Isaiah Kye Diaz-Mays asked, “why I write and who do I write for?”

I write for my dad, who fostered my love for reading and writing as a child. As someone who taught himself how to read and write, he ensured that those skills would become my greatest strengths.

I write for all the educators in my life—Mr. Hill, Dr. Palmer, Dr. Mac, Mrs. McDonnell, Dr. Apker, Dr. Popkova, Dr. Squires—who shaped me as a writer and storyteller. They saw something in me worth cultivating.

I write for Black writers like Ruha Benjamin, Angela Davis, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Audre Lorde, and Heather McGhee, who created the frameworks I'm building on and gave me the courage to confront systems of injustice unapologetically.

I write for Black women who are tired of navigating white spaces maintained by white supremacist ideologies. The ones who choose to build their own tables entirely to have a seat at.

I write for the people of my hometown in Saginaw, Michigan, a place with a bad name but filled with powerful people doing meaningful work. People who understand what it means to build something from nothing.

And I write for myself because writing is how I process what would otherwise consume me. It's how I hold institutions accountable when they refuse to do so. It's how I reclaim power in spaces designed to leave me powerless.

Would love to hear from Ri, Emma Akpan, Caroline Wilkinson, Stay Woke Gazette, Nick O'Hara, Joel Salinas, 𝙅𝙤 ⚢📖🏳️‍🌈 , Scarlet Ibis James, Nick Takamine, and creative barter economy 🌎.