May Our Votes Write the Story That Will Reinvent Us
We choose the narrative.
I unabashedly proclaim that I am a political writer. I have a mission. I want a sustainable world, a peaceable world, a just world, a world free of oppression.
It’s not just me.
“In some sense I could argue that all art is a form of activism,” Matthew Shenoda said in an interview in the ezine Mosaic: Literary Arts of the Diaspora. “All art is in some manner an intervention in a larger conversation about society and humanity and a present moment.”
However.
As Shenoda pointed out, art can uphold dominant narratives and serve as a kind of “ornamentation” or “anchor” for oppression or destruction.
On the other hand, art can “trouble those narratives” by questioning the world around us. M.K. Asante, author of the memoir Buck, calls this “artivism.”
“Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories have also been used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of the people, but stories can also repair that dignity.”
—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Peter Forbes, who left a corporate environmental job to co-found an eco-justice retreat center in Vermont, the Center for Whole Communities, wrote a piece called “The Circle of Story, Vision, and Leadership.” Forbes examines the power of story. Story, he said, “can be the resistance of our heart against business as usual.”
As William Kittredge wrote in Taking Care, “Useful stories, I think, are radical in that they help us see freshly. That’s what stories are for, to help us see, and reinvent ourselves.”
He said, “We need stories that will drive us to care for one another, all the creatures, stories that will drive us to take action. We need stories that will tell us what kind of action to take.”
The word “power” can represent a dominant narrative. That is power over.
Another kind of power troubles that narrative. That is personal power, which is the ability to make your life go well without infringing on the ability of others to make their lives go well.
Every single paragraph I’ve written is an attempt to shine a spotlight on a better path forward.
During this election cycle, I’ve been listening to two narratives—
power over vs personal power
dominant paradigms vs changed ones
breaking dignity vs repairing dignity
business as usual vs resistance
caring for one another vs caring for oneself
maligning vs humanizing
Today as we tally our votes in this national election, I hope we American people write the radical and useful story that lets us reinvent ourselves.
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Memoir & Essay—Micro | Flash | Short | Tiny | Brief
Nov. 17, 2024
12-3 p.m. Eastern US/Canada Time
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I have scheduled a 3-hour workshop for flash nonfiction (essay and memoir) for Sunday, Nov. 17 from 12-3 pm Eastern US Time. Tuition is $55.
Flash is a potent and highly publishable form that you’ll fall in love with, if you haven’t already. I highly recommend getting good at this form.
Registration is at my website, here.
May it be so!
“the personal is political”is not just a slogan, may those of us who want a just, safe, peaceful, sustainable world never cease from being political writers
Early morning November 6th,
Oppression saddling my heaving heart.
It's natural to fear darkness.
Grasping for a mission.
Write it every day.
Shine light in every way.