Now we know what the world looks like when it shuts down, what will the future be? Fronted by a series of text-led covers, this autumn issue replaces cover stars with conversation, celebrating the power of words to inspire, inform and reimagine the world anew. We invite six essential figures leading the fight for progressive change to guest-edit their own section. Bringing together a multitude of voices, their stories tackle the issues that matter most right now, from the ongoing fight for prison abolition to racial injustice and the future of creative protest. Black Lives Matter International ambassador Janaya Future Khan guides us through the explosive growth of the movement and its future trajectory; Wide Awakes, an activist group with its roots in the 19th-century anti-slavery movement, reboot creative protest for 2020; rapper and abolitionist Noname invites incarcerated artists and thinkers to imagine a world without prisons; Grace Wales Bonner talks Black rhythmicality for the launch of her new digital project Between Critique and Hope; Shayne Oliver and friends unveil a radical manifesto for new residency and community hub Anonymous Club; and SamuelRoss uses his inspiring grant initiative as a springboard for a survey of Black entrepreneurs across the UK. Features: THE CURRICULUM: Meet the youth activists, educators and MPs calling for a new history curriculum that confronts the UK’s imperial past – plus, a patriarchal punch-up from comic writer Bobby Joseph CONFUSED NEWS: As lockdown madness grips, writers Steve Beale, Sulagna Misra and Nadia Isle step through the looking glass of our new, weird reality STUART HALL LIBRARY + INIVA: Exploring the treasure trove of the radical arts institution’s archive – plus new work from contemporary artists inspired by the cultural theorist’s legacy HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH: Tourmaline – the filmmaker behind Happy Birthday, Marsha! and the MoMA-acquired Salacia – lenses her creative NYC family LOCKDOWN REVELATIONS: Connected by the six degrees of separation, six graphic artists and creatives dream up new possibilities forpost-lockdown lifeBLACKMASS PUBLISHING: Presenting printed ephemera from a “Black epic” of the imagination, the indie NY publishers reveal the improvisa-tory spirit that binds their works
