Speaking to Our Own Communities in an Increasingly Hostile World

It is not the job of Black writers to explain to white people that racism is wrong. If, after 500 years, whiteness hasn’t yet grasped the irrational evils of their racial bias and discrimination, there is little we can say that is going to change a thing. Racism is a conversation whiteness needs to have with itself. It’s not our job to debate racism and not a good use of our time – especially right now.

Right now, not just for People of Colour, but for those of almost all marginalised communities, the political horizon appears increasingly dark and indifferent, if not downright bleak. So, rather than moaning and groaning to people who do not care, our time as marginalised artists is better employed equipping our communities with art that will provide the armour, the uplift, and the resilience required to survive and thrive in increasingly right-wing societies.

I completely understand the impulse for the marginalised artist to turn outward: to face off against injustice, to shout into the storm, and to rage at the architects of systemic failure. But we should be honest about the nature of protest in art. Raw anger is a valid response, of course it is, but it is rarely an original one. When we create solely out of anger, we allow other people’s intolerance to dictate the shape of our art. In a literary sense, fury follows predictable patterns; it is reactive, defined entirely by the injustice it opposes.

Worse, this artistic rage vainly addresses a mainstream society that isn’t listening or paying attention, when we could and should be speaking directly to our own communities – under-pressure communities who are desperate for both intellectual reassurance and artistic solace.

So, rather than using the manuscript as an ineffective shield against injustice, we must employ books and The Arts more broadly as powerful tools with which to fortify the internal structures of our own beleaguered communities.

M2M Books is intent on building “Internal Libraries” for marginalised communities. To become a curator of narratives that act as psychological and intellectual fortifications; fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that provides much-needed support and motivation at a time when external politics offer little in the way of remedy.

Because these books must fortify a community, the literary craft must be uncompromising. For example, M2M Books is not interested in a Racism 101 narrative aimed at a mainstream audience, but in a sophisticated internal dialogue that will resonate within the community. Any marginalised community under pressure needs a sturdy artistic structure, and weak, reactive writing cannot provide that.

Building this kind of literary infrastructure cannot be rushed. It takes time to move past the immediate scream of protest and into the important work of community fortification. This is why the M2M Books’ submission window remains permanently open for works that focus on the authentic and complex dialogue of a marginalised community.

If you are ready to start contributing to an internal library for your own marginalised community, we are ready to read your work.

Gareth James – Chief Reader