"Voices of the Future" Mission Statement:

“Voices of the Future” mission is to publish the voices that strive to challenge ideas and make a change. This little magazine is intended to form a network of Black, Indigenous, and artists of color that want to share their ideas with the public. Publishing poetry with more modernist ideas, such as individualism, symbolism, and creating a collective voice through art. The core importance of featuring BIPOC artists is to highlight, promote, support, and read writers who are too often marginalized by the mainstream publishing industry. Our magazine will feature poetry and other art pieces starting from the peak of the Harlem Renaissance and later incorporate pieces from today. We will begin with the Harlem Renaissance because this movement highlights a time when black artists began to find their voice to express their thoughts, emotions, and messages for the world to hear. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, the Harlem Renaissance sought to reconceptualize the black community from the negative stereotypes that had influenced the views and reputation of the black community. Along with challenging racial stereotypes and identity imprinted on the African American community, black artists also presented alternatives to traditional values such as sexuality and gender norms. The art featured by black artists voiced important issues ahead of their time such as racial and gender equality, the dangers of patriotism, and the power of creative expression. While many black artists aim to spread awareness of the political and social issues present in the twentieth century, their works also challenged conventional social values present during the twentieth century that has led to the progress seen in the present century. From the works of Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and more, we want to highlight many major literary movements that have affected BIPOC communities, such as the Harlem Renaissance. This focus on individuality and embracing their identity through art inspires the BIPOC community to find their own voice to speak out on important issues. The featured writer demonstrates their creativity and ingenuity through their artistic expression in their works while advocating for their beliefs. Instead of having their voices repressed, the African American community uses their platform to speak out against the injustices inflicted on them, but also other people of color. Despite many works written by black poets being targeted at the African American community, their message vocalizes their thoughts and challenge traditional ideas also applies to people across skin color and race. The overall goal of this publication is to inspire our readers and new writers that want their voices to be heard.