Art by Kate DeCiccio 2015 Tess Raser In July 2019, I ran away from Chicago. I had become a person I didn’t quite understand or know when I was there. I spent a lot of 2019 living abroad, and I realized that I was more myself there than in Chicago. I didn’t understand why, until recently—in Chicago, I wasn’t just “Tess” but rather I was “Tess, the teacher” or “Tess, the organizer.” I am not special, but the way Black liberation work had at least been established in Chicago was so intense, you become the work. You become the figure.
Volume 1 - Issue 3
Volume 1 - Issue 3
Volume 1 - Issue 3
Art by Kate DeCiccio 2015 Tess Raser In July 2019, I ran away from Chicago. I had become a person I didn’t quite understand or know when I was there. I spent a lot of 2019 living abroad, and I realized that I was more myself there than in Chicago. I didn’t understand why, until recently—in Chicago, I wasn’t just “Tess” but rather I was “Tess, the teacher” or “Tess, the organizer.” I am not special, but the way Black liberation work had at least been established in Chicago was so intense, you become the work. You become the figure.