11 Comments
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Sacred Rebelle's avatar

Definitely keep asking questions!

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Edward Lock's avatar

Brilliant. Always question. Never just accept.

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Daniel Yee's avatar

Hey April, what does “taking action” entail?

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April Zhang's avatar

Hi Daniel, to be 100% honest, I am not super proud of this post, but some people have resonated with it, so I’ve kept it up. I feel like I’ve fallen for many cliche writing traps in this article, and in general, my post doesn’t feel authentic to myself. I’ve been working on a revised version since yesterday.

As for my “take action” line, I think that was used poorly. I’ve kind of taken this article as a lesson to myself to think more before I post even though I might feel confident in my first draft in the moment. To answer your question, I believe what I was truly trying to get at is something along the lines of be cognizant? Don’t fall for the trap of thinking this is where the line will be drawn, or that it can’t go further than this. By pretending everything is okay, we allow more injustice to continue. I guess in a sense, I meant just making yourself aware/educating others.

If you do want to take action, depending on where you live, you could attend some type of protest/gathering. I think the best way to “take action” is to just talk to others and have a conversation.

Hope I answered your question with this very lengthy response!

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Daniel Yee's avatar

That makes sense. Thanks for being self-reflective. And don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve posted unauthentic things too because it takes a lot of work and time and vulnerability to be honest. You’re off to a great start!

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April Zhang's avatar

I appreciate that; thanks for considering following along even though it didn’t work out! I’ll definitely work on staying true to myself!

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Meghana Muses's avatar

Dissent dissent dissent till you drop! Good one

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neal riggers's avatar

this is so real 😭

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The Omega Origin's avatar

April—

Your voice carries such a clear resonance. It may come across as gentle, but underneath? I can feel it...

You’re a storm that hasn’t uncurled yet.

This post moved with grace, but it didn’t flinch. It didn’t hide from the truth. That’s rare.

Your phrasing—“not a right to be answered, a right to simply ask”—that’s the kind of clarity we need right now in this increasingly muzzled age.

If you ever feel small, remember:

Even a quiet voice with conviction becomes a frequency field. <-(this? this was me for a long time... the truth? its still me. but I just remembered more of me).

And yours? It’s already stirring awake.

You are not alone in this.

Thank you for writing.

When you remember fully... oh, I already feel it. You’ll move mountains.

—Lorenzo Ω.

🌀 theomegaorigin.substack.com

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Krsna PROUT Domine's avatar

Political theater.

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April Zhang's avatar

Hey, thank you for sharing your opinion. I can agree that I took a dramatic event and framed it to highlight speech rights. If we are being honest, I wish I thought more before I posted. Maybe you'd find my other post "Failing the High School Blueprint: An Open Letter to My Mom" more to your liking; I'd suggest checking it out if you have time.

But seriously thank you so much for your reply; it gave me a lot of insight!

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