Black Lives Matter.

Dear Reader,

I’m writing to say that the Longleaf Review family unequivocally rejects racism and that we stand with the Black community and the Black Lives Matter movement. We always have.

But this past week has been difficult, and I’ve had to interrogate how—despite what I thought were my best efforts—we as a journal have continued to contribute to a culture that silences Black voices.

It’s not enough to refuse to publish racist narratives; that’s easy. And I hate that we’ve sat in silence as a journal on this issue for so long—not just since George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, and Ahmaud Arbery’s murders, but since we first started publishing work. As the founding editor, I take full responsibility for this. It’s unacceptable to have any sort of platform and not use it to persistently advocate for anti-racism in both words and actions.

As I figure out what being more proactively anti-racist as a journal and platform will look like in the future, though, I felt it was important to announce where we as a journal stand and what we are planning to do right now, too.

Our Editor-in-Chief, Kate Finegan, will be donating all proceeds from her Weekend Workshop Intensive this June to ActBlue. I couldn’t be more proud or thankful to have such a kind and generous person running this journal right now.

Additionally, our editors have pledged to give personal feedback on the first 25 submissions that include proof of a $25 or more donation to Black Lives Matter or any of the organizations linked below. We will honor this pledge for submitters who have already submitted this reading period as well. This feedback will cover what the piece is doing well (extremely well, let’s be honest. You all rock.), and where it could be strengthened. We hope that our submitters will take us up on this offer.

If interested, just email your proof of donation and the title of your submitted piece to [email protected].

Sincerely,

Stephanie Lachapelle

Publisher & Founding Editor