Facing the Moment

Our next number will tackle the trauma and truth of January 6

Dear readers,

Our nation has been through something. We are still going through something. The times are uncertain, but so much feels dark. The armed insurrection that overran the U.S. Capitol, left at least five people dead, and imperiled every member of Congress (not to mention the Vice President and the Congressional leaders in line of succession to the presidency) has left so many of us in silent mourning or sputtering incoherent rage.

I admire unreservedly the writers who are able to immediately and intelligently respond to current events, often as they are still unfolding, with insight and clarity and the terrible beauty of truth.

Alas, I am not that kind of writer. I learned that in 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck. I should have been checking in with my editors at the Daily or reporting to the news producers at KZSU to get an assignment or file a story. Instead, I drifted in shock, unmoored, for days. I can’t cover breaking news. Breaking news covers me.

That’s why I’m so grateful for the writers who are stepping up to contribute to our next issue. We will have a few pieces that address the recent assault on our liberal democratic republic, offering helpful context and profoundly important personal perspectives.

Putting words on paper is an act of faith. We write in the present for some future reader, whether that future is five minutes or five decades away. For now, I must put words in my journal and cry my barbaric yawp on Twitter. That’s all I can manage. But I can keep the faith by bringing others’ work before your eyes, as we constitute a community of writers and readers who hope for a future we cannot yet see.

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In solidarity,

Lora Burnett