Society / February 6, 2026

The Pain and Glory of My Football-Loving Life

A comic about the Eagles, fathers, incarceration, and the holes that sports can’t fill.

Christopher Blackwell and Solomon J. Brager

This comic was written by Christopher Blackwell, an incarcerated journalist and author in Washington State and a cofounder of the nonprofit Look 2 Justice, and illustrated by Solomon J. Brager, a cartoonist and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. It was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a journalism nonprofit.

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

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Christopher Blackwell

Christopher Blackwell is an incarcerated writer in Washington State and a cofounder of the nonprofit Look 2 Justice. He is a contributing writer at Jewish Currents and a contributing editor at The Appeal.

Solomon J. Brager

Solomon J. Brager is a cartoonist and writer living in Brooklyn, New York.

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