May 4, 2021

Title: MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Constructor: Erik Agard

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

LABOR UNION (18A: Group that might organize a work stoppage)

DRIVING UP (33A: Making higher, like a price)

LIFE UPDATE (54A: Bit of personal news)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each theme answer can precede the word FORCE to form a new phrase: LABOR FORCE, DRIVING FORCE, LIFE FORCE. The second word of each theme answer begins with the word U (sounds like YOU), giving us a FORCE WITH U.

Things I learned:

• LOU (16A: Fannie ___ Hamer) Fannie LOU Hamer was the co-founder of the Freedom Democratic Party, a political party created in 1964 to challenge the established power of the Mississippi Democratic Party. At the time, the Mississippi Democratic Party did not allow Black people (who made up 40% of the state's population) to participate. In 1971, Fannie LOU Hamer was one of the co-founders of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), an organization which describes itself as "a national, pro-choice, multi-partisan, grassroots membership organization dedicated to identifying, recruiting, training and supporting women candidates for elected and appointed office."
• OMAR (60A: "In the Balance of Power" author ___ H. Ali) OMAR H. Ali is a Professor of Comparative African Diaspora at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. His research focuses on ways Africans and people of African descent have exercised power from early modern periods to the present. His book, In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third-Party Movements in the United States was originally published in 2008. A new addition was published in 2020, with additional material addressing recent events and presidencies. 
• REST (63A: The Nap Ministry focus) The Nap Ministry was founded in 2016 by Tricia Hersey, who refers to herself as the Nap Bishop. The organization is based on a "REST is Resistance," framework, and believes sleep deprivation is a social justice issue, and REST is a radical tool for community healing. A New York Times article last year quoted Tricia Hersey, "REST is a great thing. REST is resistance, it's reparations." Appropriately, according to their website, the organization has been on sabbatical for the last two months. This is interesting, and I enjoyed learning about this!
• SHEA (4D: Singer Diamond) SHEA Diamond's song, "I Am America," is the theme song for We're Here, a reality TV series featuring a trio of drag queens traveling across the United States and performing in small towns. 
• SWANN (48D: William Dorsey ___) William Dorsey SWANN, born into slavery around 1858, is considered to be the first person to self-describe as a "queen of drag." SWANN, known as "the Queen," reigned over drag balls (held in secret) during the 1880s in Washington D.C. Historical researcher, Joseph Channing, is writing a biography about SWANN to be published this year. The book is titled House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PURSE (5A: Aretha Franklin always carried hers on stage) This is a fun piece of trivia that I was not aware of. A 2016 New Yorker article about Aretha Franklin explained that the singer was always paid for performing up front, in cash. The money then went into her PURSE, which went with her on stage. I recommend reading the article; it's an interesting in-depth portrait of Franklin. If you do read the article, you'll probably also want to watch Aretha Franklin's performance of Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. I highly recommend that as well. 
• UH OH (13A: "That sounds potentially terrible!") and OH NO (57D: "That's terrible!") The progression from potentially terrible to definitely terrible in the span of one puzzle was amusing.
• VII (28A: This clue's number divided by IV) Anyone one else confidently type in SEVEN before realizing it wouldn't fit and figuring out the answer would be in Roman numerals? Just me?
• DOODLED (11D: Drew idly) Do you DOODLE? I have DOODLED while talking on the phone, when attending conferences (in person pre-pandemic or virtual), and sometimes just as a meditative practice. The good news is that research suggests there are cognitive benefits to doodling. 
• JINGLE DRESS (25D: Sacred garment for a healing dance) We've seen JINGLE DRESS as an answer before, and I wrote about it then. 

Geography review:

• OHIOAN (2D: Buckeye State resident) Ohio is known as the "Buckeye State" because of its Ohio buckeye trees. The trees produce inedible nut-like seeds that are brown with a whitish spot or "eye." Buckeyes remind me of my dad, who was, and always will be, my favorite OHIOAN.
• SAO (8D: ___ Tome and Principe) SÃO Tomé and Príncipe is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea off of the western coast of Africa. Its capital is SÃO Tomé.
• DUBAI (15D: UAE city) DUBAI is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

On this Star Wars Day, it made me smile to see the title of this puzzle. I usually celebrate Star Wars Day to the extent of saying, "May the Fourth be with you," but I have friends who celebrate it every year by rewatching all of the movies. I fully support celebrating whatever holidays bring you joy. This puzzle definitely brought me joy. In addition to the theme answers, I especially enjoyed SCRUFFY, PILLOW FIGHT, JINGLE DRESS, DOODLED, and TEACH ME. Speaking of TEACH ME, I learned many interesting things today. This puzzle was a delightful way to start my Tuesday. May the Fourth be with you, my friends.