WORDS
4/02/2021
Today we stand at a striking precipice. We are perched between the woeful remembering (carefree convenings, hugs/kisses, crowded spaces, seeing full-face grins) and the hopeful vision of a leap back into civilization. It’s as though the world is inviting us to put our despair aside -- daring us to feel hope again.
No doubt we have lived through a tumultuous time. Though we are not yet fully on the other side of all of this, whatever the other side means, there is a collective revelation. A knowledge that what could have broken us didn’t, what was meant to suppress us, failed in that pursuit. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, the rise in attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and a global pandemic – we have certainly been tested. Through all these tragedies and challenges, our response has undoubtedly been anger, but even more profoundly, action.
Ours were not voices to be buried; we were seeds to be sown.
After nearly a year of publishing Uprising, we looked back at our coverage of the makers and the movements, all of whom had this heavy social reckoning in their backdrop. It did not stop them. The work continues. The creating continues. Theirs were not voices that were buried; they were seeds that were sown. And the harvest time is now.
So it’s befitting that for the 2nd quarter of 2021, our focus in UpRising will be on those creating new paradigms. Seeing the world in a new view. Blooming even now in the face of darkness, we welcome, celebrate and uplift this great Spring bloom that is literally and metaphorically upon us. In this volume, you can expect conversations, art, and spotlights from and around the people and places that have been planted and now, are gloriously bearing fruit. This issue of UpRising poses the questions – what does it mean to be planted? Where do we find our strength, purpose and power -- even through our pain? At the same time, this issue of UpRising will be filled with color and celebration of the cultural marvel that is us.
We are thrilled to continue on this journey with you as we discover how we have created our own splendid new beginnings. May this beautiful bloom never end.
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