#asian american literary review

I can’t summarize your life or your opinions or even quote anything you said to me like so many others can.  But I know that I paid attention to the plight of political prisoners because you did. Because of your example I absorbed the concept of a life in struggle even though I’m only now able to grapple with what that means and how profound a choice it is. That social movements are made up of people and people are not an abstraction. We have to love one another and really build and connect with one another. And in the most intimate way, we can live lives in struggle and find and create partnerships in struggle that don’t limit us but help us to better define ourselves both individually and collectively. That rather than simply be insular, those partnerships can also be starting blocks as we create and embrace wider concentric circles of love, community, and justice. I will not mourn your transition. I will redouble my efforts to support the next generations in struggle and live a more intentional and purposeful life. I will never whisper your name.

Parag Khandhar is a member of the board of the Asian American Literary Review.