Dear readers...
Dear Personally Political readers,
Recently, on the first day of my last semester of college, one of my professors asked the students in his class to “try not to take things personally.” He said this nonchalantly as he established the rules and procedures for the course. I found myself taken aback: How could we not take things personally?
I thought about sending this professor a link to this newsletter to show him just how important it is to take things personally. But then I started to consider his words a bit more. You see, I happen to take everything personally. It is both a gift and a curse. I am grateful that my personal beliefs guide my politics. But I’m starting to realize that I need to be particularly careful about the things I choose to “take personally.” Part of growing up is recognizing the voices of your allies from the voices of your foes. Never take the words of the latter personally. As I came to this realization during my two and a half hour zoom class, I knew I needed to share this new nugget of wisdom with my readers.
I also need to share some personal news with you all. This year I will finish my college career and set forth into the “real world.” Things are getting very busy and I need to take some time away from writing to focus on it all. Consequently, Personally Political will be taking a hiatus for the time being. I am grateful for the lessons that writing this newsletter has taught me. It has been a joy creating weekly posts and writing about issues that are important to me. My time at Juice Media has been incredibly fulfilling and I am thankful for the relationships that have been born from it. I encourage each of you to read and subscribe to the other amazing newsletters from Juice: Incoming!, Popcorn Ceiling, and Politically Invisible Asian. And keep an eye out for new content by following Juice on social media.
I am especially grateful to each of you for reading and engaging with my work. I know that the next chapter of Personally Political will be bright. I will leave you with this quote from activist, scholar, and hero Angela Davis:
“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”
― Angela Davis
With love,
Victoria