b'THE REST OF US STORIESW henIlookedatthelonglistwhencreativityfeelssoalien?Tocombinationforthisinstitutions ofstudentswhohadsigneduptoposeabiggerquestion,howdoesfuture.Toconcludethisnote-an contribute to The Rest of Us in March,whitenessdefineartisticdisciplinesextractfromaninterviewwith Iexpectedthemtobeitchingtoandactivitiesinthisuniversity?Iwriter/actorMichaelaCoel(IMay speak.IassumedthattheywoulddefinitelyavoidtheatresocietiesforDestroy You) which stayed with me for havestowed-awaystoriesreadytothis reason. Why bother auditioningweeks:spill,diasporicartworksachingtofor a society which has cast two black be seen, anger to bleed, injustices topeople in the last 6 years of shows?Howracistdoyouthinkthis expose, poem after poem to burn ontoOntopofthesechallenges,there[television] industry is?paper; but for many, it was quite thewas/is a global pandemic (in case youOhIdontknowifitsracist?Ithink opposite.Thefirstgroupworkshopdidnt know), throwing up a dystopiait can be a bit.thoughtless. Its got some bubbledwithdiscussion.Theroomofpersonalandsocio-economicthinking problems. I dont think we really rang with yeah, whats up with that andchallenges. In the depth of this, theuse a lot of energy to really think about the wow, that sounds awesome, and SharanyamurderofGeorgeFloydtriggeredbigger picture, and about people outside of Muralis warmth made a new thingapainandtraumaandfightforourselves.feelcomfortable.Yet,whenitcamemanyblackpeople/ofcolourwhich toarticulatingideasfurtherdownwas, quite simply, excruciating. TheIncludingpeople-isitabout the line, the freedom to speak was allgruelling combination of both eventsinclusion?too strange and new for many. At thiskept a lot of people from participatingNo,Idontthinkitsaboutinclusion, wide, white university, an invitationinthisproject,andunderstandablybecause you can include and say oh yeah toexpressyourthoughts,feelings,so.So,asyoureadTheRestofUsyou can come to this school, but what if and creations as a person of colour,Stories, please think of all the voicesthatkidspendseverydaygettingbullied can understandably feel amiss.that could not make it onto the page.with custard thrown on his face? So, its Pleasethinkofallofthestoriesmore than inclusion.Ofcourse,itisoverwhelming-livingbetweenthelines.Please wheredoesoneevenstart?ThesethinkofalltheonesthatwerenotSo, what is the problem?conversationsaboutourvariedconsideredvaluableenoughtotell.Ithinkitstodowithattention.Paying existencesusuallystayinourThe very existence of this magazineattention. I think we could all pay a bit safecirclesoffriends,family,andis a testament to our resilience in themore attention [] I think we should not culturallyalikegroups.Theystayface of extreme adversity. Our dailycoast - not just be settled and complacent in our journals and daydreams, andresilience as people of colour at thein our jobs. And I think that allows you to sometimes,inapassionateessay.ItUniversityofExeterisoftensilent,keepthinking-makingsureyouredoing takesdeepcouragetomakepublicand largely goes unnoticed. I wouldwhat you think is right. Are you checking up whatisusuallysoprivate.Evenlike to acknowledge it in all its forms.all the time, going is this the way I feel I so,anall-toocommonresponsetoshould carry my job? Am I happy? Do I feel myinvitationstocontributetotheI am exceptionally proud of everyoneresolved in myself? Do I feel like I deserve magazine,wasthankyou,butImwho has contributed to this magazinethis job and Im acting [in it]? Am I being notsureIhaveanythingvaluablefortheirradicalvulnerabilityanda good jobs person? Yknow, am I making tosay.Ibeganyonereadingthisbravecreations.Iwouldliketosure Im doing my job? And I dont know, I tocontemplatewhythismightbe;sincerely thank Professor Jerri Daboothink sometimes we may forget to do our jobs regrettably, it makes a lot of sense.forallhereffortstowardsakinderwhilst were still being paid for them.Exeter,andformakingthisproject Notonlywerestudentsgrapplingpossible. Thank you, also, to Rahila with this, but many felt like creativeGupta,AlixHarris,andSharanyaCharice expressionwasauniverseaway,MuralifortheirheartsandenergyBhardwajhaving not done anything creativethroughout the process. In this first since my high school play/literatureeditionofTheRestofUsStories,letEditors Noteclasses/messingaroundwithausreflectonexperiencesoutsideofyoutube.com/watch?v=z4QSZbyX7uQguitar.Evenifstudentsdidthinkour own, celebrate their richness of thattheyhadsomethingvaluableexpression,andconsidercreativity, tosay,howmighttheyexpressitlearningandactionasapotent 7'