Last fall, I made my first digital zine. I have made a few minizines before (the kind you make from folding a single piece of paper) and have found it a fantastic exercise (plus they’re cool). I like how the process of collage, of looking for images and fonts and other little bits, can unlock my mind. There’s a kind of relaxation in thinking about what you want to say without thinking so directly and insistently about what you’re going to say. And, it’s kind of like a blog in the sense that it can be a less polished version of writing. These intermediary steps of daring to get my ideas out and see what people think of them, before putting in the work to polish the writing, have been so critical for me in developing a much more regular writing practice.

For this reason, a zine was the perfect medium for getting a project started that I’ve really been thinking about for several years now: a book on why social movements matter. But more specifically than that, a book on why it matters when we get together to fight for our collective liberation, even if we don’t win. My hope is that this is a book that can inspire people to take the risk and do something. I know so many people who are clear on the problems they see around them but for whatever reason, are not actively engaged to change the situation. My hunch is that many of us think that it is hopeless to fight against big structures like racism, or the prison industrial complex, or environmental devastation. This is a book about why it should never be hopeless.

The zine I’m sharing here is a first draft of the ideas for the book. The book itself – which I’m putting together now! – is an anthology. In the end, it didn’t make sense for me to write a book about collective struggle by myself. I wanted to include multiple viewpoints and more collective wisdom. So this book, tentatively titled The Struggle Is Always Worth It, includes the writing of a dozen badass organizers and folks engaged in thinking about why we on the left do what we do.

As always, I’d love to hear any reactions and I hope you’ll keep a look out for the forthcoming book.