tbyfield on Thu, 12 Jul 2018 22:25:02 +0200 (CEST)


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<nettime> RIP Art McGee


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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