Dear friends,
These are terrible days. There is no way around it. Words don’t capture the horrors of starvation, the cynicism of unjust policy. The terrors and losses of this genocidal war. You could say we’re standing on the edge of an abyss, but the worst is already happening all around us.
There must be a ceasefire now – as a first and urgent step in the process towards a just peace.
We must be part of the movement to make it happen.
But what does it even mean to take action in these times? Many feel powerless. Many are exhausted. For some, resistance is resilience. The physical and emotional reality of this time makes it hard to function. And in this land, there is a vast power imbalance between peoples: not everyone has the ability to donate their resources, to think deeply about the situation, to focus, protest, organize, write.
So for those of us that can, we must find ways to show up – and how. We must find a way to make use of a radical imagination.
Activist and educator Sarah Perle says, “Radical imagination is the ability to imagine our life, the world, and social institutions not as they are but as they could be. It is the courage and the intelligence to recognize that the world can and should be changed.”
All of us who can must radically imagine a ceasefire – and beyond.
What will it feel like? What will we see? What steps will we need to take, after the weapons are down? Ask yourself and others the hard questions. Close your eyes and envision a better world. When you open them, take a look at your life and ask: within my sphere, where can I best show up?
The end of this war, and the journey to collective liberation, is one step closer each time we exercise this imagination and make a decision to show up. Some of us will organize fundraisers; others will donate. Some will hold signs at protests; others will write. Some will cook the meals they can, and hold their people as they cry.
Together, we can all find a place in the push towards liberation.
Remember, too, that it’s a long game; we aren’t in it alone. Doing the work means we support each other in the process, and honor everyone's contribution. It means we show up in community, and take turns to breathe to ensure we don’t break.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out Issue Two of Tent Magazine, which features works we received in our initial open call for submissions. These works are diverse – different in theme, idea, identity and location of the writer. All of them are one contribution to what it means to show up in movement, to ask ourselves the hardest of questions as this catastrophe plows on.
Thank you for being part of this with us, as we work to imagine a ceasefire and platform voices that wouldn’t otherwise find homes in mainstream publications.
At Tent Magazine, we’re aware that our work is not enough to fix starvation, or turn the tides of war. These works are one thing we can offer. Thank you for being part of this with us.
In solidarity,
Tent Mag editors