EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Resistance is all around us

Doing this job can be really depressing at times.

On a daily basis, I get notifications, press releases, news alerts that show me in real time how systems of power are wielded by a select few to dehumanize, to destabilize, to degrade people’s lives. And it’s draining.

But if you take the time to look around, you’ll find that resistance is everywhere.

It’s in the way that we hold doors open for each other. It’s in the way that we call our friends, make food for those who are sick, donate to needy causes, ask and receive favors from strangers.

It’s in the way we talk to our children, greet our neighbors and tip our workers.

It’s in the way that we move through the world.

This week, our entire issue is focused on these acts of resistance, big and small.

Because the revolution isn’t always televised like in the cases of South Korea and Syria. Often it goes unnoticed, undocumented.

But we know that the resistance is here. It always has been.

So we’re highlighting the people and organizations that are doing exactly those things here in our communities.

We’re showing people the delicate, yet steadfast love that couples have for each other. We’re telling the stories of undocumented people who are fighting for their right to stay in the places they call home. We’re showing how just taking photographs can be a form of self-actualization, an act of visibilizing an entire community.

Because as Brian wrote in his column for this week, resistance isn’t a thing you do once or twice. It’s a way of living. It’s our identities. It’s woven into my DNA in the same way that my hair is black and my skin is tan. You just can’t see it. Because instead, we live it.

Every single day.