenie, minie mo, Catch a n*gger by the toe. incremental changes in cultural representations. Subject: Men. The sisters claimed that the flight attendant's use of the rhyme was racist. But studying these songs within the proper context suggests the songs represent more than may appear at first listen. "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo" by Danish pop group Toy-Box in 1999 from their first album "Fantastic." "Eenie Meenie" by Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston and Canadian singer Justin Bieber in 2010. (1974). What kind of music are we preserving? The more you know. "Eenie Meenie Miney Moe" is a song that the kids in my elementary school would sing. "De Camptown ladies sing dis song Doo-dah! Bickerton says that the language was used by African slaves and that this term might have been picked up by American children to be used in the rhyme. "Let me Abos go loose, Lou/Let me Abos go loose/Theyre of no further use, Lou/So let me Abos go loose.". The Romani are known for traveling and making their money selling goods. [12] It was used in the chorus of Bert Fitzgibbon's 1906 song "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo": It was also used by Rudyard Kipling in his "A Counting-Out Song", from Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935. The anthropologist Michael Barry, who conducted an exhaustive study of these shepherds scores, failed to find a single instance of anyone who could recall an actual shepherd using the score to count his sheep. Doo-dah!/ I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- Oh! BackSignTiger 04:16, 13 August 2008 (UTC) Reply . Warning: We are talking about racism in this article. Oops. During the wrongful institution of slavery, Black people were depicted as docile and blissfully ignorant. After kissing them and making them cry, he ran to the king for . The vinyl release of Radiohead's album OK Computer (1997) uses the words "eeny meeny miny moe" (rather than letter or numbers) on the labels of Sides A, B, C and D respectively. Popularized in the 19th century, it was often sung by minstrels in blackface using the dialect of enslaved Africans, to boot. And if you have a vested interest in perpetuating the myths, youll want to start corrupting your children young right from the cradle and thats how these rhymes were surely born. The Eeny Meeny Miny Moe shirt with Negans iconic baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire was deemed racist by shoppers and was eventually removed from stock. Think this is political correctness gone mad? Its well known that theres some challenging language in the Gospel of John,". Catch a racist by the toe. In this case, we say the kids had the right idea to go after those tigers toes. Submit a story or become a contributing writer.