I try to be really patient with my friends when we work on projects together, but some of them honestly need to calm the entire fuck down with the importance they put on the things we're doing.
While I love writing, I view it as a predominantly supportive structure in any movement. It provides people with a form of expression to open up new pathways and connections; it creates a discursive space to have open disagreements or open acknowledgements.
It's a space to record what will later be viewed as history.
But so often, it feels like one friend in particular wants to take a “write and publish immediately” tactic. And I hate that. Very few things need to be published immediately, and those are pieces that stand in solidarity with a movement happening now.
Standing with Palestinians against genocide, standing with Ukrainians against imperialism... Fighting against mass surveillance projects disguised as “child protection” (while also providing exceptions for the people who abuse children the most) that has an expiration date set... Challenging our anarcho-syndicalist unions bringing in transphobes and calling the cops against members who challenge those views... These are all urgent.
But I feel like something that is a persistent problem within movement spaces can have time to breathe, to grow, to expand into a better critique than just “throwing shit at the wall.” We have short-form communications to critique these problems in a fast-paced way; a long-form should be more considered.
It feels irresponsible, especially if we want it to stand as a document that makes it clear that this is a problem that we've had for a century or more that we collectively refuse to solve. Publishing it tomorrow will not solve those problems. Publishing in in a week will not solve those problems.
We have the time and space to get it out when it's good, when it properly supports people. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be considerate and cognizant of the current moment and climate.
If anything, it feels like this friend just wants to publish because they want to feel like they “did something.” I know they feel powerless to do much; I often do, too, especially as an alienated migrant.
But I know that writing projects can take time and incubate longer. It does not make me feel good to release something I can't stand behind.