Tonight's title is a play on words. On Thursday, August 28 the MFA in Writing program at Pratt Institute is throwing a kickoff reading and party called Now Before and After is Not Enough, the words boldly falling across the huge poster-flyers. It sounds relevant to activism and art. All that is not narrow spills over into the category(ies) of activism and art.
I have returned from a summer of rest and reflection in the Catskills to a hectic city with pressing academic, economic and family concerns. School starts this week, I need to find a job, I need to get on top of all my Raw Fiction administrative tasks and I lost two uncles in the first two weeks of this month.
Two brothers who couldn't have been more different. The artist and the activist. The actor and the macho. The model and the revolutionary. This year I will be running Raw Fiction in memory of my father's brothers with an understanding that being black and gay or black and militant during the Civil Rights Era were equally radical lifestyles that opened doors allowing my out queerness and disabling censure and censors around my voice.
As I enter a second round of Raw Fiction I am thinking about art as activism and activism as art.
I am also thinking about losses. The loss of field trips, the loss of individual mentorships, and the skimmed-down schedule.
And then I must think about gains. This year I have the chance to focus on curriculum while engaging in coursework theorizing radical pedagogies.
The first group of youth helped me establish the image of Raw Fiction. They told me what they valued most about the concept and they also designed the logo and website and created the first publication.
This year I want to focus on youth concerns - and obviously it will be a limited opinion poll as I'm recruiting four youth. But these four young New Yorkers will help me identify and establish Raw Fiction's community concerns, as will my Pratt cohort and professors.
To Do
Recruitment and confirmation of space
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