Issue 01: Unlocked
A monthly curation of Black, Global Indigenous, and POC voices
Unlocked is a monthly selection of content from Locked In, an unofficial BIPOC writing community on Substack. Each month’s issue will be curated by a different Locked In member, chosen from a monthly call for members to share posts that they’re most proud of. If you identify as BIPOC, request to join our private community.
Welcome to our very first issue of Unlocked! Thank you for being here. Every month, we ask our BIPOC writing community to share posts that they’re proud of. I’m sharing some of those posts with you here.
I’m Zefan, one of the Locked In organizers. I write VERY LOST, a travel newsletter about my current sabbatical and how the places I visit have changed me. One post that I’m proud of from this past month is about my week-long trek in the Nepalese Himalayas, which helped redefine my ideas of bravery.
Here are a few other community submissions from May 2024 that I loved and think that you will, too.
MENTAL HEALTH
Depression is a Drug, by Vivek Mittal
As someone who has been traveling for the past year and a half, I often wonder about memories. Why can’t I remember places and moments as well as everyone else? Vivek has helped me think of memories — of how and why we form them — in a fresh and profound way, framed within his experience starting antidepressants.
I realized that memory is not a mechanistic log, but springs up to create meaning - even if that means mangling what actually happened. And I think that’s one of the most important realizations I had about depression, that it skews meaning.
BELONGING
Why I can’t go back to where I came from, by Noha Beshir
Noha’s essay has been a cathartic read for myself and many others who have been told to “go back to where you’re from.” She dives deep into the many ways we could choose to respond, and I highly encourage every BIPOC ally to read her essay.
I know she wasn’t referring to the hospital I walk past [and was born in] each time I go to the library. I know that to this woman, “where I came from” will always be somewhere else. Somewhere far away, where she thinks they speak a guttural language, behead people, and beat their wives.
FLASH MEMOIR / POETRY
Young Kidney Care, by Owólabi Aboyade
I’m captivated by Owólabi’s both simple and beautiful prose here, sharing a vivid memoir in three paragraphs. In this flash memoir, he talks about his kidney treatment, support system, and transition to adulthood. A poet as well as an essayist, the author also shares more about a literary technique he used to craft these paragraphs.
They don’t care about you in adult hospitals. They never said that out loud, but I heard them loud and clear. The lights were just as bright at Stanford Hospital, but I had to navigate them alone.
MUSIC
Music Video Rotation #1, by Ricky Denham
I love Ricky’s roundup of music video recommendations. Many of the artists are ones that I’ve never heard of. Each choice — coupled with Ricky’s reaction — feels warm and personal, and the videos offer stunning visuals. Here’s some of what he had to say about “Lejos de Ti” by Marías:
Your companion’s love used to keep you warm like Billie Holiday’s 1937 timeless track. But now, they are no longer here. So missing them could feel like struggling to sleep in the middle of the night with no blankets on your bed, alone in an empty house, outside of the twin cities of Minnesota, at the top of January. Your heart could result to frozen temperatures by collateral damage.
ACTIVISM
It’s Going To Take A Lot More Than Hitting The Block Button, by LaChelle Chrysanne (she/her)
When I first heard about the trend to block celebrities who hadn’t spoken out about Gaza, I was skeptical. It felt reminiscent of the black squares we had all posted to Instagram — a flash of performative allyship. But it was LaChelle Chrysanne (she/her) who convinced me that while the celebrity block campaign wasn’t perfect, it did mean something.
We hold celebrities in high regard because, on some level, we believe that they are better than us. We think they are prettier, thinner, richer, more talented, charismatic, interesting, or worldly. We idolize them as being these all-powerful figures as if we don’t have power ourselves.
PERSONAL ESSAY
I am going to write anyway., by Nadia Meli
While English is my first language, I share many of the insecurities that Nadia discusses about writing in English, her third language. The reminders that she includes at the end of her essay are ones that I’ll also hold close.
When I was a wedding photographer I had a season of losing myself. I was looking at so many other photographers for ‘inspiration’ that I forgot what I liked, who I was and what my own style was. My work subconsciously started to look the same as other peoples and I grew more unsatisfied with it. I was not aligned, not in integrity. With writing, I was not going to make that mistake.
MEMOIR / HUMOR
Bananarama - I’m Your Asian by Lani
Growing up, some Black Americans would call me an Oreo — white on the inside, Black on the outside. My Indian friends joked about the brown equivalent, a coconut. In this essay, Lani writes about her experience as a banana. I especially loved learning about her parents’ start in the United States and how Lani ties the entire story together. It’s a light, and very interesting, read.
If you sound Asian to the all-American ear, then, congratulations, you’re not a banana. Or if you speak Chinese or Japanese or something Asian-ish, consider yourself free from any banana checklist. But for those of you like me (oh, woe is me) who speak only English—you’re a banana.
TRAVEL
Air Sign Ambassador in the Windy City by Anderson II
I love the way Anderson writes about his visit to Chicago, the poetics in his observations about the city’s architecture. He goes there to meet up with internet friends he has grown to care deeply for. As someone who loves Chicago — and my internet friends — I felt absorbed in each paragraph.
M. lives here like a true artist. No furniture, just a bed, open living space with books lining the walls, a record player on the floor. Everything displayed like a gallery with a waterfront view of Lake Michigan. This is living, I recognize, only because of the proximity to bareness and dying.
This issue of Unlocked was curated by Zefan, who writes VERY LOST, personal essays about her ongoing travel sabbatical. It was edited by Shivani Kumar, who writes come in for tea. To be considered for feature, request to join the Locked In community.
What a powerhouse of pieces and writers! Honoured to be included and can’t wait to dig into the ones I haven’t yet read.
So many wonderful writers! 😭
Lani's piece was particularly enlightening!