Welcome the The Liberator!
Introducing you to Talique Taylor's writing headquarters and a community of friends.
My dear friends! Welcome to The Liberator!
Honestly, I don’t know where to begin this post other than a warm welcome to everyone who has subscribed, both free and paid, and everyone who is as excited as I am to dive into the political, theological, and socio-cultural issues, challenges, and discourses that shape the world in which we live. Critical thinking and thoughtful engagement are hallmarks of any fruitful community, and I’m so glad to invite you to do that in this one.
Secondly, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged, critiqued, and uplifted my voice over the last year(s). It was your encouragement that brought this project into being, and I couldn’t be more grateful for each and every one of you. I’m a sucker for new relationships, friends, and communities, and y’all have been a crucial part of all three of those things for me. Thank you and I love you all!
Friends, I believe that we are living in daunting and exciting times. The world is exhausted from COVID, imperialism and neo-colonialism is alive and well, anti-Black racism, queer and transphobia, sexism and misogynoir, xenophobia, antisemitism, ableism, religious nationalism, and above all, capitalism are destroying minds, bodies and spirits, the Climate Crisis threatens to displace and kill us all and y’all, we tired. I’m tired. And I’m full of rage. In The Liberator, I invite you to rage with me at the injustices that plague our world. Let your hearts be lit with a kindled fire, as the Hebrew Prophet Jeremiah was. Feel it, breathe it in, and cherish it. Let it keep you motivated to fight for what is right.
We are also under a time of rampant change and radical new visions for the future. The labour movement is causing upheaval and holy chaos around the Western world, students in the Global South are demanding justice and democracy, a new “pink tide” of socialist and left-of-center leaders is rising in Latin America, class struggle and organized resistance to oppression is alive and well in the United States, and hope is arising out of the ashes of our anguish. Oppressed people and their allied siblings are refusing to passively accept the systems that kill and devalue us and the Holy Spirit is at work! I’m full of hope and full of prayerful optimism about the future of our world. In The Liberator, I invite you to hope. Let hope seep down into your soul, let your sadness be turned to joy, and let your imagination take radical new shapes. Together, we can build a better world. It’s in our hands, family.
Finally, my friends, let us breathe in and breathe out. Very slowly… Do it again, breathe in and breathe out. One more time, breathe in and breathe out. We got this, God has got this. We aren’t alone. Let us commit ourselves to joining this community with open minds and hearts, to engaging thoughtfully and critically with the content produced, to be kind and gracious always to our fellow community members. In other words, bring love to this place. Love of reading and writing, love of community and people, love of conversation and dialogue, love of learning, and love of God and neighbor.
Welcome my friends. Welcome.