Jessica Barratt

Community First, Movement Second: A Short Bio of Harsha Walia

“…the most important feature of powerful social movements, is an affirmation of community.” – From “Young, Brown and Proud: Personal purpose and political activism” by Harsha Walia Connection requires a crossing of boundaries. It requires seeing one thing in another without disturbance of difference: that old mean thing still snipping at the threads we THE PEOPLEContinue reading “Community First, Movement Second: A Short Bio of Harsha Walia”

A Giving Voice: Short Biography of Deanna Reder

A Giving Voice (n): A person who hands themselves over in the service of revealing truth; who gives even their voice in making sure the untold is spoken. — Here in Canada, many still shy away from the basic truth of our colonial history: that European settlers erased the voices of entire populations already living here, stifling theContinue reading “A Giving Voice: Short Biography of Deanna Reder”

Still Learning: Confronting Myself on ‘Naming the Unnamed’ Within

Sometimes, when something hurts me, it takes a while for me to feel it. I’m the kind that won’t even realize I’d been so affected until much later, years after, and at random. Sometimes, what I’ve suppressed never comes to light at all. Usually this is because, “I don’t know where to put it.” SlowContinue reading “Still Learning: Confronting Myself on ‘Naming the Unnamed’ Within”

Clasping Hands with the “Women Who Named the Unnamed”

May I ask you a question, imagined reader? Who do you think of – who pops into your mind first – when you imagine a woman in your life who has ‘named the unnamed’? Who has stood up in the face of being told to stay quiet only to say simply, I won’t? When asking myselfContinue reading “Clasping Hands with the “Women Who Named the Unnamed””

Reversal

Slowly, to consciousness, come and find your face crushed on pavement viscous. Dirt falling from eyelashes, blinking it away, gradually bringing your mind around. On a long-stretch of road, nose full of tar, all movement meagre, your energy’s long fallen from bones. Use your dwindling strength to bring back what happened. Raise hand to foreheadContinue reading “Reversal”