aaduna is ready to roar! This month…a   special 2020 double issue with intriguing stories- real and imagined; riveting poetry that surprises and prompts reflection; poignant visual images that captures who we are, and not. Here are snippets from two fiction contributors whose work will be featured in the upcoming issue scheduled for launch in late June.   Benjamin Smart (photo provided) Benjamin Smart’s “The Sirens” I come up the drive, turn off onto the field towards the pit. Peering into the side mirror again, I see the derelict trailer bouncing with brush behind me. Today my job is to cut down and haul trees from along the riverbed to a pit across the property. Dad’s getting drunk alone at home. He’s a late stage alcoholic, and I’ll do this type of work my whole life, same as him, until for one reason or another, some beat-up part of me won’t allow it.   Dr. Nagueyalti Warren (photo provided) Dr. Nagueyalti Warren’s   Husband of her Youth Jamila h...

Khalif Overstreet raises his fist in the air as others take a knee to honor the late George Floyd during Saturday's Demonstration of Solidarity for Racial Justice at the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn. Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen It is interesting that  aaduna  has not established a theme for submitters to write to since its beginnings in 2011. Even as global situations are intriguing for a thematic-based issue, we prefer not to go down that road. As a global, multicultural platform dedicated to giving global people of color and other creatives a viable online publication venue for the sharing of their intriguing ideas and creative work, we rather let you decide and submit your work driven by themes you elect. We understand that like other influencers, social issues may drive an idea that becomes manifested as a poem, story, essay, or visual art.  And for some of us, direct action takes precedence over preparing a creative work at least in the moment we find our...

For those of us in the United States and sister cities around the world, there is tension and perilous conditions. Usually the culprit is Covid-19. For the past several days, it is the murder of George Floyd. For social justice activist creatives, known as cultural workers, this is a challenging and tumultuous time. At aaduna , we have witnessed atrocity on a fellow human being; the growing health pandemic and an unexpected hack that shut down the aaduna website. While the website has been regained and we are working to assess any virus damage to files and contents, we are also witnesses to peaceful protests; unexplained actions by police who are suppose to protect First Amendment rights and a resurgence of “law and order” sentiments that for significant segments of American society is code for more brutality on Black folks, as well as others who seek to take to task authority that have abandoned appropriate bounds of human decency. So, within that milieu… We are working to fully...