Dear Z Community,

November 15th marks the two year anniversary of the relaunch of ZNetwork.org.

As we did two years ago, we’d like to begin by recognizing and thanking everyone who has worked on and contributed to South End Press, Z Magazine, ZNet, & ZMI over the decades. Today’s ZNetwork.org was born from a legacy built by an incredible community of people committed to social change.

Over the past three and a half years, since we started working on the current iteration of Z as a political project, we’re proud to say that we have accomplished more than we expected to, learned more than we could have imagined, collaborated with profoundly inspiring groups and individuals, and continue to be humbled and motivated by the growing Z Community. 

In all honesty, we have also, at times, felt burned out, heartbroken, scared, and frustrated – as I’m sure all of us who are brave enough to really look around at our world have also felt. In diverse yet tragically recognizable ways, none of us remain untouched by the direct experience of injustice either. 

However, we continue. The joy and peace and pride that comes from working to build and to live a better world is like nothing else – let alone the pull of the horizon, of actually winning it. It is how we simultaneously inhabit and embody our vision. We fight and we help, because, in the words of movement ancestor, Salaria Kea, an American nurse, desegregation activist, and the only black nurse who worked fighting against fascism on the frontlines during the Spanish Civil War, “this is our world too”. 

GET INVOLVED

We’d like to mark this day by offering you congratulations and gratitude for being part of this project, as well as to invite you to share your work as a resource for others to plug in. We won’t sugar coat it – we’re staring down tougher times ahead, but we’re so glad you’re with us and want you to know we’re here with you. As the saying goes, we got us.

We’ve recently begun a process of shoring up Z’s resilience and security as best we can, and have even received additional suggestions and offers of help from Z Community members. In reciprocity, we will continue to work to provide an interactive platform for strategic, rigorous, useful, and even enjoyable content for organizers, as well as welcoming new people looking for alternatives to corporate media and propaganda.

Through our editorial work and through other initiatives, we aim to be a resource for solidarity, mutual aid, and building communities of resistance. We want to hear from all of you so that we can share your work and help others plug in.

Happy anniversary, you beautiful rebels.

Solidarity forever,

The ZStaff

PS

Here are two upcoming webinars and one recording of a recent mass call that we recommend for plugging in to different forms of creative and grassroots resistance!

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