#BlackLivesMatter: A Note to Our Readers

June 5, 2020

Dear readers,

At Brink Literacy Project, the parent nonprofit of F(r)iction, a crucial part of our mission is to use storytelling to empower underserved and underrepresented communities.

If we at Brink are to continue working in the service of this mission, we must renew our commitment to bring awareness to these issues of systematic racism and violence, to the lives lost and the communities impacted.

F(r)iction exists to amplify emerging and underrepresented voices, to publish work from diverse creators on diverse topics, to help us think differently. So as writers, editors, readers, and nonprofit leaders, we must be more than passive observers. We must, and will, be active allies.

We at Brink stand in solidarity with the Black community and protestors across the country. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement.

We condemn the systematic violence and discrimination against the Black community and the silencing of pain and self-expression. We mourn George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Aiyana Jones, Stephon Clark, Tamir Rice, and countless other victims of police violence and brutality.

We believe in the power of stories to create change, to increase empathy, to reimagine and inspire a just society. But we must pair this with action, with demands for meaningful change, and by committing ourselves to do better and be part of creating a better world.

In order to ensure that Black voices are amplified and heard, we are suspending all of our company-related social media activity. We will only post and share content and resources that recognize Black writers and readers, honor the memory of those who have lost their lives, and support protests and organizations working for racial justice.

Internally too, we must continue the process of constantly critiquing ourselves. Here and now, we commit to increasing accessibility to our journal and online content for writers and readers who are People of Color, women, observers of minority religions, members of the LGBTQ+ community, disabled, and all marginalized persons.

As part of this, we invite Black writers to send short pitches for editorial articles, essays, and read-alongs to submit@brinklit.org to be considered for publication on F(r)iction Log (more information on submitting to F(r)iction Log here), our editorial blog. Ideas for these articles do not only need to be about Black experiences or social violence—we want to amplify the work and voices of Black writers regardless of topic and will pair writers with members of our editorial team for guidance, support, and publication assistance in developing these posts.

And for those readers who want to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement—whether financially, through protest, through education, or other means—please take a look at Ways You Can Help.

In solidarity,

Helen Maimaris
Managing Editor, F(r)iction
COO, Brink Literacy Project

Dani Hedlund
Editor-in-Chief, F(r)iction
CEO, Brink Literacy Project

We will continue to share resources, articles, and content related to BLM and systemic racism below:

For information about staying safe online while supporting BLM, check out this article on vpnMentor.

You can also learn more about educational curriculum around systemic racism here.