Editoris Farewell: Still in Search of Safe Places

"Sisterhood cannot be assumed on the basis of gender; it must be formed in concrete, historical and political practice and analysis. . . ."

—Chandra Talpade Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes"

"Comment avons-nous réussi à donner à Histoires d'elles un ton particulier, sans uniformité, avec toutes ces différences? Nous n'avons pas été dans la voix unique, mimétique, la voix du maître—c'est ce qui a fait l'intérêt du journal, je pense—ni dogmatique, ni précieux, ni pédant. Je me réjouis chaque fois de la distance absolue qui existait entre Luce et Rosi, ou Barbara, entre Yesa et Ruth, ou bien encore entre Catherine et Dominique Pujebet, ou entre Dominique Doan et toi . . . entre Hélène et moi aussi. On ne cherchait pas la fusion, la sonorité à tout prix. Il n'y avait pas de modèle à quoi se conformer."

—Leïla Sebbar to Nancy Huston, Lettres parisiennes: Histoires d'exil

[How did we arrive at giving Herstories a particular tone, one without uniformity, with all her differences? We were not situated in a unified voice, mimetic, the master's voice - that is what gives the journal its uniqueness, I believe - not dogmatic, not precious, not pedantic. I rejoice each time I remember the absolute distance which existed between Luce and Rosi, or Barbara, between Yesa and Ruth, or even between Catherine and Dominique Pujebet, or between Dominique Doan and yourself . . . between Helen and me as well. We were not seeking fusion, a unified voice at any cost. There was no model with which to conform.] Ed. translation

The time has come to offer my parting words as the editor of Meridians as I close the final issue of the journal under my supervision on a warm spring day in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. In many ways, this closing issue symbolizes for me an emergence from the long winter in which the first of the four issues I oversaw was produced, a coming to fruition of a vision I pursued since assuming my post to revitalize the journal both in terms of its visual presentation as well as its content and transnational outreach. In my time here, I have traveled with the journal from Northampton, Massachusetts, to Hartford, Connecticutt; Amherst, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, California; Colchester, Vermont; San Juan, Costa Rica; Antwerp, Belgium; Cairo, Egypt; San Diego, California; Claremont, California; Manhattan, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Thessaloniki, Greece, in that order! And I have traveled to many more places around the globe through virtual queries and author contributions from various sites of the African continent, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, and South Asia. I want to thank the many individuals who entrusted their work to our care, whether or not their pieces were ultimately accepted for publication. I also want to thank the numerous individuals and institutions who invited me to share both my work as a writer/scholar and as Editor of Meridians with their faculty, students, and outlying communities. It was through these gracious invitations that I was able to spread the word regarding Meridians and through these that I found out the degree to which the journal is seen as an invaluable space for communities of women of color who might otherwise not have a venue in which to interface and in which to see their words, issues, and thoughts reflected.

Such travels and exchanges, often over e-mail and other correspondence—sometimes over months with prospective authors—also revealed to me the great responsibility shouldered by the editorial bodies which govern publications such as Meridians that profess to offer a feminist, visionary, and inclusive space in which women of color transnationally might find their identities actualized and supported, especially as it exists in an academic environment which could stifle its difference as so many women of color are stifled within the ivory tower. Given my own work on the journal these past two years, I would have to say that the challenge that faces Meridians at this point resides in whether or not those of...