Since I seem to have become nettime's informal obituary writer, I'll
pass on the news that Art McGee passed away. Art was an early nettimer,
not a major presence, and not since 2003 I think, but he was one of the
few — too few — who've brought race-oriented perspectives to the
list, both explicitly and indirectly. I have a vague sense that he put a
lot of energy into building African-Americans presences online in the
early days of the public net.
Corey Robin posted the following to Facebook:
I've just read on various people's pages that Art McGee has died. Many
of you who are friends or followers of this page may not know Art. I
can't say I knew him well. Not in real life. But we'd been FB friends
for years. And I have to say, within those very real constraints of
knowing someone only online, I loved the guy. We didn't have much
politically in common. Our differences, at any rate, always seemed
magnified by our engagements. He'd appear on a thread of mine,
challenging me in the most direct and blunt terms, particularly on
questions of race. He'd piss me off, and I'd respond in kind. It never
seemed to ruffle him much; he'd obviously dealt with far more
formidable opponents in his time. Which is why, I guess, I kept coming
back to him. He knew his shit. He pulled not a single punch. But there
was never anything in his voice but the integrity and passion of his
beliefs. He was old-school. We did share a love of The Drifters, which
I remember discussing with him on a late-night thread. And when it
came to power and politics, he was an absolute realist, which I always
appreciated; there was just no nonsense or bullshit in his vision. And
I loved lurking on his page and reading his posts. He knew so much
about black politics and culture, and about the left, that I didn't
and still don't know. His knowledge was encyclopedic, his range
catholic. He gave me an education I didn't know I needed. I don't say
this lightly: I'm going to miss him. May his memory be a blessing.
https://www.facebook.com/corey.robin1/posts/1821608354571544
Some of Art's postings are here:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22art+mcgee%22+site%3Anettime.org&ia=web
The Google search embedded on nettime.org turns up more results.
Maybe people who knew him a bit better can say more.
Ted
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