From ‘Diary’

From ‘Diary’

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I hate this sweater but I’m too cold not
to wear it as a metaphor for my career.
 
My therapist says yes corporations take advantage
of human beings’ ambitious nature.
 
My insurance says they will cover
zero dollars for our visits.
 
What a thrill. I cut my finger while washing the blender
at the exact second that I think of you.
 
We went to the protest, I bought those powder
blue shoes with the green alligator on them.
 
Handmaid’s Tale jokes at the VMAs. Clean versions of songs.
Picking out baby names for babies that will never be born.
 
You bought the diamond necklace for mom at the mall,
you have great taste. You bought it at a store called Accessory Place.
 
Recurring nightmare that I missed the whole summer.
Walks I took on my lunch break with Ali.
 
Grunge deaths. Being in the dark. Nail art.
Chris Brown playing on Rihanna Spotify station.
 
I go into the bathroom, I say “great tits” to myself in the mirror.
How can you expect your nail polish to look glossy
when you don’t even put on a top coat you stupid bitch.
 
I was in the infant/toddler room.
I was eating peanut butter & banana.
 
Fuming with rage at the galleria.
D was like, maybe it will be our Vietnam.
 
I’m so sad. No one cares.
Tampons with applicators.
Tampons without applicators.
 
A maxi pad called Always.
Blasting the car radio.
The guy at the McDonald’s drive-thru who told you
your hair was the exact same color as your eyes.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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