Nathaniel Ross Kelly

Writer, Healthcare Worker, & Advocate for Children from Historically Marginalized Communities. Essays in The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald, & Trench Art.

[Asher Perlman @asherperlman]

we must imagine sisyphus happy

[AJ+ @ajplus]

Amal Khalil was a devoted journalist who also rescued animals in southern Lebanon during Israel’s bombing campaign.

Israel killed her.

[Simona Foltyn @SimonaFoltyn]

Killing journalists is a war crime, no matter their political affiliation.

Amal Khalil's killing was a targeted assassination by Israel, full stop. Al-Akhbar's editorial line is irrelevant in this context.

A reminder of international law for those who seem to have forgotten:

https://t.co/twzWVro58T

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

The ever-insightful @Laura_Adamczyk has an essay in @dirtyverse that's both an exploration of the concept of third places & a sweet (but not saccharine) love letter to pool. Check it out! https://t.co/g4IaEordTH

[DepressedBergman @DannyDrinksWine]

Richard Gere explains why "Babette’s Feast" (1987) is one of his favourite movies:

"One of my all-time favorites is 'Babette’s Feast' (1987). It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why. It’s very pure. It’s not tricky at all; the filmmaking is almost invisible. I think for the most part, it feels like there are non-actors in the piece — although I’m sure they’re actors — but it’s not an actor-y piece at all. It’s just beautifully conceived with a really generous heart at its center. It just really moves me, I saw it again last week.

It holds up; it’s the purity and the simplicity of it. And the sentiment of community and excellence. The idea of excellence and generosity as real things. Something, obviously, that’s in danger these days. The idea of truth and excellence and compassion. And kind of a willingness to accept the other. Forgive. So I think it’s a really deep, timeless film."

("Richard Gere’s Five Favorite Films", Kerr Lordygan, Rotten Tomatoes, 2017)

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

An excellent analysis from @ackocher on what ICE isn't disclosing about the latest death of a detained immigrant. 2026 is on track to be the deadliest year for immigrants in ICE custody, with an average of one death every 6.3 days. https://t.co/5n8tsTNxct

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

In times such as these, it's important to celebrate the wins. The Choctaw Nation (@choctawnationOK) just ate ICE's lunch, and if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, then you might be a fascist. https://t.co/gfZ4gze6rD

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

The receipts. A complete timeline of the shifting rhetoric. More: https://t.co/1riZgVgbfO

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

This is an extraordinary essay from @lilsmichelle. My advice? Read it. Wrestle with it. Share it with your racist uncle. Then read it again. https://t.co/Uor0SVNoU3

[✨ Jaia Hamid Bashir ✨ @jaiaarana]

The great lie of the last decade: art is a way to metabolize trauma. As if pain were raw material and the poem a refinery. That flattens art and systemic injustice. I’ve published the poems. I still have all my grief. I watch the world burn.

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

Sam Kahn provides an excruciatingly clear perspective on how the U.S. is currently suffering the worst jurisdictional crisis and the worst constitutional crisis in decades. https://t.co/ifrPXI7COE

[Carla Sarett @cjsarett]

Michael Bazzett, “Tongues” in @ninthletter

But sunlight
is a quiet dialect

[UNICEF @UNICEF]

Hostilities are causing mass displacement and halting of critical health and nutrition services in Jonglei state, South Sudan.

The violence must end and safe humanitarian access must be granted.

Details on UNICEF’s response: https://t.co/wcA4kBUK4H

[Jordan Zakarin @jordanzakarin]

Can't stop staring at the stuffed animals next to the blood-soaked airbag in the car of the innocent woman that ICE murdered today.

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

If you encounter The KC Star's paywall, then try this link instead:
https://t.co/K74lodEWyz

[Nathaniel Ross Kelly @NRKelly]

In my latest opinion piece for the @KCStar, I explore why the dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration has initiated a chain reaction of tragedies that will eventually be felt here in America.
https://t.co/3HIHcVShZK

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Elon Musk says that no one has died because he slashed humanitarian aid. I went to South Sudan to check if that's true. It's not. Within an hour of starting interviews, I had the names of a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl who had died because of decisions by wealthy men in Washington.
The visit that moved me the most was to a remote area that used to have no health care, where women routinely died in childbirth. Then a US-funded maternity clinic opened through @UNFPA in December, and not one woman has died since. I showed up, and people mistakenly thought I was responsible for the clinic. One new mom wanted to name her baby for me, and the village elders thanked me and hailed America's generosity. What they didn't know was that Trump/Musk had cut all funding for UNFPA and that as a result the maternity clinic will close this month, and women will once again be bleeding to death in the dust.
Here's a giftlink to my report from ground level about what the shutdown of USAID means: https://t.co/tbgKk7ESqj

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

I had to confirm for myself that this is actually an official White House statement.

It is.

[The Paris Review @parisreview]

“I think there is a necessity to be still sometimes and let life happen to you, to let your manner of being in the world be changed by what happens to you so that you will have a different self out of which to write.” —Louise Glück https://t.co/7hFbfweMUw