I have so much to tell you and so much to ask. These are troubling times, but you will have noticed this. What can an independent online journal do to resist rising fascism choking the arts and putting people at risk? In my last letter from the editor I mentioned the Kennedy Center, and now Trump has put himself and his Nazi sycophants in charge of it. This is right out of the Nazi playbook. But, again, what can we do? Real question. I don’t have an answer. I have a hard time keeping it together these days. Every correspondence I receive from any political party implies that the only thing I can do is give them money.
Our tone on The Train Wreck Formerly Known as Twitter—basically it’s my tone, but I don’t think we have anyone on staff at SmokeLong who would disagree—might seem unseemly. Lacking decorum? Brash? Rude? Vulgar? I’m sure I’ve called the creeps who’ve taken over our government pieces of shit more than a few times. I’m aware this lacks decorum. I do try to rein it in, but someone on social media said recently that democracy dies from decorum; and they’re right. My husband grew up under communism, has a STASI file, and is beyond livid right now. Over the last 30 years living in Germany, watching every black-and-white World War II documentary ever made with my history obsessed husband, I’ve learned so much about the danger of fascism. The Trump “administration” is undoubtedly a band of Nazis enabled by a band of christofascists. So many well-meaning people in Germany thought Herr Hitler was just trying to make Germany first again. So just like in the Weimar Republic, when the arts in Germany flourished, SmokeLong celebrates the arts. We celebrate our trans, non-binary, and otherwise not altogether CIS staff and contributors and their courage, their talent, and their message to us; and we know that our current Weimar Republic is teetering on the edge of a cliff.
We could have chosen lots of different colors for our cover this time, but we feel the trans person represents all people completely forsaken—targeted even—by Trump, his enablers, and the people who voted for this person.
To be clear: SmokeLong very much stands against the current downward spiral into fascism in the United States and elsewhere. Being horrible, by the way, is not exclusive to The United States of America. Many of our editors are from outside the US and know that fascism, Nazism, white supremacy, nationalism and all forms of xenophobia are a global pandemic. Celebrating dictators and political parties with white supremacist platforms is immoral and damaging to democracy around the world.
But art flourishes still. Issue 87 of SmokeLong Quarterly is a constellation of eight brilliant stories. Are they political? They are personal stories, compelling in their specificity. And politics has never been so personal. So today, let’s celebrate that we still have the right to share our personal stories.
Christopher Allen
The core workshop of SmokeLong Fitness is all in writing, so you can take part from anywhere at anytime. We are excited about creating a supportive, consistent and structured environment for flash writers to work on their craft in a community. We are thrilled and proud to say that our workshop participants have won, placed, or been listed in every major flash competition. Community works.