Through MiC, I am constantly in community and in conversation with thinkers and storytellers of my generation. I have learned from and been inspired by the voices around me as we connect our ancestral traumas and joys. We work through stories of our generations past and compare our own concepts of what it means to be revolutionary today. Every piece I am lucky enough to read as an editor reminds me that editing is not changing; it is adapting, growing, learning and gaining never-ending insight into the complex web of passion, emotion and cognizance that makes up the spirit of the writer. I joined MiC to understand my own love of writing — where did my joy through reading and writing come from, what makes my storytelling in text form so uniquely my own. And through my journey this past year, I have experienced the immense power of shared physical and emotional space, reveled in the complexities of merging my creative world with my academic world and grappled with what it means to maintain the integrity of the storyteller through the editing process.
As I navigate the revolution of the present, I recognize that I must be equipped with international stories of the past told by the minority. Each of us has our own path with which we seek to bond our communities in revolutionary love and camaraderie, and for me at MiC, that has been through reading and writing. I’ve begun to engage with abolition reading and theory, and I’ve delved deeply into the Kwame Tures, Mariame Kabas, Assata Shakurs, Fred Hamptons of our past and present. I remain in awe of their resolve and purpose, and they remind me that the revolution is community-led. As I engage with the history of social movements of the past, I maneuver in the present with the utmost respect and admiration for the radical thinkers and organizers who have transcended dimensions of generation, time and locale.
I hope that MiC will inspire an ecology of beings that engage with the boundlessness of reading and find their own paths in the metamorphosis of society.
I open my ears to the sound of revolution.