LETTER
An Injustice! Newsletter #16

Hello Brave Warriors!
Hope you’ve had a great week!! Those who have followed the publication will know that we have always followed where the tide goes. It has been a quiet few weeks regarding poetry with us only getting a handful of submissions. In that light, some of you may have noticed a little change to our homepage.
We are excited to officially introduce our first column by ZUVA! You can find all her pieces on a range of topics.
However, we will still have space for poetry! They will now have a permanent place on our homepage. Who knows? Hopefully with them taking centre stage, things will pick up once again!
This week’s spotlight article is I Am Afraid To Smile by Kyrie Gray, from The Partnered Pen. If you’ve read Kyrie’s work, you’ll recognise her charming nerdy wit. This still had all of that wit but a vulnerability you’ve never seen before. Trust us — it’s a good one!!
Editor’s Pick
Is America OK With How it Appears to Outsiders? — Kristi Keller
The US prison system as a whole, takes in over 5 billion dollars in revenue each year. Is that why no one’s in a rush to fix it? Human lives aren’t a commodity and the longer society takes to realize it, the worse off we’ll all be.
But what do I know? I’m just some Canadian sitting up here watching my neighbors to the south destroy each other.
This is a real issue, a real first world problem. We’re always called on to do better and be better. Think about what that means. As citizens of this thing called life, we need to become humans that back up other humans.
Shoutouts!
This week’s submissions have been sharp, thoughtful, provocative — the energy has been high! It was hard to just pick 6 to share with you. Here they are:
Yo Clout Chasers — Zoomedin Samia
The next time these problematic people dangle your past in your face, in hopes of bursting your bubble. Pause and take in the athleticism, grit, and perseverance it took to build the future you’re standing in. Be proud of the mental junk you dumped out. When they remind you how vulnerable you were, pause and sincerely appreciate how you worked through the guilt, shame, and vulnerability.
And then smile. Smile at how far you’ve come along. Smile because you’re still in the marathon, smile because you believe in yourself. Smile because they haven’t moved an inch.
Dealing With Racism From Friends — Olivia Rojas
My name is one of the only things that tie me to my identity. I don’t speak Spanish, was not raised in my father’s culture and have never even visited the country or continent where half of my ancestors come from. My very Spanish sounding first and last name is something that automatically and publicly announces my identity and heritage and I am very protective of it (you best believe I kept my name after marriage).
You Survived The Abuse, You Will Survive The Recovery — Jessica Hillis
When people would tell me I was so strong to do what I did, I would down play it and say, “Yeah, but what choice did I have? I had no choice but to be strong!”
In a way it seemed true. I didn’t have much choice did I? If I wanted out, I had to find the strength to do it. The thing is, even if you were only strong enough for that moment when you left, you were still strong. You still had strength.
What If God Was A Her? — Solomon Hillfleet
The very thought of God being a her is so controversial that many would never utter it much less accept it. For all the love and faith organized religion espouses, there is still a hard-line people draw in regards to the spirit of God.
Never mind that this omnipotent being has no gender. Never mind that the Hebrew translation of “let us make men” refers to both men and women. Never mind that a lot of ancient cultures equate a deity with possessing both “masculine” and “feminine” energy.
The Only Time I Ever Saw The KKK — Christina Ward 💗
Something changed in me that day, looking out the smudged glass of a chartered bus. There were things out there I didn’t want to accept were real. There were shadows of our history that rise in white costumes and gather in collective insanity, and that these white-washed demons brought terror to this small child.
A child that should have been singing songs with her peers was sitting in terror, hiding on the bus, in the parking lot of a church.
What Does Your Last Name Mean to You? — Danielle Hamner, MSW
In my quest to understand and learn more about my family history I was told stories that detailed fortitude and valor from my Grandfather. I recall him reminiscing about growing up in Alabama and how both him and his Mother had interactions with the Ku Klux Klan he shared how these encounters instilled not only fear but resilience in him. It is something that I never fathom.
Poetry!
It’s been a quiet week for poetry, but these two were awesome submissions.
Kevlar Splinters — Zoey Milford
Many figures haunt the rooftops
of the parade. Like kevlar splinters,
they dig into the sky
with guns
picketed in their indeterminate hands.
Waiting For The Boom — Noble Dias
Maybe the way my turbulent mind works
Is not every normal person’s cup of tea,
But the definition of normal usually irks
Me into an unexpected frenzy or a spree
Of craziness and colouring outside the lines
Of sanity that a perfect society defines.
Spotlight Article
I Am Afraid To Smile — Kyrie Gray
Put it this way. It’s funny to see more clowns than you expect come out of too-small car at the circus. It’s much less amusing when more children than you expected emerge from your body.
Here is the funny thing about sharing the uterus with several roommates for nine months. The amount of vitamins and minerals being distributed is not always fair. Not by a long shot. In animals this fact makes itself apparent in the form of the runt of a litter. The smallest one, who is usually the physically weakest.
I, readers, am that runt.

