About

If Not Us was created in 2024 to engage with social issues from diverse, compassionate, and human-centred viewpoints.

In order to accommodate the fast pace of the modern news cycle, much of the mainstream discourse on current events is framed from a detached perspective. While impartiality will always be a crucial element of covering social issues, it can be disconcerting to read pieces that paint nuanced and oftentimes emotionally charged themes in dispassionate terms. In the pursuit of public order and morale, politicians, spokespeople, and other leaders to whom we listen tend to then maintain a similar façade of calmness-at-all-times in response to even the most unprecedented and troubling situations.

Increasingly, however, there is public demand from our media and our leaders not just for factual honesty, but emotional honesty—validation that yes, this situation is frightening and yes, there may not be a quick linear solution, but that a steadfast commitment to unity and equity will be a key element in the solution.

Humans were designed to feel, connect, and empathize. If Not Us aims to combat the upset and isolation that can often accompany modern engagement with social issues. By taking an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach, our goal is to speak to all types of readers. Within the chapters of our journal, we hope you find both intriguing analysis and emotional validation.