What do facts have to do with storytelling? When you look at these facts, you see that the voices of all the people who make up the neighborhoods of Saint Paul are vital to the past and current historical record and legacy of the city. The community editor apprenticeship provides a way for people from diverse back-grounds to come together and have conversations about cultural sensitivity, equity, and social justice, and our role in creating change as individuals and as a literary journal. Our apprentices come from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, genders, gender identities, and levels of writing experience. It’s imperative to acknowledge the history of BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and differently-abled communities through- out our conversations about individual pieces. Doing so, we collect and publish stories representative of diverse people and places, choosing those that are the most engaging, provocative, or heartfelt. We have a rare opportunity to see the world with new perspectives, through someone else’s eyes. We may not always agree, but we agree to listen. Stories empower us when we tell them, and they empower the potential for change when others hear them. The community editor project is the first step in getting these stories out into the world, where they can be savored and where, hopefully, you too will be motivated to ask yourself: What makes a neighborhood thrive? What turns a place into a home? How can we flourish individually and collectively? What stories have we not yet heard, and how can we deepen our attention?
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