The Scratching That Itch series is where I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.
Has it already been four years since I started the Scratching That Itch series? How time flies. Last year, I was cautiously optimistic about the long struggle for racial justice, even though there wasn’t much solid evidence of progress I could point to. At the time, Donald Trump — a man who openly solicits support from racist hate groups — was facing prosecution for his role in the January 6, 2021 attempted insurrection in Washington, D.C., alongside many other criminal charges. A mere few weeks ago, the first of those verdicts finally arrived: Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts for falsified business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election (specifically, by paying hush money to adult-film star Stormy Daniels so she would not go public about an affair with Trump). This verdict will not prevent Trump from running for president again later this year. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (which includes three justices nominated by Trump) continues to erode hard-fought abortion rights and rights for LGBTQ people. Overall progress towards racial and social justice in America remains poor.
Of course, the biggest events this last year happened outside the United States. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ongoing, even though it’s largely disappeared from headlines. What has been in the headlines is Israel’s invasion of Palestine, which appears to be nothing short of genocide. America is supporting and arming Israeli forces in this conflict, and Americans who protested this aid were met with violence from police, including a particularly vicious crackdown on college campuses around the country. Games have been less of a respite from such grim news lately, with the industry rocked with mass layoffs, and many wondering if it’s about to collapse. Meanwhile, journalism outlets are suffering a similar fate, as executives buy them and push for AI-generated content to maximize revenue that destroys the very thing they purchased. These may seem like small concerns in the face of genocide and racial injustice, but the cause is the same: the rich and powerful exploiting the rest — be they laborers, minorities, or entire ethnic groups — and enshrining that exploitation in a capitalist system that perpetuates itself, enforced with violence. The one consolation I’ve felt recently is that this truth is becoming more obvious to everyone, which is the first step towards dismantling these unjust systems. But those in power won’t go down without a fight.
I also randomly picked and wrote about 25 games or game-related things from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. That’s a slower pace than last year, which was already slower than the first two years, but that’s partly because I had a ton of travel and other things going on this year, and partly because many of the entries this year were surprisingly hefty. That brings our total over four years to 188, more than 10% of the whole bundle! I’ve highlighted some of my favorite picks from year four below.
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